2022 FIM Motocross World Championship - RND #017, GP Of Charente Maritime, St. Jean D'Angely (FR)

Positive GP at Charente Maritime for the SM Action GasGas Racing Team Yuasa Battery. On the hard-surfaced track of St. Jean d’Angely’s “top 10” results for both Adamo (MX2) and Forato (MXGP). In the EMX250 Ruffini made his best result of the season in Race 2 after a good start; Tuani did not have a good race.

FIM Motocross World Championship went back to France, for the second time this season and for its second-to-last round, at another historical circuit, the St. Jean d’Angely, which is featured a hard and compact surface. In the GP of Charente Maritime, along with the MXGP and the MX2 class, there also were the EMX250 Championship riders for their 10^th and last round of the season.

Andrea Adamo #80 (MX2), Alberto Forato #303 (MXGP), Federico Tuani #3 (EMX250) and Luca Ruffini #669 (EMX250) were deployed by SM Action GasGas Racing Team Yuasa Battery from Emilia Romagna.

In the quarter-of-litre class, for the European Championship, both riders on their GasGas qualified for the races: Ruffini finished Timed Practice in P22, ahead of Tuani who was in P25. EMX250 Race 1 started as scheduled on Saturday afternoon. Both Ruffini and Tuani started in the “top 20” straight away, as they positioned in 16^th and 20^th place respectively, but lap by lap they moved back. Despite the 15 laps-long race, the GasGas duo could not make it to the points area; Luca finished the race in P24, while Federico was in P27.



On Sunday morning the riders aligned for Race 2. In this race Ruffini managed to find a good gap at the start as he positioned in the “top 10” straight away; Tuani, instead, was in the back and he was forced to recover. When the race director displayed the checkered flag Luca crossed the line in 13^th position, which is his best result of the season. Federico recovered a little but he could not make it better than P22. Ruffini finished the day in 23^rd place Overall (he was also penalized after the race as a result of a phonometric check); Tuani finished 28^th. In the final General Classification of the EMX250 Championship Federico ended in 23^rd place while Luca, who debuted this year in this challenging class, finished in P57 as a result of only two races where he gained points.

In the MX2, in both Free and Timed Practices, Adamo was conservative. After the 15^th fastest lap time of the opening session, the Sicilian ended in P13. Saturday continued with the Qualifying Race and Andrea hit the “top 5” straight away after the start. After a few laps, he stabilized in P7 and he kept the position until the checkered flag. On Sunday morning, in Race 1, Andrea made an awesome start as he took turn 1 in 1^st place for the first holeshot of his MX2 career. The Sicilian, though, was quickly reabsorbed by the group and after lap 1 he was in 6^th place. With a consistent pace and no mistakes made, he kept the position until the end and he made another important result. In Race 2 Andrea again showed speed and determination and after a good start, he finished in P9. The second-to-last round of the season awarded him with the 9^th position Overall, a result that allowed him to keep the 8^th place in the General Classification.



In the MXGP, Forato’s Saturday started very well with the 5^th fastest lap time of Free Practice. In the following Timed Practice, the rider from Veneto showed some good confidence with the French circuit and he finished in P7.  In the Qualifying Race, Alberto was in P11 after the start but before the end of lap 1, he was already in 10^th place. In the remaining 15 laps, Forato kept the position until the end. In Race 1 the rider from Veneto confirmed his good shape and his consistency: after a start that saw him missing out on the “top 10” by a little, Alberto moved up through the group and finished in 9^th position. In Race 2 he started in P16, so he was forced to recover on a circuit that has only one line and a hard surface, which was not easy. Despite this, the GasGas rider recovered 6 places and finished the race once again in the “top 10”, in P10, which was also his placement in the Overall Classification. Thanks to those results, Forato moved up to 13^th place in the General Classification.

The final round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place on the weekend of the 3^rd and the 4^th of September. The place that will host the event will be Afyonkarahisar, at the GP of Turkey.



Andrea Adamo #80: “It was quite a solid round. In Race 1 after the Holeshot I finished 6^th with a good pace; In Race 2 I struggled to find the same “feeling” and I finished in P9. Not bad, but I can surely make better results”.

Federico Tuani #3: “It was a disappointing race…nothing else to say”.

Luca Ruffini # 669: “Today was a good race, perhaps the best of this season. Already from free practice, I was comfortable with the track and in qualifying, I set a good time even if I never managed to find the track completely free. In race 1 I started in the middle of the group but a driver who crashed in front of me hindered me and made me fall back to the 30th position. In my comeback, I finished 24th. In race 2 I started in the 'top 10' and after driving a long time in 11th position, I finished 13th. Unfortunately, however, at the end of the race, I did not return within the limits of the sound level test and they dropped me by five positions. I am a bit sorry for this penalty but all in all the race went well."

Source : https://mailchi.mp/d3c384508bcc/sm-action-gasgas-racing-team-yuasa-battery-press-release?e=7734f3af1b