The Grand Prix of Czech Republic will start a month of activity for Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe that will not only wind down their long international campaign but also see the crew 'stretch their legs' with an extended line-up hitting the spotlight in the coming weeks.
Round 14 of 17 in the FIM Motocross World Championship should see Max Anstie aiming for the podium again after his electrifying performance at Lausitzring last weekend in Germany where the Brit took part in an exciting battle for second place in the second moto. Anstie will be flanked by Jeremy Seewer, back on European EMX2 duty and negotiating the sixth round of eight in the competitive Grand Prix feeder series where he is currently second in the standings. Seewer will ride his RM-Z250, while to his side in the Rockstar awning will also be Brian Hsu on the RM125 and aiming to better his season-best finish of ninth position in Germany in what is also the sixth outing for the European EMX125 contest.
Loket is a busy event for the squad but the work continues throughout the week with the FIM Junior World Championship also occurring in the Czech Republic (at Jinin) where Gianluca Facchetti and Robert Tompa will ride RM85 machinery in the 85cc category and Hsu, along with Jorge Zaragoza, will take out their 125s where they hope to be among the favourites for success.
First up is Loket though and a quick, slippy and compact course awaits the Suzuki-mounted trio come the weekend, with more high temperatures expected to affect proceedings close to the holiday town of Karlovy Vary. Anstie is anxious for silverware having come so near last Sunday and having worked and waited - largely by himself with team-mate Julien Lieber injured from round four - with his group of technicians and mechanics throughout the five months of the season so far.
"Obviously we expected more from this season and it started in promising fashion but racing can take you on many different paths with different emotions," assessed Team Manager Thomas Ramsbacher. "It was a blow to lose Julien like that, especially after the bad luck we'd had the previous year with injury. Max, Jens and the guys remained very focused on the job all summer and nobody here can be accused of not trying their best. Jeremy's progress has been good in the Europeans and Brian and Jorge have been going through their own programmes and I hope we will see some exciting performances at the FIM Junior World Championships next week at Jinin. Then again at the MXGP Festival for the European series where the team will be present in an extended line-up showing all of Suzuki's two-stroke and four-stroke technology.
"Max is operating at the top of our development tree in MX2 right now and I feel that Germany was a forward step in terms of confidence; we almost had that podium! We'll go for it again this weekend in Czech Republic at the start of a crucial month for us."
After Jinin, Grands Prix in Belgium, Britain and Holland remain and the FIM Motocross World Championship - along with the European series - will be wound up at Lierop on September 8th.
MX2 World Championship Standings (after 13 of 17 rounds): 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 642 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 483 p.; 3. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 416 p.; 4. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 365 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 362 p.; 6. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 341 p.; 7. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 318 p.; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 282 p.; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), 259 p.; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), 238 p.
Round 14 of 17 in the FIM Motocross World Championship should see Max Anstie aiming for the podium again after his electrifying performance at Lausitzring last weekend in Germany where the Brit took part in an exciting battle for second place in the second moto. Anstie will be flanked by Jeremy Seewer, back on European EMX2 duty and negotiating the sixth round of eight in the competitive Grand Prix feeder series where he is currently second in the standings. Seewer will ride his RM-Z250, while to his side in the Rockstar awning will also be Brian Hsu on the RM125 and aiming to better his season-best finish of ninth position in Germany in what is also the sixth outing for the European EMX125 contest.
Loket is a busy event for the squad but the work continues throughout the week with the FIM Junior World Championship also occurring in the Czech Republic (at Jinin) where Gianluca Facchetti and Robert Tompa will ride RM85 machinery in the 85cc category and Hsu, along with Jorge Zaragoza, will take out their 125s where they hope to be among the favourites for success.
First up is Loket though and a quick, slippy and compact course awaits the Suzuki-mounted trio come the weekend, with more high temperatures expected to affect proceedings close to the holiday town of Karlovy Vary. Anstie is anxious for silverware having come so near last Sunday and having worked and waited - largely by himself with team-mate Julien Lieber injured from round four - with his group of technicians and mechanics throughout the five months of the season so far.
"Obviously we expected more from this season and it started in promising fashion but racing can take you on many different paths with different emotions," assessed Team Manager Thomas Ramsbacher. "It was a blow to lose Julien like that, especially after the bad luck we'd had the previous year with injury. Max, Jens and the guys remained very focused on the job all summer and nobody here can be accused of not trying their best. Jeremy's progress has been good in the Europeans and Brian and Jorge have been going through their own programmes and I hope we will see some exciting performances at the FIM Junior World Championships next week at Jinin. Then again at the MXGP Festival for the European series where the team will be present in an extended line-up showing all of Suzuki's two-stroke and four-stroke technology.
"Max is operating at the top of our development tree in MX2 right now and I feel that Germany was a forward step in terms of confidence; we almost had that podium! We'll go for it again this weekend in Czech Republic at the start of a crucial month for us."
After Jinin, Grands Prix in Belgium, Britain and Holland remain and the FIM Motocross World Championship - along with the European series - will be wound up at Lierop on September 8th.
MX2 World Championship Standings (after 13 of 17 rounds): 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 642 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 483 p.; 3. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 416 p.; 4. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 365 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 362 p.; 6. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 341 p.; 7. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 318 p.; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 282 p.; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), 259 p.; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), 238 p.
