Dylan Walsh makes progress in Faenza
In his second ever MXGP, British MX2 champion Dylan Walsh again took steps forward. The talented JM Honda Racing rider finished 15th and 18th. That earned him a shared 15th place.
The first World Championship round since 2012 in Faenza introduced a new generation of riders with the well-known hard and compact “Crossodromo Monte Coralli”.
Although Walsh looked for hard circuits prior to the 'Faenza triple GP', the track still had typical surprises in store. In addition to the leaden heat, the riders also had to deal with hard ruts and slippery sections. In the qualifying session, Walsh and Guryev set the 22nd and 33rd fastest times respectively. The winding layout of the circuit favored fast starters more than ever, but Dylan came back strongly in the first heat after a poor start. He fought his way back from 24th position to P16 in the half race. With three laps to go, the New Zealander finally took 15th place.
As we have often seen from Walsh, he catapulted his Honda to an excellent eighth position in the restart. In the first six laps he held his own in the top 12, then fatigue set in and he dropped to P18. Teammate Artem Guryev has lost valuable training time over the past two months due to knee and back problems. He had to pay the toll for that today. The driven Russian was able to lay a solid foundation for the next races today. The highlight of his GP was a promising start in race two. Artem kept a top-15 rhythm for 20 minutes. In the final he would finish 29th after being 28th in the first moto.
This Wednesday the riders have to get back to work in Faenza for their second midweek MXGP.
Dylan Walsh: “My start in the first heat was very bad. Just not a good response at the gate. From 24th place I was able to come back to 15th position. It was certainly okay during the race, but that catch-up race also cost me a lot of strength. In the second moto I had a really good start. I was also riding well until after 20 minutes I came across the man with the hammer. Just riding out and limiting the damage was the best I could do. Fifteenth and eighteenth - sixteenth overall, on equal points - is an improvement, but we want more. We are now going to prepare for the next match as best as possible. I look forward to continuing the upward trend.”
Artem Guryev: “After the crashes of the past GPs, I was happy that I could complete the two series without any problems. The fact that I was able to gain racing experience again was more than welcome. The past few weeks have been very difficult and I have certainly noticed that my physical condition has deteriorated. Each time I had to slow down after 15 minutes. In any case, it was a step in the right direction, and we now have to build on that on Wednesday.”
Photos: CDS
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