MXGP of Europe: Press conference quotes!

Van Horebeek: I feel okay. The track suits me well and I feel good. On this track you have to enjoy and ride smooth. If you ride it too aggressive, you can crash. It was a good but cold day! I had a good start and I think that’s the key, to get a top three start then ride your own race. The start is important because it’s really difficult to pass here. I got the holeshot then Jeffrey passed me straight away. We had good lines and a good pace and pulled away from the rest. Jeffrey had a crash but luckily he’s okay, it’s always scary.

Herlings: We were hoping for better than today after being quickest in the two practices and after making a great start behind Jeremy. I managed to over take him but there was something not right and obviously went down. I thought I had a broken wheel so I came in, turned out it wasn’t but something wasn’t right. It doesn’t matter, it’s racing and things like that happen. I had to restart dead last and I managed to come back to eighteenth.

I think tomorrow should be dry and the start grid should be dry as well. The start gate shouldn’t be that bad. Obviously, I’d prefer to be first but I can take it. I had the last gate pick in 2013 so we can still make it happen. I’m obviously racing different guys now but I feel good and strong so I just need two good starts tomorrow from that position.

No, I didn’t have any extra pressure from it being a home GP as there weren’t many fans today. It’s a shame it’s so cold, I feel really bad for the organisers and the riders. Our hands are basically freezing off so it’s a shame but it’s very unusual to have this kind of weather in March. Hopefully the track isn’t frozen tomorrow morning so it will be in a good condition by tomorrow afternoon.

Covington: The start was so important today, the track was a little bit one lined. I got a good start behind Prado, I followed him and tried to stay with him. He was going good and especially at the start. I got the better of him because of some lappers and he made a little mistake.

The past few weeks haven’t been ideal, I’ve been struggling. Even the last couple of days coming into this weekend, I’ve been riding pretty bad so it’s nice to turn it around today. We’ve got the bike working really well and hopefully today was just the click we needed.

I’ve got some family here from America and it’s always nice to have them here to support me.