Thomas Covington clinched a dramatic victory for the Monster Energy Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team in the penultimate round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship at Leon in Mexico.
The US teenager already showed impressive form during qualification as he charged to third place and he maintained his speed through varying conditions all weekend. The track was very muddy for the first GP moto after overnight rain but Thomas was never ruffled and soon took advantage of an error by the championship leader to move from an initial fifth place to finish a solid fourth in the difficult conditions. An even better start in race two saw Thomas complete the first lap in second place and, after taking the lead on lap two, he kept his nerve to grab the first GP moto win of his career. His 4-1 scoreline was also sufficient to take the overall GP victory and he has now leapt to twelfth in the series.
Max Anstie of Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki maintained his recent form to take second place in the opening GP moto and appeared to be in serious contention for his fourth overall GP win of the season as the first moto winner encountered problems early in the race. Unfortunately Max also made a mistake through the rhythm section and he went down hard, damaging the bike and banging his head in the process. Rejoining the race in fourteenth place, he advanced to eleventh at the finish to secure fifth overall on the day and consolidate his third place in the championship standings.
Petar Petrov of the Monster Energy Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team had charged from last to tenth in qualification to raise hope of a good GP result but unfortunately he touched with another rider at the first corner of race one and crashed into the deep sticky mud which had been bulldozed off the track. His KX250F was damaged in the incident so he was unable to continue, and medical examination revealed that he had damaged one of the vertebrae in his neck so he did not start race two. Nevertheless Petar remains tenth in the championship standings.
Thomas Covington: “It’s so good to finally get a win. I’ve been pushing hard always and it’s been a tough two years with a lot of bad races, a few good ones and coming here to get this win is unbelievable. I hope to keep this going. The first race the track was really muddy and I just tried to survive and not to crash; I had the holeshot but went too much to the outside and a few guys passed me. I tried to keep on two wheels and it was pretty tough. The track was completely different for the second moto; it was pretty dry in some places. I was second at the first corner and finally made the move to first place. I tried to put down some fast lap to make a gap; I knew that Gajser was coming back at the end of the race but I held on to win this moto. I had no idea that I had won the GP until I arrived at the podium! Next weekend it will be good to race at Glen Helen; I will go to my home race full of confidence.”
Max Anstie: “The first race was nice; the track was pretty muddy and you had to ride smart. I was very pleased to take a second position because Pauls was riding awesome. It’s a shame about the second one; I was in a really good position after the start, made a few passes and then crashed. That didn’t end so well; the bike was damaged, I had no front brake and I just tried to get as many points as possible after this big crash. That’s the way things go, and I’m now looking to the last round of the season.”
Petar Petrov: “It was not a good GP for me. Yesterday was not so bad even if I went off the track during the qualifying race and had to come back from last to tenth. The track was wet at the first race for the first GP moto; I got a really good start in the top five but when I tried to turn in the first corner I came together with Guillod and I went straight on into the mud they had pushed off of the track. I went pretty hard over the bars; I hurt my neck really hard and couldn’t go back in the race as the bike was damaged. I felt a lot of pain in my neck and went to see the doctors; they brought me to the hospital and they saw that one of my vertebrae has moved a little bit. It’s not too bad and I hope that I can race in the US. I’m really happy for the team and Thomas, who won the GP; we see that many guys can win a GP and I think that I’m one of these guys.”