UDDEVALLA (Sweden), 06 July 2014 – There’s nothing like a bit of modernized retro racing which is what is delivered with the one and only round of the FIM Veterans Motocross World Cup taking place this weekend at Uddevalla, Sweden. While the local hero and defending champion Mats Nilsson came into the weekend as the hot favorite, the Swede ended up handing over the red plate this weekend losing out to Czech Martin Zerava and New Zealander Darryll King respectively.
Race one
With a full gate of forty over forties, the gates dropped yesterday afternoon with four riders taking charge. It was Sweden’s own Mats Nilsson who took
the early lead but soon lost it when the speedy SpaniardFrancisco Garcia Vico blitzed past him a few turns later. While the initial action belonged to Nilsson and Garcia Vico, the duo soon had bigger problems with Kiwi Darryll King and Czech Martin Zerava also creeping in.
While the four switched positions like kids switch Pokémon cards, they eventually dropped Garcia Vico around mid race to make it a three-way for the win.
Entering the closing stages of the race, Zerava had had enough of playing games and dropped the hammer to take over the lead. After inching out ever so slightly the Czech’s hard work soon came undone when he crashed and dropped back a few seconds on King and Nilsson.
With one lap to go, King was riding sharp up front covering the insides in defense of the first moto win. Meanwhile Zerava had re-grouped and managed to use the advantage of lapped traffic to pass Nilsson with half a lap to go. While the race remained tight right through to the finish, the Kiwi, King held on for race one glory leaving Zerava and Nilsson to settle in second and third. Garcia Vico and AustrianChristoph Lackner rounded out the top five.
Race two
Elbows up and knees out, the final race of the FIM Veterans World Cup took place this morning with the Czech Martin Zerava out to redeem himself after his slip up late in the race yesterday.
Redeem himself is exactly what he did when he got off to a cracking start and embraced the ‘pin it to win it’ method to convincingly win the second race and take his first ever VMX World Cup victory.
Meanwhile the defending champ Mats Nilsson, who may have been feeling the heat this weekend as he lined up with compression top as his race shirt, followed Zerava around turn one with the Spaniard Francisco Garcia Vico and Italian Michele Del Bosco hot on his heels. Race one winner, all the way from New Zealand, Darryll King, clearly didn’t get the jump off the gate surfacing around eighth place early on, in lap one.
While Nilsson rode an effortless second place with Garcia Vico looking comfortable in third, King began his charge. After putting a wheel in on Del Bosco for a good couple of laps yet not being able to shift the Italian from his path, King known to his fans as ‘DK’ soon drove Del Bosco wide and made a pass that would stick.
After moving into fourth, King knuckled down yet it was too little too late for the Kiwi as time ran out and he was forced to be content with fourth in race two making him the bridesmaid this year in the VMX World Cup.
With the waving of the checkered flag, the race two results read Zerava, Nilsson, Garcia Vico, King with local man Stefan Norström rounding out the top five.
With the combination of results from both races this weekend, Czech Martin Zerava went two-one to claim the 2014 FIM Veterans Motocross World Cup. While after winning race one and salvaging fourth place in race two, the 2012 VMX World Cup holder Darryll King stood on the second step of the podium with the local legend Mats Nilsson rounding out the top three. Spaniard Francisco Garcia Vico only just missed out on the podium finishing fourth while Swedish Stefan Norström took home fifth.
VMX Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Darryll King (NZL, Yamaha), 24:27.941; 2. Martin Zerava (CZE, Suzuki), +0:01.159; 3. Mats Nilsson (SWE, Yamaha), +0:01.958; 4. Francisco Garcia Vico (ESP, Honda), +0:32.763; 5. Christoph Lackner (AUT, KTM), +0:37.296; 6. Stefan Norström (SWE, Yamaha), +0:46.492; 7. Brian Wheeler (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:09.263; 8. Sebastien Haenni (SUI, Yamaha), +1:19.428; 9. Sebastien Midali (FRA, Honda), +1:22.318; 10. Pascal Bal (BEL, KTM), +1:26.718.
VMX Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Martin Zerava (CZE, Suzuki), 23:58.744; 2. Mats Nilsson (SWE, Yamaha), +0:06.362; 3. Francisco Garcia Vico (ESP, Honda), +0:07.573; 4. Darryll King (NZL, Yamaha), +0:08.682; 5. Stefan Norström (SWE, Yamaha), +0:24.610; 6. Fredrik Werner (SWE, Honda), +0:34.982; 7. Brian Wheeler (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:36.121; 8. Christoph Lackner (AUT, KTM), +0:40.393; 9. Phil Mercer (GBR, KTM), +0:42.209; 10. Leons Kozlovskis (LAT, Suzuki), +1:01.353
VMX Overall Top Ten: 1. Martin Zerava (CZE, SUZ), 47 points; 2. Darryll King (NZL, YAM), 43 p.; 3. Mats Nilsson (SWE, YAM), 42 p.; 4. Francisco Garcia Vico (ESP, HON), 38 p.; 5. Stefan Norström (SWE, YAM), 31 p.; 6. Christoph Lackner (AUT, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Brian Wheeler (GBR, KAW), 28 p.; 8. Fredrik Werner (SWE, HON), 25 p.; 9. Phil Mercer (GBR, KTM), 21 p.; 10. Pascal Bal (BEL, KTM), 21 p.
VMX Championship Standings Top Ten: 1. Martin Zerava (CZE, SUZ), 47 points; 2. Darryll King (NZL, YAM), 43 p.; 3. Mats Nilsson (SWE, YAM), 42 p.; 4. Francisco Garcia Vico (ESP, HON), 38 p.; 5. Stefan Norström (SWE, YAM), 31 p.; 6. Christoph Lackner (AUT, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Brian Wheeler (GBR, KAW), 28 p.; 8. Fredrik Werner (SWE, HON), 25 p.; 9. Phil Mercer (GBR, KTM), 21 p.; 10. Sebastien Midali (FRA, HON), 21 p.
VMX Manufacturers: 1. Suzuki, 47 points; 2. Yamaha, 47 p.; 3. Honda, 38 p.; 4. KTM, 29 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 28 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 3 p.
Click here to obtain the complete results.
All the photos of the MXGP of Sweden will be available here
MXGP will be available across the board in high definition, and is also globally available to view live and in HD on www.MXGP-TV.com. Click here for the complete list of countries and cooperating MXGP broadcasting networks, viewing times can be viewed by clicking on the logo of your chosen broadcasting network.
MXGP SWEEDEN – QUICK FACTS
Circuit length: 1530
Type of ground: Hard Pack
Temperature: 24°
Weather conditions: cloudy
TIMETABLE
SUNDAY: MX2 Race 1 13:15; MXGP Race 1 14:15; MX2 Race 2 16:10; MXGP Race 2 17:10.
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