Following on from Jeffrey Herlings’ opening round victory and Tom Vialle’s success in Switzerland last time out, Honda HRC PETRONAS will be hoping to add to their win tally with a victory in Sardinia, Italy at the deep sand track of Riola Sardo.

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The two GP wins – the first wins on Honda for both riders – have meant that Vialle and Herlings are second and third in the championship standings, however both of them are aware that they need to keep up their winning ways if they want a chance at adding to their championship totals of two and five respectively.

For Vialle, after a difficult Saturday, he bounced back on Sunday and showed not only could he lead from the front, but that he could make a lot of passes on a track that is notoriously hard to pass on. Whilst he didn’t have the best of luck on Easter Monday in a Dutch race, he will be hoping things go much more like they did in Switzerland when they line up in Riola Sardo.

Things went a lot better for Herlings who went one-one at a British Championship race in the UK on Sunday, before heading back home for the same race as Vialle in Heerde, Netherlands, which he also went one-one at. Four race wins in two days, in two different countries is an impressive achievement and should give the Dutchman some more confidence after an unlucky day in Switzerland last time out. The sandy Riola surface should also give him a boost as that is a surface he traditionally excels at.

Third MXGP class member, Ruben Fernandez had his best moto of the season, with a third in race one in Switzerland, but a possible podium visit slipped through his fingers as he wasn’t able to back that up in race two. Using that as motivation, the Spaniard has been working on his sand riding a lot over the course of the winter and will be trying to show his skills this weekend, where he’ll be aiming to get on the podium.

Valerio Lata also had a good round in Switzerland, showing speed and consistency to go three-five-four over the weekend races in the rutted conditions. Things will be a lot different on Sardinia – including 20-degree warmer weather conditions – but the Italian is prepared for this and really wants to do well in the first of this double-header on his home soil.

Overall, all four riders are entering into these two races with a lot of confidence and with high hopes that round four could be another successful event for Honda HRC PETRONAS.

Jeffrey Herlings: Been a busy “off” weekend from the GPs. I raced in England and won, then the next day I raced in Heerde and won, so it was nice to get some wins under my belt and just get some good gate drops against some top quality riders. Obviously the goal is to keep that going into the weekend, but really the main thing now is to score good points in all three races. So far I haven’t done that and it isn’t something I can continue to do if I want to challenge for the title, so that’s the goal in Sardinia. I’d also like to thank all the team who helped me this past weekend because it definitely wasn’t easy logistically, but they all made it happen.

Rubén Fernández: I was a little bit frustrated leaving Switzerland, because I felt I could have got on the podium if I could have matched my level from race one into race two. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that and instead I missed out by a few points. Now we have another sandy track, and although I don’t have such good memories, I do feel like my sand riding is improving and this weekend will be the chance to prove it. Overall, I feel like I am heading in the right direction, but I still want to show everyone some good results.

Tom Vialle: Heerde definitely didn’t go to plan, and never really got a good rhythm in race one, and then race two ended before I even got a chance to do better. Thankfully I’m all okay and excited to head to Sardinia and try and win another GP. I am very happy with how the season is going, but there is always room to improve and I know that there are a lot of good sand riders so this weekend will be a tough one, but I’m extremely motivated.

Valerio Lata: Switzerland was good, but I can’t afford to relax because there is still things I can do better and I know Riola Sardo will be a completely different experience. It is a deep sand track that will get very rough so the aim is to find my rhythm and just save as much energy as I can during the races so that I can push for the full 30 minutes plus two. I have worked in the winter to get better in these conditions so now we will see.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas - Honda HRC: While it has been a week-off from the GPs, it certainly hasn’t been a week-off for the team, as we continue to work hard to make sure we are fully prepared for these next to races. First up is a trip to Sardinia for Riola Sardo, and then the week after is our ‘home’ GP in Trentino. Both completely different challenges, but ones we are looking forward to, especially as we have already won two of the three MXGP rounds so far. The aim is to add to that tally and keep the momentum going.