Motocross: Antonio Cairoli Wows The Home Crowd At MXGP Of Italy

Cycle News Staff | June 16, 2014

Italy’s Antonio Cairoli made the home crowd happy after going 1-1 at Maggiora.

It was once again the Cairoli/Herlings show in the FIM Motocross World Championship. Round 10 of the series was held at the historic Maggiora Circuit in Italy, June 15, where defending MXGP World Champion Antonio Cairoli won both motos to claim his sixth victory of the season, while his Red Bull KTM teammate Herlings also went 1-1 to claim his ninth MX2 victory of the year and 12th straight moto. For Cairoli, it was his 69th career GP win and 40th for Herling.

MXGP

Cairoli had little trouble winning both MXGP motos in front of his home crowd, while Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek claimed second overall with a pair of second-place finishes. The Belgium made it nine podium finishes in a row, but he is still looking for that first win.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Kevin Strijbos has missed the box for the last handful of MXGP rounds, while his teammate Clement Desalle has been racking them up. This weekend it was Strijbos who landed on the box with third after Desalle threw away second place in race one with a big crash over a jump, forcing him to settle for fourth.

One of the top performances of the weekend was turned in by the 2008 FIM Motocross World Champion, DP19 Racing’s David Philippaerts. The Italian hero fought his way to his best race finish since 2012. A plausible fifth in race two, which was hard fought against Hitachi Construction Machinery’s Shaun Simpson, combined with his ninth in race one landed the Italian star in fifth overall.

Bad luck struck Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Steven Frossard who rode a stellar race in race one filling the gap of his missing teammate and last year’s victor Gautier Paulin just fine. The Frenchman brought home a third in that race which came undone when he was forced to retire due to a technical problem with the bike in race two.

TM Ricci Racing’s Davide Guarneri rode his retro-style red TM to eighth overall.

Heartbreak for HRC Team’s Evgeny Bobryshev who was looking more like the “Bobby” of old. After taking home a remarkable fifth in race one, race two saw Bobryshev crash three corners in when he was struck from behind by another rider. The Russian MXGP star was immediately stretchered off of the track by the medical crew and taken to the track’s medical center before being transported to a nearby hospital with a suspected broken tibia and fibula.

MX2

  Jeffrey Herlings won the MX2 class at the Grand Prix of Italy at Maggiora. Photography by Ray Archer

Jeffrey Herling won the MX2 class for the ninth time this season.

While Herlings ran away with both MX2 moto wins, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jordi Tixier was putting in a solid ride for himself. He finished up the day with two thirds for second overall.

CLS Kawasaki Monster Energy’s Arnaud Tonus had a good outing in moto one where he finished second, but a bad start in the second moto relegated him to fourth for third overall.

CLS Kawasaki Monster Energy’s Dylan Ferrandis rounded out the MXGP of Italy with an outstanding ride in race two to charge forward and run away with second place. Combined with his seventh in race one, the Frenchman ended up in fourth overall ahead of fellow young gun Tim Gajser.

RESULTS

MXGP Race 1 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 34:47.796; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:04.109; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:10.121; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:20.361; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:23.524; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:41.674; 7. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:45.162; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:45.566; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:50.193; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), +1:10.566.

MXGP Race 2 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 34:39.495; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:04.774; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:05.986; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:24.914; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:31.560; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:34.934; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:48.210; 8. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), +0:49.759; 9. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:51.107; 10. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:51.136.

MXGP Overall top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 44 p.; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 38 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 32 p.; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 28 p.; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 28 p.; 7. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 27 p.; 8. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), 24 p.; 9. Steven Frossard (FRA, KAW), 20 p.; 10. Gregory Aranda (FRA, KAW), 19 p.

MXGP World Championship Classification Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 443 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 405 p.; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 402 p.; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 314 p.; 5. Steven Frossard (FRA, KAW), 217 p.; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 211 p.; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, KAW), 205 p.; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 184 p.; 9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HON), 166 p.; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), 163 p.

MXGP Manufacturer: 1. KTM, 443 points; 2. Suzuki, 421 p.; 3. Yamaha, 402 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 372 p.; 5. Honda, 301 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 209 p.; 7. TM, 191 p.

MX2

MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:59.483; 2. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:16.222; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:29.958; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:32.756; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:36.815; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:37.753; 7. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:38.583; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Yamaha), +0:43.364; 9. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), +1:06.588; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +1:18.881.

MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:18.701; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:32.011; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:35.589; 4. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:36.284; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:37.154; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:38.568; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), +0:47.649; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:50.646; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, Suzuki), +0:57.312; 10. Damon Graulus (BEL, KTM), +1:00.811

MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KAW), 40 p.; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 36 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 34 p.; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 30 p.; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 24 p.; 8. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 24 p.; 9. Petar Petrov (BUL, YAM), 22 p.; 10. Julien Lieber (BEL, SUZ), 20 p.

MX2 World Championship Classification Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 444 points; 2. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KAW), 389 p.; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 331 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 327 p.; 5. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 314 p.; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 269 p.; 7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 240 p.; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 223 p.; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 213 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 192 p.

MX2 Manufacturer: 1. KTM, 474 points; 2. Kawasaki, 419 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 334 p.; 4. Suzuki, 299 p.; 5. Honda, 279 p.; 6. Yamaha, 265 p.; 7. TM, 6 p.