2022 FIM Motocross World Championship - RND #04, GP Of Portugal, Agueda

Agueda hosted the fourth round of the Motocross World Championship, the GP of Portugal. Adamo made two solid races in MX2 and confirmed himself in the “top 5” group of riders. Forato in MXGP had to make two comebacks and finished 9^th Overall. Weekend to forget for Tuani and Ruffini in EMX250.

After a weekend of stops due to the logistical needs that were required to come back to Europe from Neuquen, Argentina, FIM Motocross World Championship went to the Agueda circuit for the GP of Portugal. On this occasion, the riders of the EMX250 Championship were present too. SM Action GasGas Racing Team Yuasa Battery, other than Andrea Adamo #80 (MX2) and Alberto Forato #303 (MXGP), also deployed Federico Tuani #3 and Luca Ruffini #699.

Federico finished 25^th and Luca 36^th in the Saturday morning Free Practice session. In the following Timed Practice, both riders qualified with the 30^th and the 36^th fastest lap times. At the end of the first lap of EMX250 Race 1, Luca and Federico were in the very back of the group. Both riders were out of the “top 20”, in P23 and P29 respectively, but while Federico made a fast recovery and moved up numerous places, Luca went back. Federico was in 23rd position at the checkered flag as he could not enter the “points area”; Luca was already at the box as he retired after a crash.

EMX250 Race 2 had the same prologue and the same epilogue as the previous one. Federico and Luca started from a penalizing gate, so they straight away found themselves in the back and were forced to recover. While Luca took some time to move up through the field, Federico was punchier, but both of them were far from the “top 20” at half of the race. When the race finished Federico was 25^th, while Luca retired at lap 8 due to the umpteenth crash. For both riders of the EMX250, the GP of Portugal did not finish with the expected results.

Andrea was positioned in 8^th position at the starting gate of the MX2 Qualifying Race, thanks to a good lap time obtained in Timed Practice. After lap 1 Adamo was in P11 but he rapidly moved up one place and he stabilized in the “top 10”. When the steward waved the checkered flag the Sicilian crossed the line in P8. In Race 1 Andrea made an excellent start, as he beautifully jumped out of the gates, positioning 2^nd. The Sicilian kept the position until the end of lap 2 and moved back again in P3. During the remaining laps, Andrea rode with authority in 4^th place and he finished the race in P5. In Race 2 Andrea once again was one of the fastest at the start, with the GasGas #80 that crossed lap 1 finish line in 6^th place. Adamo kept the position until lap 8, but he made a little mistake and ended the race in P7. Thanks to the results that he obtained Andrea finished the GP in 6^th place Overall; he also kept the 5^th position in the General Classification.

The Portuguese weekend of Alberto started with 14^th place in Free Practice and the 16^th in Timed Practice. His performance was then followed by the 16^th position in the Qualifying Race after that he made a bad start. On Sunday it was all different. In Race 1 Alberto was 11^th after the start. With a regular pace, Forato managed his placement and took advantage of one of his opponents’ mistakes in the final laps, finishing in P10. At the start of Race 2, Alberto was not far away from the “top 10”. From 13^th place, the rider from Veneto began his comeback and at half of the race, he was 11^th. During the remaining laps, Alberto made some fast laps and he continued his comeback, finishing the race in P8. At the end of the day, Forato was ranked 9^th Overall, keeping the same placement in the General Classification.

With no weekend stop, the Motocross World Championship will go back to Italy for the 5^th round of the season. On the 9^th and the 10^th of April the Pietramurata circuit, in Trento, will host the GP of Trentino.

Andrea Adamo #80: “It was a solid weekend, ending with a P5 and a P7. A bit of regret because in Race 2 I crashed while I was moving towards P5 and I lost two positions. Now we go back home and prepare for Pietramurata”.

Alberto Forato # 303: “Weekend of ups and downs. I was on a 'no' day on Saturday, I struggled a lot in qualifying and finished 16th. Unfortunately at the start the position counted a lot on this track so at the start it was not easy. Sunday morning I changed the 'setting' and it went much better with two 'top 10' heats and a 9th overall. Now we are returning to Italy and preparing for Pietramurata. "

Federico Tuani # 3: "It was a difficult weekend, the bad qualifying compromised a bit of everything. Two bad starts in the heats and I recovered as much as possible. In race 2 the lap times weren't too bad but I'm still struggling a lot. We hope this period ends soon. Thank you all."

Luca Ruffini # 699: “Qualifying went like this but I managed to qualify. In the first heat I got a bad start and when I was 32nd I crashed and relegated practically last. In the second heat always a bad start in the rear. Towards the end of the race I had a bad fall on a jump that forced me to retire. There is still a lot of work to be done but we can't give up. "

 Source : https://mailchi.mp/a8d22b134000/sm-action-gasgas-racing-team-yuasa-battery-press-release?e=7734f3af1b