@RedBull @KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings bounced back from a sixth place finish in the opening MX2 Moto on Sunday at Italy’s famed Maggiora circuit to ride a near faultless second moto to finish overall second. Following overnight rain and more heavy rain in the morning, riders were presented with extremely difficult conditions.
Factory teammate Antonio Cairoli however was the hero of the day, riding through the pain of a badly bruised hand to salvage some world championship points with a 7-18 finish in his two MXGP motos. Cairoli had come down hard on the track in Saturday’s Qualifying and retired holding his arm. Speaking to an interviewer before his second moto he said his hand was bruised and swollen, he had ‘stretched’ some tendons and had some fluid on the elbow.
But determined not to disappoint his fans who flocked to the circuit in numbers, Cairoli was determined to see it out, albeit with the aid of pain killing injections.
Conditions were perhaps at their worst when MX2 riders took to the track for their opening moto after the second EMX300 race was red flagged because of a deluge.
Despite the extremely muddy track, Herlings made a solid recovery from a difficult start in the opening moto, where he got tangled with riders going down, and went on to finish sixth. He went out completely re-energized in his second race and made no mistakes. Herlings was his usual “Bullet” self out of the start gate, grabbed the holeshot and went on to lead throughout the race.
Slovenia’s Tim Gajser (3-2) was the MX2 GP winner, Herlings took second and Jeremy Seewer was third. Herlings further extended his championship point lead to 139 points.
It was mixed fortunes for Red Bull KTM’s Pauls Jonass who was among many riders who went down and had to struggle to drag mud caked bikes upright but his 16-12 result still allowed him to pick up points and he is now equal third in the standings with Swiss rider Valentin Guillod, who each have 259 points. KTM Factory rider Davy Pootjes also was a victim of the mud and the multiple collisions and wrapped up his day at overall twentieth. Pootjes competes in the EMX250 competition but is down to ride in selected MX2 GPs and this was his first appearance in the class. While Herlings is the dominant rider, a fierce competition is now underway with those on the points table from positions 2-6.
MX1
Romaine Febvre won the overall MXGP with Kevin Strijbos and Todd Waters taking the minor places. Top KTM finisher was UK rider Shaun Simpson. Cairoli’s Factory teammate Ken de Dycker of Belgium finished tenth. Tommy Searle, the third member of the team is still recovering from injury. Max Nagl continues to lead the championship points with 360, Cairoli is second with 330 and Febvre is third with 322.
EMX125
The KTM Factory Junior Team was also in action at Maggiora for the sixth round of their EMX 125 championship. Josiah Natzke (1-3) finished second, Jorge Prado was seventh and Conrad Mewes finished thirteenth. Natzke and Prado are 2-3 in the points and Mewes is fifth. They next compete at Assen.
What the riders said:
MX2 Jeffrey Herlings - overall second:
“We did a good job on Saturday and we won the qualifying but I got messed up a bit at the start of the first moto today. I felt some of the guys cut me off and I got a lot of water in my goggles and my vision was really bad. We still managed to finished sixth although we had some bike problems at the end of the race, but luckily we could finish. I got a good start in the second race. I got the holeshot and led all the way to the finish. I have a good lead in the points and some of my favorite tracks are coming up in the second half of the season. But it ain’t over until it’s over, as we saw last year.”
MX2 Pauls Jonass – overall 13:
“I had pretty good starts today, I was fourth in the fist moto but it was so muddy that I used all my tear-offs in the first four corners. I got to fifth place and tried to pass Seewer and had a silly crash. Then I crashed again and had to make a pit stop to change my goggles but I still picked up five points for the championship. I had a pretty good start in the second race. I was third, then second behind Jeffrey. Then uphill I hit neutral and crashed with Gajser. Then Tonkov crashed into me in the long corner after the finish line. I was back at last and I finished twelfth. My riding was not so bad, but my results were not the best.”
MX2 Davy Pootjes:
“Yesterday I showed good speed in qualifying but today I didn’t go so well in the first moto and I crashed twice. I crashed at the start of the second moto but I came back from thirty-first to sixteen so my speed was pretty good, so I’m happy about that.”
MXGP: Antonio Cairoli:
“It was a very difficult weekend as it was my home GP and got more difficult after my crash in Qualifying. Today my wrist was very painful and the track was rutted and with many bumps so it was not easy with my wrist in this condition. In the first race I started third and tried to stay with the guys but I finished seventh. But in the second race I was feeling bad and my wrist was not holding anymore and my elbow was very painful. I just tried to ride to see if I could get some points. This week I will try to get some intensive treatment and hopefully I will be feeling better next week.”
MXGP Ken De Dycker:
“Today there was a lot of water on the track and only one line that was really deep and bumpy, so it was difficult. I crashed at the start of the first moto and it was difficult to come back. I didn’t have a good start in the second race. I passed some guys. I think I didn’t lose so much time on the guys in front and behind me but hopefully next weekend it will be dry. If I have good starts I can ride with the top guys.”
EMX125 KTM Factory Junior Josiah Natzke 2nd overall (1-3)
“The first yesterday was pretty good but not a walk in the park because I had Jorge and Renaux on my tail for most of the moto but I got the win and I wanted to do the same today. I want to win. I don’t want to be second. But today I didn’t get a good start. I tried to weave around riders but I got slowed up and only finished third. A piece of the puzzle wasn’t there today but I can’t be too unhappy, I moved to second in the points.
EMX125 KTM Factory Junior Jorge Prado 7th (2-17)
“I had a really bad start today, I didn’t find such good lines in the beginning and the second uphill somebody crashed and another rider pushed me out and I crashed. I could get the bike up really fast so I lost a lot of time, but I did my best. When we have the next round in Assen I will try to do my best and win the championship. I’m going to train even more and go only for the win.”
Results MXGP and MX2, World Championship Round 9 at Maggiora, Italy
MXGP Results
1, Romain Febvre, FRA, Yamaha, (1 – 6)
2, Kevin Strijbos, BEL, Suzuki, (9 - 1)
3, Todd Waters, AUS, Husqvarna, (4 – 4)
4, David Philippaerts, ITA, Yamaha, (2 - 7)
5, Jeremy van Horebeek, BEL, Yamaha, (3 – 9)
6, Shaun Simpson, GBR, KTM, (6 - 5)
7, Maximilian Nagl, GER, Husqvarna, (15 – 2)
8, Gautier Paulin, FRA, Honda, (14 - 3)
9, Evgeny Bobryshev, RUS, Honda, (8 – 11)
10, Ken de Dycker, BEL, KTM, (12 –
Other KTM
12, Jose Butron, ESP, KTM, (10 - 14)
13, Antonio Cairoli, ITA, KTM, (7 – 18) (riding injured after a crash in Qualifying)
MXGP Standings
1, Nagl, 360
2, Cairoli, 330
3, Febvre, 322
4, Clement Desalle, BEL, Suzuki, 291
5, Paulin, 279
6, Bobryshev, 270
7, Simpson, 200
8, Waters, 174
9, Van Horebeek, 158
10, De Dycker, 155
Other KTM
17, Butron, 84
18, Steven Frossard FRA, KTM, 80
22, Tommy Searle, GBR, KTM, 49
MXGP Manufacturers Standings
1, Husqvarna, 379
2, KTM, 361
3, Suzuki, 356
MX2 Results
1, Tim Gajser, SLO, Honda, (3 – 2)
2, Jeffrey Herlings, NED, KTM, (6 – 1)
3, Jeremy Seewer, SUI, Suzuki, (4 – 3)
4, Aleksandr Tonkov, RUS, Husqvarna, (1 –
5, Brent van Doninck, BEL, Yamaha, (5 - 7)
6, Max Anstie, GBR, Kawasaki, (12 – 4)
7, Julien Lieber, BEL, Yamaha, (8 - 9)
8, Petar Petrov, BUL, Kawasaki, (7 – 11)
9, Benoit Paturel, FRA, Yamaha, (15 - 5)
10, Brian Bogers, NED, KTM, (14 - 6)
Other KTM
13, Pauls Jonass, LAT, KTM, (16 – 12)
15, Ben Watson, GBR, KTM, (17 – 13)
18, Roberts Justs, LAT, KTM, (19 – 14)
20, Pootjes, Davy, NED, KTM, (21 - 16)
21, Henry Jacobi, GER, KTM, (20 - 17)
MX2 Standings
1. Herlings, 398
2, Guillod, 259
3, Jonass, 259
4, Tonkov, 256
5, Gajser, 251
6, Tixier, 251
7, Seewer, 246
8, Anstie, 210
9, Lieber, 209
10, Dylan Ferrandis, FRA, Kawasaki, 205
Other KTM
14, Bogers, 131
16, Justs, 106
19, Ivo Monticelli, ITA, KTM, 81
20, Watson, 45
MX2 Manufacturers Classification
1, KTM, 420
2, Kawasaki, 369
3, Yamaha, 314
EMX Championship at Maggiora in Italy
EMX125 Results of Round 6
1, Maxime Renaux, FRA, Yamaha, (3 - 1)
2, Josiah Natzke, NZL, KTM, (1 - 3)
3, Davide Cislaghi, ITA, TM, (6, - 4)
4, Jago Geerts, BEL, KTM, (11 - 2)
5, Stephen Rubini, FRA, KTM, (5 - 6)
6, Ruben Fernandez Garcia, ESP, KTM, (9 - 5)
7, Jorge Prado Garcia, ESP, KTM, (2 - 17)
8, Mathys Boisrame, FRA, Yamaha, (7 - 10)
9, Jan Pancar, SLO, Yamaha, (10 -
10, Gianluca Facchetti, ITA, KTM, (4 - 15)
Other KTM
11, Richard Sikyna, SVK, KTM, (8 - 14)
13, Conrad Mewse, GBR, KTM, (21 - 7)
14, Richard Englund, SWE, KTM, (15, - 14
16, Jakub Teresak, CZE, KTM, (20 - 11)
18, Miro Sihvonen, FIN, KTM, (13 - 24)
20, Nathan Renkens, BEL, KTM, (14 - 28)
EMX125 Standings after Round 6
1, Renaux, 245
2, Natzke, 235
3, Prado Garcia, 231
4, Sihvonen, 144
5, Mewse, 144
6, Cislaghi, 144
7, Rubini, 140
8, Boisrame, 124
9, Filippo Zonta, ITA, Husqvarna, 110
10, Glen Meier, DEN, KTM, 109
EMX125 Manufacturers Standings after Round 6
1, KTM, 294
2, Yamaha, 245
3, TM, 166