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MX2, MONSTER ENERGY MXGP OF FRANCE - ERNEE, France, 5 Juni 2022

Kevin Horgmo goes fourth in the MX2 world series

F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo lifted himself to fourth in the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship standings after narrowly missing the podium at Ernee in France.

Top-grade preparation by the highly-experienced MC Ernée crew saw the track in superb condition for the first MX2 moto and the F&H KX250 hooked up perfectly out of the start to grab an immediate lead which he held for three-and-a-half laps before the championship leader sneaked under the Norwegian but could not escape. A four-rider lead-train enthralled the massive crowd as Horgmo retained second place for a further three laps until a momentary loss of traction on the trickiest climb of the track saw him pushed back to fourth, a placing he maintained without stress to the chequered flag. He was again prominent through the first turn in race two but a couple of poor line-choices through the next two turns pushed back to eighth. Undeterred by the temporary setback he coolly set to work and was back into the top-five within ten minutes, fourth by half-distance and spent the final quarter pressurising the eventual GP winner for third in moto; a pass would have secured the podium but the Kawasaki came up less than two seconds short for his second fourth-placed moto finish of the day. This secured fourth overall on the day and sees him advance to fourth in the series standings.
 
Kevin Horgmo: “It was nice to lead again; I was second at the start and could make the pass already at the next turn to lead for three laps, but then I made a couple of mistakes with line-choice and dropped back to fourth. Once I settled again I put in some solid laps and was happy with my speed. I made another good start behind Vialle in the second race but I messed up in the first few turns and dropped back to eighth. I put in some really good laps to come back to fourth; I came close to Vialle and would have been on the podium if I could have passed him. Still, fourth overall was good so I can be satisfied; that was one of my best races this year. The bike was working really well in the tricky conditions; there were a lot of lines out there so it was possible to make a difference if you wanted it enough.“
 
Big Van World MTX Kawasaki’s Mikkel Haarup emerged thirteenth from the opening lap of race one after starting from the extreme outside gate and was eighth within four laps but had to wait until four laps from the end of the race before making a further move in a rapid leaderboard battle to finish seventh. The Dane again faced a difficult run through turn one from his outside gate in race two but quickly moved from twelfth on lap one to be involved in a tight battle for seventh with his immediate championship rival until he had an issue at half-distance to be classified twentieth.
 
Mikkel Haarup: “I made it difficult for all of us yesterday with the mistakes at the end of the Quali race, but we came back strong today. I had the complete outside gate but I battled really hard to come back to seventh in the first moto. I got a decent start and was right up there battling in the second race but at one point something happened and I crashed on the downhill.“
 
Quentin Marc Prugnières narrowly missed his first podium for 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki in the FIM European EMX250 Championship. Fourth on Saturday in the first moto, the teenager again made life tough for himself with a moderate start to race two which left him ninth at the completion of the opening lap. He moved relentlessly forward during the twenty-five-minute-plus-two-lap race, eventually taking over sixth two laps from the finish to claim fourth overall, just three points shy of the podium, over the weekend. However his thirty-three points haul sees the French youngster advance to seventh in the series standings, just sixteen points from third, at the halfway stage of the championship. An early fall again cost BUD teammate Eddie Jay Wade; the English teenager gated second but cross-rutted halfway round the opening lap to finish thirteenth.
 
Quentin Prugnières: “It was a pretty solid weekend and I got my best result of the season here with a fourth overall. My first moto was good; my start was not really the best but I was able to come back to fourth. My second start was similar but I was not riding quite so well as yesterday. But I feel that there is a good evolution in my riding, especially on a track like this which was so rough due to the rain. The public was incredible; they supported me all race-long and I did my best to score a podium for them and the team."
 
Eddie Jay Wade: “The weekend started confidently with P8 in Timed Practice so I knew I had the speed even though the lap wasn’t the cleanest. I was in the top-ten in the first moto until I had a small crash and I rode tense after that. I came out this morning feeling, ‚new day, clear day’ and I nearly got the holeshot. I wanted to pass quickly for the lead and was too aggressive; it was a stupid mistake and I crashed down to twentieth or so but I came back to thirteenth. There were some positives to come out of this weekend; I just need to repeat the good starts and stay up there.“