Honda’s Evgeny Bobryshev is the top qualifier for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Trentino in Italy.
In what was an exciting qualifying moto a the Grand Prix of Trentino in Pietramurata, Italy, Honda’s Evgeny Bobryshev crossed the finish line in first place to give him the “pole” for tomorrow’s fourth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship.
Some of the top riders in the MXGP class had their chance for victory but threw it away, including American Ryan Villopoto and defending World Champion Antonio Cairoli.
Cairoli, on the Red Bull KTM, got off to a fast start and was leading the way ahead of Frenchman Gautier Paulin (Honda), Villopoto, on the Monster Energy Kawasaki, and Bobryshev. To the disappointment of the partisan crowd, Cairoli dropped his bike in a turn not long after Paulin had dropped his Honda. Suddenly, Villopoto was out in front and leading the way, but he too went down in the same rutted turn that caught Cairoli earlier, giving Bobryshev the lead.
Unlike Cairoli, Paulin and Villopoto, the Russian, Bobryshev, kept his Honda on two wheels the rest of the way and took the win, his first qualifying victory of his career. He finished just ahead of Cairoli and Paulin. Villopoto took fourth.
The top four riders all finished within five seconds of each other.
French rider Romain Febvre (Yamaha) and points leader Max Nagl (Husqvarna) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
“At the end of the race, it was a funny one because I was following and one after the other crashed, but I was consistent and could come through to the lead,” said Bobryshev. “Once I got out front I just tried to control the gap because the track was very slippery and I’d already seen the other three crash.”
In MX2 qualifying, Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings rode away from the field, finishing 14 seconds ahead of Slovakia’s Tim Gajser (Honda) and Frenchman Jordi Tixier (Kawasaki).
RESULTS
MXGP Qualifying Race Top Ten: 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
MX2 Qualifying Race Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 24:59.244; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:14.467; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:20.511; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:23.175; 5. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:27.227; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:28.657; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:29.319; 8. Jens Getteman (BEL, Honda), +0:39.629; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:40.411; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:41.759
