F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo defied no-fault collisions in both motos of the twelfth-round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship at Samota-Sumbawa in Indonesia to claim sixth overall.
The Norwegian was not the only rider to be caught out by the unpredictable surface of loose volcanic ash on top of sharp-edged ruts during the early laps of race one as a couple of “moments” saw him pushed back from fourth to sixth but he soon regrouped strongly. He was significantly faster than the riders around him as he advanced back up the leaderboard until a collision as he went for an outside-pass on the rider in third cost fifteen seconds and saw him relegated once more to seventh. Relentlessly reeling the leaderboard riders back in he was back to fifth within four laps but the front-four had escaped and he sensibly saved energy for race two through the final laps in the hot and humid conditions. A fifth-placed start was soon negated in race two as he was shunted from behind in a sharp turn. Rejoining the race last, and with the front brake lever damaged in the incident, the Scandinavian showed his resilience as he pushed despite the handicap to salvage seventh place by the close. His determination earnt sixth overall on the day and confirms his fourth place in the series points standings.
Kevin Horgmo: “The first two or three corners off the start were really difficult and slippery for everyone; there were people all over the place but my riding was good and I was back to fourth until I crashed with another rider. Without that for sure I could have been third. At the start of the second race I made a small mistake in the waves and couldn’t double into the following turn so I decided to cut into the inside; the rider behind me didn’t realise, jumped into my rear wheel and we crashed. The front brake lever snapped off in the crash, so I had to ride the entire race with no brake. Now we have the long trip home but I hope my recovery will go fast and I can get some good bike training ready for Loket. “
Jed Beaton showed good pace during the first half of race one as he advanced from eighth to sixth but the Australian ran out of energy in the heat during the final fifteen minutes to be pushed back to tenth at the chequered flag. The second moto was difficult from the word go but he persevered to finish fourteenth for twelfth overall. He remains seventeenth in the championship standings.
Jed Beaton: “The layout of the track looked really nice when we arrived even though it’s rocky underneath. I ran up front for twenty minutes in the first moto – that was really positive – but then the heat got to me so I went into the second race on the back foot as I’m still not back to 100%. “
