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Wilson Todd homes in on world top 10 with fifth in Italy
Bike It MTX Kawasaki’s Wilson Todd has moved to within three points of a top-10 ranking in the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship with two hard-charging rides to fifth overall at Pietramurata.
The Australian set himself up for a sparkling day after a solid seventh-fastest time in Qualifying by twice gating inside the top 10 and in both motos he showed his talent with smart decisive moves to make passes stick around the switchback raceway in the shadow of the Italian Dolomites. 10th, then ninth, through the first half of moto one he showed his strength and determination throughout the second half of the race to eventually finish seventh, and maintained that speed in race two. Eighth after the first few turns he moved forward to sixth within 10 minutes and continued to push forward to clinch fourth, his best result of the campaign, on the penultimate lap. The 32 points haul also earned fifth overall on the day and he heads to the final two rounds of the championship just three points shy of a top-10 world ranking at the end of the season.
Wilson Todd: “I felt good. I was inside the top 10 all day; Qualifying and both motos. I was coming forward, making passes to get into those positions. It’s an improvement; the more I race anywhere the more comfortable I feel. Two more to go, and I’m feeling confident."
F&H Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team’s Mikkel Haarup once more emphasised his speed during Qualifying; the Dane recorded three almost identical lap times to head the session initially, eventually earning second choice-of-gate for both GP races as only one other rider could match his pace. Unfortunately another rider crashed into him in the early stages of race one to push him out of the top-20 after he had advanced to 12th but he confirmed his pace and track skill to recover to 14th by the chequered flag. A better start in race two saw the Dane move into the top-10 already on the second lap and a series of exhilarating passes saw him follow Kawasaki colleague Wilson Todd up the leaderboard, a dramatic final push earning him fifth on the last lap. Eighth overall on the day, he has consolidated twelfth in the series points standings and also retains the chance of a world top-10 ranking at the end of the season.
Mikkel Haarup: “I felt good already from the word go out there today. We tried a few things in Free Practice and it paid off; I did three very quick times within the same second for P2 in Qualifying, and I was even P1 for a time, so I knew already that my pace was really good. I had a decent start in race one but another rider crashed into me and put me outside the top 20 before I came back to 14th. My riding was really positive and in the first few laps of race two I just stayed out of trouble after a decent start. Towards the end I was picking off guys to finish fifth. I had the speed today and hopefully we can improve even further next weekend in Mantova."