07-03-2022	MXGP News
Isak Gifting continues to impress at round two of 2022 MXGP

Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee tackled round two of the 2022 FIM Motocross World Championship, the Grand Prix of Lombardia, this past weekend. Isak Gifting and Kay Karssemakers garnered some momentum at the season opener in Great Britain, thanks to positive results, and were eager to build on that across the two days of competition in Italy.

Isak Gifting gave the squad a lot to cheer about across the Italian weekend. Yet another good start was the perfect way to start moto one, but a fall and some small errors ultimately placed him in twelfth at the finish line. Redemption was sweet in moto two though, as he ran as high as third and kept the leaders in sight for a lot of the race. Fifth was where he ended up, but just 0.015 separated him from the rider in fourth. 0.763 was the difference to third place – the podium was that close. Eighth overall was not a true representation of just how well Gifting rode in the shallow sand of Mantova. Ninth is the position that he occupies in the championship standings, following round two of twenty.

Kay Karssemakers grabbed a lot of attention in the qualifying heat on Saturday afternoon, as he battled on the cusp of the top ten and showed some impressive speed. An unfortunate crash late in the race cost him dearly though – an injury ruled him out of the points-paying motos. Karssemakers has returned home for further evaluation. The team will provide an update on his condition in due course.
 
The ACU British Championship beckons now, as the Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee squad will tackle the first round of that series this coming weekend. Culham, a historic circuit not far from London, will play host to the opening round.

Isak Gifting: "Good qualifying on Saturday and good starts in both motos on Sunday. I wasn't feeling great on the track and crashed in moto one, but I managed to change some things and get a better feeling for moto two where I challenged the top guys a bit more! P8 overall is okay, but I need to get more solid and be consistent across two motos to get the results I want!"
 
Roger Magee (Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee Team Owner): "It has been a bittersweet weekend for the team with the untimely injury to Kay in the last two laps of the MX2 qualifying race on Saturday and then really strong rides in both motos by Isak today, which show that he can run in the top six consistently. Finishing P8 in this Grand Prix, despite arm pump in moto one along with a crash near the end, shows he is a real talent and a well-deserved boost to the team's performances at Grand Prix level. His starts today are where we expect to be week in week out and show the real competitiveness of our KTM 250 SX-F against all of the full-factory bikes. We now look forward to next weekend's opening round of the ACU British Motocross Championship at Culham, where we will strive to secure yet another British title for Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee.