TONKOV SECOND IN FINAL EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
It is not often that a motocross rider speaks with a hint of disgruntlement about an international event in which he finished second, yet Aleksandr Tonkov did just that when reflecting upon the final round of the EMX2 European Championship series at Gaildorf, Germany. With the results cat out of the bag already, let us backtrack and see how the Russian rider’s weekend unfolded and how he arrived at his state of less than perfect contentment.
Regular readers will know by now that Aleksandr’s season went pear-shaped in a bad way when he injured his writs in the early sessions of the third round in Spain. At thd him to miss two rounds, and even upon his return at the Latvian round he was not in such fine fettle. This meant that all hopes of title honours went marching out the door like a Red Army brigade, and all that he could do, was salvage the best possible round-to-round results to bolster his achievements.
Having spent a season in German employ, Aleksandr is of course no stranger to the German scene, and he arrived at Gaildorf full of hopes for a good result. He came within a smidgen of topping the timing sheets in the qualifying practice, finally trailing Romain Febvre by less than a second. His qualifying race delivered some difficulties, when the footpeg of his Yamaha snagged in one of Gaildorf’s ruts in the most freakish of manners, but he recovered well to finish third in the qualifying event.
A less than ideal start in race left the Russian with a fair workload. His progress was clearly visible as his bright green clothing made him easy to follow. BY the sixth lap he had moved up to fourth position, and though he kept Dutch rider Donny Bastemeijer in sight, he could not close the gap enough to launch an attack for a podium finish. A much better start in race two left him with a far more solid platform to work off. He held his second position all race long, and with Dylan Ferrandis being in sublime form up front, Aleksandr had n option but to place his second position safe.
His inability to challenge for the lead in the second race was what left the teenager with a scowl wholly at odds with his good finish. This is the heart of a champion, though he was second, he wanted to be first, and the manner in which he was second did not please him at all much. Nevertheless, for the world at large an overall second place finish at a European Championship event is no bad thing at all, and he duly accepted the accolades of the crowd as he sprayed the bubble from the podium.
Although he missed two full rounds of the series and was all but fully out of action for another, Aleksandr finished sixth overall in the championship standings. When checking out the points standings, an interesting statistic emerged – he scored by far the highest average of points per round that he participated in, and extrapolating that over the series a clear picture emerges that he would have been an overwhelming favourite for championship honours but for the untimely injury.
The youngster is in full negotiations for the 2012 season, and hopes to clinch a good world – or American championship berth for next season.
Tags: aleksandr tonkov, european, motocross
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