EMX2t - R6 - Imola Italy - 2019

ANDO GETS THE RED PLATE BACK FOR THE FINAL ROUND

Round 6 of the EMX2t in Imola and Brad Anderson went there sitting in 2^nd place, 2 points behind Mike Kras.  The travelling had taken its toll on Brad in the last round in Latvia, so he came out to Italy, fully fit and determined to get the Red Plate back where we all believe it belongs.

QUALIFCATION:

Brad had an excellent start to the weekend going P1 in both Free Practice and Timed Qualification.  He was over half a second quicker than his rival Mike Kras which gave Brad the confidence he needed.

RACE 1:

Race 1 on the Saturday afternoon, saw Brad get into trouble on the start straight, getting tagged by another rider.  He managed to keep the bike upright, but Kras had already managed to get ahead.  By the end of lap 1 Brad had moved up to 7^th position and Kras was in 3^rd.

Brad then came off on a slippery corner, damaged his brakes and dropped back to 9^th.  He couldn’t settle and kept making small mistakes.  Meanwhile Kras had moved up to 2^nd place with Kellett charging behind.  With 7 minutes to go, Ando moved up to 7^th and Kras dropped back to 4^th with Kellett and Deghi getting past him.  Three laps to go and Ando charged into 5^th but luck didn’t go his way.  Kelletts gear box went, which allowed Kras to move back up to 3^rd place.  Ando tried to catch the struggling Kellett but there weren’t sufficient laps left in the race.

So moto 1, Brad Anderson finished 5^th and Mike Kras finished 3^rd.  This gave Kras a 6 point lead over Brad going into Race 2.

RACE 2:

A Perfect start to race 2.  Ando got the hole shot and went charging out at the front.  He kept the lead for the first 4 laps until Manual Lacopi made his way through.  Lacopi had entered as a wild card and had already won Moto 1.

However, Brad kept steady and remained in a comfortable 2^nd place for the rest of the race, with no-one even closing in on him.  3^rd place Deghi finished over half a minute behind Ando. 

However, it wasn’t all plane sailing.  Mike Kras had got a bad start coming off in lap 1 and had to fight his way back from 20^th place.  By lap 6 he had moved into the top 10 and by lap 10 he had moved into 6^th place.  This would have given Brad a 2 place lead over Kras but in the final lap, Kras managed to pass Andrea Gorini for 5^th place.

So in Moto 2, Ando finished 2^nd and Kras finished 5^th.

OVERALL:

Brad got a 5 – 2 for 3^rd overall.  Kras got 2 – 6 for 4^th overall.  This gave Brad just 2 more points than Kras this weekend, which meant that both Brad and Kras tie on 235 points.  Brad gets the Red Plate back but the two rivals will go to Turkey, for the final round, joint leaders.

QUOTE FROM BRAD ANDERSON:

I was gutted yesterday at getting 5^th place, especially as I was feeling good and had good times in practice.  I just needed my luck to change and it did so today.  I got a better start and ended up 2^nd which gave me 3^rd overall and the Red Plate back.  Me and Kras are on joint points now going into the last round in Turkey.  So it’s game on now.  Let the best man win.

QUOTE FROM TEAM MANAGER ADRIAN KIRK:

A great job done by Ando this weekend.  He has some back luck this season, with lots of 1^st race crashes.  But he has got the Red Plate back where it belongs in time for the final round.