The Molson Kawasaki team celebrate in Portugal as Stephen Sword’s run of good form continues with the Scotsman scoring fourth place overall while Frenchman Gautier Paulin edges into the top-10
Just one week after the wet, windy and muddy mess of Bellpuig perfect track conditions and hot and sunny weather greets riders, teams and fans alike for round three of the FIM Motocross World Championship at Agueda in Portugal.
With Gareth Swanepoel still on the sidelines as he recovers from wrist surgery it’s up to Molson teamsters Stephen Sword and Gautier Paulin to represent the team in MX2 on their factory KX250F-SRs.
After qualifying well the team’s expectations of good results are high and those expectations are raised when Paulin and Sword enter turn one of moto one at the head of the pack. After being forced wide by Tommy Searle the pair settle inside the top five and are ideally placed for good points scoring rides and neither racer disappoints.
“In the first heat I got a great start between Gautier Paulin and Tommy Searle who was on the inside and kind of pushed us wide,” said Sword. “Antonio Cairoli and Tyla Rattray came past me and I stuck on the back of them for a good while and I was running good lap times – 1:48s – but eventually they were able to break away. I feel like I’m lacking confidence at the moment and it’s costing me probably a second a lap at the moment but that’s gonna come. I finished fourth in the end which I’ve got to be happy with.”
Paulin was also satisfied with his first race in dry conditions this year. “In the first race I took a good start and I rode okay,” claimed Gautier. “In some places I was riding a little bit too slow and I wasn’t jumping the uphill triple so I was losing some time there also. In the last few laps I had a problem with my rear brake – a stone damaged the brake hose – which also didn’t help but I was still able to finish ninth which I’m quite happy with.”
The pace in moto two seemed even hotter than in the opener and Sword had to fight hard for a fifth place finish on a much rougher track than in the first race. “I was fourth at the start of the second race behind Rattray for a good while – the first two had gone – and then I sort of lost contact with him and had Aubin quite close behind me giving me some grief but then I broke him and thought I had a safe fourth until I washed out on a corner over at the back.
“Luckily I kept the engine running and I didn’t lose too much time. Aubin seemed to have a second wind because Tommy crashed and I think he could see him ahead and I knew Rui Goncalves was around six or seven seconds behind so I knew I had a safe fifth and some good points in the bag with fourth overall.
“It was always gonna be hard to get a podium here but fourth is good and I’ve bumped myself up a few places in the championship and I feel now that I’m well on my way to being regularly up at the front.”
Paulin had a tougher time in moto after not getting such a good start but he fought hard and hung tough to finish 11th.
“In moto two I found a good rhythm and was pushing hard – my position in the race wasn’t better but I felt my riding was. The track was rough but my bike was handling perfectly and the power was good also. After today I’m very excited for the rest of the championship and my motivation to do well is at 100 per cent.”
Molson Kawasaki’s satellite MX1 rider Tom Church unfortunately failed to qualify on his KX450F after being bumped out of a qualifying position in the final minute of the timed practice session just one week after scoring his best ever MX1 GP result in Spain. “I’m obviously very disappointed,” said Tom. “Not qualifying for a GP is one of the worst feelings in the world and it’s difficult to describe how I’m feeling right now. All I can do is to put this behind me and concentrate on the future – some of my favourite tracks in the series are coming up and I know I can finish top-10 again like I did last weekend.”
The FIM Motocross World Championship continues in two weeks time with round four at Sevlievo in Bulgaria on May 11th.
