Benoit Paturel surfaces again!
The second round of the closing tripleheader of the Motocross World Championship season took place again on the tough Crossodromo Ciclamino. Dylan Walsh continued to build on his MXGP competition rhythm and scored his best qualifying result of the season. Yet Benoit Paturel proved to be the best JM Honda Racing rider. The fast Frenchman finished 12th in the second moto.
Walsh started his second day of competition in Trentino well. With an excellent ninth place in the time training - only 1,2 seconds lower than 'polesitter' Jeremy Seewer - Dylan confirmed his growing self-confidence. Although Paturel had to settle for a modest 18de his time - just 2,3 seconds slower than Seewer - also proved how small the differences in the MXGP are.
After a bad start in the first moto, Walsh fought hard to come back. In the third lap the British MX2 champion was already in 12th position. Unfortunately, Dylan was unable to maintain the same high pace in the second half of the race, causing him to drop to 16th place. Race two started spectacularly with a typical “DW53” gun start! The New Zealander again piloted his JM Honda CRF450R to a flawless holeshot, but due to a red flag situation the race was stopped after just one lap.
During the restart, Walsh had to make do with a poorer starting position and he also stopped the engine. So now it became a 21th position his share.
Teammate Benoit Paturel was not lucky in the opening sprint. After starting in the middle of the pack, he crashed in the opening round. Although the former MX of Nations champion showed reasonable speed, he did not get further than 24th place. Considering the limited number of engine hours with which Benoit started his MXGP comeback, after the back injury he sustained in Kegums 3, the second series yesterday was a big boost. He started 14th on the first lap, but remained consistently in the top 10 until three laps before the end. Ultimately, Paturel crossed the line in 30th place after 2 minutes plus 12 laps.
This Sunday the JM Honda Racing team will be at the start one more time in Trentino, Italy. Then the final round of the 2020 MXGP World Championship will take place.
Benoit Paturel: “Yesterday was quite positive for me. The first heat was difficult because I fell on the first lap and then had difficulty finding my rhythm. In the second race I got into the top 10. Too bad my stomach hurt in the last five minutes, so I lost two more places. So the end result could certainly have been better, but I am happy with the progress we have made. This Sunday we will give everything twice more to finish strong!”
Dylan Walsh: “I started the day well with a good feeling in the timed training. Not the best start in the first moto, but I was able to make up places. However, fatigue set in at the end. In the second race I got the holeshot, but after one lap the race was stopped. At the restart my start wasn't that good, but I was still able to come back. Unfortunately, I stopped the engine and then I couldn't find my flow again."
Photos: shotbyBavo/HondaProRacing
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