A fantastic ninth-place finish in MXGP for Julius Mikula in the second MX2 moto!
The Spanish town of Cózar hosted the second round of the MXGP World Championship on the weekend of March 15–16, featuring, among others, the MX2 category.
The weather created extremely challenging conditions for both riders and teams—rain persisted throughout nearly the entire weekend, leaving the track in a very difficult state.
Representing TM Corse CRD Motorsport in the MX2 class, Czech rider Julius Mikula delivered a solid result despite the tough circumstances.
Already in Saturday's timed practice, Julius had to settle for the 16th fastest time, which meant he had to go through the qualifying race. There, however, he fought hard and delivered a solid performance, finishing 12th and securing a decent starting position for Sunday's races.
Sunday brought even tougher conditions. Heavy overnight rain had a major impact on the track, which offered no forgiveness to the riders. In the first moto, Julius didn't get the best start and entered the opening lap around 20th place. With a calm, well-planned strategy, he began steadily overtaking rider after rider and crossed the finish line in an excellent 8th position.
In the second moto, he got off to a slightly better start, running around 11th and immediately battling within the top 10. With minimal mistakes and a consistent pace, he stayed close to the front, and thanks in part to a few crashes from other riders in the final laps, he secured another 8th-place finish.
Julius Mikula ended the day 9th overall in the round, moving him up to 15th in the current MX2 World Championship standings.
What does Jula say about the MXGP in Cózar?
This past weekend, we raced in the town of Cózar, Spain. On Saturday morning, the track conditions were quite muddy, but by the time the qualifying race started, the surface had improved and was in ideal shape. After several good battles, I finished the race in 12th place.
Sunday, however, brought much tougher conditions. It rained heavily all night, which left the track extremely rough and much slower compared to Saturday. Throughout the day, intermittent showers made racing even more difficult.
In the first moto, my start wasn't the best, but I rode consistently and managed to work my way up to 8th place. In the second moto, I got off the line a bit better, around 11th position, and once again finished strong in 8th. Overall, we came away with 9th place for the day.
The track was really tough, and it was easy to make mistakes, but I'm happy with how we handled it. It wasn't just a hard day for me on the bike—it was also demanding for my team, who did an incredible job preparing the bike and managing everything that comes with race day. I'm really grateful for their effort and support.
Julius Mikula