Taking place at the hillside circuit of Saint Jean d’Angely in the south of France, round 10 of the 2018 FIM Motocross World Championship saw the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing duo of Thomas Covington and Thomas Kjer-Olsen place second and third respectively in the MX2 category.
Winning both the Qualifying Race and the opening MX2 class moto at the Saint Jean d’Angely track, Thomas Covington tied on points with eventual GP winner Jorge Prado. Showing great speed despite challenging conditions, the American bounced back from a small mistake after the start of the second race to wrap up the weekend with a third place second moto result.
Putting in two solid moto performances Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Kjer-Olsen secured third overall at the GP of France. Runner-up in the opening moto and fourth in the second moto, the young Dane remains third in the provisional 2018 MX2 World Championship standings.
In the MXGP category, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Gautier Paulin wrapped up his home GP with seventh overall. Following a strong runner-up result in the qualifying moto, the FC 450 powered rider went on to collect a set of 8/5 results.
Battling his way back from two bad starts, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Anstie claimed 17/16 results for 18th overall at the French GP.
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team will return to action at the 11th round of the 2018 FIM Motocross World Championship in Ottobiano, Italy on June 16/17.
Thomas Covington: “I’m really happy with my performance this weekend. Everything worked well in moto one. I got the holeshot and was then able to do my own race for the victory. In moto two I made a small mistake right after the gate drop so I really did my best throughout the moto to get as high as possible. It feels good to be back on the podium. It’s a bit of a bummer I couldn’t be on the top spot this time, but I’m still happy with my results here in France. I’m really looking forward to the next GP now in Italy. Hopefully I can get on the top spot there.”
Thomas Kjer-Olsen: “It was a really tough track and I’m really happy I managed to do two strong motos here in France. We had too much rain the night before and that completely changed track conditions for the final motos. In the qualifying moto I struggled to get a good pace, but we made some good changes and my speed was a lot better in the final motos. It’s really positive to be able to race two solid motos under these conditions and it gives me extra confidence to continue pushing. There are no words to thank all the members of my team for their hard work. We’re on to Italy now and I’m hoping we can do even better there.”
Gautier Paulin: “It was a difficult GP. I was happy to get second in qualifying but then the rain during the night made conditions a lot different for the final motos. In the opening race my start wasn’t that good and after some passes I managed to cross the line in eighth place. My start was better in the second moto and I did my best to get as close as possible to the top three. After some good battles, I finished the moto in fifth place. In every GP the pace keeps improving and we are working hard to be there, up front battling with the leading pack. Overall, we’ve made some steps ahead this weekend. The French fans were awesome and once again it was a huge pleasure to race in front of my home crowd.”
Max Anstie: “I keep doing my best but two bad starts this weekend made it all a lot harder. Track conditions were quite demanding during the two final motos and every little mistake cost a lot. Getting 17th in the first moto and then 16th in the second moto is the best I could do this weekend. I take it as it is and move on. We’ve just reached the halfway point for the season and there’s still plenty of racing to be done. The work continues, and the goal remains to keep getting better and better every weekend.”
Results – 2018 FIM Motocross World Championship, Round 10
MXGP – Overall
1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 50pts; 2. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 42; 3. Tim Gajser (Honda) 36… 7. Gautier Paulin (Husqvarna) 29… 18. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 9… 20. Tanel Leok (Husqvarna) 3
MXGP – Race 1
1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 17 laps, 34:05.232; 2. Clement Desalle (Kawasaki) 34:10.892; 3. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 34:11.554… 8. Gautier Paulin (Husqvarna) 35:09.207… 17. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 16 laps, 34:20.324… 21. Tanel Leok (Husqvarna) 34:32.483… 25. Klemen Gercar (Husqvarna) 35:48.915
MXGP – Race 2
1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 18 laps, 34:38.032; 2. Antoinio Cairoli (KTM) 34:46.870; 3. Tim Gajser (Honda) 35:18.433… 5. Gautier Paulin (Husqvarna) 35:30.832… 16. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 36:19.866… 18. Tanel Leok (Husqvarna) 36:34.193… 27. Klemen Gercar (Husqvarna) 11 laps, 23:17.724
MX2 – Overall
1. Jorge Prado (KTM) 45pts; 2. Thomas Covington (Husqvarna) 45; 3. Thomas Kjer-Olsen (Husqvarna) 40… 11. Iker Larranaga (Husqvarna) 17… 22. Anthony Bourdon (Husqvarna) 3; 23. Brent Van doninck (Husqvarna) 3
MX2 – Race 1
1. Thomas Covington (Husqvarna) 17 laps, 35:58.425; 2. Thomas Kjer-Olsen (Husqvarna) 36:01.998; 3. Jorge Prado (KTM) 36:04.335… 13. Iker Larranaga (Husqvarna) 37:12.548… 18. Brent Van doninck (Husqvarna) 16 laps, 36:12.284… 21. Anthony Bourdon (Husqvarna) 36:41.304… 23. Enzo Toriani (Husqvarna) 38:02.169; 24. Henry Jacobi (Husqvarna) 15 laps, 33:18.760… 26. Andrea Zanotti (Husqvarna) 13 laps, 30:58.584
MX2 – Race 2
1. Jorge Prado (KTM) 17 laps, 34:19.853; 2. Jago Geerts (Yamaha) 34:23.016; 3. Thomas Covington (Husqvarna) 34:25.604; 4. Thomas Kjer-Olsen (Husqvarna) 34:25.604… 12. Iker Larranaga (Husqvarna) 35:13.286… 18. Anthony Bourdon (Husqvarna) 16 laps, 34:45.466… 21. Enzo Toriani (Husqvarna) 35:22.179
Championship Standings – After Round 10
MXGP
1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 486pts; 2. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 424; 3. Clement Desalle (Kawasaki) 351… 5. Gautier Paulin (Husqvarna) 296… 14. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 122… 20. Tanel Leok (Husqvarna) 57… 27. Harri Kullas (Husqvarna) 15; 28. Ander Valentin (Husqvarna) 8
MX2
1. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 434pts; 2. Jorge Prado (KTM) 418; 3. Thomas Kjer-Olsen (Husqvarna) 328… 8. Thomas Covington (Husqvarna) 211; 9. Henry Jacobi (Husqvarna) 187… 12. Iker Larranaga (Husqvarna) 164… 19. Brent Van Doninck (Husqvarna) 77… 37. Dylan Walsh (Husqvarna) 6… 41. Anthony Bourdon (Husqvarna) 3; 42. Andrea Zanotti (Husqvarna) 2
