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Villars sous Ecot, FRANCE, 17 September 2017

Darian Sanayei ninth in MX2 finale

Darian Sanayei of Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki raced to ninth place in the final round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship at Villars-sous-Ecot in France to rank eleventh in the series.

The US rookie showed great speed through the practices to set fastest time in the first session and third fastest time in the second before rain swept across the hillside track and created conditions which Americans rarely face at home. It was inevitably difficult to get a good start in the GP motos from the twenty-sixth gate pick which he faced after getting stuck on the hillside during the qualification race, but Darian persevered on race day to advance from twenty-second on lap one to eleventh at the finish in race one. Another eleventh-placed finish in race two earnt ninth overall in the GP and the twenty point haul saw him advance one place in the final series standings to be ranked eleventh.
 
Stephen Rubini of the Monster Energy Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team immediately showed his liking for the rutted hillside track with eighth fastest time in practice and he earnt tenth gate pick from a strong ride in the qualifying race. Further bad weather worsened track conditions for the first points-scoring race and an early incident cost Stephen his initial twelfth place; he then recovered back to nineteenth but was excluded from the results for a technical infringement of the regulations. Determined to make amends in race two he recovered remarkably from an initial twentieth to finish ninth, equalling his best result during his rookie GP season.
 
Darian Sanayei: “The GP started really good with the fastest lap in the free practice and a third position in the timed practice, but then the rain hit the track and it was a mud fest. I crashed during the qualifying race and was stuck on the track, so I had the 26th gate pick. In the first race I came back from nearly last to eleventh which was not so bad, and again in the second heat I got an eleventh position for ninth overall.”
 
Stephen Rubini: “It was a good weekend for me; I had a good qualifying race on Saturday and I really enjoy riding tracks with deep ruts like we had here with the rain. Unfortunately I was disqualified in the first race as I came into the pit lane in the opposite direction after a crash. But then I had a very good second moto; I was a long way back after three corners but came back through to ninth with great support from the crowd. I had a strong motivation for this last race. The step between the European 125 series which I raced last season and the MX2 GP is big but I learnt a lot and I want to thank the team and their partners for their support.”