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MOTOCROSS FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 17 / SEPTEMBER 3, 2016 CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY / CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA P86 My Own Race: 3 ELI TOMAC 1ST (1-1) MXGP "We started the day well," said Monster Energy Kawasaki's Eli Tomac of his winning day. "I had really good practices and got in some clean laps. In the first moto the sun was in my eyes pretty bad in certain sections of the track, which was a bit difficult to deal with. I washed the front end out and had a little tip-over and then nearly made the same mistake the next lap; it was a bit of a wake up call for me to get it together. The second moto I had to work for the lead a bit more and the lights make the dirt a bit difficult to read at times, but all in all I had a really good time. It's great to race against new competition and to see what the world scene has to offer." 243 TIM GAJSER 2ND (4-2) MXGP After the race, new MXGP World Champion Tim Gajser talked about clinching the title. "It feels amazing," he said. "It's unbelievable to have won this title. I want to thank so much Honda, HRC, the team, my family. We have been working so hard for this for all our lives, and now for the second year in a row we've achieved the best possible result. All the fans have been incredible this year—already last year was amazing because we had so much support, but this year it's been even bigger. We make something with the popularity of this sport in Slovenia, and I'm very proud to be that person who is helping the sport to grow. It's an honor and a pleasure. The bike has really been fantastic. It becomes so much a part of you that you really have to click with it and have a good relationship with it. And this year the Honda CRF has just been perfect. I couldn't ask for better or for more. After this year I feel better as a rider and better as a person. Every dream can come true if you really believe in it and really work for it and today another dream has come true for me." 214 AUSTIN FORKNER 3RD (3-2) MX2 Rookie Austin Forkner, the top MX2 qualifier, made quite the first impression with Europe- an riders after battling up front in both motos, eventually setting up for a great third overall finish with a 3-2 score. "I surprised myself by having the fastest lap time in qualifying," the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider said. "In the first moto, I was out front for a while and came under pressure. I made a small mistake and gave the win away, unfortu- nately. In the second moto, I spent the first 20 minutes with a comfortable lead and then they started to reel me in inch by inch. At that point I just left it all out on the track and I was honestly spent after the second moto. It was a tough race but I'm really happy I ended up on the box. I was pretty comfortable racing in this style because the format is similar to what we normally run, but the style of riding is so differ- ent. At the beginning of the motos the U.S. racers tend to go for it harder than the MXGP guys do, and they tend to go harder at the end. At the end of the day I battled with a U.S. champion and a world champion; it was a great experi- ence and I'm leaving with a trophy!" 64 THOMAS COVINGTON 4TH (4-4) MX2 Thomas Covington, on the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna, made it three Americans in the top five in MX2 with a strong performance. "It was a really good GP and I'm happy with fourth overall," he said. "It feels nice to race in front of friends and family and the fans were awesome too. The track was really high speed without many things to slow you down, so passing wasn't easy. I got a bad start in moto one but made some quick passes. I got fourth pretty quickly and rode the rest of the race by myself. I got a better start in moto two and was battling with Seewer for third, before settling for fourth again. Overall, the bike was working great and my riding was smooth throughout the day." 84 JEFFREY HERLINGS 2ND (1-3) MX2 Although Jeffrey Herlings wrapped up his third MX2 title, he lost his first grand prix of the year to Cooper Webb (though he sat out a few rounds with an injury). "I am just going to be honest," he said after the race. "Cooper was faster than me in the second moto, I didn't have anything for him. I know people are going to be saying he's faster, or I'm faster, but we went 1–2. You can't tell who's faster from that; it is just one race. You need a whole champi- onship to decide that, with different tracks, different days and different conditions."

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