Steve Cox | April 16, 2017
2017 Trentino MXGP Results: After spending the first few rounds racing eastward around the globe, the World Motocross Championships returned to Europe to resume the 2017 title chases, and fittingly it was KTM dominating the racing in both classes.
In the premier MXGP class, eight-time world champ Antonio Cairoli – at 31 years of age – made an amazing day of it at the Trentino MXGP, grabbing the holeshot and leading every lap of the race in moto one, making it look easy. Behind him finished Yamaha’s Arnaud Tonus and Honda’s defending champ Tim Gajser.
2017 Trentino MXGP Results
However, in the second moto, the Red Bull KTM factory pilot started second behind points leader Gajser before finding trouble in the second corner. Cairoli got back going again in 20th place, and with Gajser out front, the overall victory seemed unlikely. Cairoli began passing people, and once he got near the front, he passed Tonus for sixth, then Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Gautier Paulin for fifth, followed by Kawasaki’s Clement Desalle for fourth, teammate Jeffrey Herlings for third, and then Honda’s Evgeny Bobryshev all in the exact same spot on consecutive laps to take over second place, where he would finish out the moto behind Gajser.
Cairoli’s 1-2 score gave him his 79th overall world-championship motocross victory of his career just in front of the 3-1 of Gajser and the 2-7 of Tonus for third overall.
“I just kept pushing and pushing trying to make passes, and it worked,” Cairoli said. “I’m really happy! I had some sketchy moments but if you want to win you have to take some risks. It’s a very special race, one of my best GPs ever!”
2017 Trentino MXGP Results
In the championship, Cairoli narrowed the points gap to Gajser out front down to only 18 points with fully 14 rounds still left to run in the championship before it ends in mid-September in France.
In the MX2 class, the Red Bull KTM team looked even better on European soil, sweeping the top-three spots, followed by sister team Rockstar Husqvarna finishing fourth and fifth, giving Austria a complete sweep of the top-five.
Red Bull KTM’s 16-year-old protégé Jorge Prado Garcia chased his more experienced teammate, Pauls Jonass, around for the entirety of the opening MX2 moto, which ended with Jonass beating Garcia and LRT KTM’s Julien Lieber across the line for the win. But in moto two, Garcia got out front early and then held off the hard-charging Jonass to take the win, with American Husky rider Thomas Covington snatching a well-earned third place in the moto. Garcia, normally considered a bit of a sand specialist, was almost as happy about winning his first-ever GP as he was having done it on a hard-packed track.
2017 Trentino MXGP Results
“I’m feeling really good, winning my first GP and doing it on a hard packed track is really good for me as I’m normally best on sand,” Garcia said. “I don’t think there is words for the way I feel, it’s really emotional because it not easy to win a GP.”
Jonass claimed second overall with his 1-2 score, while Lieber ended up third overall with a 3-5 score. Then came Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Thomas Kjer Olson’s 5-6 for fourth overall and his teammate Covington’s 11-3 slotting him in for fifth on the day.
2017 Trentino MXGP Results
In the championship, Jonass has pulled into the lead over Suzuki’s Jeremy Seewer by nine points, and Lieber currently sits only eight points farther behind with a whole lot of racing still left to go in the championship chase.
The MXGP World Championship now heads to normally rutted sand of Valkenswaard, Holland, next weekend, where Garcia is sure to put on a show, and MXGP rookie Jeffrey Herlings is expected to improve dramatically over the results he’s been having in his first 450cc season.
MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 34:10.629; 2. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), +0:01.498; 3. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), +0:02.887; 4. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Kawasaki), +0:11.055; 5. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:33.985; 6. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Honda), +0:37.855; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), +0:39.695; 8. Brian Hsu (GER, Husqvarna), +0:41.316; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:45.901; 10. Conrad Mewse (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:50.089.
MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 33:41.859; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:02.010; 3. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +0:03.078; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:03.503; 5. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), +0:13.092; 6. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:23.083; 7. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:43.966; 8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +0:46.843; 9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:49.002; 10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Kawasaki), +0:49.844.
MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 47 points; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 47 p.; 3. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), 36 p.; 4. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 31 p.; 5. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 30 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 30 p.; 7. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 29 p.; 8. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 21 p.; 9. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 16 p.; 10. Conrad Mewse (GBR, HUS), 16 p.
MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 192 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 183 p.; 3. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), 175 p.; 4. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 158 p.; 5. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 147 p.; 6. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 123 p.; 7. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 117 p.; 8. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 113 p.; 9. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 110 p.; 10. Michele Cervellin (ITA, HON), 99 p.
MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 234 points; 2. Suzuki, 183 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 178 p.; 4. Yamaha, 168 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 138 p.; 6. Honda, 99 p.; 7. TM, 93 p.
MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 33:35.084; 2. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:02.278; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:06.158; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:07.369; 5. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:09.722; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:11.423; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:40.550; 8. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:42.972; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:44.773; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:47.504.
MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 33:36.300; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:04.165; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:06.147; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:06.881; 5. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:08.830; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:10.714; 7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:12.642; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:15.933; 9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:23.945; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:31.173.
MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 47 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 45 p.; 3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 36 p.; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 34 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 33 p.; 6. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 32 p.; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 28 p.; 8. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 25 p.; 9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 22 p.; 10. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, SUZ), 19 p.
MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 201 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 183 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 151 p.; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 145 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 145 p.; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 144 p.; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 106 p.; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 101 p.; 9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 95 p.; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 90 p.
MXGP Manufacturers: 1. Honda, 201 points; 2. KTM, 187 p.; 3. Yamaha, 173 p.; 4. Husqvarna, 153 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 151 p.; 6. Suzuki, 100 p.
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