Image: Bavo Swijgers.

KEMEA Yamaha’s Luke Styke was struck by mechanical problems at last weekend’s second round of the MX2 Motocross World Championship, unable to finish both motos with fuelling issues aboard the YZ250F.

Last weekend at Si Racha in Thailand was a disastrous outing for the Belgian team, as both Styke and teammate Petar Petrov retired with fuel problems caused by immense heat on race day.

After qualifying 18th the problems struck late in the race while Styke was running 20th, however in moto two the difficulties arose in the early laps.

Styke will also undergo further medical examinations upon return to Europe this week after struggling during rounds one and two of series.

“Another bad weekend for me… I’m still not feeling 100 percent and in this heat it was hard,” Styke admitted. “Just like Petar I had problems with my bike and I had to retire in both races. I’m satisfied these first two races are over now.

“I’m going back to Belgium now, We have a couple of weeks now to regroup and get back in shape. I will go to a sports doctor Wednesday to check my blood and figure out the problem. Hopefully the Brazilian GP will be better then!”

Team manager Marnicq Bervoets explained the heat was a common problem across the weekend, not just for the KEMEA team.

“This was a bad weekend for the team,” he commented. “On sunday we got problems with the fuel. With the warm temperatures the fuel got too hot and as I hear most of the teams except for KTM and Husqvarna had problems. Some riders had issues late in the race, but in the second race we had troubles right from the start.

“It’s really sad something like this messed up our entire weekend. But we have to keep our heads up and look forward to the next GP.”

The KEMEA Yamaha team will contest a round of the Dutch championship before round three of the GP series in Brazil on 30 March.