The third round of the MXGP World Championship took place on the very difficult sandy track of Riola Sardo (OR). Two almost summery days were the backdrop for both the third round of the MX2 World Championship with Yago Martinez and the first round of the EMX125 European Championship with the debut of Brando Rispoli.
The weekend got off to a difficult start with Brando suffering from a sore throat on Saturday morning and running high temperature. The young Tuscan rider tried to take to the track on his TM 125 MX and even qualified for the heats with the 15th fastest time in hid group. But then he had to give in to the fever. In agreement with the team it was decided not to race in order to recover as much as possible for the next round at Arco di Trento in a week’s time. It was pointless to risk making the situation any worse.
Great regret for all involved, the goal now is to do well next weekend and immediately forget this occasion.
For Yago, Saturday’s MX2 time trial saw him finish 22nd fastest.
In the RAM qualifying race he had a bad start and was unable to make any progress, finishing 29th.
In the first race on Sunday, after another bad start, he tried to make up as much ground as possible, but at the end of the day he was out of the points and finished 24th.
Race two started much better and Yago was in the points for the first few laps, but a nasty crash on lap three forced him to retire. Fortunately there were no serious physical consequences for him.
Definitely another very difficult weekend, the track was not in his favour, but even with his best efforts there is still a mental difficulty that he is struggling to shake off.
Hopefully the next GP, which takes place in Arco di Trento (TN) on 13-14 April, will be a turning point for him and Brando.
YAGO MARTINEZ: “A tough weekend for us at Riola! We know that the sand is not our strong point, although I felt better each time I went out on the track. In the first race I managed to find my rhythm, but it was not enough to fight for the points, which was our goal. In the second race I was fighting until I crashed and had to retire. We will try again at Arco di Trento.
