SPECIAL FEATURE
all three riders: ‘We have two new riders so there were some changes needed there to get them comfortable on the bike. Max Anstie has come in from MX2 so we had to do quite a bit of 450cc testing and he is really happy with it. Gautier is a really good test rider with a lot of experience in testing so we’ve done quite a lot with him as well to get the bike exactly how he wants it because his size is much different to Max Nagl let’s say, but with the backing from Husqvarna Motorsport we were able to make the riders happy really easily.’ Listening to Pyrhonen speak you get the sense he is more than pleased with where the riders are at and how well
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things are going in general. Even Max Nagl, who had that first race crash at the MXoN, is on schedule and has given his body plenty of time to recover in readiness for the new season: ‘Initially his crash looked much worse than it was but he went away and took the time to rest which coincided with his holiday time and he came back to us in the middle of November which was right on schedule, meaning there was no delay to the test programme. He is feeling really good, too, and I look forward to seeing him race because I believe his best years are still to come. Last year he had a very good season with no major troubles and he was able to finish 3rd overall which was a great achievement con-
sidering how high the level of competition is right now.’ As for the new signing Paulin, some critics are already writing him off after his poor season in 2016 those in the know, know that untimely crashes were the reason for his poor overall placing. But let’s not forget that GP21 was 2nd overall in 2015 and certainly Pyrhonen is more than convinced that the Frenchman still has a lot to offer, and a lot of unfinished business to attend to: ‘Gautier is very motivated; it’s the reason he is here. He really wanted to come to our team and we wanted him here as well. We all know about his talent, his technical abilities and his speed; that is unquestionable and for sure he