Bikesportnz

New Zealand’s Dylan Walsh continues his MXGP learning curve as he races for the JM Honda Racing Team in Europe.

The British-born Kiwi had a bent clutch lever to deal with in the first race, but scored a solid 14th in the second moto of the GP of Lombardia, round nine of the FIM Motocross World Championships in Mantova, Italy, at the weekend.

Walsh is now 25th overall in the world series standings, despite not having joined the team and therefore not having contested the first four rounds of the championships earlier this year.

The first leg of the weekend’s Mantova triple header presented riders with very different weather conditions than those in Faenza two weeks earlier.

In much cooler weather and under rain-threatening skies the JM Honda Racing rider battled on the compact Italian track famous for its shallow sand surface.

In what was his fifth participation in the premier class, Walsh managed to pull off his best time practice session yet. Less than three seconds behind pole-winner Tim Gajser, Walsh qualified 19th.

After a solid start, Walsh started to move forward and circulated 13th when his progress was halted due to a mistake on lap three.

Unfortunately his clutch had been bent in a tussle and the damage forced him to retire eventually. Walsh fared better in the second race although a stronger finish might have been possible still.

The 2019 British MX2 champion started in eighth and challenged Belgium’s Clement Desalle for seventh in the opening lap when he hit the Belgian’s rear wheel and went down. Relegated to a place just inside the top-20 he remounted to 14th.

“Not a bad day overall but there’s of course still a lot of room for improvement.” said Walsh afterwards.

“My first goal is now to put together two consistent motos. It was unfortunate that I couldn’t continue in the first race, because I was going quite well.

“In the second race, I was in a really good position at the beginning of the race but I went down when I tried to pass for seventh. I bounced back all right to finish 14th.”

Words by Tom Jacobs

Photo courtesy CDS

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RESULTS AND STANDINGS:

MXGP Race 1:

1. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), 34:47.314; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), +0:08.181; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:09.474; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, GASGAS), +0:27.128; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:38.568; 6. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Husqvarna), +0:42.921; 7. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:59.329; 8. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +1:02.369; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Honda), +1:04.623; 10. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:05.449; 11. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Yamaha), +1:11.089; 12. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +1:14.166; 13. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +1:16.525; 14. Henry Jacobi (GER, Yamaha), +1:27.290; 15. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:33.303; 16. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), +1:38.274; 17. Tanel Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +1:41.666; 18. Mitchell Evans (AUS, Honda), +1:54.131; 19. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, Yamaha), +1:56.618; 20. Nicholas Lapucci (ITA, KTM), +1:59.735; 21. Karlis Sabulis (LAT, KTM), -1 lap(s); 22. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), -1 lap(s); 23. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 24. Artem Guryev (RUS, Honda), -1 lap(s); 25. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), -1 lap(s); 26. Thomas Covington (USA, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 27. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), -2 lap(s); 28. Edoardo Bersanelli (ITA, Yamaha), -2 lap(s); 29. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), -5 lap(s); 30. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Husqvarna), -10 lap(s); 31. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Yamaha), -10 lap(s); 32. Dylan Walsh (NZ, Honda), -11 lap(s); 33. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, GASGAS), -18 lap(s);

MXGP Race 2:

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:56.930; 2. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, GASGAS), +0:14.380; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:37.000; 4. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), +0:05.102; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:09.027; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:11.713; 7. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:42.966; 8. Henry Jacobi (GER, Yamaha), +0:44.918; 9. Mitchell Evans (AUS, Honda), +0:45.982; 10. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Honda), +0:50.083; 11. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:55.372; 12. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:04.452; 13. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +1:07.753; 14. Dylan Walsh (NZ, Honda), +1:18.809; 15. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +1:20.046; 16. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, GASGAS), +1:20.675; 17. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), +1:23.985; 18. Tanel Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +1:27.543; 19. Karlis Sabulis (LAT, KTM), +1:38.382; 20. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), +1:48.193; 21. Nicholas Lapucci (ITA, KTM), +1:55.032; 22. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, Yamaha), +2:09.987; 23. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), -1 lap(s); 24. Thomas Covington (USA, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 25. Artem Guryev (RUS, Honda), -1 lap(s); 26. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Yamaha), -2 lap(s); 27. Edoardo Bersanelli (ITA, Yamaha), -2 lap(s); 28. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), -5 lap(s); 29. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), -8 lap(s); 30. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Husqvarna), -9 lap(s);

MXGP of Lombardia classification:

1. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 45 points; 2. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, GAS), 40 p.; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 38 p.; 5. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 28 p.; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 27 p.; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 26 p.; 8. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 26 p.; 9. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 23 p.; 10. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 23 p.; 11. Henry Jacobi (GER, YAM), 20 p.; 12. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 17 p.; 13. Mitchell Evans (AUS, HON), 15 p.; 14. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 15 p.; 15. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 15 p.; 16. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, YAM), 10 p.; 17. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 9 p.; 18. Dylan Walsh (NZ, HON), 7 p.; 19. Tanel Leok (EST, HUS), 7 p.; 20. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, GAS), 5 p.; 21. Karlis Sabulis (LAT, KTM), 2 p.; 22. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, YAM), 2 p.; 23. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), 1 p.; 24. Nicholas Lapucci (ITA, KTM), 1 p.; 25. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 0 p.; 26. Thomas Covington (USA, YAM), 0 p.; 27. Artem Guryev (RUS, HON), 0 p.; 28. Edoardo Bersanelli (ITA, YAM), 0 p.; 29. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), 0 p.; 30. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 0 p.; 31. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 0 p.; 32. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HUS), 0 p.; 33. Michele Cervellin (ITA, YAM), 0 p.;

MXGP World standings after 9 rounds:

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 316 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 311 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 300 p.; 4. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 277 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, GAS), 273 p.; 6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 263 p.; 7. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 248 p.; 8. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 230 p.; 9. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 224 p.; 10. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 222 p.; 11. Mitchell Evans (AUS, HON), 168 p.; 12. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 164 p.; 13. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 106 p.; 14. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 106 p.; 15. Henry Jacobi (GER, YAM), 84 p.; 16. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, YAM), 82 p.; 17. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 82 p.; 18. Michele Cervellin (ITA, YAM), 73 p.; 19. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 71 p.; 20. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, GAS), 67 p.; 21. Benoit Paturel (FRA, HON), 45 p.; 22. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 31 p.; 23. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HUS), 26 p.; 24. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 26 p.; 25. Dylan Walsh (NZ, HON), 24 p.; 26. Pascal Rauchenecker (AUT, KTM), 19 p.; 27. Tanel Leok (EST, HUS), 19 p.; 28. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 19 p.; 29. Karlis Sabulis (LAT, KTM), 18 p.; 30. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), 18 p.; 31. Thomas Covington (USA, YAM), 15 p.; 32. Harri Kullas (EST, HON), 11 p.; 33. Lars van Berkel (NED, HUS), 9 p.; 34. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 9 p.; 35. Nicholas Lapucci (ITA, KTM), 6 p.; 36. Brent Van doninck (BEL, HUS), 5 p.; 37. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, YAM), 4 p.; 38. Zachary Pichon (FRA, HON), 2 p.; 39. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), 2 p.; 40. Anton Gole (SWE, HON), 2 p.; 41. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 1 p.;