Belgians Sweep FIM Motocross World Championship In Italy

Cycle News Staff | April 14, 2014
  Clement Desalle led an-Balgian podium at the Arco Di Trentino MXGP in Italy.

Belgians ruled the podium at the FIM Motocross World Championship in Arco Di Trento, Italy. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY MXGP

ARCO DI TRENTO, ITALY, APR. 13 – Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Clement Desalle and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings claimed overall victories in their respective classes in the FIM Motocross World Championship in Arco Di Trento, Italy, April 13.

It was a fantastic day for Rockstar Energy Suzuki World with both Belgian riders Desalle and Kevin Strijbos finally banking scores that have been a long time coming. Desalle got the race win with his second-place finish in moto one and a victory in moto two, while his teammate Strijbos rounded off the podium in third with a fifth in race one and a third in race two to make the podium a complete Belgian affair.

Fellow Belgian Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek, despite having a few hairy moments, including dodging a bullet when Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev went down on a jump right in front of him, didn’t slow down and pushed right to the checkers to finish second overall.

Team HRC’s Max Nagl ended up fourth overall.

Although the weekend didn’t go to plan for the seven-time FIM Motocross World Champion Antonio Cairoli, as he ended the day in fifth overall.

“I made too many mistakes myself,” Cairoli said. “I was last on the start in race one and then in race two I crashed, then I got going again and found my lines and my rhythm and then I fell down again. For sure I wanted to win, but it’s not always possible. Anyway, it’s okay, I know the championship is long and fifth is still okay for the championship.”

Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Gautier Paulin was fired up in race one. After only qualifying eighth on Saturday, the Frenchman hauled out of the gate to take his third consecutive Fox Holeshot, and then he went on to lead the race from start to finish for his second race win of the season.

In race two, it appeared to be a repeat performance as he took yet another holeshot. After stretching out a gap of three seconds only three laps in, bad luck struck and a technical problem with his bike forced him out of the race. Nonetheless, he still finished sixth overall for the day.

In MXGP race one, Saturday’s top qualifier Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Steven Frossard came together with teammate Gautier Paulin in a battle for the lead in race one, which resulted in Frossard going down hard. The Frenchman had a concussion and was attended to by the medical crew and then taken to hospital for further examination.

MX2

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings had to use every piece of real estate on the Circuit of Arco di Trento, as he battled his way forward from two very average starts to take a win in race one and a second in race two for the MX2 overall.

“My speed is not good but my fitness is good, I’m just missing hours on the bike,” said Herlings who is returning from injury. “I’m not feeling good at all which gives the other guys a bit of a chance, but I will still come back strong.”

Team CLS Kawasaki Monster Energy’s Arnaud Tonus put in a strong effort in Arco with a second in race one and a third in race two after banging bars with archrival Herlings. The combination of a 2–3 result left Tonus second overall for the day, which was enough to hold on to the red plate with a lead of six points over Glenn Coldenhoff.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Coldenhoff got off to a great start and put the pass on a super confident Valentin Guillod to take over the lead. Unfortunately for him, he only got eighth in race one thanks to a bad start.

“I got a bad start and I just couldn’t find good lines to make passes,” the Dutchman, Coldenhoff, said of the first moto.

He bounced back in the second race for his second victory of the year. Coldenhoff’s combined 8–1 result left him in third overall for the day.

Standing Construct KTM’s Valentin Guillod was the second Swiss rider inside the top five. After taking pole position in qualifying Saturday, Guillod lined up Sunday and ripped two Fox holeshots. The young Swiss who was last year’s European EMX250 Champion then went on to lead laps in both races, with a fall in race one hindering what could have been his first podium finish of the year. Nevertheless, Guillod bounced back in race one to take fourth and backed that up with another fourth in race two for fourth overall.

Rounding out the top five was Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre. With a seventh in race one and a fifth in race two, Febvre moved up to fourth in the MX2 Championship overall.

RESULTS

FIM Motocross World Championship

Arco Di Trento, Italy

April 13, 2014

MXGP Race 1 top ten: 1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 35:15.959; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:02.310; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:04.616; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), +0:08.139; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:09.826; 6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:13.420; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:26.871; 8. Joel Roelants (BEL, Honda), +0:51.761; 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), +0:53.405; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Honda), +0:56.941

MXGP Race 2 top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 33:49.752; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:00.801; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:01.603; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:11.113; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), +0:34.395; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:48.437; 7. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:49.173; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:50.297; 9. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:53.200; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Honda), +0:59.055

MXGP Overall top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 47 points; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 42 p.; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 36 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HON), 34 p.; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 33 p.; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, KAW), 25 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 24 p.; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, HON), 22 p.; 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), 22 p.; 10. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 21 p

MXGP World Championship Classification Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 175 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 158 p.; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 154 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HON), 144 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, KAW), 137 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 109 p.; 7. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 89 p.; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 81 p.; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, HON), 76 p.; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 72 p.

MX2

MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 33:54.254; 2. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:02.818; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:11.277; 4. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), +0:13.188; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:20.052; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:22.015; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:24.788; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:25.139; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:36.305; 10. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:40.523

MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), 34:08.866; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:02.787; 3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:04.355; 4. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), +0:19.297; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:27.905; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:31.225; 7. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:33.543; 8. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:43.821; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:44.897; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), +0:51.304

MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 47 points; 2. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KAW), 42 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 38 p.; 4. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 30 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 30 p.; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 28 p.; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 26 p.; 10. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 20 p

MX2 World Championship Classification Top Ten: 1. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KAW), 154 points; 2. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 148 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 144 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 126 p.; 5. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 118 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 107 p.; 7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 107 p.; 8. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 100 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 95 p.; 10. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 93 p