The Swedish track, less than a two-hour drive from the Norwegian frontier, is effectively his "home" GP and he gave the many home-country fans who had ventured across the border plenty to cheer. He made good use of fourth gate-choice to nail the holeshot and, though edged out at turn two, he maintained his composure to track the leader before mounting a successful challenge for the lead four laps from the finish. There was still pressure from behind but the Norwegian kept his cool and, posting the fastest first-sector time of the entire race on the very last lap, he brought it home.
Kevin Horgmo: "I guess you could call this my "home" GP; I was born just three hours drive from here so it feels like home and there are a lot of Norwegian fans to cheer me on, but racing-wise I approached it just like another GP. I got the holeshot but I had a tight line at turn two so Sacha could come around me; he was fast early on but I could keep my rhythm and waited for him to start making mistakes. Liam was really pushing at the end but I felt good, stayed smooth and held my lines. A huge shout-out to the team and the fans; everyone has been working so hard for this and I could hear the crowd go wild when I took the lead. It was a great place to take my first victory. I think I handled it well and we have been building step-by-step since Loket so let's finish the season off strong."
F&H teammate David Braceras was also on good form as he posted sixth-fastest time in practice. Rounding turn one sixth, he soon settled into a good rhythm after surrendering one position to regain sixth two laps from the finish and, in a final charge, he came up just short of snatching fifth on the final lap.
Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP's Romain Febvre had a frustrasting time in Qualifying for the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship round. The Uddevalla track is notoriously difficult to pass on and, although he quickly made a pass stick on the opening lap to take over fifth, he was denied at every turn as he sought to take over fourth. He eventually found a way through after ten minutes but slipped off less than a lap later as he pushed hard to pull back the gap to third. The pattern of racing continued after he remounted and he eventually finished a disappointed fifth.
Romain Febvre: « I had a good feeling with the bike and I enjoy riding this track but it’s really difficult to make the differnce as there are so few options to pass. I was eventually able to pass Jeffrey when he made a mistake, but then I also made a mistake and he was able to pass me back. Even if you are faster it’s difficult to find a spot as they had changed the track in some corners where it was possible to make a move in the past. My start was not the best, just average, and, even though I could gain some positions in the first few corners, that was it. »
After a solid seventh place in Timed Practice Mitch Evans was looking forward to a solid Qualifying but a first lap incident pushed him to the tail of the field and he had to settle for eighteenth at the finish.
BUD Racing Kawasaki's Quentin Marc Prugnières charged to third place in the opening moto of the weekend in the FIM European EMX250 Championship. The Frenchman, sixth in Qualifying, just two-thirds of a second from pole, rounded turn one of the twenty-five-minute moto fourth and was the fastest man on the track during the first fifteen minutes as he ran down the riders ahead of him and showed clever line-choice to pass into second. The gap to the leader was five seconds but the French youngster had closed the gap entering the closing stages, only to be hampered so badly by lapped riders that he surrendered second to the series leader in a hectic and frustrating final lap. The second moto takes place on Sunday morning.
Quentin Marc Prugnières: « It’s great to be back racing after such a long break since the last round; it's especially nice to resume here as I like this track. My start was good and I could make some quick passes to come second; then I reduced the gap to the leader until we caught the lappers. It was so difficult to pass them that in the end Bonacorsi caught and passed me so I finished third. Anyway it was a good moto even if it's a little frustrating as I know that I could have been first or second."
Benjamin Garib made an impressive comeback for the French team. The Chilean made an excellent start from gate fourteen to settle into the top ten; the newcomer remained cool in the white-hot EMX action and pushed forward to his eventual ninth ten minutes from the close.