28-02-2022	MXGP News
Isak Gifting shows top-five speed at round one of 2022 MXGP

Backed by a legion of loyal fans, Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee started their international campaign at the Grand Prix of Great Britain this past weekend. The 2022 FIM Motocross World Championship fired into life beneath sunny skies at the picturesque circuit of Matterley Basin, providing a great opportunity for Isak Gifting and Kay Karssemakers to show off their new colours.

  Two crashes in the qualifying heat on Saturday left Gifting with the fourteenth gate pick for Sunday's motos. The power within his KTM 250 SX-F helped him secure a great start in the first moto – he moved into sixth quite quickly and matched the pace of those in the top five. An untimely crash halted his progress at that point. Eventually remounting in seventeenth, he got to work and salvaged a fourteenth at the chequered flag. The second moto was redemption, after showing such promise in moto one, as he started in sixth and finished there. A 14-6 scorecard gave him ninth overall on the day, but it was quite clear that he is capable of so much more.

Kay Karssemakers showed similar promise in his first Grand Prix. Although he has limited time aboard the KTM 250 SX-F and a lack of experience, he proved to be a quick learner and showed top-ten speed at different points. A couple of mistakes, including a crash, restricted him to seventeenth in moto one, but he improved in moto two and reached the chequered flag in fifteenth. A 17-15 scorecard put him in sixteenth overall at the Grand Prix of Great Britain.
 
Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee are hungry for more, after such a promising start to the 2022 FIM Motocross World Championship, and have already turned attention to the second round this weekend. The Grand Prix of Lombardia, which will be run at Mantova, will go off on March 06.

Isak Gifting: "I’m quite satisfied with the first round of the year. Ninth overall is not the result I wanted, seeing as I crashed out of sixth in moto one. Top ten is a decent start though. Everything with the team and bike is working very well and my starts were consistently up front all weekend. I'm confident that we can build on this further."

Kay Karssemakers: "I started around tenth in the first moto and my speed was good. Unfortunately, a crash and another mistake made me finish in seventeenth. I got an okay start in the second race and rode around twelfth for twenty minutes. My riding was better again too, so that was good. I ended up fifteenth in that moto. There were improvements again, so I am happy with that. My first GP ever and I got points. Now onto the next one. We will work from here and learn."
 
Roger Magee (Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee Team Owner): "From my own personal point of view, it was so good to be back in the MXGP paddock for the first time in two years. Steve Dixon and his team deserve all the accolades over the past week for having the determination to run the rescheduled event in such a short timeframe. With our new riders in 2022, both Isak and Kay showed their real promise today with both scoring strong points in both motos. Our mechanics have once again prepared really competitive KTM 250 SX-F machines, which was proven by each rider getting good starts in both motos. 

"Isak was unfortunate to crash out of the first moto when in P6, but redeemed himself with the same position in the second moto. In what was his first MX2 Grand Prix, Kay did really well in both motos having only been on a team bike for the past few weeks. He showed real maturity in his riding all day too. I also wish to praise the extreme efforts of all the team members last weekend in very hazardous weather conditions – their prompt actions saved the race truck infrastructure. We now look forward to the next round at Mantova, as we look to build on today's very promising start to the 2022 MXGP season."