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MX2, Teutschenthal, GERMANY, 21 Maggio 2017

Darian Sanayei ninth in Germany

Darian Sanayei of Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki continued his advance up the world rankings with ninth place in the German round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship at the fast Teutschenthal track.

The American was building his weekend methodically on Saturday until a minor slip cost him several positions during the qualifying race and he entered the two points-scoring races with the handicap of an outside gate, a particularly difficult factor at this track. He initially found himself well outside the top twenty in the opening moto but a string of stunning passes as he lap times equivalent to the race leaders saw Darian recover to ninth at the chequered flag. He again finished ninth in race two after another decisive ride from an initial twelfth to complete the weekend ninth overall and advance to the same position in the series standings.
 
Teammate Seva Brylyakov made the brave decision to compete even though his riding is still handicapped by a shoulder injury sustained several weeks ago. Trapped nerves in his shoulder are affecting his grip; as a result he had a number of falls and attempts to compensate for the physical difficulties also meant that he was placing additional stress on the clutch. After withdrawing from the first moto the Russian, who will seek further medical advice this week, finished fifteenth in race two and now holds fourteenth place in the series.
 
Stephen Rubini returned to GP action for the Monster Energy Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team and immediately showed good pace to charge to an impressive fourteenth place in the qualifying race after completing the opening lap twenty-fifth. Gating well in both points-scoring motos he raced as high as ninth and eleventh before a crash restricted him to four points seventeenth in race one after he had damaged the rear brake in one of the deep ruts during race two.
 
Team newcomer Morgan Lesiardo progressed all weekend as he adapted to his new bike and team environment on his debut in the world championship. He finished nineteenth to score two points in race two after completing the first moto twenty-third and will now continue to test with the team this week before he returns to the defence of his points lead in the European championship in France next weekend.
 
Petar Petrov, suffering from physical lethargy with poor blood levels in recent weeks, bravely attempted to ride in Germany, but the Bulgarian and his team decided that he should withdraw from competition after the qualifying race. He will undergo further tests before deciding whether to race next weekend.
 
Darian Sanayei: “It was a pretty good weekend; the first practice session was not easy with the mud but it got better and better every session I rode. I had a decent lap time with a twelfth position for the qualifying race and I was holding thirteenth in this race until I crashed and had to come back from twenty-sixth to nineteenth. That didn't give me such a good gate pick and that is so important here. In the first moto I had a pretty good start but I was on the outside and after the first corner I was only twenty-fifth but I quickly made some passes and raced from sixteenth to ninth at the finish. I was riding pretty well, indeed at one point of the race I had the speed to race at the front. In the next race I just followed the guys in the inside of turn one; I came out in the top twelve and again finished ninth for ninth overall on the day and in the series. We're making advances every week, and we keep working positively.”
 
Seva Brylyakov: “It has been a strange weekend as we had to start from zero on Saturday. I’m effectively riding with one hand as some nerves and muscles in my shoulder are still paralysed. We have done a lot of checks and I have spent a lot of time with the doctors since Latvia but I made the decision to try to ride this weekend. During the timed practice session I was trying to post some good laps but I had three big crashes, as I couldn’t really react when the handlebars went sideways. I was riding quite well in both the qualifying race and the first moto but we had some issues as I was using the clutch a lot to compensate for my shoulder. But I had a pretty good finish to the weekend as I scored a top fifteen in the second moto with only one arm; I did my best and finished safe, now I'll have more medical examinations on my shoulder before next weekend.”
 
Stephen Rubini: “The results are not what I could expect, but I must say that it was a good weekend as I had a good feeling on the bike. In the qualifying race I had a good speed and came back to fourteenth after a bad start. My start was much better in the first GP moto and I was ninth but then I crashed; I was thirtieth after this crash but came back to seventeenth and once more I had a good speed and good feeling. This weekend I had my best starts since the beginning of the season and I was eleventh in race two, but then I stalled the engine and later broke the rear brake in a deep rut so I had to retire. But overall the feeling was good and I can say that I am now ready for my season to really take off.”
 
Morgan Lesiardo: « I was so excited to ride here, and it has been a good weekend as I had to learn the bike, the team and the world championship! It was not easy as the track was muddy for the first practice sessions after the rain on Friday, but we improved all weekend and my feeling was better and better to end the weekend with a 19th position in the second moto. I learnt a lot this weekend, and I will spend this week with the team in Belgium to train and learn even more as I want to defend my red plate in the European MX2 next weekend in France.”