The Frenchman was in scintillating form throughout the weekend on the track adjacent to one of Brazil's most popular amusement parks, but a single error during the early stages of the opening race put paid to his realistic expectations of a podium finish. He was disputing the lead after a great start until the error which cost him a dozen places; Gautier recovered to sixth place at the finish, and added a decisive second in race two after another excellent start but that single error was sufficient to restrict him to fourth on the day. The 37 points gained were however enough to see Gautier advance to second place in the series standings.
Steven Frossard had a frustrating day as crashes in each moto restricted the ex-world number two to tenth position overall and seventh in the championship even though he had shown good speed all weekend.
Thomas Covington, the young American who is making guest appearances in the MX2 class at the early GPs, again showed good speed but was unfortunate in both motos; a fall in the first race restricted him to seventeenth place at the finish, while a strong ride through the pack to seventh place in race two was halted when an errant backmarker forced him to crash heavily three laps from the end.
Gautier Paulin: “I got two good starts today, but I’m disappointed with the mistake I made in a corner during the first race. The bike was upside down and it took me too much time to restart. I lost the GP podium there, as I was fourteenth after this crash; I recovered to sixth, but it was tough with the rain during the second half of the race. But there were many positives this weekend; my starts were good, and in the second race I finished second. Now we go back to Europe and after the three overseas GPs I have the same motivation; I am ready to fight and I will give my best as well as the team to get the best results.”
Steven Frossard: “I had really bad starts this weekend in all the races, and that’s something I must improve. In the first moto I chose a rut in a corner, but just as I entered it the rut collapsed, I crashed and I used a lot of energy to restart the bike. My second race was better even though I crashed again; the rhythm was good and I had a better feeling. My main problem this weekend is that I suffered from the heat and the humidity; in the first ten minutes it was terrible and I’m sure that I lost three to four seconds a lap. That was worse this weekend than in Thailand, as the humidity was higher here.”
Thomas Covington: “It was a rough weekend for sure. I went down on the first lap of the first moto, but the second moto was better as I was in the top ten and had moved forward to seventh before I had some problems with the lappers; just before a triple a lapper didn’t jump and I crashed pretty hard. I’m happy with my second moto, and I'm looking forward to another great experience in Italy for the next GP.”