The 2013 FIM Motocross World Championship roared into life on the unusual stage of the Losail desert terrain for the Grand Prix of Qatar. The opening round of eighteen was the first for the series in the Middle East, the first to take place at night and the first to experiment with the three moto format that will be used for the non-European events this year.

The new Superfinal sprint – a mix between the top riders of both MX1 and MX2 categories - was won by Antonio Cairoli while Clement Desalle ruled the MX1 classification and Jeffrey Herlings in MX2. Honda World Motocross team’s Evgeny Bobryshev took the factory CRF450R to fifth overall.

The staple home of MotoGP, Losail welcomed top-flite motocross for the first time with a well-prepared and extensively lighted structure adjacent to the road racing course. Some big jumps and open turns were created from a soft and shifting soil that provide fast zones as well as technical areas. Working from the permanent pit-lane the teams and riders had to acclimatise to the late hour and the darker shade of the racing environment but the level of organisation received widespread plaudits.

Getting their racing campaign off to a steady start was Bobryshev – who became a new father only the weekend previously - on the latest edition of the CRF450R. The Russian made two decent getaways from the soft gate and was holding positions inside the top five in both thirty-five minute and two lap motos. He battled the likes of Ken De Dycker, Kevin Strijbos, Clement Desalle and Gautier Paulin to post fifth place at the first time of asking and followed the ranking up with fourth spot at the end of the evening.

New team-mate Max Nagl was unlucky in Qatar. The German was struck by a mystery stomach complaint that sapped his strength and also limited his possibilities. After struggling to fifteenth overall and picking up fifteen points the former GP winner now has to look towards next weekend for further improvement.

Honda Gariboldi fields the experienced and capable figure of David Philippaerts for 2013. The Tuscan was Italy’s first MX1 World Champion in 2008 and is renowned for his tenacity. In his debut outing in ‘red’ DP19 crashed in the first moto but rallied from last place to grab three points for eighteenth position. In the second race a better start led the way to ninth by the chequered flag although the veteran completed the distance in some discomfort after dislodging his handlebars.

The second flyaway leg of the FIM World Championship follows hard upon the Qatari milestone. Round two of eighteen will take place next week in Pattaya for the very first Grand Prix of Thailand.

Evgeny Bobryshev:
Race Result: 5th /4th Championship position: 5th

“In both races I had good starts and was consistent out there. Physically I feel good and that’s the result of hard work over the winter; it has brought me back to this level where I should be. I’m working race by race now to build confidence and get stronger. I lost a bit of speed at the end of the motos and this is something I need to sort out but I feel encouraged by the results. Fifth and fourth is OK for the first race. I want to thank all the team and my lovely wife and my new baby girl Eva; I’m really happy.”

Max Nagl:
Race Result: 11th/16th Championship position: 15th

“I am not sure if I had some bad food at lunchtime because in the first heat after the third lap I was feeling really sick with stomach pain and I was so tired, which meant I just had to survive the race. I could not push or do anything, so I was really disappointed. I also had a small crash with Xavier Boog, as he fell off in front of me in the first lap and I hit his bike. My bike was still running and I could take the clutch to get going again, but I was just so tired, and I thought I was going to vomit at the end of the race. The physiotherapist from the team did a great job with some stomach massage and medication, which really helped before race two. I felt much better, but I had a bad jump off the gate, so the start wasn’t good at all. I had a decent rhythm for the first 15-minutes; going through the field with good lap times, before I had a small crash. I got back going and could push for a couple more laps, but I just got so tired. Overall I’m disappointed with the weekend; the bike is good and everyone has worked very hard, so I feel sorry for the team, but I am going to take some rest in the next few days and hope we can be better for next weekend.”

David Philippaerts:
Race Result: 18th / 10th Championship position: 12th

“I’m half happy. I had two crashes in the first moto but my speed was good and my lap-times also. I was more than a minute behind last position so I pushed a lot to come back. In the second moto I started well – in the top ten – but after a few laps I landed heavily from a jump and the handlebars shifted downwards. It was a struggle to ride and quite painful after that but it turned out OK. I’m going step by step at the moment and I’ll get better.”

2013 FIM MX1 / MX2 World Motocross Championship
Round 01: LOSAIL – Qatar