Riding a wave of momentum after a very successful outing in Britain’s domestic series, Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee entered the Grand Prix of Spain with a full awning. intu Xanadú, a circuit that made its debut on the schedule just two years ago, hosted round nine of the 2022 FIM Motocross World Championship.
It was a tale of two motos for Isak Gifting on his steed, although the fact that he possessed impressive pace remained the same. ‘517’ had his sights set on the top three early in the first moto; he ripped to fifth early on and was posting competitive lap times. Untimely errors caused him to fall down the order as the halfway mark approached and he eventually salvaged eleventh. Gifting was classified in fourteenth in the last moto, after a first turn crash. Eleventh was his overall ranking after a luckless outing at the Grand Prix of Spain. One measly point separates him from seventh place in the championship standings.
Kay Karssemakers made more progress than his Spanish results may indicate – he ended lap one of the first moto right at the back after a crash and charged all of the way to fourteenth by the time that the chequered flag waved. It was an impressive display of both speed and fitness. Karssemakers had a very similar outing in moto two; he suffered from a poor start again but made good progress to edge closer to the top ten. A 14-12 scorecard put him in twelfth overall at the Grand Prix. Karssemakers is now eighteenth in the championship standings, despite missing four of the nine rounds.
The Grand Prix of France beckons now. The old-school circuit of Ernee, one of the most iconic tracks in the FIM Motocross World Championship, will host round ten on June 04/05.
Isak Gifting: “It wasn’t the day that I was expecting. There were too many mistakes, then getting caught in a first-turn crash didn’t help in the second moto either. I’m happy with my speed though, so we’ll get back to work and make sure that we are where we belong. Thanks to the team.”
Kay Karssemakers: “I got a bad start in the first race and crashed on the first lap too, but I came back to fourteenth. That was not so bad. In the second moto, I got another bad start and fought until the end. I finished a good twelfth! The riding was better and I am hungry for the next races. I am happy about twelfth overall.”
Roger Magee (Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee Team Manager): “A difficult day today for both riders in the very hot racing conditions. In moto one, Kay had a crash on the opening lap and that saw him have to fight back to P14. Isak crashed out of P5, which cost him too much time and he ended up in P11. Moto two saw Isak get taken out in turn one, which left him with an uphill struggle to score good points and he eventually elevated himself to P14 at the flag. Kay had a much better race coming home in P13. Both riders need to put the hard work in this week, before the next MXGP in Ernee, France, to eliminate the small errors that have cost them good points in the last few GPs.”
