Honda HRC’s Valerio Lata had a season-best fourth overall at the MXGP of Germany, after a pair of fourth place finishes in completely different conditions. The Italian tied on points with the third-place rider but lost out on the second moto tie-breaker, but can be extremely pleased with his performance this weekend, backing up his victory in the qualification race yesterday.

Having first gate-pick after the win, he took the inside and utilised that position to sweep around the fast left-hander inside the top five. At this point, the Teutschenthal circuit was still nice and dry, with the ruts proving a real challenge for the best MX2 riders on the planet with there being some crazy battles throughout the field. Lata was certainly holding his own, riding in third for the majority of the moto and holding off a pack of riders who were all charging hard. Eventually he was passed a couple of laps from the end by the home rider, but a fourth place was still a great result and gave him a real chance of a first visit to the podium.

Between the races, the skies darkened, and rain hammered the circuit to leave the conditions much worse than when they left them. Having struggled previously in mud, it certainly wasn’t what Lata wanted but he showed after the gate-drop that he had made big improvements in the wet. Inside the top five once again, passing was difficult for everyone, and unfortunately he couldn’t make the one pass he needed to get himself onto the box. It was a shame for the youngster but it was another positive step and he knows he is very close to where he wants to be.

Yesterday, Ferruccio Zanchi had to withdraw from the GP due to a crash on the section after the riders crossed the start-straight, and today, Honda CRF450R rider Ruben Fernandez also had an incident on that same section in the first lap of the first MXGP race and had to withdraw from the MXGP as well. It was a big disappointment for the Spaniard as he had been in good form and now missed out on the chance of moving into the championship top three.

With Kegums, Latvia up next weekend, there isn’t much time for the pair to get fit, but the plan is to get checked out more thoroughly on Monday near their homes and then make a decision on them joining Lata in Latvia for the 11^th round of the world motocross championship.

MX2 Race 1
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 34:06.569; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:01.450; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:05.665; 4. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:08.112; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:08.386; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:09.828; 7. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:11.030; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:12.474; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:18.712; 10. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:19.517;

MX2 Race 2
1. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), 36:24.207; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:06.779; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:12.108; 4. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:16.756; 5. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:37.502; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:49.212; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:51.808; 8. Julius Mikula (CZE, TM), +0:55.032; 9. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:56.627; 10. Maxime Grau (FRA, KTM), +1:02.418;

MX2 GP Overall
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 45 points; 2. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 37 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 36 p.; 4. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 36 p.; 5. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 29 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 28 p.; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 28 p.; 9. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 27 p.; 10. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 26 p.;

MX2 Championship
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 466 points; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 463 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 435 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 377 p.; 5. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 342 p.; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 337 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 294 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 265 p.; 9. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 231 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 220 p.; 

Ruben Fernandez 70 "Definitely not how I hoped the day would go, as I was actually feeling pretty confident about the racing. I got a good start and tried to make a pass into second place and made a mistake on the double and crashed. I knew how important track position was because it is always so difficult to pass here, so I wanted to make the moves as quickly as possible and it cost me. Now I need to get further tests and see exactly what has happened, which is obviously extremely disappointing. I feel confident I will be back quickly though, as I was enjoying my riding and looking good in the championship."

Valerio Lata 18 “It is frustrating to finish on the same points as a podium but just miss out, however I have to be happy with how I rode, especially in the muddy second moto. I have been practicing in the bad conditions and it definitely has paid off because I was riding much better in that race and I felt I could have made the pass I needed to get on the podium. Still, this whole weekend has gone well and we are improving step by step and now my goal is definitely to get on the podium. A big thanks to everyone for all their work and I’m excited for Latvia now.“

Marcus Pereira de Freitas HRC General Manager MXGP “A very tough weekend for Honda HRC with Ferruccio and Ruben not racing as a precautionary measure, but then it was also great to see Valerio continue his improvement and win the qualification race yesterday and finish fourth today. He has improved a lot, and it is great to see him grow as a rider and a person. Now we have to wait for the news from the scans for Ruben and Ferro to see what our plan is for the next race in Latvia next weekend.”