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MX2, MXGP OF ITALY - Maggiora, Italy, 17 September 2023

Top-six world ranking for Kevin Horgmo

F&H Kawasaki Racing Team's Kevin Horgmo moved into sixth in the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship series standings with sixth in each moto at Maggiora in northern Italy.

The Norwegian rode a strong opening lap in race one to advance into sixth and he continued to apply the pressure as he took over fifth after ten minutes; for the remainder of the race he pressurised the two title candidates narrowly ahead of him. Fifth appeared secure but a backmarker inadvertently hindered him less than two hundred metres from the finish and a chasing rider took advantage to leap past. Starting seventh in race two, he moved past teammate Braceras for sixth on lap four but a mistake on the next lap pushed him back temporarily to ninth. Undaunted he responded to regain sixth three laps from the finish for sixth overall on the day. His thirty-point haul on the day proved to be significant in the series as he has advanced to sixth in the points-chase and even has an outside chance of fifth; he trails by just seventeen points headed to the final round of the series next weekend in England.
 
Kevin Horgmo: "I got two good starts in the top six/seven but it was difficult to make time on such a high-speed track. I felt good in the first race but it was not easy to pass; I was fifth on the last lap but a lapper got in my rut and I wasn't sure which side to go so Coenen got me. They flattened the track for the second moto so it was really fast and I didn't feel quite as comfortable. I made a small crash in a corner and lost three places when I was sixth but I came back again. I was looking for more as far as results are concerned but I again showed I have the speed so I just need to give it my all at Matterley and the Nations to end the season on a high."
 
F&H colleague David Braceras was running a solid eleventh in the first moto until a small crash cost him three positions; the Spanish youngster was at the sharp-end throughout race two as he contested sixth with his Norwegian teammate for much of the race and appeared secure in seventh until a slight misjudgment in traffic cost him one position on the final lap. Nevertheless he was eighth overall and heads to the final GP of the season seventeenth in the championship in his rookie season.
 
David Braceras: "Today was a completely different track compared to yesterday. In the first moto I made a stupid mistake and crashed when I was eleventh. I started well in race two and had a nice battle with Kevin for most of the race; I was P7 until I made one wrong decision on the last lap and that cost me one position. It was a solid day after yesterday but I know I can do better and aim to end the season with good results at Matterley and the Nations."
 
Big Van World MTX Kawasaki’s Jack Chambers paid the penalty for an outside gate-pick in both motos. The young American had pushed through from nineteenth to seventeenth in race one before an incident on lap eight cost him two places, and in moto two he again made significant moves to advance from an initial fourteenth to finish twelfth.