Queenslander Mitch Evans has cracked the top-10 for the first time since Round 1 of the championship back in March after finishing eighth overall at the MXGP of Italy.
Mitch Evans has been improving every round since his return to action in Latvia a few weeks ago, and with some good training between these Latvian and Italian triple-headers, he is returning to the form that saw him put his Honda CRF450RW in third place in the opening moto of the season.
Like Gajser, he had to work hard for each position, working his way through the field and having to put in aggressive passes to secure his best points haul since Matterley Basin, UK, back in March.
In Race 1, Evans managed to slip inside the top-10 with a ninth-place finish. He would then improve on this result in Race 2, finishing seventh, earning himself eighth overall for the Round.
“The first Faenza was good. The goal is still to be better each time I go out on track and we achieved that again today starting with ninth in moto one and seventh in moto two, so really happy with that,” said Mitch Evans following the event. “These first two rounds I was hoping top 10 results and to slowly progress to the top five, but those guys are running a really fast pace at the front so we’ve still got a way to go. However, we’re heading in the right direction and I’m feeling better and better each race and I’m very happy with how today went.”
Aussie riders competing for the 114 Honda MX2 team, Bailey Malkiewicz and Nathan Crawford finished 20th and 22nd respectively.
