The sandy surface of Valkenswaard will welcome a reduced-strength Team HRC this weekend, with just Evgeny Bobryshev fit for duty in front of the orange army in Holland.
Conspicuous by his absence will be Max Nagl, the qualifying race winner last time out in Bulgaria, who was involved in a multi-rider crash during testing in Holland last week.
Nagl broke the scaphoid in his right hand and suffered a slight metacarpal fracture in his left during the incident and is expected to be sidelined until mid-June.
Bobryshev is continuing his strong recovery since the back injury he sustained in the MXGP of Trentino and will be feeling stronger by the Grand Prix at which he took a second place finish and was third overall last year.
“Valkenswaard is one of my favourite tracks, and it’s also really near my house which is nice,” Bobryshev says. “I like sand tracks, and we had good results here last year.
“I feel much better in my back and ankle and have been able to get back on my fitness programme again and make some good preparation for this weekend. This is important for me as for the last GPs I couldn’t train properly, but now I am 100% back into my training again.
“It’s also a good feeling to be testing again with Team HRC. It’s always good to find a step-up during the season, and really quickly we can find improvements during these tests so it’s a very good way of working and means we are feeling confident.
Team HRC come to the Grand Prix also feeling stronger still, following another successful test with the CRF450RW earlier this week in Germany. All Honda-supported teams across the series’ categories were present as Honda strives to provide maximal support to them all.
A mixture of showers and sunny spells with temperatures nudging 20 degrees Celsius are expected, although heavy rain on an already demanding track could place a premium on fitness and strength in tricky racing conditions.
