Back to Europe then and the first time for teams to be able to work out of race-trucks and hospitality awnings as opposed to freight and crate in 2015. It was also a return to a core audience group for the first time since the Belgian round at Lommel, last August; it felt like MXGP had been away from European shores for a long while.
Of course being back on the continent meant a bulging EMX support bill and the majority of visitors to Trentino would have questioned the wisdom of so many competitors and haulage in such a confined location. The Grand Prix began with tempers frayed. Pietramurata has been the first or second European fixture of the season (even if the weather has been positive) for the last two years but with burgeoning European Championship classes (over two hundred extra riders all bringing trailers and trucks) it became a logistical headache; it was like the hardest level of the video game Tetris on a life-size scale. Stationary vehicles lined the small entrance road and local police became involved to a larger degree. The public have been steered towards other areas and encouraged to enter the facility on foot but trying to accommodate the racers alone led to the organisers even having to frantically contact local landowners to hire space. The miserable weather on Friday hardly improved people’s moods.
By Saturday morning, and with a long day and night finally dealt with, it seemed everyone could get their minds on the race and the fine hard-packed soil was the better for the rainfall, even if the first practice sessions unveiled a slick and tricky surface that caught out a couple of riders, Shaun Simpson and Glen Coldenhoff going down.
Through the day Clement Desalle, Evgeny Bobryshev and Jeremy Van Horebeek took up residency at the top of the timing screens, each one having a particular taste for the terrain. Tony Cairoli, who parked a hospitality unit in the paddock in a curious fan club initiative and was also unusually reluctant to the tidal wave of media requests, surprised many with the brightest start and led the qualification heat until pressure from Gautier Paulin caused a ripple of crashes from the pair and Ryan Villopoto.
Bobryshev was part of the leading quartet – with Max Nagl, Romain Febvre and Shaun Simpson chasing – and took his first ever pole position (and thus first for Russia in MXGP) by profiting from the mistakes. “This is my first Pole and it was a funny race because the riders were falling one after the other. I was a bit more consistent and when I had the lead I just tried to stay there. The track is old-school and typically Italian. It is so easy to make a mistake on the small stones. You really have to concentrate on the track.”
“We did some good testing before this race and my confidence is also getting better,” he added. When prompted to talk about the improvements to the CRF450RW he said: “You need different modifications for a track like this and we spent a few days on the hard-pack getting the setting right; just for me. I can be a bit annoying with my set-up! I tend to change it quite a bit depending on the track but we worked very hard with Honda to get it as I want. I feel good, easy and smooth.”
Bobryshev also had to justify some gaudy pink boots and gear from Fox. Trento is several hundred kilometres from Milan so he could hardly claim to be a victim of fashion. “The pink brings me luck so maybe I need to speak to Fox to get more pink! I think it is very shiny. It might look strange but I like it.”
What of Ryan Villopoto? “We all went down like flies there in two or three laps! There was a rut with a huge hole and as soon as you went down into it then it would shoot you back really far. That’s what Tony did and ended up falling. I did that, saved it but ended up falling the other way. It was good to be able to get up there and ride with those guys and see different lines and see how they are riding and where they are going and try to learn.”
Countryman Thomas Covington struggled on the dirt in terms of bike set-up and will look for another solution in warm-up. As Villopoto admitted there is not much frame of reference for Pietramurata back in the States with regards to the prominent American circuits. “I cannot say this is like anything I have ridden in America but Unadilla used to be like this…but different! It was slippery and inconsistent but on a much larger scale. Over the years they have made Unadilla better but it used to have a load of little rocks stuck in the ground. There are a lot of tight turns here and even if there is something you can go to, then you cannot even use it.”
World Championship leader Clement Desalle circulated outside the top twenty after two incidents that caused his worst moto performance of the season. The Belgian said he was still “too busy” as the fifteen second board went up and therefore was caught out by the start and was submerged mid-pack. Completing the first lap he took the outside line on the corner before the finish line jump and his trajectory drew him into a busy section of a narrow track where he collided with Tyla Rattray. “The guys on the inside came across a bit and I was already jumping down; I hit Rattray and we went down hard together. It was quite a big crash,” he said and was able to carry on. Rattray took a blow to the head and was escorted away but later was given an all-clear. He was immensely pissed off by Desalle’s actions. Jeremy Van Horebeek’s indifferent launch to 2015 continued with an accident that did little to boost the 2014 runner-up’s confidence. JVH is winning everything away from Grand Prix (Belgian and Dutch Championship rounds have fallen to his speed) but is still missing that feeling of comfort to establish some of the regular podium form that was so prevalent last season.
Qatar and Argentina GP winner Max Nagl claimed that he and the Red Bull IceOne team made a mistake in the direction of their set-up for the Heat race and he had no answer to Febvre for fifth position. The German says the crew will reverse their thinking and try something new in warm-up.
In MX2 Jeffrey Herlings was peerless after avoiding the kind of first lap incident that caused a hefty crash in the first moto in Argentina. Jeremy Seewer had two small crashes and Jordi Tixier burned through some frustration after his recent ban by taking second place. Dylan Ferrandis was also in the mix but the MX2 moto was static and is the class is already slipping into a formula whereby it is hard to remain entrenched in what is going on.
At seven o’clock in the evening Husqvarna showed off their 2016 FC250 with which Alex Tonkov has been charged to fly at the Grand Prix and lead development. The Russian’s heavy crash in Argentina and subsequent shoulder injury meant that bike time had been precious little in the three weeks since Patagonia so ‘59’ was still a little hazy on the bike’s full potential but used it to an impressive debut Holeshot on Saturday. Husky top brass like Motorsport Director Robert Jonas were content, and were keen to talk up just how much the FC is a step forward for the brand. More details soon on how the machine differences from the close 250SX-F orange relative.
Alpinestars had plenty of guests around the paddock after an exclusive showing of their 2016 race gear on Friday night in Asolo (around two hours southeast of Trento). The new Techstar and Racer lines involved some bold colour schemes and tweaks to the material for venting and protection that caught the eye. The riding pants in particular have several features that are bound to keep the garment at the top of most rider’s wish list. Jeffrey Herlings was not using the new stuff at Arco – it is due to be unveiled in July – but has some special kit lined up for his home Grand Prix at Valkenswaard next week where he aims to go for his sixth victory on the trot (over half a decade of dominance).
It was good to see the first ever MX2 World Champion (2004 with Red Bull KTM, the first of five riders for the Austrians. They lost the title only in 2005, 06 and 07) Ben Townley back in the Grand Prix paddock for the first time since 2012. The Kiwi was on duty guiding KTM’s new New Zealand talent Josiah Natzke in EMX125 to seventh place in the first moto but it was Danish teenage Glen Meier who was in complete control. Maxime Desprey was equally dominant in EMX250 with Adam Sterry sprightly in second place.
Rumours on the ‘missing’ date of the calendar in August (round fifteen, formerly in Brazil) floated around Pietramurata. Youthstream are apparently still in negotiations to travel to Brazil and former venue Beto Carrero could be an option. A European substitute is likely to involve sites in Italy, France or Germany and could see the fixture pushed back a week to precede the first GP to be run at the Assen circuit in Holland at the end of the month.
Photo by Ray Archer
1. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 25:03.328;
2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:01.837;
3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:03.865;
4. Ryan Villopoto (USA, Kawasaki), +0:04.775;
5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:06.154;
6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:07.060;
7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:08.192;
8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:25.535;
9. Steven Frossard (FRA, KTM), +0:28.968;
10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:32.727;
11. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), +0:34.527;
12. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:35.636;
13. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:37.199;
14. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Honda), +0:39.484;
15. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), +0:41.877;
16. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:44.016;
17. Dean Ferris (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:49.585;
18. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +0:51.949;
19. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:53.697;
20. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:07.348;
21. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, Yamaha), +1:08.250;
22. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +1:12.352;
23. Angus Heidecke (GER, KTM), +1:15.557;
24. Rui Goncalves (POR, Husqvarna), +1:17.701;
25. Filip Bengtsson (SWE, Honda), +1:26.980;
