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MX2, Lommel, BELGIUM, 6 Août 2017

Two gusty rides for Darian Sanayei

Darian Sanayei put in two gutsy points-scoring rides for Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki in the Belgian round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship at the legendary Lommel sand track.

The racing conditions encountered at Lommel are unlike anything encountered anywhere in the USA and was the scene of a devastating defeat for the Americans in the world team championship five years ago; it to Darian’s credit that he was able to adapt as well as he did to the tough track. He already showed his resolve by posting the eleventh best time in a rain-affected timed session, but that quantum luck was missing during the races. Midfield starts made racing difficult; but Darian advanced from twenty-fourth to fifteenth in the opening moto before losing the rhythm so necessary for success at this track in race two. He was seventeenth in the race and the GP overall to secure his twelfth placed ranking in the championship standings.
 
Teammate Marshal Weltin inevitably found it even more difficult to master the conditions in this, his first season racing in Europe, but he persevered to finish twenty-fourth and twenty-seventh in the two points-scoring races.
 
Morgan Lesiardo and Stephen Rubini of the Monster Energy Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team encountered similar difficulties in the strange conditions; the Italian missed the points by the narrowest of margins each time as he finished twenty-first in each moto, but the French youngster was unable to start the second moto after taking a heavy blow to the thorax in race one when he crashed as he held down nineteenth position.
 
Darian Sanayei: “In the first practice session on Saturday I tried to get a good feeling with this new track and it wasn’t too bad, but some heavy rain fell during the timed practice period and we had to make a quick lap early in the session; I posted the eleventh best time before a big storm came in. The track was strange with so much water on it during the qualifying race; it was a little crazy, I fell and couldn’t restart my bike. In the first moto I had to come back from around thirtieth to fifteenth which was not so bad. In the second race I was around fifteenth at the start; I caught some guys in front of me but when Jonass and Paturel passed me they broke my rhythm a little bit and then I just tried to survive and finish the race. It’s definitively one of the toughest race I ever did in my career.”
 
Marshal Weltin: “Lommel was probably the most difficult race I did in my life, but I wanted to do it as it was a great opportunity for me during this first season in Europe. I wanted to take the opportunity to race here and it’s incredible to see how difficult the track is; I wasn’t really racing this weekend, it was just so extremely demanding. I want to thank the Dixon team who gave me this opportunity to race two GPs; their bike is great and the team is a great one. Next weekend in Switzerland I will be back in Team Bud Racing for the European series; I hope to get some good results there and I’m excited to be back racing with them.”