Fly Away Feelings

With the opening four fly away rounds in Qatar, Indonesia, Argentina and Mexico now out of the way, as the riders prepare for the European leg of the FIM Motocross World Championship, we thought it might be an idea to ask some of the riders of their experiences on these trips.

American rider Thomas Covington, from the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory team, won last weekend in Mexico, and he loves the fly-away events, while he didn’t love all the stops, he did try and learn from his travels.

“I think Indonesia was the one that stood out the most" Covington said "it was a new place and I had never been there before. The weather was unfortunate and unlucky, I will remember that one for a while. I have never ridden a track that was so gnarly. Qatar and Argentina, I like both those tracks and Argentina is my favourite Grand Prix of the year. My dad and I spent a couple of days after the race going fly fishing. We will probably do that again next year. It was a trip of a life-time.”

For HRC Factory rider Evgeny Bobryshev, a travel bug knocked him out between Indonesia and Argentina, but he was still able to put together a podium, finish in round three. Sickness throughout the weekend in Argentina didn’t make the trip as enjoyable as some of his competitors, but he made the most of a bad situation.

“When I got back from Indonesia,” Bobryshev said. “I had one day rest and then on Thursday I tried to ride. I was really feeling bad, I had no energy. On Friday I just spent all day in bed. In the morning, my temperature was 35 and I had no energy, and it was like that until the day before I left for Argentina. So, I was in bed, just visiting doctors and then I had a fever. When I got to Argentina, my energy was feeling better, but then I suddenly had so much pain in my stomach. I called my doctor, who said I should take pain killers. Also, during qualification I had pain in my stomach and I didn’t expect to do so well on Sunday. It’s hard to believe, I didn’t ride for two weeks, I was really sick, and I get on the podium.”

Double GP winner in the MX2 class, Pauls Jonass also loved Argentina, and he spent some quality time before the Grand Prix, just checking out waterfalls and other sights.

“You know,” Jonass said “Going to Argentina I was already excited, because it’s a nice place, nice track and a good organization. We arrived onThursday, so we did some stuff, stayed at the hotel and then went for walk on Friday in the mountains. We really enjoyed it there, I love the place. It’s nice to go so far. I am so happy going there and the nature is so beautiful, I want to go back there.”

Now the riders will head to Pietramurata in Italy, for the fifth round of the MXGP and MX2 championships, and a chance to enjoy some of the most beautiful scenery in the 19-round series.

Author:

Geoff Meyer