The first gate drop of the ‘25 season for the Gabriel SS24 KTM Juniors Team kicked off at Hawkstone Park for the renowned pre-season Hawkstone International MX. With a solid winter prep under their belt, both riders, Gyan Doensen and Max Werner were eager to get going.
In timed practice, Gyan qualified 4th, with Max in 7th. In race one, both riders had a good jump out of the gate but ended up crashing on the opening lap, meaning they both had to come through the pack from 25th and 27th. Max and Gyan worked hard on the rough and rutty track to work their way up the leaderboard with Max finishing in 14th and Gyan in 16th.
Race two saw an improvement with Max finishing in a strong 5th place and Gyan just making a small mistake half way through the moto whilst inside the top 10 to finish just outside in 12th.
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Rounding off the day qualifying for the superfinal, the mixed capacity race meant the MX2 machines went off the line first with the MX1 machines shortly behind. Max and Gyan found themselves battling each other throughout the race and crossed the line 13th and 14th consecutively in the combined results, 4th and 5th in their class.
Team Manager Shaun Simpson: “There’s a lot anticipation for Hawkstone Park as the first race of the season and it’s a really nice gauge to see where we are speed wise, fitness and get the pre-race nerves out of the way. Very happy with our new set up in the paddock, mechanics and crew worked together nicely to manage the tough conditions. Both riders tried their hardest but unfortunately the day didn’t really go our way with a few mistakes, getting caught up in some first and second lap carnage we were fighting from the back of the first one and a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes in the second one cost us some positions. It was nice to see them both riding together in the super final pushing each other right to the end. We’re out of there in one piece, stronger and more prepared after our first outing. We are looking ahead to another couple of preseason races next week, with Gyan at Lacapelle in the south of France and then the following week with both riders at the international in Lierop (Netherlands). Hopefully get these little glitches out of the way and I’m sure we will work on any weak points in the next month before the first round of the year EMX championship in Cozar.”
Gyan: “First race of the season done at Hawkstone, I struggled all day long with my bike set up and myself. We couldn’t the set up right until the super final, was a bit of my own mistake but my mechanic and everyone from the team helped and I’m really happy with that so that’s what a preseason race for, so it was P16 and P12 in the motos with one big crash and one smaller crash. Turned things around in the super final, it was way better. I felt more comfortable, I know there’s a lot of work to do, but we still have one month until the season start so I’m confident I will be strong then and yeah, I’m looking forward to the next pre season races.”
Max: “My first preseason race is done. I had some ups and some downs, in the first race I had a good start but then crashed in the opening lap three times so started from last and went back to P14, it wasn’t not bad riding but wasn’t how I actually could ride. Then the second moto I had a good start, made a quick pass for fourth place and stayed there for most of the moto but crashed again twice on the last two laps. Not really what we wanted but that’s why we do these preseason races, so yeah we move on from this. The super final was good riding and I learnt a lot Nothing else we can add to this weekend learnt a lot and looking forward for my next race.”
Words and Images by Gabriel SS24 KTM
