Benoit Paturel of the De Baets MX team scored seventh place in the thirteenth round of the MXGP World Championship in Loket, Czech Republic. Paturel rode a very strong first moto in which he rode in fifth place for a long time and eventually finished seventh. Paturel also started strong in the second moto and was again in the top ten until he made two mistakes and had to settle for thirteenth place.
Paturel quickly found the right feeling on the technical circuit of Loket. In both the time practice and the qualifying heat he finished eleventh and this gave him a good feeling for the race on Sunday.
In the first moto Paturel got a very good start and was in fifth place in the first half of the race. Then he fell back to sixth place and eventually finished in seventh place.
Also in the second moto Paturel got a very good start and spent until after the middle of the race in eighth place. However, due to two mistakes in quick succession, Paturel had to let several riders pass and therefore crossed the finish line in thirteenth place.
With a 7-13, Paturel finished in ninth place in the day’s classification. In the world championship standings, he remains in sixteenth place but is only 13 points behind the thirteenth man in the championship.
Lotte van Drunen was racing the Zwarte Cross in Lichtenvoorde last Sunday. She managed to win both motos and took the overall victory.
This weekend the home Grand Prix in Lommel is on the program for the De Baets MX team.
Overall MXGP Czech Republic:
1 Tim Gajser 45 Pnt
2 Jorge Prado 44 Pnt
3 Jeffrey Herlings 43 Pnt
4 Calvin Vlaanderen 36 Pnt
5 Jeremy Seewer 33 Pnt
9 Benoit Paturel 21 Pnt
Photocredits – Fullspectrum Media
