MOTOCROSS Walkner takes pole in Ukraine 2013

Hillinger KTM MX Racing Team’s Matthias Walkner took the holeshot of the qualifying race and he succeeded in keeping the lead until the chequered flag. The Austrian rider will be the first one to choose the starting gate tomorrow at the main races and he has proved today that he is determined to win the Ukrainian round and claim the red plate back.

Pier Filippo Bertuzzo, who is currently ninth in the MX3 point standings, did a consistent race and crossed the finish line second. During his home round in Maggiora, Italy, he could not score any points, but this weekend he is fully motivated to finish among the top five and move up some positions in the point standings.

The current leader of the series UFO racing MX Team’s Klemen Gercar did not have a good start, but he managed to find the good lines to move up to fourth. The Slovenian was riding behind Gert Krestinov when the Estonian made a mistake and the Gercar overtook him from the inside and the current leader of the series moved up to third. In the last stages of the race Gercar was really close to overtake Bertuzzo, but the Slovenian rider had to settle down with the third position, which will give him a good gate pick for tomorrow’s main races.

Gert Krestinov ended fourth in the qualifying race and Czech Petr Michalec completed the top five. His compatriots Frantisek Smola and Petr Bartos were sixth and seventh, home rider Roman Morozov was eighth, and Evgeni Tyletski and Andriy Burenko completed the top ten of the qualifying race.

Martin Michek, who is third in the MX3 standings, did not have a good day; the Czech rider had a really good start in the qualifying race, but a mechanical problem forced him to retire after six laps when he was riding third. Michek will start from the outside gate tomorrow, but he will do his best to clinch a good start and fight for a podium finish.

Ludvig Söderberg was another rider who had to pull out from the qualifying race because he landed on Hrvoje Karas bike while the Croatian rider was recovering from a crash. None of the riders were injured, but they could not finish the heat.

It was not a good day for Ardo Kaurit either because he injured his knee again in a crash during the qualifying race. The Estonian will not race tomorrow and he might not finish the 2013 season.

MX3 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Matthias Walkner (AUT, KTM), 24:37.129; 2. Pier Filippo Bertuzzo (ITA, Yamaha), +0:01.390; 3. Klemen Gercar (SLO, Honda), +0:02.239; 4. Gert Krestinov (EST, Kawasaki), +0:03.461; 5. Petr Michalec (CZE, Honda), +0:25.763; 6. Frantisek Smola (CZE, KTM), +0:29.937; 7. Petr Bartos (CZE, KTM), +0:31.352; 8. Roman Morozov (UKR, Yamaha), +0:31.527; 9. Evgeni Tyletski (BLR, KTM), +0:57.417; 10. Andriy Burenko (UKR, Suzuki), +1:00.230.

Click here to obtain the complete results

Photos of the Ukrainian round will be available here.

MX3 Round of Ukraine – QUICK FACTS
Circuit length: 1750m
Type of ground: hard pack
Temperature: 20° C
Weather conditions: morning shower, partly cloudy

All the Sunday action of the sixth round of the FIM MX3 World Championship will be broadcasted LIVE on www.chv.tv by the Ukrainian company Bukovyna Agency. In order to follow the event LIVE in English you can click here.

The best moments of the sixth round of the FIM Motocross MX3 World Championship will also be broadcasted worldwide on MX-LIFE.TV. By clicking here you will be able to download the complete TV coverage of the Ukrainian round.

TIMETABLE
Sunday: MX3 Warm up 10:30; MX3 Race 1 13:30; MX3 Race 2 16:30.

LINKS
Youthstream
FIM
MX3 Round of Ukraine