Fourth in the opening race at the Grand Prix of Lombardia, round fifteen of eighteen in the 2015 World Championship, Valentin Guillod lost all his podium chances in a crash at the start of the second race. Fifth of the GP, the Yamaha Standing Construct rider lost important points in the battle for the World title….
Valentin got pretty good results on Saturday, as he qualified in second position for the GP after a strong qualifying race. Confident for the races even if Mantova is a sandy track, Valentin will not have such a good feeling on Sunday with the track even if he scored a decent fourth position in race one. Unhappy with his riding, he will not have the opportunity to do better in race two as he was involved with fellow countryman Jeremy Seewer and two other riders in a collective crash before the first corner! Back in the race in last position with some pain in his back, Valentin came back close to the tenth position when he did two mistakes in the penultimate laps, losing several positions to score a fourteenth place. Fifth of the GP, he is now fourth in the series, 42 points behind the leader with three more rounds to go; the next one will take place in a new venue, Assen (Netherlands), and on some deep Dutch sand.
Valentin Guillod: “It was not really the results I was expecting, even if Saturday was a good day. In the first heat I scored a fourth position but I was not really in the race, my lines were not so good and I was stiff on the bike. At the second start I was involved in a pileup, I saw some riders coming on my right and then we were on the ground; I hit the ground pretty hard and had pain in my neck and my back when I was back in the race. I tried to pass as many riders as possible, and was close to tenth when I did a mistake and lost one position; I was nearly back in my former position when I made another mistake in a rut before a jump, and crashed pretty hard. I finished the race but the result is not so good and I feel bad as the team did a great job, as I train hard but didn’t got in the races the results we could expect. The feeling is good when I train, but when we come to the races that’s not so good and we’ll work hard again this week to do better in the next rounds.”