Gabriel SS24 KTM headed to it’s home GP at the famous Foxhill circuit in Swindon England, renowned for its natural valley layout, hard-packed chalk soil and large flowing jumps. Coming into the weekend Oriol Oliver was determined to continue his consistent form and push further inside the top ten. For Gyan the focus was on gaining experience and riding with no pressure.

In free practice Gyan Doensen struggled to find his pace and finished the session in P23, however he made a big improvement in the timed practice which saw him finish in 11th. Oriol finished 15th in free practice and also showed improvement in the timed session, moving up one place to secure 14th.

MX2 Qualifying race which Doensen didn't get the best of starts and found himself outside the top 20 heading into the opening laps. He had to fight hard early on but overtaking proved difficult for Doensen as remained just outside the top 20 for the first half of the race.

He found his rhythm in the closing stages and his confidence grew Doensen began setting his personal best lap times and found opportunities to make several passes. His late race charge saw him climb to 18th place where he took the chequered flag.

MXGP Qualifying race and Oliver didn't execute the best start and found himself around 22nd place on the opening lap, however he made an excellent recovery climbing to 13th by the start of lap two. From there he continued to build momentum setting consecutive personal best lap times and looking comfortable on the track, he kept making passes and soon worked his way into the top 10.

Around the halfway point of the race Oliver found himself in another battle with Vlaanderen with the pair exchanging positions over several laps, he eventually broke clear opened up a gap. Oliver rode comfortably to an impressive 8th-place finish.

Doensen went to the gate for MX2 race one determined to show what he was capable of and he got an excellent jump off the line putting himself in a strong position heading into the first turn, however he was pushed wide and dropped to just outside the top 20.

Looking much more comfortable Gyan found his rhythm early in the race and by lap five and made several passes to break into the top 20. A few laps later Gyan made a mistake that cost him significant time dropping him down to 28th place. From there he struggled to recover but continued to push until the chequered flag making up a handful of positions to finish 23rd.

Oliver headed to the gate for his first race of the day but unlike his usual starts he didn't get away well and found himself well down the order leaving himself with plenty of work to do. Oliver responded brilliantly making a strong recovery to climb to 15th as he crossed the line at the end of the opening lap.

Riding with confidence and flow around the technical circuit which suited his riding style he continued to make passes and once again broke into the top 10. With five minutes plus two laps remaining he was still looking strong and setting competitive lap times he was looking to make a move on Pancar for seventh place, but unfortunately lost the front in a corner dropping him back to 11th. Although the mistake disrupted his rhythm for the remainder of the race Oliver regrouped well and managed to recover one position taking the chequered flag in 10th place.

For the final gate drop of the day for Doensen and he was determined to improve on his first moto and that's exactly what he did. Although he still didn't get the strongest of starts he was much better placed on the opening lap running in 18th. Riding aggressively from the outset Gyan quickly worked his way up to 15th place. Looking far more comfortable on the track he maintained a strong pace and rode consistently throughout the remainder of the moto. After a difficult start to the day Gyan brought it home in a solid 15th place, ending the weekend on a much more positive note.

For the final MXGP race of the day Oliver was aiming for another top-10 finish to secure a strong overall result, unfortunately the race came to an abrupt end on lap two. While heading into the valley Oriol clipped the rear wheel of Van Doninck over a jump resulting in a heavy crash. The impact caused damage Oriol and the bike forcing him to retire from the race. It was a disappointing end to what had otherwise been a promising weekend.

Gyan Doensen: “It was a difficult weekend in Foxhils for the British GP. Time practise was solid but the bad starts made it difficult and not my best riding in the first moto. We will get the ankle sorted, regroup and I will be back in Czech Republic.

Oriol Oliver: “Overall I’m happy to walk away from the crash in the second moto because it was a big one, I will take the weekend as a positive as the speed was there but sometimes things just don't go your way. I didn’t execute my starts all weekend but with how stacked the class is and how difficult the track was I made some quick passes which was good. I had to ride from the back in the Qualifying race got up to 8th and moto 1 rode from the back again fighting for 7th and made a mistake dropped back to 10th. Overall, the speed was there and I'm happy with the team and riding I will keep learning and I will rest this week and be ready for Loket this weekend.”

Shaun Simpson - Team Manager: “Great to be at Foxhills for the MXGP of Great Britain this weekend. The weather, crowd, track prep and atmosphere was unreal. Both riders put in some promising lap times in timed practice on Saturday with Oriol achieving his best gate pick of the season so far in 8th place. Despite showing strong race pace on Saturday Gyan struggled with his ankle this weekend which took away from what could have been a good showing in MX2. While Oriol achieved an impressive 10th place in moto one, working his way through the pack from 15th. Unfortunately Oriol’s moto 2 ended prematurely in sector one of the second lap when he collided with Brent Van Doninck’s rear wheel, resulting in a DNF. Luckily Oriol has walked away from this incident taking top 10 momentum with him into our next world championship round at Loket next week.”

Gabriel SS24 KTM would like to extend a sincere thank you to KTM and all of our valued sponsors for their continued support throughout the season. Their backing plays a vital role in making our racing programme possible and enables the team to compete at the highest level in both the MXGP and EMX250 Championships.

The team's next event takes place on 25–26 July in Loket, Czech Republic for Round 13 of the MXGP and MX2 World Championships. With the EMX250 Championship still on a 5 week break Gyan will once again line up in the MX2 class.