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MX2, MXGP OF SWEDEN - Uddevalla, SWEDEN, 7 Août 2022

Kevin Horgmo and Mikkel Haarup go 4-5 in Sweden

F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo and Big Van World MTX Kawasaki’s Mikkel Haarup finished fourth and fifth in the Swedish round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship at Uddevalla.

For each of the Scandinavian riders the Swedish round was effectively their „home“ GP as thousands of fans made the relatively short journey south from Norway or north from Denmark to support their national heroes. Both Kawasaki riders responded admirably with the advantage at the end of the day to the F&H Norwegian. He secured the holeshot – his third of the season - in race one before being pushed back to third during the first two laps by the two leading riders in the series. He quickly regained his composure to resist all further challengers before a nerve-wracking final three laps as a side-plate worked loose and hampered movement of his right leg. Another lightening start in race two saw him run top-three again on the opening lap; position changes were frequent on the leaderboard for several laps but the Kawasaki settled into a solid fourth mid-moto before a single error cost him a position. Settling back into his rhythm through the final four laps he charged back into the wheeltracks of the riders immediately ahead of him to finish in sight of third. Fourth on the day, he has strengthened his grip on that position in the series rankings with three GPs remaining to the end of the season.
 
Kevin Horgmo: “It took me some time to find my rhythm in practice yesterday but I turned it around in Qualifying so I had a good feeling coming into today and got the holeshot in race one. I tried to follow Vialle and Geerts when they came past but they were just a little too fast for me and I ended up third. Still, that was a good race for me. I stood a little more to the inside on the gate for race two and got squeezed going into the first corner. I also rode a little tense during the first few laps and then had a small crash so I ended up fifth. It would have been nice to be the podium in front of my family and friends but it was not to be. Perhaps I can make it for them next week. I saw a lot of familiar faces this weekend and I want to thank them all for their support; some Norwegian fans told me on Saturday they were enjoying it so much they had already booked tickets for Finland. “
 
Big Van World MTX Kawasaki’s Mikkel Haarup just missed out on top-six starts in each moto and that proved decisive as overtaking was difficult all day amongst the fast-moving leaderboard riders. After ten minutes of the first race the Dane had secured sixth place and five minutes later moved into fifth. Maintaining his lap-times to the close he was jut a third-of-a-second away from fourth at the chequered flag. Racing was again close in race two and, although he crossed the finishing-line eighth, he was just two second from sixth. Fifth overall on the day has lifted him to sixth in the championship standings and moved him closer to fifth with three GPs still to race.
 
Mikkel Haarup: “In many ways we had a good weekend with a lot of positives. It was nice to get back into racing and feel comfortable on the bike; there were a couple of things I wished I had done differently in my races but the most important thing is that I never gave up. I was fifth in the end but I felt I was capable of more; a couple of mistakes kept me away from better results but I kept it on two wheels. I got a little frustrated at times because I felt I had the pace to do more but it’s not easy to pass here and I got caught behind other riders. But we’re back in it after a couple of difficult GPs and have closed a few points on fifth in the standings so let’s carry that on through the last three GPs. “