All the best 450 and 250 riders in the World lined up in Turkey this last week to battle for the biggest prize in motocross, the MXGP and MX2 championships. A number of riders impressed and here is what many of them had to say about todays races. Roman Borak image

Jeffrey Herlings: “I started the day strong with Pole Position and it was important to be on the inside of the gate here, especially against Jorge! The first race was good, and busy! I could not really attack because I had Tim [Gajser] behind me and I had to defend my line but at the same time I had a bit more speed on Romain [Febvre]. It was so hard to pass on this track. I managed to hold second until the last lap but then Romain made a mistake and I had the win handed to me, so it was a bit of a gift. In the second moto I was looking for lines but again I had to defend and attack at the same time with Jorge and Tim. Tim was faster the second moto. I was struggling a bit with grip. The track got hard and slick and I had a few sketchy moments so at one point I decided to settle for second and minimize the risk. I knew I had the GP win, my 93rd. It’s been a good day and two good races here in Turkey. I want to thank Red Bull KTM for the great bike they gave me.”

Tony Cairoli: “Today I felt a bit better from the Timed Practice, which has been hard for me lately and also makes the starts more difficult. I was a bit too wide in the first turn for both motos and had to use a lot of energy to come back. I’m happy overall: the speed is there, the fitness is there and I just need to figure out the starts better and try to stay nearer the front. I found a good flow, especially in the second moto and just a small mistake meant the guys in front got away. It’s good to finish on the podium but I want more. I really like the track in Sardinia. With a one day race it won’t get too rough but it will be hot, which is good for me. I hope we can have some public because motorsport is pretty big there.”

Tom Vialle: “I didn’t have a good flow in the first moto and I had some bad lines in Sector 4. That’s where Maxime [Renaux] passed me. For some reason I felt very tired by mid-moto. We had a big gap on 3rd place so I just rode out the race and saved some energy. I gave everything I had in the second moto to try and win. It was good! The title is pretty much done for me this season because of the injury but I still want to come back as high as I can in the championship. That’s my goal and to try and ride as much at the front as possible. I’m really happy to have won both races here in Turkey and I feel good at the moment. Let’s move to the next race!”

Mattia Guadagnini: “I’m not too happy about today. I felt great on the track and set the second-best lap-time in the morning, being very close to the Pole. I still had two good starts and just missed a bit of flow and fast riding in the first ten minutes. I tried to overtake more in the second race but some others were passing me! I was making the situation worse. I didn’t have the pace of the front two today but I’m pleased to be back on the podium, which is also important for the championship. I want to be better and hopefully in the next weeks we can be back fighting for the win.”

Tim Gajser: I really enjoyed myself in that second moto, I felt so comfortable on the bike and I found the flow of the track without pushing over the limit. Of course, I am a little disappointed in the first moto, to have lost a position so close to the end of the race and in the end, this cost me the overall but it was nice to be able to show my speed and make some nice passes in that second moto and win with a solid gap. Now I will prepare for Riola Sardo which will be a completely different challenge as it is deep sand, but I have ridden there a lot these last few years so I am looking forward to it. A big thank you to the team for working so hard in this break and thank you to everyone who has wished me a ‘happy birthday’, it was a great day.

Maxime Renaux: “The main goal is to keep extending the lead, and we managed to do that today. I am happy with that, but I also have to say I am a little bit disappointed that I finished second today because I am here to win, and second in the second race meant I was only second today and I wanted to win. I felt I could have won but I had a small problem in the second moto with the lens coming out of the goggles at the bottom because I was hit by a rock off the back wheel of Tom (Vialle). No excuses, though. I am really happy to have a 49-point lead in the championship, so I will keep building from here.

Thibault Benistant: “I felt better today than I did in the weekend at the last GP here. I struggled a little bit to get a good lap time this morning, but in the races, I felt really good. The starts were quite difficult because of my time in qualifying. I had to start really far outside. I still managed in the second race to have a good start, but I wasn’t riding like I know I can in the second moto, so I lost one position to Jed (Beaton) and finished fourth. Sometimes we have days like these. Fourth is not so bad.”

Romain Febvre: “I’m so disappointed as I spoilt my day with this crash in race one. After the crash of Prado I was leading all the race but then I crashed myself on the last lap. I missed a good opportunity to win a moto and gain points over my rivals but finally I crossed the finish line in fourth. Second moto my start was average. I had a good feeling at the beginning but then I started to feel tired; as you know I was sick on Sunday and I simply didn’t have time to recover between the two GPs. I just missed the podium with a fourth position but I scored good points again and we stay close in the points. Now I go back home and my first goal will be to recover and prepare for the next rounds of the series."

Jorge Prado: “I’m happy I could walk away from that crash. It was a big one. I got kicked by one bump and then went into some others. I took too long to get up and luckily the bike was OK, I tried to come back and take some points but the other guys were too far. In the second moto I knew I needed a great start. Everything was hurting! I was feeling OK on the track and had a couple of nice battles. Tony and myself got into a good rhythm and I did my best laps at the end. I had a small dip around minute 20-25 which was difficult because the guys passed me. 4th was the best I could do. We got some points after losing some earlier on. I was very lucky today.”

Jed Beaton: “It was good to end the trip to Turkey with a solid result but crashing twice in the first moto was really frustrating. The first one wasn’t my fault but the second one was, I just tucked the front in a turn. After that I wanted to get out the gate and battle up front in race two, which I did, and I ended up third in the moto. That gave me fifth-overall and some decent points. My starts have been really good recently and my bike’s working really well, so now I can just focus on the races and doing my best in each moto.”

Kay de Wolf: “Another good and consistent day on the hardpack for me. I felt really good on the bike in qualifying and it was the same in the races. I had good starts in both motos although I ran a little wide in the first turn in race one, which cost me some positions. Then in race two it was a shame that I slipped off as I was having a good battle for fifth. It was a little frustrating, but I was able to get back up quick and finish eighth which wasn’t so bad. Two top-10 finishes, just like last weekend, so I’m leaving Turkey happy and looking forward to the sand in Sardinia.”

Thomas Kjer Olsen: “It was a good day for me with a top-10 overall result. I’m getting back to where I should be and I felt good today. My starts were good and when you’re up front, you can ride your own lines and that makes the races so much easier as you’re not trying to make passes while riding defensively. It’s nice to be heading back to base following a good result here in Turkey and I’m looking forward to the next one, to keep this momentum going.”

Arminas Jasikonis: “A difficult day I would say. I wasn’t totally recovered from the last GP on Sunday and I’m still using each GP to build up my race fitness. It’s frustrating to be battling down the field and I need to be qualifying better, really. I was starting on the outside where the dirt is deeper and softer whereas on the inside it was firmer, so you could get the power down better. So that’s something I’ll be working on before the next GP, my qualifying speed. I’ve shown that I can be inside the top-10 earlier this season so now it’s just a case of bringing it all together again on race day.”

Jago Geerts: The first heat was pretty good. I started ninth and was able to work my way up to fourth in the end and I was really happy with that. In the second race, I was just not riding good. I had a bad start and then a crash and finished 11th, so I am not happy with that. There is not a lot more I can say. I will just work hard to be better at the next GP.

Rene Hofer: “It was a little bit up-and-down today. I made a mistake with my fastest Quali lap and that’s why I was only 9th and my last attempt was ruined by another rider. It meant I was quite far outside for the starts and the first one was average. I lost some positions in the second turn and I was battling for 5th and couldn’t quite get past Wilson Todd. I then had some bad arm-pump and lost a few positions. It was a terrible race. In the second moto I found quite a good rhythm. I was close to overtaking [Thibault] Benistant for 3rd a few times and had a nice battle to take 5th again. Three top five results from four so, in general, quite OK but I’m not super-happy. It was another step in the right direction and we are definitely getting closer to the podium places. In the championship we are also not too far from the top five. We’ll keep working to have a good second half of the season.”

Jed Beaton: "I got off to a pretty decent start in the first moto and made some quick moves. I got a bit of arm pump, then I got put down by another rider. I already had a bit of arm pump – it was not the best. I was riding around and crashed again, after the pit lane, so it was a shocking race. I feel like I got a bit of a redemption in the second one though. It just would have been nice to start with the guys out front, because I saw that the gap stayed the same once I got into third.

Kay de Wolf: "I was eighth in time practice, so did not have the best gate pick in both motos. I had a good start in the first moto, but messed up a little bit in the first turn and went too wide. I had some difficult first laps – I managed to get P7 though. I had a really good start in the second moto, but made a little mistake and had to pick myself up. I got an eighth in that second moto and ninth overall. A positive day again.

Wilson Todd: “Qualification wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t too bad with sixth; I was on the same second as pole and could still have cleaned up a few things up in my riding. It makes all the difference to be more inside at the gate; I’m going to most of the tracks for the first time so I usually have to spend practice learning the track. But after being here already on Sunday I was more prepared for today. I made some good passes on the first lap of race one and I’ll take fifth. The second race I was a bit further out the back at the start; there was a bit of chaos going on and I was a bit slower to get around slower guys on the first lap. After that it was hard to make a pass in the heat. “

Mathys Boisrame: “This GP started well with a fourth position in the timed practice session. We had done some good work on the bike during the two days between racing after my starts were not as good as usual on Sunday. In the first moto I got a very good start and was third for a long time, but then I made a small mistake; it was my fault but I was winded and had to slow down. I felt fit again for the second moto but I had a very big crash at the start and had pain in my back. I was way last when I could carry on but I pushed until the end and even managed my best time on the very last lap. My riding was good, but again we had minor setbacks which cost me a good result; that’s frustrating but I will never stop working."

Pauls Jonass: “Not my best day, but not the worst! I’m a little sore from my crash on Wednesday but when I’m on the bike it’s all good. The track was a little sketchy and I wasn’t too confident pushing too hard, so I focused on consistent riding and I would say it paid off with a fifth and a sixth in the races. Having said that, in the second moto I picked up on some good lines towards the end but by then it was too late. It’s cool though, back to the sand in Riola Sardo next week so that should be a good one.”

Brian Bogers: “A bit of a frustrating day today as in the first moto I crashed on the start, so that wasn’t good. After that I felt good and I was working my way up to the front, but then a rock hit my nose and I got a little dizzy from that. I finished 17th and scored a few points, though. In the second moto I had a good jump off the start, but I messed it up in the first two corners and I was pushed back to 15th. I came through for 10th at the finish so that wasn’t too bad. It’s a shame that I couldn’t put two solid races together, but I am happy with my riding second moto. We will bounce back in Riola Sardo in the sand though, I’m really looking forward to that one.”

Simon Langenfelder: “In the lead up to this race I suffered from food poisoning so before the motos I knew it was going to be a bit of a struggle. I was lacking a little bit of energy however once in the races I think the adrenalin took over. It seems like we’re all riding at a similar pace in MX2, which makes it hard to pass but it’s the same for everyone. I’m happy to be leaving Turkey with some solid points from the two GPs, not my best results but once I’m back to full fitness I hope to be battling inside the top-10 again.”

Isak Gifting: “I was hoping for more today after the setting we found last weekend. Unfortunately, I seem to be struggling in qualifying, which means I don’t get a great gate pick. This is something that I’ll be working on ahead of the next GP as I showed I can run the pace today. I was happy with seventh in moto two and that’s where I should be every weekend, or better.”

Mikkel Haarup: “It was a difficult day for us but I tried my best; the results didn’t show it but I was pleased with my effort. I think I was dead last at the start of race one, moved forward a few places, made a small mistake, lost them all and took them back again before the finish. I felt my riding was good and I’m looking forward to Sardinia. “

Henry Jacobi: ‘’I scored already a few top ten positions this year but wasn’t able to ride two consistent motos. Due to this the pressure was high for the second moto but the riding went well and I have ridden a consistent race. Together with the team we are working hard to make progress and we try to be better in every Grand Prix.’’

Jeremy Seewer: "I thought I was going to have a good day, but it was a disaster. I pushed as much as I could for two motos on Sunday and I was pretty stiff, so that took a while to go away. I just could not manage. I started off really well in the first moto, but crashed on the fastest corner on the track. I just lost everything after that. I was nearly dead last in the second moto, but came back to P13."

Glenn Coldenhoff: "Really difficult day. We tried a few things in the morning and it didn't really work out, so we put everything back to what I am used to and it was much better. In the first race I ended up completely off track. I lost 10 positions, I think. Still, it was a good moto because I fought my way back to eighth on a track where there was almost nowhere to pass. In the second race, my start was not great and I struggled with my breathing. I crashed and from there on I had nothing left."
  
Ben Watson: "I just felt a bit lost all day. Not worse than Sunday, but on a similar level. I really struggled in qualifying and the start is unfair here, so I was all of the way on the outside. I was top ten in the first moto, which was a good start from where I was, and I just followed. That was the first race. I just had no connection to the track. The second moto was no better. It was just not my day."