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Latvian motocross rider Kārlis Sabulis on Sunday in Ķegums at the World Motocross Championship (MXGP) in the qualifying race ranked 22nd, while his compatriot finished six positions below Matisse Carro.
Last year’s champion on the Ķegums track was Slovenian Tim Gayser, who overtook the closest follower Jeremy Siever from Switzerland by 0.528 seconds. Third place went to Jeffrey Herling from the Netherlands, who lost 0.617 seconds to the leader and reached his fastest lap time shortly before the end of the qualifying race.
Sabulis took the 22nd position, who was also able to drive in the top five at the beginning of the qualification. The Latvian was a little over four seconds behind the winner, showing the fastest time in the fifth lap.
Meanwhile, Carro finished six positions below, finishing almost six and a half seconds behind Gayser. Karro reached the fastest lap time in the third lap.
Lithuanian Armīns Jasikonis, a member of the Paul Jonas team from the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna team, won the fifth place in the qualification, with Gayser losing 0.829 seconds.
At the end of the day at 12.15 the first trip will be taken by MX2 class drivers, for whom the second trip is scheduled at 15.10. In MXGP class, the start of the first race will be at 13.15, but in the second – at 16.10.
The MXGP World Motocross Championship returned after a five-month hiatus. At the beginning of March, only two stages took place – the Grand Prix of Great Britain and the Netherlands. Now the biggest motocross stars Tim Gayser, Jeffrey Herlings, Antonio Kairoli and other riders will play three races on the Ķegums track during the week, competing for the Latvian, Riga and Ķegums Grand Prix.
In the MXGP class, Latvia will not be represented by the leading Finnish motorcyclist Pauls Jonas from the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna unit, who broke two ribs during training, injured his back and will not ride in Ķegums. Kārlis Sabulis and Matīss Karro will represent Latvia in the MXGP class in the Latvian MXGP class.
Herlings is the leader with 94 points after the two stages of the World Championship, the second place with 85 points is taken by the world champion Gaysers, and the third with 68 points is the seven-time MXGP class champion Antonio Cairoli. Jonas is given the 13th place with 26 points.
Lithuanian Armins Jasikonis, Jonas’ teammate, is in the high seventh place with 53 points. Estonians Hari Kullass and Tanels Leoks, who have won 11 and three points respectively, will also drive in Ķegums.
Jonas from the “Rockstar Energy Husqvarna” team last June took the 12th place in the ninth stage of the world championship season – Latvian “Grand Prix” – in the MXGP class on the “Golden Horse” track in Ķegums.
Slovenian Tim Gayser won, the second was the Frenchman Roman Fever, and the third place was won by the Swiss Arno Tonuss.
Meanwhile, in the MX2 class, the overall leader is Jago Gertts from Belgium, who has 43 points. He is followed by 40 points by Tom Vials from France and Mikels Harups from Denmark.
Latvian representatives will not compete in the MX2 class of 36 athletes.
The second, third and fourth rounds of the EMX250 championship are also taking place in the Latvian stage, as well as the three opening rounds of the brand new “EMX Open” class.
The first stage of the “EMX Open” class and the second stage of the EMX250 class ended on Saturday.
Latvian motocross rider Toms Macuks won both “EMX Open” class races, also becoming the winner of the stage. Macuks was 50 points ahead of Estonian Karel Kutsar with 44 points and Andero Lusbo, another Estonian driver, with 36 points.
Kārlis Kalējs ranked ninth with 25 points, but Arnolds Sņķers took 11th place with 16 points.
The best of the Latvian drivers in the second stage of the 250 cubic centimeter (EMX250) class of the European Championship was Thomas Šileika, who took the tenth place in the competition of 40 drivers with 15 points. Mairis Pumpurs was 23rd with six points, but Rainers Žuks was left without 26th place.
The victory was celebrated by the Frenchman Tibo Benistan with 47 points, who left behind the Italian Matiu Guadanini with 41 points and the Swedish Isaac Gifting with 40 points.
This season, the world championship has 18 stages, the third of which takes place this week in Ķegums.
The stage of the World Championship on the “Golden Horse” track will take place for the 11th time. The agreement on the world championship in Latvia is valid until 2020.
On the Ķegums track in Latvia, three consecutive stages of the FIM motocross world championship take place. Two more stages will take place from 10 to 12 and from 14 to 16 August.
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