Raceline Pirelli KTM press release:

It was a weekend of lessons for Raceline Pirelli KTM’s MX1 rookie Mitch Evans, who secured a top ten finish at Round 2 of the Pirelli MX Nationals at Appin in New South Wales.

With Evans’ first appearance for the team at round one delivering him with an MX1 podium, the Queenslander had high expectations of himself coming in to the second outing of the season. However, despite showing lightening fast speed, Evans concluded the round just inside the top ten.

Evans proved his capabilities from the minute bikes hit the track at Appin, qualifying fourth fastest and gaining entry into his second consecutive Raceline Performance Superpole -where he clocked the third quickest time (1:36.920).

Unfortunately, in moto one Evans went down during the opening laps and was forced to make his way through the field, eventually concluding the 30-minute moto in ninth position. Race two was also full of action. With the moto initially red flagged due to an incident on track, the MX1 riders were restarted in staggered form. Evans then started from dead last due to an earlier crash and wrapped up the second race of the day in tenth. With two top ten results at Appin, Evans concluded the round in tenth overall.

Evans now sits in fifth in the championship standings with eight rounds remaining.

“It wasn’t exactly the weekend that we wanted. I had bad starts and I was probably too aggressive in the first couple of laps which resulted in crashes,” Evans explained.

“I still felt good on the bike, and my fitness was really good so there were some positives to take away. I just needed to be a bit smarter about how I was riding during the beginning of both races.

“The track on the weekend had a lot of lines going in to turns but really only one line going out, I was just a bit too aggressive trying to make moves when I’d gotten bad starts. I knew I needed to get to the front.

“We have three weeks now until the next two rounds and we learnt a lot from yesterday. I’m looking forward to working on some starts and also some other bits and pieces so we can arrive at Wonthaggi in a much better position.”

For Raceline Pirelli KTM’s MX2 rider Jayden Rykers round two at Appin was challenging to say the least. After qualifying in an impressive second position, Rykers was forced to retire from moto one due to a shoulder injury. Rykers was then unable to line up again for the remainder of the day.

Following the weekend, Rykers will now undergo surgery, and Raceline Pirelli KTM will be announcing more regarding his return in the coming weeks.

The team will now begin preparation for the third and fourth rounds of the 2018 Pirelli MX Nationals which will take place on May 19-20 at Wonthaggi in Victoria.

For more information on the Raceline Pirelli KTM, head to the teams’ official website, www.raceline.com.au

To follow Raceline Pirelli KTM’s progress this year, like ‘Raceline’ on Facebook or follow @raceline_motosport on Instagram.

For more information on the Pirelli MX Nationals head to www.mxnationals.com.au.