On Sunday at the motocross track “Zelta Zirgs” in Kegums, Latvia, the seventh round of the MXGP World Motocross championship was held. The local hero Pauls Jonass earned third place;despite the fact that he was aiming higher than that, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team athlete was mildly satisfied with his performance.

“I felt good on Sunday morning despite the unlucky qualifying race. I had thought it through and acknowledged my errors. I guess you could say that I was ready for a battle” admits Pauls.

“In the first moto I managed to get a holeshot and the rest of the race went on really well too; I secured the second place behind Thomas Kjer Olsen and had a good feeling about the second moto. Unfortunately, I got squeezed in before the first turn and had to fight my way up from the twentieth position. During the last minutes the feeling was there and I had found my rythm so I didn’t struggle that much. Even though I had a lot of pressure on my shoulders this past weekend, I still felt quite well and did my best.”

Pauls admits that even despite the fact that he did not emerge victorious at his home GP once again, he still managed to gain the very valuable championship points and extend the lead over his closest rival. “Of course I am happy that I got to be on the podium. Yes, I wanted to win here in front of my fans but hey, there’s always the nest year” laughs Jonass who is now 22 points ahead of his teammate Jorge Prado.

When asked about the heat Pauls admitted that it did not bother him that much since a slight breeze was also omnipresent. At the end of the conversation he expresses the gratitude towards the fans:” I could see and hear them all over the track, especially during the second moto whan I had to fight from the very end of the pack. Thanks a lot to everyone who was out there, it was very cool!” finished Pauls, who is now preparing for the upcoming MXGP of Germany.