The worldwide climate continues to be a little unkind to the FIM Motocross World Championship and the Grand Prix of Portugal – round seven of sixteen in the 2012 series – was affected by overcast skies and showers creating the second muddy event from the last three races.

18,000 spectators still braved the changeable conditions and Clement Desalle claimed victory in the premier MX1 class while Honda World Motocross team’s Rui Goncalves placed seventh overall in the final classification of the day at Agueda.

The distinctive red dirt of the circuit only fifteen miles from the coast and the lapping Atlantic provided a rough and rutted prospect for the riders after a long night of rain through Saturday. The shallow loose terrain on top of hard-pack drained quite well, but the winding layout and numerous step-up and step-down jumps made overtaking a risky and difficult task.

Rui Goncalves – Portugal’s most successful motocrosser in the history of the sport – enjoyed some vocal and passionate local support. The 27 year old had his work cut out in the first moto on his works CRF450R when he became involved in a multi-rider pile-up on the third corner. The former Grand Prix winner cut through from the rear of the pack and was frustrated to be denied another slot on the final lap by an incident with a backmarker. The moment led to a regrettable altercation between the riders after the flag as tempers frayed. Goncalves’ professionalism was evident in the second sunnier race as he put the episode behind him and gave the crowd reason to cheer by running as high as fifth. Only a small mistake with an engine stall in the final stages of the sprint caused him to slip to sixth.

Evgeny Bobryshev was very close to his first pole position on a drier Saturday after a great start and authoritative lead of almost five seconds was erased by a crash that saw the Russian struck in the chest by his handlebars. Starting from a lowly place in the gate on Sunday ‘Bobby’ unfortunately stalled his bike in the first corner and failed to restart. Determined to make amends at his second attempt later in the afternoon ‘777’ pulled through the field from a mediocre getaway and reached seventh behind his team-mate.

With Spain absent from the Grand Prix calendar for the first time this century LS Honda’s Jonathan Barragan was able to count on a hefty section of fans coming the short distance across the border. The multi national champion produced one of his best performances of the season to shadow the top five and cross the line in sixth during the first moto. Misfortune fell his way in the second as a collision out of the gate meant the Spaniard suffered a bent gear level and had trouble shifting for the entire race. His perseverance was rewarded by fourteenth position and eighth overall; the second best Honda representative.

The 2012 FIM Motocross World Championship is nearing the halfway stage and Honda can look at riders holding ninth (Goncalves), eleventh (Bobryshev) and thirteenth (Barragan) in the MX1 standings. In the MX2 class Max Anstie is still fifth. The Gariboldi Esta racer took his CRF250R to a season-best fourth position in Portugal and with his scorecard of 10-3 brought the MX2 machine into the top three of a moto for the first time since 2009.

Round seven of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place at Agueda, south of Porto, next weekend for the Grand Prix of Portugal.

Rui Goncalves:
Race Result: 14th / 6th - Championship position: 9th

“It was a tough beginning to the first moto. I didn’t have such a good start and then in the third corner Philippaerts crashed and my bike became stuck together with his and it took me a while before I could get going. I charged back hard, but I was getting roosted pretty badly and I wasn’t riding at my best. I lost a place towards the end because of a lapper but that’s racing. I want to put that incident after the flag behind me. I had a talk with Jamie [Law], the jury and the Race Director. It shouldn’t have happened and it won’t again. For sure I needed a better start in the second moto and that’s what happened. I made some good passes in the beginning and had a good rhythm all the way. I spent a long time in fifth position and then just cased the double heading around the back of the circuit. It put me out of the rut and I went on the brakes and stalled the bike. I tried bump-starting it but needed to kick it and lost one place to De Dycker. If that wouldn’t have happened then I would have had fifth but I was happy with my riding at least and gives me confidence for the next races.”

Evgeny Bobryshev:
Race Result: DNF / 7th - Championship position: 11th

“I’m not really lucky at the moment and I’m quite hacked off with today. In the first moto I don’t really know what happened. I stalled the bike and couldn’t get it going and lost so much time. There was not much I could do. The second race was much better and I fought all the way and did my best. It was difficult to come back from that start; I think I was around fifteenth place. This track is slippery and stony and you had to be careful.”

Jonathan Barragan:
Race Result: 6th / 14th - Championship position: 13th

“We had a problem in the second moto because I must have touched somebody out of the start and the gear lever was completely bent back on itself and I couldn’t change gear. The first race was pretty good. I made a good start and had a fast rhythm and I’m happy with how it went but it’s a real shame about the second moto.”

Max Anstie:
MX2 Race Result: 10th / 3rd - Championship position: 5th

“The weekend started off a little bit tough. It seemed like little things were getting in the way of being able to get out of the gate and to start flowing out there. It felt like I was so far back in the first moto and I had no goggles…in this class everyone is so fast and I have huge respect for all the riders and there are so many who are pushing very hard; it is just about who can get out of the start. Finally in the second race I was in the top ten and made a few quick passes. I got around Van Horebeek and Ferrandis and put on a charge, but by that time Jeffrey and Tommy were already a minute away. If we can get out of the gate then for sure we will be there and since Mexico all we have been doing is testing, testing, testing and it is paying it off. Everyone is doing a good job; Giacomo and all the guys from Honda. I cannot wait until next week.”

2012 FIM MX1 / MX2 World Motocross Championship
Round 07: Agueda – Portugal