Max Anstie secured third place in the final standings of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship with fifth overall in the American series finale at Glen Helen aboard the Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki.
Although forced to start both GP motos from an outside gate after misfortune during qualification the Englishman rode a terrific first race to advance from 14th on the opening lap to pass his series rival on the run-in to the chequered flag for a deserved fourth place.
The late pass also secured third in the championship, and Max had high hopes of a resounding end to the series as he rounded the first turn close behind the leaders in moto two, but a fall at the second corner meant that he once again had to race from the back of the pack to finish the moto eighth and the GP fifth.
Petar Petrov of the Monster Energy Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team was inevitably handicapped by a neck injury sustained one week earlier in Mexico, but the tough Bulgarian persevered through the pain to finish both motos and the GP in 11th position to retain 10th place in the final championship standings.
US teenager Thomas Covington had a disappointing home GP one week after his sensational victory in Mexico. He was advancing rapidly through the pack in race one to hold seventh place until a mistake put him downfield to 12th. A top three start in race two gave high hopes of another podium result to end the season, but a collision further round the opening lap left him a long way back in 19th position. He eventually crossed the line 17th for 13th overall in the GP and 12th place in the final series standings.
Wild card rider Chris Alldredge of Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki secured an impressive second place in the opening moto but was delayed by a crash on the opening lap of race two and finished thirteenth. The young American was sixth overall in the GP. “We had some issues on Saturday during the qualifying race, so I didn’t had such a good position on the gate for the GP races,” said Max Anstie. “I did the best I could and fifth overall is not too bad, now I’ll go back to work to prepare for the MX of Nations next weekend.
“In the first moto I felt pretty good; I had a normal start but was a long way back after a few corners and pushed hard but when you have a bad qualifying result that makes life harder for Sunday. We changed a few things between the races and I got a much better start in moto two, but I went down in the second turn. It was tough as I lost a lot of time on the ground.”
“After my neck injury in Mexico I couldn’t train this week; it was okay on the bike on Saturday but in the night my neck was pretty sore,” Petar Petrov said. “Overall it was not too bad, but since Mexico everything went wrong and I’m glad the season has finished.
“We didn’t finish the season as well as I had hoped but I’m tenth in the standings despite missing two rounds and changing team during the season. Overall I’m quite happy and really thankful to Kawasaki and Monster Energy; it’s been really challenging and now it’s time to have a break and then start working again. It’s great to continue with the same team, I’m really happy here and we’ll have time this winter to do more testing together The goal next season is to be top five; I have shown that that I have the speed, even today, but it was not so easy.”
“It was a bummer here in Glen Helen for my home GP,” commented Thomas Covington. “In the first moto I got a bad start but I did my job and had good lap times but then I made a mistake. I wanted to do so good here with all my family around us and I pushed too hard. In the second moto I was third after a few corners but then another rider came in the inside of me and we crashed; it wasn’t exactly the way we wanted to finish the season, but that’s it and now we’ll take a few days off. I really appreciate what the team did for me during the last two seasons; they supported me in the good and bad weekends, they helped me a lot to become a professional rider and I want to thank again both Kawasaki and Monster Energy for their support.”
