Loket, one of the most scenic, yet dangerous tracks in the MXGP calendar, brought mediocre results for the Latvian motocross pilot Pauls Jonass, who finished 6-7 for a 6th place overall.

Saturday came with lots of struggle, as Pauls had a very unfortunate start, having to fight his way up from the 21st position. He quickly managed to pass most of the riders, and found himself inside the Top10 relatively early into the race. The Latvian finished the qualifying race being 9th just ahead of his teammate Arminas Jasikonis.

Sunday started off quite well for the young athlete. Pauls managed to place himself among the first eight riders during the first lap, and step up a position soon after. After a few more laps, Pauls had passed another rival and was running 6th behind his teammate; however, this time the Lithuanian turned out to be faster, and Jonass finished in the 6th place.

Second heat turned out quite uneventful for those on the Latvian’s camp – Pauls was just outside the Top10 after the gate dropped, but managed to gradually climb up the pack as the race went by. He managed to hang on to 7th position when the checkered flag came about, earning just enough points to place 6th in the GP overall classification.

The athlete later admitted: ” I guess I can say it was a decent GP for me; certainly not the worst, but also not the best. I earned a couple of good championship points, and sixth is a good overall result. Starts are so important here and I didn’t get the best of starts in either race; however, I felt good in the first race and managed to make a few passes and, yeah, sixth was a good result. My pace wasn’t quite what I needed in the second moto. I felt okay, but I didn’t want to push too hard and take risks. Riding here is very different on a 450cc, but I enjoyed the GP. There aren’t too many races to go now, so the focus is to keep working and try and improve my position in the championship.”

The next round of the FIM World Motocross Championship will be held in the dreadful sand of Lommel, Belgium, on August 4.

Written by Nikola Serge

Image by Juan Pablo Acevedo