Round four of the World Championship, MXGP of Portugal was another opportunity for Stephen Rubini to score a top ten result for the third time this season. One of his teammate was back after his injury, Benoit Paturel, MXGP rider who scores his first points for team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz.
Back in Agueda for the first time since 2019, #38 started the weekend with a show off of skill and bike control, achieving 2nd best time during the warmup laps and 4th position in the tryouts. He mantained that momentum in Race 1, where he finished in P6 after an hard-fought ride.
Everyone had great expectation for Race 2, but unfortunately, Stephen had a crash start that made him lose many positions and made him finish in P13 despite the many positions he recovered. Tenth of the GP, he remains ninth in the World Championship, Rubini brings home another great result for Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR, which is already preparing for the next stage of Pietramurata, Italy.
Josse Sallefranque, Team Manager: “Happy with Stephen, just a shame that he crashed at the second start as a top 5-7 was possible if we consider his lap times. He remains regularly in the top 10, that’s our goal in this class. After his crash at the first start Benoit wasn’t able to come back in the top twenty; he scores two points despite another incident at the start of race two, for sure that’s only two points but I’m convinced that he will add many others when he will be back at his real level.”