The Swedish track, less than a two-hour drive from the Norwegian frontier, is effectively the “home” GP of Kevin Horgmo.
On Saturday, he gave the many home-country fans who had ventured across the border plenty to cheer as he won his first Qualifying Race.
“I guess you could call this my “home” GP; I was born just three hours drive from here so it feels like home and there are a lot of Norwegian fans to cheer me on, but racing-wise I approached it just like another GP.“
The F&H Kawasaki rider made good use of fourth gate-choice to nail the holeshot and, though edged out at turn two, he maintained his composure to track the leader before mounting a successful challenge for the lead four laps from the finish. There was still pressure from behind but the Norwegian kept his cool and, posting the fastest first-sector time of the entire race on the very last lap, he brought it home.
Kevin Horgmo’s KX250 hooked up well out of the gate in race one and he was looking good for another holeshot until the rider next to him failed to hold line halfway to turn one; the two riders touched and the Norwegian found himself sixth after the sort-out through the first few turns. He made a quick pass for fifth, but it was lap eleven before he could find a way through to fourth, a position he then held to the end of the race. A third holeshot of the season and an enthralling surge around the outside of turn two secured the early lead in race two and, to the delight of the numerous fans on the hillside terraces, he led comfortably for five laps until overshooting two turns to slip back to third. The overall podium was still secure until, with just three laps remaining, his bike suffered a loss of power in the inclement weather and ground to a halt.
I had three solid motos over the weekend; two holeshots out of three and the riding was good. I was surprised how well the track stood up today with all the rain overnight but it made it more difficult to pass. The lines started to clean up towards the end of the first moto and I had good speed so I was confident for race two. I put myself in the best possible position with the holeshot and felt good in front until I made one small mistake; Adamo came past pretty wild and Längenfelder took advantage to pass me before I could settle again but the podium was still in reach and I had it under control until the bike unfortunately stopped. But we showed I can race for the podium.”
