Day one of the Monster Energy FIM Motocross World Championship took place today in Sevlievo with really high temperatures, but all the young talents were really excited to start racing and to give their best in the qualifying time practice sessions. Raivo Dankers from the Netherlands clocked the fastest lap in the 65cc class, American Austin Forkner was the fastest in the 85cc and Jorge Zaragoza from Spain clinched the best lap time in the very last lap of the 125cc session.

125cc

Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Jorge Zaragoza obtained the best lap time of the 125cc class in his very last lap, being 0.325 seconds faster than second qualified, Tim Gajser. The Spanish rider has very good memories of the Bulgarian track of Sevlievo because he finished on the podium in April during the first round of the UEM EMX125 championship before he got injured and missed almost the rest of the season. Last weekend Zaragoza started racing again and he admitted that he is still lacking some physical preparation, but he is fully determined this weekend to do well and become the 125cc FIM Junior World Champion.

KTM Silver Action’s Tim Gajser had put the bar high during the whole qualifying time practice with a great lap time, but in the very last moment he lost the first position as Zaragoza decided to do one more lap, which was actually the fastest of the session. However, the Slovenian rider is confident about tomorrow because Sevlievo is a track he really likes and even if he finished second today he will have a good gate pick for tomorrow’s main races.

Third in the qualifying time practice was Ferren/PR2 Racing’s Jordon Smith from Team USA, finishing 0,759 seconds behind Zaragoza. The American rider was proclaimed the 125cc Champion at the Loretta Lynn earlier in August, so it is without any question one of the candidates to fight for the Title tomorrow.

Team Castellari’s Simone Furlotti had a very good qualifying time practice, obtaining the best fourth result of the session ahead of Pauls Jonass. The young Italian rider has made a really good progression during the whole season and in the last race of the UEM EMX125 championship he has been able to fight for the top five positions, so finishing on the podium this weekend would be a very special reward for Furlotti.

KSM Racing Team’s Pauls Jonass was one of the riders who made more laps during the qualifying time practice session and it was actually worth it because he obtained his best lap time in his very last chance. The Latvian rider, who was the FIM 85cc Junior MX World Champion last year, finished fifth of the qualifying session today, so it is a really good result to be fighting for a podium finish tomorrow at the main races.

Calvin Vlaanderen from the Netherlands was sixth of the qualifying time practice, German Henry Jacobi – 2010 FIM 85cc Junior World Champion – was seventh ahead of British James Dunn, and Hector Rodriguez from Venezuela and Davide Bonini from Italy completed the top ten.

125cc Qualifying Time Practice: 1. Jorge Zaragoza Beltran (ESP, Suzuki), 1:51.915; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, KTM), +0:00.325; 3. Jordon Smith (USA, Suzuki), +0:00.759; 4. Simone Furlotti (ITA, Suzuki), +0:01.174; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:01.271; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), +0:01.431; 7. Henry Jacobi (GER, KTM), +0:01.478; 8. James Dunn (GBR, KTM), +0:01.773; 9. Hector Rodriguez (VEN, Yamaha), +0:01.826; 10. Davide Bonini (ITA, KTM), +0:02.021;

85cc

Team Green Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner was the fastest of the 85cc class of the qualifying time practice and he was one of the few riders able to make a lap under the 2:01, his best lap time was 2:00:398. The American rider is a usual winner in the States, so there is no doubt that he is one of the favourites to fight for the 85cc FIM Junior World Title tomorrow. Davy Pootjes from the Netherlands was really close to beat Forkner this morning, as he finished only 0.020 seconds behind the American. Last weekend Pootjes won the UEM EMX85cc Title at Matterley Basin, so he is now determined to fight for the FIM 85cc Junior World Title even if he knows that Forkner will not leave things easy for the Dutch rider.

Another rider from the Netherlands, Bas Vaessen, did really well this morning and he also rode under the 2:01, finishing 0:212 seconds away from the American. The Dutch rider finished seventh in the UEM EMX85 Championship last weekend at Matterley Basin, but today he has proved that he is ready to battle for the top three positions and finish among the best riders in the world.

Italian Paolo Ricciutelli obtained the fourth best lap time of the qualifying time practice session, ahead of American rider Jake Pinhancos. Ricciutelli was one of the riders who made more laps during the qualifying time practice, but he did well because his best result was the one he obtained in the very last lap.

Suzuki Amateur Support’s Jake Pinhancos, 2010 FIM 65cc Junior World Champion, finished first of the qualifying time practice session of group B, but his lap time was the best fifth result of the whole 85cc class. Last year the American did not travel to Cingoli, Italy, to take part in the FIM Junior World Championship, so this weekend he will do his best to try to be on the podium once again and be proclaimed one of the best 85cc riders in the world.

Brian Hsu from Germany finished sixth in the qualifying time practice, followed by British rider Conrad Mewse. Home rider Ivan Petrov obtained the eighth best time lap, and Italian Filippo Zonta and Richard Sikyna from Slovakia completed the top ten.

85cc Qualifying Time Practice Group A: 1. Austin Forkner (USA, Kawasaki), 2:00.398; 2. Davy Pootjes (NED, KTM), +0:00.020; 3. Bas Vaessen (NED, KTM), +0:00.212; 4. Paolo Ricciutelli (ITA, KTM), +0:00.793; 5. Brian Hsu (GER, Suzuki), +0:01.359; 6. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), +0:01.975; 7. Filippo Zonta (ITA, KTM), +0:02.518; 8. Richard Sikyna (SVK, KTM), +0:02.553; 9. Pavol Repcak (SVK, KTM), +0:02.963; 10. Tamur Talviku (EST, KTM), +0:03.056;

85cc Qualifying Time Practice Group B: 1. Jake Pinhancos (USA, Suzuki), 2:01.673; 2. Ivan Petrov (BUL, KTM), +0:01.182; 3. Dovydas Karka (LTU, KTM), +0:03.047; 4. Lorenzo Camporese (ITA, KTM), +0:03.304; 5. Alessandro Lentini (ITA, KTM), +0:03.482; 6. Enzo Lopes (BRA, KTM), +0:03.907; 7. Kirill Gavrilov (RUS, KTM), +0:04.135; 8. Kristers Deevinskis (LAT, KTM), +0:04.280; 9. Tomas Zbiral (CZE, KTM), +0:04.361; 10. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), +0:05.263;

65cc

Raivo Dankers from the Netherlands was the fastest of the 65cc class and he was actually the only one making a lap under the 2:16. The lap times of the riders classified between the second and the fifth position were really close, but in the end the second best qualified was Romanian Robert Krisztian, 0.409 seconds behind Dankers. Caleb Grothues from Australia obtained the third best lap time, and Luka Milec from Slovenia and American Parker Mashburn completed the top five. Xylian Ramella, the UEM EMX65cc Champion, could only qualified in the twelfth position.

65cc Qualifying Time Practice: 1. Raivo Dankers (NED, KTM), 2:15.782; 2. Robert-Crisztian Tompa (ROU, KTM), +0:00.409; 3. Caleb Grothues (AUS, KTM), +0:00.598; 4. Luka Milec (SLO, KTM), +0:00.699; 5. Parker Mashburn (USA, KTM), +0:01.199; 6. Conner Mullennix (USA, KTM), +0:02.146; 7. Hakan Halmi (BUL, KTM), +0:02.917; 8. Mykola Moskaluk (UKR, KTM), +0:03.313; 9. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), +0:03.784; 10. Timur Petrashin (RUS, Kawasaki), +0:03.890;

TIMETABLE

Sunday: 85cc Warm up 8:30; 65cc Warm up 9:00; 125cc Warm up 9:30; 65cc Race 1 11:15; 85cc Race 1 12:00; 125cc Race 1 12:55; 65cc Race 2 14:15; 85cc Race 2 15:20; 125cc Race 2 16:10.