Calvin Vlaanderen has claimed his fourth podium finish of the season with a tenacious effort in both MX2 motos contested today at Semarang. The Team HRC rider was fifth in race one after an early tumble, and second in the final Indonesian encounter of the year after a brilliant last-lap move aboard his Honda CRF250RW machine.

In race one, Vlaanderen got a great start and was running in second place when he lost the front-end of his Honda and crashed at turn three on the opening lap. From last position, the 22-year-old from Cape Town began his charge to the top-ten, which he reached on lap seven. After having the better of Thomas Covington for seventh, the moto got into the final three laps and that is when Vlaanderen made the real difference, as he moved past Adam Sterry before pipping Michele Cervellin at the last jump for fifth.

Calvin was quick out of his gate also in the second moto and was running in second place for the first four laps, but was then overtaken by Thomas Covington – who quickly created a two-second separation between the two. But Vlaanderen was not done yet: by lap ten he was shadowing the American – before making a small mistake which cost him a second – and with not much left to go he made one last push which turned into a brilliant overtake on the last lap for second for the podium.

Calvin Vlaanderen  10

It was a great day for me and the team, with Tim’s second position and my third. I’m really happy with how the day went. I really fought hard to get back to fifth place after crashing at turn three. I think it was a great result given the fact that I had to come through the pack. I had a great start to the second race and was behind Jorge, but then I was passed by Covington. We had a bit of a battle and I stuck behind him, trying to follow his lines and see where I could make the pass – and then I did it with two laps to go. I was really happy with how my riding was today and my fitness; the team did a great job: the bike was great so thanks to everyone for the support.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager – MXGP

It was a sensational performance by Calvin today; it really felt like a win, especially with how things panned out. He was really strong towards the end and had no hesitation in passing Cervellin in race one, as well as Covington in the second moto. He is really riding his CRF extremely well and we’re very happy with the type confidence and performance he’s showing. The team did a fantastic job, so we need to keep this momentum going back to Europe.

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