The second round of the MXGP world championship at Valkenswaard last weekend was a tough one for the BOS GP pilot Evgeny Bobryshev. A streak of bad luck meant that he was unable to score points in either of the two motoās, but the Russian was determined to get things back on track in Spain. However, the GP at the Redsand circuit wasnāt without its adversity for Bobryshev. Despite those difficulties, he was able to display his true grit to fight for a top 15 result.
Evgeny scored another top ten place in qualifying this weekend, seeing him line up on Sunday with the ninth gate pick. Bobryshev was able steer clear of any first corner mishaps this time around, he completed the opening lap in 16th position. In the initial three laps Bobryshev was able to move his BOS GP machine forwards past the likes of Kevin Strijbos, Glen Coldenhoff and Maxime Desprey. With 25 minutes on the clock, Evgeny put his head down and focused on chasing down the reigning British Champion Graeme Irwin. After ten minutes of hard-charging Bobryshev was able to make the move on the Irishman to take over 12th place. A late surge in the final 10 minutes from Glen Coldenhoff saw Bobryshev drop back to 13th, but a similar push from the Russian in the final five saw him move past Jose Butron to reclaim that 12th place spot.
Disaster struck as moto two got underway. Bobryshev found himself on the floor and at the very back of the pack. The Russian remounted in 34th position, meaning that he had a tough mission ahead of him if he wished to score points in the final race of the day. The fast nature and relatively short lap time of the Redsand circuit meant that Evgeny had a steep hill to climb to the points paying positions. As the minutes ticked by Bobryshev was able to pick off his prey one by one. Halfway into the race the BOS GP racer had passed 11 riders to find himself in 23rd position. But he wasnāt done yet. Bobryshev continued pushing forwards to take over 21st with three laps left to go. With the points now tantalisingly close Evgeny continued his hard charge. A mistake from Jose Butron gifted Evgeny 20th position and a vital championship point. Bobryshev was just able to avoid being lapped by the lead pack to squeeze in one final lap of the track in which he was able to pick of Petar Petrov- his 15th pass of the race ā to ultimately finish in 19th position. These final two points were essential in giving Bobryshev his 14th place overall.
“I had a good day on Saturday, finishing ninth in the qualifying race,” said Bobryshev. “I was really looking forward to the race on Sunday, I was really happy with the track. I thought the track was really nice to ride and it suited my style. But on Sunday I didnāt get good starts in either of the motoās, we are missing the power on the bike.
“I was 14th at the start of race one and was able to come through to 12th. That was okay for me, for sure I wasnāt overly happy, but it was okay. The second race was more disappointing for me as I went down on the first corner and I had to come back from dead last. I was so far back after my crash, even from the guy in 33rd. I made it to only 19th after pushing so hard for the whole moto. I was happy with my chassis and suspension after all the testing we did last week but we still need to find more horsepower on the bike. We are missing a lot of power which makes racing and especially starts difficult for me. The other boys are just pulling away from me on the straights and even in the deep sandy corners I feel like Iām missing something there.
“I have to really fight hard to keep close to those guys and that makes my race a lot more difficult. But thatās just how it is, Iām fighting as hard as I can and hopefully we are going to receive a new engine soon and that will help me get those good starts, battle closer to the front, and use less energy. We need more power and the team are working on it, so hopefully weāll have the performance we are looking for soon.”
