The Englishman was in a class of his own riding his KX250F on a track made extremely muddy by overnight rain; he quickly took over the lead in both motos and rode two tactically brilliant races to come home unchallenged each time. Even a slip midway through the opening moto could not halt his domination as he coolly pitted for fresh gloves and quickly regained the lead. The double success has brought him to within 20 points of the series pace after five GPs of the 16 round series.

Searle's teammate Joel Roelants continues to recover from a recent heavy crash and only missed the podium by a single point despite a troubled first moto when he crashed numerous times in the sticky going.

Dylan Ferrandis of Team Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki was racing for the first time in such treacherous conditions but had moved into the top ten of the opening moto until he was struck on the eye by a stone; the resultant adverse effect on his vision caused him to crash, but the teenager rebounded to finish eleventh in race two. Teammate Valentin Teillet tried to compete but found the discomfort from the wrist he injured the previous weekend in Mexico too great and withdrew from the event before racing.

Tommy Searle: "I'm not the best mud rider, but I knew I needed good starts and to ride smart. I took the lead quickly in both races and concentrated on not making mistakes and keeping my goggles free of mud when I came up behind lappers. I slipped off once in the first race and my gloves were covered in mud but it was easy to retake the lead after I stopped for fresh gloves. The result today means I have halved the points gap to the series leader and makes up for my bad luck in Italy."

Joel Roelants: “I had a really good start in the first race, but then I crashed no less than six times during the race! I was still able to finish fifth. The second race was better with a fourth position, but I feel that I can do much better and that is frustrating for me. I will go back home to train even harder during the next two weeks; I want better results in France.”


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