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Afyonkarahisar, Turkey, 7 Setembro 2019

Roan van de Moosdijk qualifies second in Turkey

Kawasaki's European Champion Roan van de Moosdijk made a sensational entry into the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship when he was headed only by the world champion in Qualifying for the Turkish GP.

The Dutch teenager, who had finished sixth on his only previous experience of GP racing in Portugal in May, needed just half a lap to put his F&H Racing Team KX250 in a secure second place behind the world champion in the twenty-minute-plus-two-lap Qualifying race at the track on the outskirts of the city of Afyonkarahisar in central Anatolia. Roan was almost matching the lap times of the champion through the early laps as they moved relentlessly clear of the chasers but, sensibly saving energy for tomorrow's longer GP motos in thirty-degree heat, Roan relaxed his pace during the second half of the race to come home five seconds clear of third.
 
Roan van de Moosdijk: "I've never been here before so it took me some time to get used to the track in free practice but I found some good lines in the second practice and then got a great start in the Qualifying race. I could follow Jorge for four or five laps until he started to get away. There were some big ruts at the end but I enjoyed it; it was a great start to my world championship career. I looked across to my crew at the finish line and did a big cross-up. I was so happy; it was like a win to finish second to the champion."
 
F&H teammate Adam Sterry and Bud Racing Kawasaki's Brian Moreau took no risks after starting sixth and tenth, the Welshman finishing seventh while the French teenager maintained tenth to the chequered flag.
 
Adam Sterry: "They had to put quite a lot of water down before the start because of the heat and I needed to change my lines. I saw where Calvin was going when he passed me and it was good after that. I feel good on the track; I'm ready for tomorrow."
 
It was a similar story in the MXGP class where Alessandro Lupino of Gebben Van Venrooy Kawasaki maintained his top seven ranking throughout the Qualifying race while Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team's Tommy Searle moved forward to eleventh.
 
F&H Racing's Henry Jacobi, fifth in the MX2 World standings, was absent; he damaged knee ligaments without crashing in a freak incident at the recent Swedish GP and the severity of the injury, confirmed by specialists on his return to Germany, means that he will not race again this year.