Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tanel Leok and Manuel Priem mix it up in round five of the FIM MX1 World Championship held at Mantova in Italy.
Rain once more hit the MX1 Motocross World Championships with the Italian GP being the fourth race out of five to be affected by damp conditions. Luckily the Mantova circuit is mostly sand, which meant the racing on the jump-filled circuit situated in an amphitheatre type setting in downtown Mantova was as excellent as ever.
After identifying a problem with the riders not getting great starts on their factory KX450F-SRs Tanel, Manuel and the entire KRT team worked hard on finding a solution to solve the problem. And with much better starts made by both riders in both races it seems the team have taken a vast step in the right direction.
But even though Manuel was able to gate in the top-10 this week, the resulting carnage of a first lap pile up in moto one meant that Manuel was physically unable to finish and clocked up his first – and hopefully only – DNF of the year.
“We changed a few things on the bike in order to help with the starts and it really seemed to help this weekend,” said Manuel. “In moto one I got a good start in about seventh or eighth place and then Bill made a mistake and went down. I had nowhere to go and I crashed too and then one or two guys hit me also. I was a little dizzy, my foot hurt and when I got back to my camper I realised my wrist was sore also.
“ My trainer taped my wrist up for the second race and at the start things were going well. I was able to pass Tanel and Ramon and I was very happy with my riding but then my thumb was starting to feel bad and I couldn’t hold on so well. From there I took it easy and I finished 10th. Now I have two weeks to get fit again in time for the British Grand Prix.”
Now back to full strength after his early season shoulder injury Tanel was on the gas so hard that the team deemed it necessary to fit a bigger fuel tank to his KX450F-SR as the Estonian is so aggressive with the throttle. Like Manuel, Tanel also found his starts were better although he still had plenty of passes to make on his way to the front of the pack.
“The starts were much better this week but even though in the first heat I was higher up the pack than I have been I found it difficult to ride my own race because all the time I was stuck behind someone and I was finding it difficult to pass.
“In the second race the conditions were real bad, I had to throw my goggles away and then it was even more difficult to pass. As soon as I passed Ramon I was able to really push on and then try and chase down Pourcel and Coppins. But then I had a big crash in the rhythm section and lost a little time but I was still able to finish eighth.
“Seventh in the first race and eighth in the second race is not so bad – they’re my best results this season except for in Bellpuig which was a strange race – and I feel like I’m starting to get there again after my injury.”
With Tanel’s 7-8 scorecard good enough to give the Estonian rider eighth overall on the day, Leok now holds 10th place in the championship with the possibility of climbing higher in the next few rounds.
Manuel’s unavoidable first race DNF means he slips to 14th place in the championship although with better starts and a little luck it’s possible he’ll be climbing back into the top 10 quite quickly.
The next round of the FIM World Motocross Championship – round six – takes place on June 1 at Mallory Park in Great Britain.
