Podium performance for Vlaanderen at the MXGP of Asia

2019-07-15 16:34
Team HRC’s Calvin Vlaanderen scored his first MX2 overall of the season, just two rounds after coming back from his ankle injury. After a fifth in race once, the CRF250RW rider knew he had to ride extremely well in race two to make it on the box, but that’s exactly what he was able to do at the Semarang circuit in Java, Indonesia.

Despite similar conditions to yesterdays’ qualifying moto, Vlaanderen was able to battle the heat and the tricky track surface to ride through the field in both races, proving that his resilience is there, even if he is still not back to being 100%. In the first moto he ended the first lap in eighth place, before settling into a solid pace that allowed him to close up to those in front. He made three paces in the space of five laps but couldn’t quite get any further as time expired, ending the race in fifth place.

A better start in race two meant that he was looking good for a podium spot if he could just make a couple more passes. The riders around him also needed to make passes for their podium aspirations, but Vlaanderen wasn’t to be denied, finishing in an impressive third place and taking the last spot on the podium. After starting the season with three fourth place overall’s in a row, this result was well deserved and a great way to head into the final third of the 2019 season.

The next round of the world motocross championship takes place in Loket, Czech Republic on July 27-28, which is another track that Vlaanderen likes after winning a moto last year and finishing second overall. With another couple of weeks of riding, he’ll be hoping to come out swinging once again and work his way even further towards the front of this MX2 class.

Calvin Vlaanderen 10
In one way this podium was a bit of a surprise, but in another way, I feel like I’ve ridden well enough this year to have deserved to be on the box before. Obviously it is only my second race back from injury so I feel like I can improve even further both in speed and in my physical condition but I did feel really good this weekend. I tried to save a little bit of energy from yesterday, to make sure I could ride better today and it worked out well. I could push in both motos, which I couldn’t last weekend so already I have improved in one week so I just want to continue building and building. It was fun to be out there, with some good battles in both races and I enjoyed the whole weekend.

Calvin Vlaanderen
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager - MXGP
Before we came to Indonesia, we weren’t really sure how Calvin would come back and perform, but we have been really pleased how well he has done. His fourth place in race one at Palembang was good, but to put in two strong motos here and to get the third place that he needed to get, showed how strong-willed he is, as well as how fast he can ride. We are really excited now for the rest of the year, especially for the next round in Loket where we know he can ride well after his moto win in 2018.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas
Race 1
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Time/Gap
1
PRADO GARCIA
Jorge 61 SPA 25 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 35:45.473
2
VIALLE
Tom 28 FRA 22 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 11.411
3
KJER OLSEN
Thomas 19 DEN 20 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing 14.405
4
BEATON
Jed 14 AUS 18 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing 16.869
5
VLAANDEREN
Calvin 10 NDL 16 Team HRC - MX2 21.914

Source: Honda Racing Corporation

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