The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing MX2 squad ventured south this past weekend – round three of the 2021 FIM Motocross World Championship was held at the legendary circuit of Maggiora in Italy. Both Jed Beaton and Kay de Wolf were hungry for redemption, following a tricky time of it at round two in Great Britain.
Beaton made his intentions quite clear in the timed session on Sunday – he jockeyed for pole position from the moment that qualifying begun and eventually secured the third pick of the gates for the motos. Such a strong qualifying session translated to a top-five start in the first moto, as he completed the opening lap in fourth and immediately set his sights on the top three. Beaton chased the guy in third for the duration and engaged in some entertaining battles along the way, before eventually reaching the chequered flag in fifth.
The second moto was fairly similar, as Beaton started in fourth again and was locked into battles with those around him for the duration. In what was a race to the end, he crossed the finish in seventh with the fourth-fastest lap of the race. Seventh is also the position that he occupied in the overall classification. Beaton still sits in tenth in the championship standings but is now just three points from the rider in eighth with plenty of races left to run.
Kay de Wolf enjoyed a solid outing at the Grand Prix of Italy, as he put the pieces of the puzzle together to sit inside of the top ten in both motos. De Wolf ran as high as fifth in the opening stint, before crossing the line in seventh. The speed that he possesses was clear for everyone to see – he had a faster lap time than the series leader in third place! A mediocre start in the second threatened to hinder him, as he finished lap one down in tenth, but he charged on to cross the finish in ninth and secure the same ranking in the overall classification. Twelfth is where he now sits in the championship standings.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing MX2 will now turn their attention to round four of the 2021 FIM Motocross World Championship, the Grand Prix of The Netherlands, on July 18. The race will mark the first time that Oss has hosted a round of the Grand Prix series.
Jed Beaton: “I just felt like I could not push like I normally do. I don’t know if that’s from last week’s big one or not. I was a little bit frustrated in that way. When I’m in a good rhythm or flow then the speed is there – I just felt very cautious in the first couple of laps today.”
Kay de Wolf: “This weekend was really good. I had two solid motos on a track that I am not really used to. To run with those guys, I was pretty happy with today’s results. Especially the first moto was good – I had two good starts as well.”
