It seems that Evgeny Bobryshev had some extra motivation to claim a decent result at Losail in Qatar last weekend.
The HRC rider joked with mechanic Dominique Alleaume that the technician would have to shave his lengthy beard if the Italian Elite Champion finished on the podium with the works CRF450RW. There was also an added bonus. “I had pressure from my mechanic because if I made the podium then I could shave his beard. If I won it would have been his head also!” the friendly Russian revealed.
Bobryshev did not drop out of the top two classifications through free practice, timed practice, the qualification heat (which he won for Pole) and the first moto where he was beaten by brand-mate Tim Gajser. Only a small crash when he clipped a stone in the second moto dropped him to third behind Romain Febvre and his lowest position of the meeting.
#777 has been in mean form so far in 2016 after making significant strides with his training and preparation in the winter. His capabilities with the factory HRC machine was in stark contrast to that of team-mate Gautier Paulin who could only struggle to 10th in the first moto and DNF-ed the second race to take some of the gloss from Honda’s double podium appearance at the first round.
“It was good riding today and good positions for a first race,” said Bobby who also seemed a little disappointed not to have figured more significantly for the win. “The track was a bit rougher in the second moto but we put a good bike together and did a lot of testing so we were ready for it.”
