Honda World Motocross Press Release
The Honda World Motocross team is looking forward to this weekend as it makes the short journey to Fermo, Italy for its home race at round three of the MX1 World Championship.
Although this hardpack track hasn't reaped great rewards for the Honda World Motocross squad in the past, it's certainly an event with extra motivation for good results this weekend with it being situated just a few hours from the team's headquarters. Last year the Fermo race concluded the World Championship series with riders Rui Goncalves and Evgeny Bobryshev finishing eighth and eleventh overall.
The MX1 World Championship event this weekend follows on from the Bulgarian Grand Prix just one week ago in Sevlievo, where Bobryshev battled through the pain for fifth overall and Goncalves endured a tough weekend with ninth in race one along with a machine issue in the second moto.
24-year-old Russian racer Bobryshev is still recovering from the painful thumb injury sustained at round one in Valkenswaard, The Netherlands, which is improving day-by-day, although it has been tough to ride especially over braking bumps, hard braking areas and landings. With more rest this week he is hoping for a better opportunity to showcase his potential at Fermo aboard the Dunlop-shod factory CRF 450R. Teammate Goncalves is also looking to improve his results, especially after having had a weekend racing on the hardpack terrain in Bulgaria.
Rui Goncalves #999:
"This weekend is going to be similar terrain to Bulgaria on the hardpack, and it is quite fast. We did a lot of sand riding in the winter, so now we've had a weekend of hardpack racing under our belt, we are more prepared on the hard ground. I just need to get better starts in the races to make it easier to achieve the results I want. Physically I feel good, but it's the starts that have mainly been letting me down, so I need to take a different approach to achieve this. Fermo is a good track and obviously it's quite close to where the team is based, so we will want to put on a good show for the fans and get some good results."
Evgeny Bobryshev #777:
"Fermo is not the best track for me as the results haven't been great and the feeling I have there isn't so good; but now it's a new year and we are more ready. We will go and do our best, like every race, but with it being close to the team I hope we can get a good result for the fans. I also hope it's a bit cooler there than last year, as I found the heat to be a big problem at the Grand Prix in Fermo last season. For sure we'll be trying our best and although the thumb isn't going to be perfect, it is improving and we've got to concentrate on staying safe while putting as many points in the bag as possible."
Lorenzo Resta: Honda World Motocross Team Manager
"Fermo is very important for us because it's the first of probably two home GP's we will have in Italy this year. It's usually a really busy race with a lot of guests and support for the team. The track is not really that special for our riders, and we've not had brilliant results there in the past, so it will be a tough race suited to the hardpack specialists and we are aware of that going into the weekend. Bobby is still not completely injury free and this kind of ground will be hard for him, but again we will work on damage limitation to get the best results we can. With Rui, if he can improve his starts then I hope that we can have two good races from him too."
(Image credit Sarah Gutierrez)
