Mid-season recap of MX2 told by Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Petar Petrov

“In the first moto I had a really good start and I was in third, following Jonass closely all the moto. The plan was to push in the last laps to pass him but I lost time behind lappers and didn’t want to take any risks after that. My second start was not bad but not too good either; I was around tenth, made my way to fourth and was fighting with Seewer and Tonkov when we came together in a downhill and I went down. That was not good and the bike was damaged when another rider hit me; I had to go in the pits and probably lost a podium result. We'll keep on working; everything we’re doing is good, and we’ll now focus on the next GP.” Pater finished 3rd in the first race, but after the accident in the second he ended up 11th overall for this round.

“I battled all weekend long, but finally I got my best result of the year with a fifth overall in the GP and fifth position in the championship! On Saturday I didn’t feel comfortable on the track but we worked on the settings and found solutions; this track was really fast and I'm never as comfortable when it’s not so technical. But I had to deal with it, so there are a lot of positive points to take out of the weekend. I know that I have to work on the starts and the first ten minutes; we need to fix that for the next GPs. In both motos I passed several riders in the second half of the races; it’s frustrating as with better starts I could have been on the podium. But it’s a long season, it’s important to be consistent and apart from one DNF we have been consistent so far.”

“On Saturday I had quite a good feeling with the track, but they worked on it and today it was one of the most difficult races I ever had. In the first moto I was struggling and the second moto was even worse. The track was becoming really dry and I made mistakes every time I pushed so I just tried to save as many points as possible. Everyone in the team is working really hard but this time I was not at my best. We must keep the positive; I was consistent in both races to finish sixth overall. Anyway it’s better than last year at this track; I finished both races this time and we’ll continue to work before we travel to Latvia. That track is one of my favorites so we’ll go there to show what we can do after two difficult weekends for us.”

“It was a good warm-up race before Latvia, and my speed was good in the Dutch sand. In the timed practice session I got the third position, and my start in the first moto was quite good; I felt pretty good in the sand to come back from seventh to third but by the time I got to third Anstie was too far away to try to catch him. In the second moto my start was not quite so good, around tenth, but I pushed hard and I got to fifth really quickly but once I got there it was not so easy to keep pushing. Overall I felt OK, but I was not yet at my best as I felt like I was still struggling with the jet lag from all the trips we made in the last few weeks.”

“We got a fourth overall which is not so bad, even if I think that I could have finished second in the second race. There was a crash in the first corner but I went inside and nearly holeshot the race. In the first race I crashed at the start and had to work to come back to sixth. It’s frustrating to finish fourth or fifth in the GPs; I've just missed podiums and now it’s time to get on the box. We’ll go in Germany with a lot of confidence; everything is very good, we’re consistent and we didn’t make any mistakes. The track was very bumpy in the second moto, so it was quite easy to make mistakes but I rode smooth. We’re now fourth in the standings and that’s good. We’ll work hard again this week to prepare for Germany; I really like the track.”

“Even though I didn't crash I hurt my thumb pretty bad during the timed practice sessions and in the qualified race it was painful. This morning I didn’t know if I could race as the thumb was swollen so I had an injection before the race; it was not too bad at the beginning, but then it was really bad by the end of the first race. I just tried to salvage some points. After the race I had to put a lot of ice on it and for the second moto I didn’t take so much painkillers as I felt dizzy and couldn’t focus the way I wanted. Now I go back home to recover before Italy; I managed to get some good points and that’s part of the sport.” Despite the strong pain Petar finished the weekend in 11th place.

“It was a tough weekend due to my thumb injury; the doctor wasn’t sure if I could race so I took the responsibility on myself and came here. I’m disappointed with the result but, considering the circumstances, that’s not so bad as it was difficult to pass on this track. In the first moto I had to fight through the pack, but my second start was a little better and I finished ninth. Now the goal is to be fit as soon as possible; normally the doctor told me I would need between two and three weeks to recover from the injury but that was before I raced here. We have two weeks to rest and work and prepare for Spain; I hope to be where I belong there.” №152 was 11th again, but managed to hold on to 6th place in the overall standings.

Expect the second part of this series after the end of the season and till then let’s all wish Petar a speedy recovery so we can see him where he belongs – on the steps of the podium.