Positive start for Husqvarna teams
By TMX Archives on 2nd Feb 15
Husqvarnas two official motocross teams Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing and Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing were both in action at the opening round of the Internazionale dItalia, held at the Riola Sardo circuit in Sardinia.
With the vast majority of Europe's top riders and teams participating in the event, the race unofficially marked the opening of the 2015 international MX season. It was a hard test for all Husqvarna riders, whose strength and fitness was tested by the wet and sandy Sardinian terrain.
Making his debut for the IceOne Husqvarna team, German Max Nagl delivered the strongest results placing fourth in the MX1 race while finishing his day with a sixth place result in the combined MX1/MX2 Elite Final. Nagl's first outing under the colours of Husqvarna Motorcycles was made even more memorable having claimed the holeshot in his opening moto.
Max's team mates under the Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing tent, Nathan Watson and Todd Waters, experienced mixed performances. Nathan, having never raced before at the Riola Sardo track was tenth in the opening MX1 heat and 11th in the Elite Final, with Waters crashing at the start of the MX1 race before finishing 15th, and 16th in the Elite final.
With only three weeks remaining until the official start of 2015 MXGP championship, Nathan and Todd were glad to have gained valuable seat time around a track that proved challenging.
In its first official outing as a combined MX1 and MX2 team, Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing saw its two riders show impressive speed. Dean Ferris, who competes this year on Husqvarna's FC 350 endured a tough opening race after crashing at the start. Moving forward during the closing stages of the Elite final, Ferris ended the event happy with his performances, especially in light of the fact that he has only been back on a bike for three weeks.
Like his team-mate, Aleksandr Tonkov also crashed early in his opening race. Despite damaging his bike he powered his way to a fifth place result. In the combined MX1/MX2 Elite final the Russian completed a positive start to his season with a ninth place result.
Max Nagl – Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing: "It's great to be racing with the Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Team. We've all be working really hard as we get closer to the start of the GPs and to have this first international race behind us now is good. My riding was ok, but not anything special. The first race is always difficult, and I had a little bit of arm pump. Taking the holeshot in the first race was great, I felt good but being the first race I wasn't going to take any chances. The track was a little sketchy in places, and easy to crash, so I wanted to make sure I got through each race without problems. We made some changes to the bike for the second race, and I got second off the start. Again, I wasn't taking any risks. It's great to be racing again.”
Nathan Watson – Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing: "It was a pretty good day for me really. I haven't raced on the track before so it took me a long time to learn it, but I was pleased with 8th in qualification. I got a bad start in the first race as I had to come off the throttle out of the gate when another rider came across in front of me. I pushed hard and got back to 10th. In the final race I had a good pace going until I came up behind some MX2 riders, then I lost my rhythm a little. It's great to be back racing after a pretty long winter break, I'm looking forward to racing again next weekend.”
Todd Waters – Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing: "It was a tough one for me. I'm a little disappointed that things didn't go better than they did, but I'm also pleased that the season has officially started. With all my training back in Australia done on hard pack it's been a bit of a shock to the system racing in sand. The track was pretty rough, I did the best I could but with some mistakes, some poor starts and a crash. I wasn't able to get the results I wanted. But I feel good, my bike is working great and now we're back racing the focus is on getting ready for the first GP.”
Dean Ferris – Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing: "It's been a tough return to racing, but aside from going down in the first turn of my opening race to get the fastest lap in the combined MX1/MX2 Elite race was really good. I was lucky that no one hit me when I crashed at the start of the first race. Once I was up and racing again I felt really tight, not flowing at all. I had gate pick 28 for the second heat, but got a great jump from the gate. I was up to seventh a feeling good when I tipped off briefly. That meant I had to re-pass a load of riders, but I worked my way back to eighth, which I was pleased with. After three weeks back on a bike I can't expect too much, but I felt good in the second race and already I'm starting to feel stronger and stronger on a bike. The team's great, I'm really looking forward to the season ahead.”
Aleksandr Tonkov – Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing: "Despite having a bad crash at the start of my MX2 race I'm pleased to have finished both races. It's always a tough track here, and especially this year the sand was really heavy after a lot of rain. I was lucky not to get hit by another rider when I crashed at the start of the first race. But my bike was stuck with another bike. I was last to re-start, so to finish fifth was not too bad. I got an ok start in the Elite final and finished ninth. It's a positive start to the season. I have only been back on a bike for two weeks but things were good. My fitness was good, so I am looking forward to Hawkstone Park next week.”
