The Swiss rider rebounded in style on race day after a disappointing qualification had left him with seventeenth gate pick following a first lap fall. He streaked to second place after making passes stick on the opening lap but was unable to close down the leader. He tangled with another rider as they left the gate at the start of the second race and had to battle his way through the pack; still only ninth after two laps he eventually finished fourth to take third overall in the GP and further consolidate second place in the series standings.
French teammate Dylan Ferrandis also rode strongly all weekend and defied a moderate start in race two to also record a second placed moto finish but a troubled first moto meant that he just missed the GP podium; ironically he had made a better start in that race but clipped a rival's rear wheel at the first turn and had to ride with great determination to finish seventh after a succession of rapid laps. He too has consolidated his championship placing of fifth and now trails fourth by just thirteen points after pulling back six points on his rival.
American teenager Thomas Covington showed great speed as he set fourth best time in practice before breaking a bone in his foot at the end of the session. He bravely raced to the end of the qualifying race later in the day despite some pain after a fall early in the race and decided to contest the GP next day. After moving forward decisively from fifteenth to eleventh place in the opening GP moto he felt more excessive pain after jumping too far and decided to withdraw from racing for the day. He will have a further medical examination during the week before deciding whether or not he can contest next weekend's German GP.
Tommy Searle, the CLS Kawasaki Monster Energy rider in MXGP, continued his impressive comeback from injury with rapid laps in every practice session and race, but luck was not on his side. He finished sixth in the first moto after a determined ride from outside the top ten, but his hopes of an even better result in race two were dealt a blow immediately after the start as he tangled with another rider at turn one and fell. Despite remounting last Tommy recovered to ninth place at the finish after setting the second fastest lap time of the race and being fastest of all in two of the three sectors.
Arnaud Tonus: « I had a good start in the first race. I was in the top three and was quickly second but the leader was already gone; I made a few mistakes, so it was impossible to catch him. My second start was not so good, and in this race it was difficult to pass as they flattened the track in some places. Everyone had the same lines and I lost too much time behind Seewer so it was not possible to catch Tixier in the closing laps. Overall it’s not a bad weekend, even if I had a bad qualifying session as I crashed on the first lap and only got the seventeenth gate.”
Dylan Ferrandis: “I had a great start in the first moto, but in the first corner I hit the rear wheel of Tixier and crashed so I was last ! I did a couple of fast laps to come back through to seventh, but in the last ten minutes I couldn’t find as way past Tonkov and Febvre. My second start was not as good as the first one but I found some spots to pass and I was soon fourth, eventually passing Guillod and Tixier to finish second. The track was pretty nice to ride; we were lucky to have some rain last night as the grip was perfect today.”
Thomas Covington: “It was great to post the fourth lap time in the timed practice period; I had a good feeling with this track and it suited me really well but on the last lap of practice I had a crash and I broke a bone in my foot. As soon as I get back to Holland I will have a further medical examination to check out what I have broken. I had a good start in the qualifying race, but the front wheel slipped away and I crashed. The pain was not so bad so I tried to ride again today; I was in eleventh place in race one but I jumped a little bit too far on a jump and felt a lot of pain so I stopped. I hope to be in Germany next weekend.”
Tommy Searle: “Maggiora is a natural track with many jumps, It's really fun to ride and I enjoyed the whole weekend right from the first practice session. It was a nice weekend, but the results don’t really show how good I was riding, especially the second race. I had good lap times all weekend long and we’re making good progress since my injury; I made a couple of mistakes and lost my rhythm in the first race to finish sixth. Then I had a crash at the second start and came back from the very last position to ninth place, I had the second fastest lap of the race, with the fastest times in several sections. It’s the first race I really feel like myself again and that gives me confidence for Germany; I've had some good results there in the past, hope to get some top five or even better next weekend.”