The classic Maggiora Park track set the background this weekend for a yet another mudder, as the skies opened and the track took a beating. Deep mud, slippery, sticky surface and survival were the key themes especially for Saturdays heats. Luckily since the MXGP of Portugal these have been a common theme and we’ve gained loads of experience on how to ride under these conditions.

Starting Saturday after a night of rain, the track was in quite an interesting shape, mildly put. Putting together a fast lap in the Time Practice wasn’t just a matter of skill, but also luck. Yellow flags went up and down all around the track all the time and getting the opportunity to ride a lap without any yellow flags required excellent timing and luck. In the end Alvin’s lap was a solid 16th place, getting through unscathed and ready for the Qualifying Heat.

In the qualifying race Alvin got another excellent start as we’ve learned to expect now, and managed to race an all around extremely solid race to P13, leading to a great gate pick for the following day.

After the Qualifying Race was done, the rain picked up once again and left the track in quite a devastating condition all around. Some truly exceptional work by the track crew overnight turned the track from a muddy mess into something resembling a racing track, and Sunday turned out to be a hot day with the sun blasting at full heat, drying the track completely, with the conditions changing drastically, turning the deep, wet ruts into hard as stone ruts that now had to be rolled through smooth as butter to not get caught in.

Alvin’s great starts gave him a way through but the sketchy conditions had him racing a tad out of comfort zone and put him in the 15th position in the first race. Heading into the second race, Alvin unfortunately got caught up in a major start crash and had to find his way up from the back of the pack, ultimately finishing 16th, making him overall 16th and 11 points to take home.

Team JWR Honda Racing uses WRP Handlebars