Hunter Lawrence took third place at the opening round of the 2018 Motocross World Championship in Patagonia, Argentina, giving Team Honda 114 Motorsports a podium in their first ever GP. On board the all-new 2018 Honda CRF250R, Lawrence got the holeshot in the first race and despite dropping to second halfway through, it still gave him a good platform for moto two. Unfortunately he didn’t get quite as good start in the second moto and instead the rider had to fight his way into sixth place, giving him the third step on the podium.
Team HRC’s Calvin Vlaanderen was next placed Honda rider, putting in a great ride in the second moto for fifth position. It could have been even better for the South African rider had he not collided with another rider in the first race whilst running eighth.
Bas Vaessen made his return to world championship action with two consistent results just outside the top 10. A collarbone injury had hindered his pre-season training so the young Dutch rider was pleased to get 14th overall on conditions that certainly aren’t his favourite.
Unfortunately Michele Cervellin wasn’t able to build upon an excellent eighth place in the first moto, after coming together with a rider early-on in race two. The Martin Racing rider hurt his knee in the incident and had to pull off the track as the pain was too much. The first race was certainly positive though and he’ll look to continue that sort of form at the next round in Valkenswaard.
Marshal Weltin suffered a damaged exhaust in the second race, which ended the American’s weekend, in what was a tough outing for the Vamo Honda rider.
In the MXGP class, Arminas Jasikonis returned from injury to place himself inside the top 15 in both races. The Lithuanian will hope to race himself into shape as the series moves to Europe where the track surfaces should be more to his liking. Petar Petrov will also hope to get back to 100% fitness after having pull out of race due to pain in the collarbone that he broke a few weeks ago.
The next round of the Motocross World Championship will take place at Valkenswaard in a fortnight’s time.
Hunter Lawrence 96 – Team Honda 114 Motorsports
I’m pretty happy with the weekend, we have a lot of positives to take out of this weekend. It would have been nice to get the win but it’s not my favourite track so I can’t be too disappointed. I prefer more technical tracks than this one as it was high speed and a bit flat but we know what we need to change and sort out and make sure I’m 100% for the rest of the rounds. It was a good start to the year though; third overall on a bad day isn’t too bad. I’m looking forward to getting back to Europe and having a safe journey home.
Calvin Vlaanderen 10 – Team HRC MX2
Overall we can be happy to go home safe because the track was quite sketchy in some places and I was smart not to make any mistake or anything silly. I’m a bit disappointed with my first race as I made a mistake and that cost me quite a few places and forced me to fight quite hard just to finish 18th. I did not get the best start in race two but I was able to make some passes and I was sixth for a long time, but then I moved up to fifth and almost caught fourth place on the last lap. I’m happy with my riding and my fitness, and I know what I need to work on ahead of Valkenswaard. I would like to thank my team for their amazing job and for giving me such a great bike.
Arminas Jasikonis 27 – Honda Red Moto
It wasn’t easy this weekend, because everything was new with the team and the past injury. Everything just had to come together quickly for this first race. I had no pressure and didn’t expect anything. I just wanted to be back racing with no crashes and no injuries and in the end it went okay actually. I know that I’m only riding 60-70% so speed isn’t there but now I have to work, but a big thanks to the team for helping me through this first race.
Gordon Crockard – Honda Europe Off-Road Manager
The highlight of the weekend was of course the MX2 podium result with Hunter Lawrence’s third place, which combined well with the promotion of the new CRF250R arriving into the class. Calvin Vlaanderen also had really good results as well and Bas Vaessen had a decent return. All this meant that the CRF250R was a well-attended bike and in fact the market-leader in the class. In the MXGP races, we were missing our factory team with Tim Gajser and Brian Bogers but the Assomotor team put in a solid performance, with two riders who were not only new to the team, but also returning from injury. Unfortunately Marshal Weltin suffered a damaged exhaust in the second race so we weren’t able to see his full potential this weekend in what was his MX2 debut.
