Gautier Paulin Wins Grand Prix of Bulgaria MX

Cycle News Staff | April 22, 2013

Jeffrey Herlings hasn’t lost yet in the MX2 class.

Kawasaki Racing Team’s Gautier Paulin put a stop to the KTM juggernaut at the Grand Prix of Bulgaria when he took top overall honors in the MX1 class in round four of the FIM Motocross World Championship in Sevlievo, April 21. Paulin’s 1-2 outdid the 4-1 put forth by Red Bull KTM’s Antonio Cairoli, who has dominated the class since round two.

KTM, however, did not come away from the race empty handed. Jeff Herlings continued to build on his unbeaten recorded in the MX2 division, topping both motos, just like he has done all season.

Cairoli’s undoing was a fall early in the first moto. He got a good jump but was pushed wide in the second corner by teammate Max Nagl and dropped to seventh. The defending champ got right back on Nagl and chased him for much of the race before slipping past the German. He climbed one more notch when Cairoli got around Tommy Searle for fourth.

Meanwhile, Paulin ran off with the win, ahead of Suzuki riders Kevin Strijbos and Clement Desalle.

Searle ended up fifth, followed by Nagl, Jeremy van Horebeek and David Philippaerts.

Race two was all Cairoli’s. The Italian again got off to a fast start but this time he got around the Frenchman, Paulin, right away and never looked back, taking the checkered flag about three seconds ahead of the first-moto and overall winner, Paulin.

Cairoli finished out the day second overall, while Desalle sealed things up with a third-overall finish, going 3-3.

Strijbos took fourth in the second moto for fourth overall.

Van Horebeek rounded out the top five overall with a 7-6.

Cairoli leads the way in the championship with 235 points, followed by Paulin with 195 and Desalle with 189.

Herlings was in a class all his own in the 250 GP. The Dutchman finished well ahead of teammate Jordi Tixier in both motos, the first by 25 seconds and the second by 40 seconds!

Tixier led the first six laps of the opening moto before Herlings flew past and left him behind. He also got a good start in the second moto but couldn’t quite nab the holeshot. He dropped in behind Herlings in second but couldn’t keep the flying Dutchman in sight for very long.

Third overall ended up going to Italian Alessandro Lupino (Kawasaki, 8-3), followed by Jose Butron (KTM, 4-7) and Max Anstie (Suzuki, 9-4).

American James Decotis had a tough day. He crashed early in the first moto and again struggled in the first moto, scoring zero points on the day.

RESULTS

MX1

MX1 Race 1 top 10: 1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 40:14.945; 2. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:04.689; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:06.006; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:30.205; 5. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:35.733; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), +0:40.606; 7. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:45.322; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), +0:52.735; 9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +1:05.573; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +1:14.625;

MX1 Race 2 top 10: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40:00.784; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.888; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:07.415; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:08.501; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:40.876; 6. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:44.408; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:47.683; 8. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:48.078; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), +0:56.418; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +1:01.838;

MX1 Overall top 10: 1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 47 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 43 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 40 p.; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 40 p.; 5. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 29 p.; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 29 p.; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 28 p.; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), 25 p.; 9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 25 p.; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 22 p.;

MX1 Championship top 10: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 235 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 195 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 189 p.; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 183 p.; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 160 p.; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 147 p.; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 109 p.; 8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 100 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, KTM), 90 p.; 10. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 87 p.;

MX2

MX2 Race 1 top 10: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:21.965; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:25.397; 3. Valentin Teillet (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:36.700; 4. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:42.217; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:44.519; 6. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:47.745; 7. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:55.354; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:56.889; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), +0:57.451; 10. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), +1:10.358;


MX2 Race 2 top 10: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 40:29.060; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:40.387; 3. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:44.302; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), +0:47.967; 5. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:02.871; 6. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), +1:10.192; 7. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:11.042; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +1:23.777; 9. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:24.743; 10. Pascal Rauchenecker (AUT, KTM), +1:36.000;


MX2 Overall top 10: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), 33 p.; 4. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 32 p.; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), 30 p.; 6. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 30 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 26 p.; 9. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Valentin Teillet (FRA, Kawasaki), 20 p.;


MX2 Championship top 10: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 250 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 185 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 157 p.; 4. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 143 p.; 5. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 137 p.; 6. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), 128 p.; 7. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 115 p.; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), 109 p.; 9. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 104 p.; 10. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), 98 p.;