Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing travelled south to the familiar venue of Mantova in Italy this past weekend. The sandy venue, which closed the previous campaign, acted as the setting for the Grand Prix of Lombardia, the second stop of the 2022 FIM Motocross World Championship. Both Kay de Wolf and Roan van de Moosdijk were eager to build on the positive results from round one.
Saturday was a turbulent day for the duo, as crashes for both riders (de Wolf in practice and van de Moosdijk in qualifying) meant that digging deep was a priority. De Wolf gathered steam as the qualification heat progressed and eventually secured fifth at the finish line, a result that ensured he would have an optimal spot on the starting line for the motos. For van de Moosdijk, the same qualification heat was ruined by a crash with another rider in the opening laps. The way in which he fought on, despite re-joining the heat at the back of the pack, was a great example of his grit and determination.
De Wolf kept the Italian fans entertained across the two MX2 motos; he finished third in the opening moto after an impressive charge and came so close to snatching second on the final lap. The second moto was very eventful for him, as he shadowed the race leader throughout and held second until the very last lap. A titanic battle fired into life with just half a lap to go and de Wolf, desperate to hold the position, ended up crashing with three turns to go. Thankfully, he jumped back onto his FC 250 to salvage a fourth in the moto and secure third on the overall podium. The result, his first podium finish of the new campaign, catapulted him to third in the standings as well.
The aforementioned qualifying fall that van de Moosdijk had in qualifying threatened to hinder him on race day, but a remarkable effort helped him salvage some solid points. Using the power inside his FC 250, despite starting from the outside, he managed to start moto one inside of the top ten and charged towards the front from there. Fifth was the spot that he eventually secured, but any hopes that he had of leaping onto the box were scuppered by a crash in the first turn in moto two. Moosdijk salvaged a fifteenth in that moto, which put him in tenth overall on the day. Sixth is the position that he occupies in the championship standings. Damage limitation at its best!
Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing will focus on the third event of the 2022 FIM Motocross World Championship, the Grand Prix of Patagonia-Argentina, now. The race will be run on March 19/20.
Kay de Wolf: “I did not have an easy Saturday at all, but we turned it around today. I had a good first moto and the riding was good in that second moto too, except for the fact that I made some small mistakes. I lost the focus a little bit. I got passed by [Simon] Langenfelder and wanted to pass him back, but we hit each other and I crashed. That dropped me from second overall to third. It was a tough pill to swallow, but I am happy to be on the podium.”
Roan van de Moosdijk: “The weekend actually started well, but then I hit my shoulder pretty hard in the qualifying heat and did not have a great gate pick for the races today. Somehow I started eighth or ninth in the first moto – the first half of that moto was really good. The pain got worse towards the end, but I still finished fifth. I crashed on the start in the second moto and came back to fifteenth. I just tried to salvage some points. I am looking forward to a weekend off before giving it my all in Argentina.”
