Bike it Yamaha Cosworth’s Max Anstie should have been celebrating his first Grand Prix success at the end of the evening at Losail in Qatar for the very first round of the MX2 FIM Motocross World Championship. The Brit was leading both 30 minute and 2 lap motos until a mechanical problem and a stall prevented a superb finale to a maiden outing in Blue.
In the event standings Christophe Charlier claimed tenth place overall. The Corsican was also at the wrong scale of fortune and was undone by some mediocre starts and barging on the opening laps of the motos. He rode to 12th in the first race after recovering from an early crash and did well in the second for 9th despite a stone breaking his goggles and causing a bloody (and painful) nose.
Petar Petrov was on the pace and the Bulgarian set impressive lap-times in the opening dash despite being forced to the ground by another rider who had fallen in front of him. The Bulgarian had to restart from last place and buried his YZ250F back to 16th. Moto2 saw Petar fighting to pass Glenn Coldenhoff but the rippling bumps and squared-edge holes of the hard-pack limited his overtaking possibilities. He was 11th for 13th overall.
Australian Champion Luke Styke was unable to compete due to the debilitating effects of a viral infection. Si Racha will host the Grand Prix of Thailand next weekend for the second year in a row.
