On your marks!
Evgeniy was born in the town of Kondrovo, Kaluga region in 1987. If he had been born in another small regional center, one could only dream of a career as a professional athlete, but in this case everything turned out extremely well. A truly huge role in the life of the future motocross star was played by his father, the famous Soviet motorcycle racer Evgeny Bobryshev Sr., who not only guided and supported his son from a very early age, but also personally designed the track in his native Kondrovo and participated in organizing local stages of the competition.
Bobryshev Jr. found himself behind the wheel of his first motorcycle at the age of 7. Seeing how much his son liked his new hobby, the father decided to develop his potential in all available ways. In particular, the real beginning of the young rider’s motorcycle career can be considered small regional motocross competitions, in which he took first place more than once.
Local semi-amateur competitions were followed by large and official ones - the Russian Motocross Championship. The young athlete became its winner for the first time in 1999. Then - in 2000 and again in 2001. Zhenya won all three victories in the “boys” 85 cm3 class.
The list of competitions for the young crossman was not limited to Russia. Thanks to the YUKOS-Motosport project, which supports young promising motorcycle racers, he was able to take part in foreign races. For example, already in 2002, Zhenya tried his hand at the World Motocross Championship, held in Austria. And even though he did not achieve serious success - after two races he failed to rise above the 6th line - his very participation in a competition of this scale brought valuable experience.
As Evgeniy later admitted, in childhood and adolescence, when participating in Russian competitions of various scales, he did not even have to train much - he could easily become a winner without spending any time on preliminary preparation. The reason for this is the relatively little competition, especially among young riders. Someone may regard such a confluence of circumstances as an advantage and a guarantee of an easy victory, but for an athlete who wants to achieve significant results at the world level, it is simply impossible to do without fighting against the strongest competitors and, accordingly, hard training, as was proven by the first participation in a world event scale.
Sudden castling
A series of domestic victories and foreign failures, which, nevertheless, showed the talent of the young crossman, was followed by a rather unexpected castling. In 2003, by decision of the management of YUKOS-Motosport, Evgeny Bobryshev switched from a light motocross motorcycle to a more powerful road motorcycle in order to represent the team in the Russian ShKMG Championship in the 125 cm3 (SS400) class. Despite the fact that there is quite little in common between motocross and road racing, Zhenya managed to show his talent here too: already in the first stage he became a leader, and then finally proved his skills, becoming the winner of the entire Championship. By the way, thanks to his efforts, YUKOS-Motosport also won in the team competition by almost a double margin.
Surprisingly, the resounding victory did not make the athlete turn away from motocross, which had already become his home. Due to the lack of a good training base in Russia, the general low level of development of GCMG in the country and a real love for the difficult conditions of cross-country races, he decided to abandon further development in the direction of road racing.
Off-road motorsports news
The EICMA 2022 international motorcycle show is taking place this weekend in Milan (Italy) and there are rumors that Russian rider Evgeniy Bobryshev will switch to KTM and become Jordi Tixier's teammate in the new BOS Suspension KTM team.
It is possible that this will not be confirmed, and it doesn’t matter which team Evgeniy will go for, the main thing is that, to the delight of Russian fans, he goes to the start of the 2022 World Cup.
Preliminary list of MXGP and EMX 2022 teams:
– Team Red Bull-KTM-DeCarli Antonio Cairoli (MXGP) Jorge Prado-Garcia (MX2)
– Red Bull-KTM Racing Team Jeffrey Herlings (MXGP) Pauls Jonass (MX2) Glenn Coldenhoff (MXGP)
– Team Silveraction-KTM Stephane Rubini (MX2) Gianluca Facchetti (EMX250) Mahi Villanueva Sanchez (EMX250) Amandine Verstappen (MXW)
– Marchetti Racing-KTM Jose Butron (MXGP) Morgan Lesiardo (MX2) Goffredo Vergari (EMX250)
– Sahkar Racing-KTM Hardi Roosiorg (MX2)
– Team KTM UK-Hitachi Greame Irwin (MXGP) Conrad Mewse (MX2)
– LRT Motorsport Davy Pootjes (MX2)
– Standing Construct Racing-KTM Kevin Strijbos (MXGP) Valentin Guillod (MXGP)
– CreyMert Racing Team Kevin Horgmo (EMX250) ? (MX2) ? (EMX125)
– BOS Suspension-KTM Jordi Tixier (MXGP) Evgeny Bobryshev ? (MXGP)
– RockstarEnergy-Husqvarna-IceOne Racing Team Gautier Paulin (MXGP) Max Anstie (MXGP) Mikkel Haarup (EMX250)
– RockstarEnergy-Nestaan-Husqvarna-JM Racing Thomas Covington (MX2) Thomas Kjer Olsen (MX2)
– 8Biano-Husqvarna-Massignani Racing Iker Larranaga (MX2) Brent Vandoninck (MX2)
– Husqvarna-Maurer Racing ? (MX2) Jernej Irt ? (MXGP)
– Maddii Racing-Husqvarna Matteo del Coco (EMX25) Mattia Guadagnini (EMX 125) Alberto Barcella (EMX 125)
– 62 MotoSport Klemen Gercar ? (MXGP) ? (EMX250)
– CEC Scandinavia Racing ? (MXGP) Ken Bengtsson (EMX250)
– Yamaha Motocross Team Romain Febvre (MXGP) Jeremy Vanhorebeek (MXGP)
– KEMEA-Yamaha Racing Team Jago Geerts (MX2) Vsevolod Brylyakov (MX2) Ben Watson (MX2)
– WILVO-Yamaha MXGP Team Shaun Simpson (MXGP) Arnaud Tonus (MXGP) Jeremy Seewer ? (MXGP)
– JK Racing-Yamaha Ivo Monticelli (MXGP) Anton Gole (MX2) Tim Edberg (EMX250) Brad Todd (EMX250) Adam Kovacs (EMX125) Manuel Iacopi (EMX300) ? (MXW) Lynn Valk (MXW)
– DP19-SDM Racing Team Roan van de Moosdijk (EMX250) Tristian Charboneau (EMX250) Nicholas Lapucci (EMX250)
– MJC Yamaha Team Rick Elzinga (EMX125) Thibault Benistant (EMX125) Jorgen Matthias Talviku (EMX125)
– Team Ausio-Yamaha-YamaLube Jorge Zaragoza-Beltran ? (MX2) ? (MX2) ? (EMX250) ? (EMX125)
– Team SM Action-Errezeta-Yamaha Alvin Ostlund (MX2) Simone Furlotti (MX2) Maxime Renaux (EMX250) Alessandro Manucci (EMX250)
– Ceres 71 Yamaha Team Milko Potisek (MXGP) Simone Zecchina (MXGP) Paolo Lugana (EMX250)
– MonsterEnergy-Kawasaki Racing Team Clement Desalle (MXGP) Julien Lieber (MXGP)
– MonsterEnergy-Cosworth-Dixon Racing Darian Sanayei (MX2) Tommy Searle (MXGP)
– Gebben Motoren-Van Venrooy-Kawasaki Racing Maxime Desprey (MXGP) Alessandro Lupino (MXGP) Bastian Boegh-Damm ? (EMX MX2)
– F&H Racing Team Ruben Fernandez-Garcia (MX2) Adam Sterry (MX2) Jed Beaton (MX2)
– BUD Racing-Kawasaki-MonsterEnergy Brian Hsu (MX2) Brian Moreau (EMX250) Pierre Goupillon (EMX250)
– Team Castrol Power 1 Moto-Web Stefan Ekerold ? (MXGP) Damon Graulus ? (MXGP) ? (EMX250)
– Team HSF Logistic-HRC-Gariboldi Racing Tim Gajser (MXGP) Brian Bogers (MXGP) Calvin Vlaanderen (MX2)
– Team Gariboldi-114 Motorsport Racing Hunter Lawrence (MX2) Bas Vaessen (MX2)
– Team Assomotor Honda Petar Petrov? (MXGP) Arminas Jasikonis? (MXGP)
– Team Assomotor Honda Junior Alberto Forato ? (EMX MX2) Mathys Boisrame ? (EMX MX2)
– Carglass Honda Team Freek van der Vlist (EMX250) Steven Clarke ? (EMX250) ? (MXGP)
– VAMO Racing-Honda Marshall Weltin ? (MX2) ? (MX2)
– Martin Racing Technology Michelle Cervellin (MX2) Filippo Zonta (EMX250)
– TM Factory Team Maxi Nagl (MXGP) Samuele Bernardini (MX2)
– STC & Sturm Racing Henry Jacobi (MX2) ? (MX2) ? (MX2) ? (EMX250) ? (EMX250) ? (EMX125) ? (EMX125)
– Team VHR David Herbreteau (MX2) ?
– KTM Diga Junior Racing Team Miro Sihvonen (EMX250) Tomas Kohut (EMX250) Emil Weckman (EMX125)
– Janssen Products Racing Kenny Vandueren (EMX300)
– Team Diga Procross-Husqvarna Dylan Walsh ? (EMX250) Caleb Grotheus ? (EMX250)
– REVO Husqvarna Team Mel Pocock (EMX250) Dylan Woodcock (EMX250) Martin Barr ? (EMX250)
– SEC Construction KTM Racing ? (EMX300) ? (85)
– 137 Motorspot KTM ? (EMX250)
– TM Racing Nederland ? (EMX250)
– GL12 Racing James Dunn (EMX250) Mike Kras ? (EMX300)
– Celestini Racing-KTM Emilio Scuteri (EMX125) ? (EMX125)
– Ghindinelli Racing Team Michael Mantovani (EMX250) Guiseppe Tropepe (EMX250)
– Jezyk Racing Eddie Jay Wade (EMX125) ?
– Team ProGrip-MXUnited-Haes Racing Rasmus Hakanson (EMX250) ? (EMX125)
– Team Ecomaxx Fuel Michael Hool (EMX300)
– Pater MX Team Henk Pater (EMX300)
– Vega Solutions-Pol Motors-Hardcore Racing Adam Collings ? (EMX125)
– Theo Eggens Racing Christopher Mills (EMX250)
– VENS Motorsport Nancy van de Ven (MXW)
– Fonta MX Team-Yamaha Kiara Fontanesi (MXW)
– Team Yvana DeMaria Yvana DeMaria (MXW)
– Van der Werff Tenten-Kawasaki Team Britt van der Werff (MXW)
Back to the native off-road
A significant role in this decision was played by the move to the Netherlands, which happened in 2005, which allowed Evgeniy to reach a new level in what had already become his native motocross - in the same year he took part in the European Championship in the EMX2 class.
Unfortunately, he didn’t even claim victory and ended up taking only 18th position - due to lack of training. However, such a failure should hardly be regarded as a serious defeat. On the contrary, a serious challenge forced Evgeniy to work even harder on himself and next year to enter the European Championship track again. However, this attempt was not a triumph and brought only 12th place in the final standings.
2007 turned out to be quite controversial for Bobryshev’s career. On the one hand, he brought another unconditional victory to the athlete’s list of achievements. She won gold in the Russian Motocross Championship in the 125 cm3 class. On the other hand, this year Evgeniy did not participate in the competition with the strongest racers in Europe. Perhaps it was the last moment that was the reason that the following year, already at the World Championship in the MX2 class, he was given only 24th place. However, the athlete clearly did not plan to give up, and also took part in the second most important competition in the motocross world - the famous “Motocross of Nations”. In his B-final he took 3rd place. By the way, at the time of the competition, he had already ceased to be a solo racer and became part of the Dutch professional motorcycle team Yamaha Van Beers Racing.
2009 was a busy year for him. Firstly, Evgeniy again took part in the Russian Motocross Championship, and in the next class - 250 cm3. And this event again brought him victory. Secondly, he managed to achieve impressive results in his native Dutch Championship - here the crossman took silver. And finally, thirdly, together with the team he again took part in the World Cup, but only took 20th place.
New turn
In 2010, the Russian-Dutch racer was noticed by the management of a higher-level motorcycle team, CAS Honda, which has factory support from the famous Japanese brand. Together with her, Evgeniy managed to move up to the next, now premier class, MX1. The support of the new team almost instantly bore fruit: at the end of the year, Bobryshev entered the TOP 10 of the MX1 World Championship. As a result, an official invitation to Honda World Motocross (Team HRC). It was cooperation with her that allowed him to achieve the highest results:
- Take 10th place in the Motocross World Championship in the MX1 class in 2010. Also in the same year, Evgeniy became the British champion, but in an individual event.
- 4th place in the World Championship (MX1 class) in 2011.
- 9th place in the World Championship in 2012. In the same year, Bobryshev returned home again with the gold prize of the Russian Motocross Championship in the 250 cm3 class.
- 8th place in the World Cup in 2013.
- 14th place in the World Championship in the MXGP class in 2014.
- 3rd place in the World Championship (MXGP) in 2015. This achievement brought the athlete the title of Master of Sports of International Class, since before him, the last time only the Soviet racer Vladimir Kavinov managed to take the top three in a global competition. This was in 1979.
- 5th place in the World Championship in 2016 and 2022 in the MXGP class.
After the end of the 2022 Motocross World Championship, Team HRC's collaboration with Evgeniy suddenly ended. It is quite possible that the strict and calculating Japanese leadership was dissatisfied with his successes. However, the athlete was not left without support - he was invited to BOS GP - a private team from France, also participating in MXGP. Moreover, the purpose of its participation in the prestigious championship turned out to be quite unexpected - the manufacturer of suspensions and shock absorbers, who was the founder of the motorcycle team, decided to test its achievements “in the field.”
Together with his new teammates, in 2022 Evgeny Bobryshev again became the British Motocross Champion in the MX1 class. In 2019, his contract was extended, but on January 12, the driver fell during training and severely injured his right hand. Because of this, he was forced to miss a number of competitions and even after returning he was far from performing at full strength. And as if to confirm that it was too early for him to return to the track, the first round of the MXGPRussia qualification turned into a new injury for him - as a result of a fall, he received a closed fracture of the tibia of his right leg and was out of the competition for the rest of the season.
Be that as it may, Evgeniy is now back in the saddle. At the very end of last year, he signed a contract with a new team - PAR Homes RFX Racing, with which in 2022 he planned to again take part in the World and British Championships, which were greatly “delayed” in light of recent events. Be that as it may, Bobryshev does not plan to stop there and will definitely return to European tracks after the end of the pandemic.
Motocross: Evgeny Bobryshev completed the season as British MX1 champion - details
Evgeny Bobryshev ended the 2018 season on a high note. Last weekend, the native of Kondrovo, Kaluga region, took the title in the British MX1 motocross championship, the second in his career, riding for Neil Prince's private team - Lombard Express Suzuki.
MOTOGONKI.RU, October 17, 2022 — First of all, I would like to note that for all the contenders for the title in the MX1 class, the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship was not easy. The title campaign was led most consistently by Jake Nicholls, who built a 39-point lead into the final but missed the final due to a leg injury. Defending champion Graeme Irwin was third on the scoresheet heading into the final, but also withdrew early due to injury.
Bobryshev was faster than his rivals, but did not get points due to falls and injuries, he completed most of the races on strong-willed races, there was also a significant penalty of five positions due to the noise level, there were problems with the motorcycle.
On the eve of the final, Zhenya was second on the scoresheet. The title is just a stone's throw away, but to win, 40 points were needed, and these are two stable finishes in the TOP-3, with the possibility of the race being canceled due to weather, as has already happened this year in Foggy Albion.
Evgeniy Bobryshev: After the second race, a stone fell off my shoulders
“If we talk about this season of racing in England in general, I wasn’t too lucky. There were always falls in the first races, and in the end I was not able to ride well,” Evgeniy Bobryshev told Motogonki.ru.
“Sometimes I rode strong-willed, driving away thoughts of moving out: this happened in Hoxton Park, when I got a concussion, then in Scotland, when I injured my knee. But at the end of the championship we were really lucky.”
Come on, Bobby, full throttle! — the team is learning Russian
The championship final took place in Cadders Hill (Lyng), where Zhenya finished second twice, behind future partner Tommy Searle. Second place on the podium at the final stage was enough to take the title in the Maxxis ACU British Motocross Championship by 5 points.
“We approached the final 39 points from the leader,” Bobryshev continued. “And even though it was known that Nichols was injured and we had a chance to become champions, there was a lot of tension. The goal was not to win races, but it was necessary to consistently finish on the podium. Good starts in both races, I was in second place and wasn’t rushing anywhere. Even when I was leading in the second moto and Tommy got ahead of me, I didn’t cling to his pace. He drove faster than me and felt more comfortable on this track. »
Bobryshev 2nd in the final round of the British MX1 Championship
Judging by the results, the podium was a matter of technique: stable finishes, second twice... But Zhenya still had to be nervous, both because of technical problems with the motorcycle, and because of the presence of legionnaires in the final, fielded by Honda in an attempt to retain the title in the championship.
When there is a fight for the title, anything is possible, and you never know what is in your opponent’s mind...
“From the middle of the first race, problems with electronics appeared. The motorcycle stalled in turns, I had to squeeze the clutch, keep the revs higher, and I barely got there. If at first I had a gap of 18 seconds from third, then by the end of the race due to the slower pace it was reduced to 3 seconds, but, fortunately, I got there.
During the races I tried to drive extremely carefully, especially when in the second race Clark won the start and it was necessary to get ahead of him. When there is a fight for the title, everything is possible, and you never know what is in your opponent’s head... There were moments when, when I tried to overtake, Clark pulled up. I had to skip it. After the second race, it was like a stone fell off my shoulders, I was really nervous all day. Because 39 points is twice I need to come third, and this is motocross and anything can happen! But luck was on our side and we took the title!”
Now Evgeny Bobryshev is a two-time British MX1 motocross champion!
Full throttle! Take a little rest and open a green chapter in your Kawasaki career
