Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev and Gautier Paulin are prepared for the final back-to-back trio of MXGP events which kicks off this weekend with round 16 in the Netherlands.
The Assen TT Circuit plays host to MXGP for a second year, as once again 25,000 cubic metres of sand will be brought into the historic road-racing venue to construct a track that takes in the final corner, main straight, pit lane and a portion of the paddock as the track winds its way around the VIP boxes.
Last year’s inaugural event was a raging success with packed grandstands of fans eager to see this road-race-meets-motocross spectacle. The deep sand made for some interesting racing which yielded a Honda 2-3 in the opening moto for Paulin and Bobryshev respectively.
It’s the last European race of the season before the paddock packs up on Sunday night to freight the bikes and equipment to America first thing Monday morning for the final USA pairing in Charlotte, which holds its maiden event, and the iconic Glen Helen which by contrast is no stranger to motocross.
Action gets underway at 1045hrs on Saturday morning with the start of free practice, and the gate drops on Sunday’s racing at 1415hrs. On Friday evening, Bobryshev, Paulin, and Tim Gajser will also unveil the 2017 Honda CRF450R and CRF450RX to the attending media.
Evgeny Bobryshev 777
“After the short break in the season, I’m looking forward to getting back to racing again, especially as I really liked this track last year. I had a really good feeling in this race in 2015 and I thought it was going to be my weekend, and even though it wasn’t I had a good weekend and really enjoyed the track and the experience of riding at a ‘circuit’ track again. There are lots of long straights and fast corners so it’s my style of track, even though as it got rutted overtaking was quite hard, but I’m confident of a good weekend.”
Gautier Paulin 21
“We’ve been working hard since Switzerland, as I raced Orp-Le-Grand last weekend and before that, I was training and practicing with the French Nations team in Italy to defend our crown in September. I enjoyed Assen last year, and even though it was a little hard to pass we had a good feeling and had a good battle with Shaun for the lead in the first race. I really enjoy riding in these different tracks, built around grandstands where last year the atmosphere was great, so I’m looking forward to fighting at the front again this weekend.”
Roger Harvey
HRC General Manager – MXGP
“Assen was one of the best races of last season because there was good racing, the concept of a motocross round at a road-race track worked very well in this instance and the grandstands were packed. There were also some highlights for us, like two Hondas in the top three in race one, and of course, Tim taking the MX2 red plate. After the short break since Switzerland everyone’s had time to rest and recharge, so we’re hopeful of a strong weekend for all three riders in what could be a very important weekend for Honda and HRC.”
