While riders had to cope with a soggy, sandy surface on Saturday, conditions greatly improved on race day. Dry weather, sunshine and an enthusiastic crowd welcomed the riders for their first big test of the year.
Tanel Leok immediately impressed with the ease and efficiency he showed in his riding all weekend long.

The likable Estonian topped the time tables of the first two free practice sessions on Saturday and was only held back by a flat tire in the MX1 Qualifying race. The good form of Tanel continued on Sunday. Slipping from his footpegs whilst lying in fifth in the opening heat resulted in a crash and broken handlebars.

The LS Motors-Honda rider was forced to retire. However the ‘Estonian Express’ bounced back with inspired outings in the second and third race. Leok ran a similar pace to frontrunner Cairoli and pushed Clément Desalle all the way to the wire to come home third.

In his competitive debut on the Honda CRF450R Tanel saved the best for last with a brilliant start to finish win in the final moto ahead of Desalle and Cairoli. In contrast to his team mate, Davide Guarneri never felt comfortable on the tough Mantova track.

The 24 year-old Italian had a hard time to get into the rhythm on Saturday. Improvement came on Sunday when Davide climbed up from a dismal start in the opening moto to finish 15th overall and 13th in the MX1 class. Unfortunately Guarneri went down in the start of the second moto, hurting his elbow in the process. First examinations didn’t show a fracture, but Davide decided to pull out of the event.

Tanel Leok: ”This is a nice way to start the season! Overall I’m really happy with my weekend. I felt good on the bike and my speed was okay as well. I thought it was a bit strange what they did with the approach of the jumps: so steep. It was like jumping to the moon! But that was the same for everyone of course. And Mantova is always a nice event with a good crowd and cool races. For the moment I’m happy with my shape, the bike and team. This result gives us a nice base to start from. I can’t wait for the season to begin!”

Davide Guarneri: “I had liked to get a good result at home, but it turned out to be a weekend quickly to forget about! The conditions were pretty demanding this weekend. My position on the gate was bad so it was tough to get a strong start. In the second moto I collided with another rider in the first corner. I injured my elbow, but it’s just sore and not as bad as it first seemed to be.”

Marnicq Bervoets, racing manager: “Both Tanel and Davide have worked really hard over the winter. One one hand this paid this already paid off for Tanel in Mantova with good results. So congratulations to Tanel on his strong start! Obviously this is only the beginning and I’m sure there’s still room for improvement. On the other hand, I think Davide hasn’t approached an important race like the Starcross like he could have. He had a bad crash in Mantova before, and he was a little bit hesitant about the track. But you can’t let that interfere with how you set off for such an event. We’re happy his injury is not so bad, hopefully he will learn from the experience.”