Round eight of the FIM Motocross World Championship is underway here at the Circuito Municipal Jorge Prado venue. Dark clouds have loomed over the circuit throughout the day, luckily holding off the poor forecast—until the MX2 and MXGP qualifying races! There are no EMX125s this weekend, but a welcome return for the WMX class means we have another Brit representing on the world stage. As always, let’s take a look at how they got on!
Words by Edward Heather – Feature Image courtesy of Lexa MX
Starting off the day in the WMX class, Lucy Barker finished P9 in timed practice, posting an impressive lap time of 1:43.069 – less than a second off P5! Come Moto 1, Barker continued her top-10 pace as she gated well, running 10th for the opening five laps. She would lose one position until the final lap, when Sara Andersen crashed out of the moto, boosting Barker back to 10th position, where she would ultimately finish. A great ride for the young Brit, whose pace throughout the moto was competitive with the fringe top-5 pack!
In the EMX250 class, Billy Askew was the quickest Brit, positioning himself in 9th as we head into Moto 1. Bobby Bruce finished P11 in the session; however, his torrid luck continues. A nasty crash toward the end of timed practice saw the Dixon Racing rider aided off the track via a stretcher. He hit his head quite hard and required stitches in his back, sidelining him from this weekend’s action. James Barker finished an impressive 25th, with Ollie Colmer just behind in 31st, and Jake Davies managing to qualify for his first EMX races of the season in 40th!
Moto 1 saw Dirtstore Triumph’s Billy Askew start just inside the top 20 and progress to 11th by lap seven. However, a lap later he suffered a fall, pushing him back to 19th place. By the end of the moto, Askew managed to claw his way back to 17th. Chambers Racing’s Ollie Colmer once again had to fight through the pack to earn himself championship points. He was as far back as 26th on lap two, but a hard-fought effort saw Colmer finish the race in a valiant 18th on a race track that is far from easy to gain track position.
James Barker had an unbelievable ride in EMX250 Moto 1. He gated just inside the top 20 and managed to fight his way through to 14th, where he would run until lap nine. Barker was slowly shuffled back to 18th, and a crash on lap fourteen pushed him down to his finishing position of 24th. Despite the result, it was an extremely impressive ride from the #410! Jake Davies finished in P35 when it was all said and done; he will undoubtedly gain valuable experience from racing his first EMX250 race.
In MXGP timed practice, Ben Watson placed his Beta RX 450 in 16th, with Lexa MX’s John Adamson finishing a solid 20th. Adam Sterry followed just behind in 21st, and the other Lexa MX pilot, Josh Gilbert, placed 24th.
As the MXGP class waited for the gate to drop for their qualifying race, the heavens opened and heavy rain attacked the racetrack. MRT Racing Team Beta’s Ben Watson was the highest-qualifying Brit, finishing in 12th. Watson avoided a big first-turn pile-up and rode a steady pace to end just shy of the top-10 spots, which are also points-paying positions in the qualifying races. Adam Sterry was running as high as 14th for a large portion of the race aboard his Chambers Racing machine; however, in the latter stages, he was shuffled back to his finishing position of 17th. Josh Gilbert came home in 20th, with teammate John Adamson wrapping up the race in 23rd.
The main MXGP races are on the horizon with it all still to play for, and the final EMX and WMX moto yet to commence, it certainly isn’t all said and done here in Lugo. Hopefully, the rain stays away to avoid a back-to-back mudfest!
