VOL. 52 ISSUE 31 AUGUST 4, 2015 P35
his championship hopes alive.
With a pair of second-place
finishes, Paulin took home sec-
ond overall while Febvre, who
crashed in both races, could
only muster a pair of third-place
finishes. Paulin's HRC team-
mate Evgeny Bobryshev had a
tough day fighting the track, but
still managed to come away with
fourth overall. Belgium's own
Kevin Strijbos tied on points with
Yamaha Factory Racing's Jeremy
Van Horebeek for fifth overall.
In the MX2 ranks, Anstie
was unstoppable as he helped
himself to his second perfect vic-
tory of the season. The Monster
Energy DRT Kawasaki rider took
a big step forward in the cham-
pionship, though he has yet to
move into the top-five.
"Latvia was my first 1-1 result,"
said Anstie. "It felt a lot easier
there than it did here. The track
here was so physically demand-
ing, but we managed to get the
job done while searching for the
right settings."
The MX2 division, which has
recently been blown wide open
following the announcement
that Jeffrey Herlings is finished
for the season, saw some wild
action in Belgium. Anstie's win,
along with an impressive ride by
Pauls Jonass, an uncharacteris-
tic sixth place by Tim Gajser, and
a disappointing DNF in race two
by Valentin Guillod, has mixed
up the championship even more.
"The one thing I have learned
from this year is that you don't
have to win every race," Anstie
commented. "You just have to
be there every weekend to race
and not throw things away."
Throwing it away might be
exactly what happened to Guillod
in the second moto, where a DNF
cost him considerable ground
in the MX2 championship. The
Standing Construct Yamaha rider
had a race-ending crash after
landing on Belgian rider Brent Van
Doninck, who was down on the
blindside of a jump. Gajser also
cost himself the red plate with his
sixth-place finish. The champion-
ship points advantage now goes
to Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's
Pauls Jonass, who put in a stellar
performance to card two second-
place finishes at Lommel.
"I never expected to be hold-
ing the red plate in my hands this
soon," Jonass said. "I thought
maybe in three years, but not
now, so it is amazing."
But there are still plenty
of points up for grabs in the
championship with four rounds
remaining.
Jean Turner
Max Anstie took his second 1-1
victory of the season at Lommel.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
JP
ACEVADO
