Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna’s Max Nagl fills us in on his fight back to the front of the pack…
Two sixth positions was another step back towards the front of the MXGP class for Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna’s Max Nagl at Assen last weekend. The German admitted in the paddock after the race that he has been weathering a tough period in his career after holding the red plate as series leader for six Grands Prix, winning three rounds and standing on the podium five times for the first six races and then succumbing to injury. The broken ankle he sustained in the qualification heat for round 10 in Germany effectively ended his ambitions and sparked a four race absence. Since returning for the GP of Lombardia three weeks ago the 28 year old has been trying to get back on track.
“Saturday in Assen was a disaster and I could not get going with the track. We changed so much with the set-up and ended up going back to our original setting. I was also struggling mentally because the season had started so well and I had to quit for injury. I wanted to come back in Sweden and the doctors said no, I wanted to train and be back for Czech Republic and again they said no. It seemed like every time I was getting ‘hit’ and it brought me down,” he said.
“Mantova was good on Saturday but on Sunday I was making mistakes and my training had not been going that well in the last few weeks,” he continued. “It has been tough to enjoy riding.”
Resolve came in the form of IceOne Team Manager Antti Pyrhonen Saturday evening in Holland. “I had a good talk with Antti on Saturday here about things on my mind and I was a lot better for the races and two sixth positions was okay. I was missing a bit of speed and physical condition but I’m pleased that I did not make any mistakes.”
Nagl commented that he wants to use the final two Grands Prix to get fully up to speed so that he can begin early shakedown tests on the 2016 FC450. Husqvarna had been running the new FC250 in MX2 since round four earlier this year but Nagl resisted the transition after finding a good blend with the ’15 model. Now he is set to switch: “We have the plan now that after the Des Nations we will do two weeks of testing on the ’16 bike.”
