Mitch Evans has continued his strong form at the MXGP of the Czech Republic with two finishes just outside the top five to give him seventh overall as he closes in on the championship top 10.
Evans continues to show clear signs that his recovery from last year’s wrist injury is almost complete. After his season-best performance in Indonesia, the Australian came in looking to continue his good form and keep pushing towards the podium positions.
After a second in timed practice, things were certainly trending in that direction and a sixth in race one gave him another opportunity to get his best points tally of the season.
A great first lap put the Australian in fifth position, and despite pressure from behind, he maintained his pace and looked well on course to match those results from the previous round. Unfortunately, near the end of the race, the hard, bumpy track took its toll on his hands and blisters caused him to drop a couple of places. Seventh was still a great result and there were a lot of positives to take away from his first motos at the Czech facility. Evans now sits just outside the top ten in the championship standings with eleventh.
“Overall I am happy with how the races went, going six-seven for seventh overall,” Evans said. “Whilst the results weren’t quite as good as my results in Indonesia, I felt that I was able to keep the pace of the top guys, and other than the end of the second moto when I had really bad blisters, I felt like I was doing a good job of matching their speed. I was in fifth for the majority of that second moto and if I would have stayed there, I would have been fifth overall so it is all positive. Now I have to let my hands heal a bit before heading to Lommel and doing my first ever laps on that track this coming weekend.”
Evans will be in for another physical test and another new experience when he takes on the deep sands of Lommel next weekend.
