In what was a day filled with ups and downs, Mitch Evans proved he can battle with the very best, leading a number of laps in race one, and then battling for the lead in race two at the MXGP of Turkey.
Unfortunately in both races, he was unable to maintain that level for the duration of the moto and he had to retire from race two after a huge crash just before the finish line.
“It seems like every time I’m making progress, something happens and I lose that work,” Evans lamented. “In the first race, it felt great to lead the field for the first half and I was riding really well. Unfortunately, I hit a bit of a wall, and I couldn’t maintain that level and I dropped down the standings. Then in race two, I once again got a good start and was battling for the lead, when I hit big bump just before the finish line and crashed. Thankfully I am just battered and bruised, so now I just need to have a few days to just relax and recover, before I head to America and try to win the Motocross of Nations with Team Australia.”
Marcus Pereira de Freitas – HRC General Manager – MXGP, added, “A great effort! For Mitch, we really thought he could achieve his goal of a podium, and for the first part of race one it looked really likely. However, we are still proud of his efforts because he never gave up and put in all the work necessary to get back to the front of the field. The results might not always show it, but he is one of the best motocross riders on the planet and we really hope he can put it all together at the Motocross of Nations.”
With a couple of weeks off before the Motocross of Nations, the Australian has time to rest up and recover, before preparing himself for what is the biggest event on the motocross calendar, when the ‘Olympics of Motocross’ takes place in RedBud, United States on September 24-25.
