Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tanel Leok and Manuel Priem have a difficult day as they battle against bad starts and the other riders at round four of the MX1 World Championship held at Sevlievo in Bulgaria.
Changeable weather spices proceedings up at round four of the FIM Motocross World Championship at Sevlievo in Bulgaria as moto one is held in perfect conditions while moto two is a whole lot slippier as rain between motos makes the excellent Sevlievo circuit super slick!
While the track conditions pose no problems to Tanel or Manuel who are both potently quick once they’re going but getting out of the all important start proves to be a problem for both riders.
It’s Leok who’s the most successful KRT team rider on the day as he steers his factory KX450F-SR through the pack to 11th overall. “The first race was really good,” said Tanel. “I had a little bit of a bad start but I came back good and I finished seventh even though it’s very difficult to pass here – everything was just going good.
“Race two was okay also. Again my start was not so good but I had a good first lap and I came through the pack okay. Coppins made a little mistake and I tried to pass him on the inside but my wheels washed out in all the mud and I crashed. It took me a little while to start the bike and I lost a lot of places. I only finished 14th but I know my speed is really good. My shoulder is also better now and I’m able to practice during the week, I expect to improve more and more now each week.”
Priem’s starts were a big problem and he was unable to get off the line inside the top-20 in either race. Super fit and super fast – Priem’s lap times at the end of moto two when the Sevlievo circuit was at its gnarliest were comparable to those of the leaders – Manuel’s 14-12 scorecard offers no indication of his true pace.
“My speed was good today,” reckoned Manuel. “But I really need to practice and find some technical solution to make the starts better because today I had two bad starts and the track is so fast here and the difference in speed between the riders is so small that it’s difficult to come back.
“The first race was okay but the second race was better because I had some very good lines and I was able to catch up to De Dycker, Brown and Nagl to finish 12th. My speed and fitness I am very happy with – my fastest lap in the second moto was the second to last lap – but my starts are letting me down at the moment – if I could start top five or top 10 things would be much easier. We will test hard now and hopefully we’ll have a solution for Mantova.”
The fifth round of the FIM World Motocross Championship takes place next weekend at Mantova in Italy on May 18th.
