Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/870143
VOL. 54 ISSUE 35 SEPTEMBER 6, 2017 P49 My Own Race: 243 TIM GAJSER 4TH MXGP (4-7) The defending MXGP World Champion fought it out in the Florida heat for a 4-7 and fourth overall. "The feeling overall was better today, I felt a lot more comfortable than I did yesterday but it was very humid today," Gajser said. "In the first race, I had a good start, my riding wasn't so bad but I made many mistakes and ended up finishing fourth overall, which I was satisfied with. The second race I didn't have a good start but I managed to come through the pack in the first lap. Then, I fell in a corner on the second lap, which made me lose many places. The last few minutes of the race I saw the riders in front of me which helped me focus and then when I started picking them off, I saw some lines which helped me make some good passes to finish seventh for fourth overall. So overall today the feeling was good, the rhythm was good but I just made a costly early mistake." 5 JUSTIN HILL 22ND MX2 (18-DQ) Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Justin Hill improved throughout the weekend. He qualified 22nd, then came from a poor start to score points in the first moto on Sunday with an 18th-place finish. In moto two, he fought through the heat to finish 16th, but was accused by race direc- tion of cutting the track. "The different format is a lot more riding and rac- ing, which is an adjustment," Hill said. "It was unfortunate to be docked in moto two because I felt at my best all weekend, but it is what it is. I had a lot of fun representing all our sponsors in front of the world." 22 KEVIN STRIJBOS 12TH MXGP (DNF-5) Suzuki's Kevin Strijbos suffered a mechanical DNF in the first moto after a really bad start, but ending the moto early has its benefits in heat like they had in Florida, and in moto two he started near the front and finished a very solid fifth place—his best finish of the season. "We knew what the problem was in the first moto so we changed it for race two and I got a good start on the inside," Strijbos said. "I think I was third after passing Jeffrey Herlings but I didn't put up too much of a fight when he passed me back as I knew conditions would be very tough. The pace was really high in the beginning and I haven't been used to running that speed so when I was behind Gautier Paulin, we didn't push too hard and I knew I could run that pace. I just tried to keep with him and not do anything stupid and that was how the race went. I made some mistakes but no one was too close behind me so I was happy to bring it home in fifth." 91 JEREMY SEEWER 4TH MX2 (9-3) Suzuki's Jeremy Seewer managed to narrow the points gap on his championship rival Pauls Jonass in Florida, so even though his first moto wasn't that outstanding, he still beat Jonass in both outings. He was also sick. "It was a tough weekend and I'm just happy to finish it off with a third place," Seewer said. "In fact it could have even been a win with a slightly better start and perhaps one more lap. I struggled a bit as I was sick coming into the GP and was actually quite lucky that I felt a lot better today, even if a few percent were missing. In the first moto I was going for a good start but Jonass reacted next to me and I reacted to him as you are just in tunnel vision at that stage. I got stuck and we hit each other and it was a bit of a drama as I had to come back through the pack. I made a couple of mistakes while pushing a little bit too hard but I wanted to come back through." He now trails by 40 points as the series heads to the penultimate round.