| June 19, 2016
Much like the Lucas Oil Championship with Ryan Dungey getting injured, the MXGPs suffered a major loss when Romain Febvre knocked himself unconscious in a bad crash as he tried to pass Ben Townley in the qualification race on Saturday. Thankfully updates have been promising and he now expects to miss just the next MXGP in Mantova next weekend. Unfortunately though, that will put him way behind the charging Tim Gajser who maintains his stranglehold on the class with another 1-1 performance. Not only is he winning races, but he’s overtaking all his main rivals to do so and right now just looks a level above everyone else. He now sits 74 points ahead of Febvre and 77 points in front of Antonio Cairoli who looked good in the first moto with a second place but struggled in race two and could only finish 10th.
Behind Gajser was Max Nagl who squeezed onto the podium despite only getting 7-2 results. He edged out Gautier Paulin, Evgeny Bobryshev, Valentin Guillod and Antonio Cairoli who were split by just three points. These results actually reflect the level of intensity and the closeness of the racing behind Gajser as there were really good battles throughout the moto, on a track that seems to be universally liked among both riders and fans.
Added to the mix was Chad Reed, who was fulfilling contract obligations by racing here at the British MXGP, and the MXGP in Mantova, Italy, next weekend. Despite coming off the couch he showed he still had the pace, if not the fitness and even came back well from a first-lap crash in the second moto. His 14-17 results were probably around what most people expected, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he improved next weekend after a couple more riding sessions.
Despite a distinctly average fifth place in qualification, Jeffrey Herlings proved once again he is the best MX2 rider by far, dominating both motos with ease. He has now won 21/22 rides and has opened up his lead in the championship to 148 points over Jeremy Seewer. Behind him on the podium was French rider Dylan Ferrandis who had to battle through the pack for his pair of second place finishes. Pauls Jonass was on the third step after some intense battling with Seewer, capitalising on the Swiss rider’s last lap mistake to get the needed points. Those two are also reasonably close in the championship and should Herlings falter once again, it’ll be either of them who inherits the leads like Jordi Tixier and Tim Gajser in years’ past. Unfortunately qualifying winner and local boy Max Anstie wasn’t able to replicate his Saturday performance and could only go 8-4 for fifth.
In a battle royale with ex-AMA rider Steven Clarke, as youngster Darian Sanayei came up just short with his 1-2 just being edged out by the British riders’ 2-1. Both riders provided really good action, especially in the second moto as they battled hard for the overall and while he will be disappointed not to get on the top step, he did gain seven points on championship leader Thomas Kjer Olsen but still sits 56pts back with just three rounds left.
–DAVID BULMER
RESULTS
British MXGP
Matterley Basin
June 19, 2016
MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 35:27.708; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:05.864; 3. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:09.678; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:15.214; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:17.550; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:20.714; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:24.515; 8. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:34.354; 9. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:37.237; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:52.873.
MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:12.109; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:09.095; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:18.031; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:25.931; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:42.948; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:00.390; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +1:02.316; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +1:15.080; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:24.099; 10. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +1:32.758.
MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 50 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 36 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 36 p.; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 34 p.; 5. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 34 p.; 6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 33 p.; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 28 p.; 8. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 27 p.; 9. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 22 p.; 10. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 20 p.
MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 482 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 408 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 405 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 378 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 367 p.; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 321 p.; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 242 p.; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 212 p.; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 204 p.; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 201 p.
MXGP Manufacturers: 1. Honda, 490 points; 2. Yamaha, 452 p.; 3. KTM, 415 p.; 4. Husqvarna, 389 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 270 p.; 6. Suzuki, 242 p.
MX2
MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:46.252; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:21.065; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:22.499; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:23.118; 5. Conrad Mewse (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:43.709; 6. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +0:48.849; 7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:53.500; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +1:08.299; 9. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +1:16.687; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +1:28.52.
MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:55.411; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:22.944; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:27.051; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:34.536; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:39.396; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:50.794; 7. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +1:15.116; 8. Jorge Zaragoza (ESP, Honda), +1:26.051; 9. Conrad Mewse (GBR, Husqvarna), +1:29.100; 10. Iker Larranaga Olano (ESP, KTM), +1:34.007.
MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 44 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 36 p.; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 31 p.; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 29 p.; 7. Conrad Mewse (GBR, HUS), 28 p.; 8. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 25 p.; 9. Iker Larranaga Olano (ESP, KTM), 21 p.; 10. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 19 p.
MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 547 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 399 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 370 p.; 4. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 298 p.; 5. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 293 p.; 6. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 273 p.; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 258 p.; 8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 244 p.; 9. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 242 p.; 10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 209 p.
MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 547 points; 2. Kawasaki, 400 p.; 3. Suzuki, 399 p.; 4. Yamaha, 384 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 330 p.; 6. TM, 244 p.; 7. Honda, 208 p.