Top ten for Lieber in Finnish MX2, results

Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Julien Lieber raced to seventh overall in today’s World MX2 round in Finland aboard his RM-Z250.

Around 17,000 spectators enjoyed some sunshine and warm temperatures at Hyvinkää today and the pebbly and hard-packed sand of the circuit, 50km north of Helsinki, brought the FIM Motocross World Championship up to round 13 of 17 as team-mate Jeremy Seewer was also effective and made his way to 11th after minimal preparation in this typical of terrain.

Hyvinkää presented a short, narrow (and often fast) layout but the sand carved into a litter of bumps and holes increasing the technical demands of the terrain. A hard base meant that the course was slippery at times and it was easy for riders to be caught-out by the slight ‘hybrid’ status of the circuit.

The Suzuki team-mates had a late tussle towards the end of the first moto for mid-top-10 positions with Seewer continually trying to close the distance to the exhaust heat haze of the ‘#33’ machine. The time difference at the finish-line was just over a second as Lieber secured seventh place and Seewer was just behind.

The second race again saw Lieber fulfil the role of protagonist: He circulated just inside the top-10 but at mid-race distance leapt up two slots to eighth; which is where he stood passing the chequered flag. Seewer was not far away but slowed his pace towards the end of the moto as his legs and arms felt the force of trying to conquer the surface. The Swiss was 11th.

The Finnish Grand Prix brought junior talent Gianluca Facchetti into the fold. Steering the RM85 Suzuki, the promising Italian took up residence in the team awning and delivered a seventh position in the first European Championship race and followed that with a fifth on Sunday morning. The youngster ended the day with fifth place overall.

The FIM World Championship is coming closer to the end of its European phase of the calendar. With four rounds remaining Seewer is 10th in the standings in his first full MX2 season while Lieber is 12th.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe will have the fourth round of the ADAC MX Masters German Championship at Tensfeld to consider next weekend before then making the relatively-short trip to Loket for the Grand Prix of Czech Republic on July 27th.

Julien Lieber:

“I don't feel so good about today. Normally on these kinds of tracks I do well but today…I don't know. My starts were not there and on the first laps I had to push a lot. It meant that in the last laps I felt very tired and couldn't hold the bike any more. I’m not so happy about this. I had to push much harder than the other riders and it led to mistakes. Seventh and eighth is not so bad but I feel it could have been better.”

Jeremy Seewer:

“Not so bad. Yesterday I struggled on the track. My speed was OK but I was making a lot of mistakes and I wasn’t so happy with the suspension set-up. It was a rough day and I was lacking practice time in the sand as we had no time to get to Belgium to ride and then travel to Finland. My start in the first race was pretty good. I was fifth but it was a strange and risky first corner because the riders on the outside were hitting the wall and coming back right into your path. I lost a couple of positions but stayed smooth with a really good rhythm and finished 10th. Two guys were then penalised and I gained two positions to eighth; pretty easy to move another two places while you are sitting in the truck!

“My start was better in the second moto and I was riding well but towards the end I could feel my muscles starting to ache because you always had to pick the bike up over the bumps. I slowed down because I did not want to crash here. I kept quiet and took 11th I think overall it is not a top-10 result but this track was tough for a Swiss guy and I know what I need to work on to be better.”

MX2 Moto1:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:23.599; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:03.805; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +1:07.586; 4. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:16.455; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Husqvarna), +1:23.575; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +1:25.424; 7. Julien Lieber (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), +1:27.328; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), +1:28.451; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), +1:30.580; 10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Honda), +1:35.460;

MX2 Moto2:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 33:57.672; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:17.102; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +1:17.431; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:28.590; 5. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:34.931; 6. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), +1:41.869; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), +1:46.747; 8. Julien Lieber (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), -1 lap(s); 9. Romain Febvre (FRA, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 10. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 11. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), -1 lap(s);

MX2 Overall result:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 40 p.; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 31 p.; 5. Christophe Charlier (FRA, YAM), 29 p.; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 28 p.; 7. Julien Lieber (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 27 p.; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 26 p.; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 24 p.; 10. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 24 p.; 11. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 23 p.;

MX2 World championship Standings (after 13 of 17 rounds):

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 594 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 449 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 416 p.; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 403 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 390 p.; 6. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KAW), 389 p.; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 314 p.; 8. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 308 p.; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 289 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 257 p.; 11. Petar Petrov (BUL, YAM), 217 p.; 12. Julien Lieber (BEL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 212 p.; 13. Max Anstie (GBR, YAM), 194 p.; 14. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 176 p.;


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