| March 26, 2018
MXGP World Championship Spain Results 2018 – The slightly warmer climes of Spain hosted the third round of the 2018 MXGP World Championship, March 25, with the Redsand venue in the Comunitat Valenciana region providing the backdrop for another great spectacle.
MXGP World Championship Spain Results 2018
Once again, the racing was dominated by KTM riders, as they continued their sweep of the MXGP and MX2 classes. So far this year we’ve had 12 motos across the two classes and all the MX2 races have been won by Pauls Jonass, with Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings evenly splitting the MXGP races.
While the previous four races have started off with a Cairoli holeshot, for the first moto at least it was Romain Febvre on his YZ450F who grabbed the early lead. What was even more surprising was that both KTMs were midpack around the first turn, but that changed very quickly as Cairoli somehow managed to pass his way into second by the time they came around to end the first lap. Herlings was a lot slower to move through the field, only reaching second position with four laps remaining but by that stage the gap was too great to his Italian rival and he had to settle for second. Febvre tried to resist Herlings’ efforts for as long as possible but eventually had to settle for third while Clement Desalle closed right up for fourth.
In the second race, usual business was resumed with Cairoli taking his fifth holeshot award of the season, only to be surprised by Gautier Paulin who snatched the lead for the first few laps. As Cairoli looked to pass Paulin, Herlings had made a reasonable start before crashing and dropping back. By the time the first lap ended he was back in ninth place so, once again, he was left with unenviable task of passing everyone ahead of him (including Cairoli) in order to win the overall. He was soon making the necessary passes in his usual aggressive style but, once again, time was his enemy as he just ran out of time in order to make any sort of move for the lead. The pair crossed the line just a couple of seconds apart but it is now the #222 who will wear the red plate at the next round in Trentino, Italy, because despite them being level on 141 points, he wins the championship tie-breaker of last moto won. Clement Desalle’s fourth place was good enough to see him on the third step of the podium, and maintain his position in the championship as “best of the rest.”
MXGP World Championship Spain Results 2018
Things are much simpler in the MX2 class as Pauls Jonass made it 150 points out of 150 with another convincing display in both motos. He did come under pressure from Thomas Kjer Olsen and Darian Sanayei in race two but, once again, he kept his cool, rode smart and made sure his number-one plated KTM stayed in first position. In a class where consistency is one of the hardest things, his six wins in a row stand out head and shoulders above his rivals and although we are only three rounds in, it is already looking like a tall order for anyone to usurp the current MX2 Champion.
Behind, there was a real battle as Spanish youngster Jorge Prado desperately tried to hold onto second spot on the podium, at his home GP. When Olsen was running in second place in the second moto, he was in control of that position but a small mistake cost him a couple of positions and that allowed the rider to sneak through, much to the delight of the partisan crowd. Olsen did round off the podium, but only just as Sanayei put in the best ride of his career to finish second in race two. If the American had just got out the gate a bit better in the first race, he could have quite easily had his first ever podium spot, but instead he could only come back through the pack to finish sixth, which combined with his second gave him one less point than Olsen.
The championships now take a much needed weekend, before resuming the racing at scenic Arco di Trento track where Cairoli will be looking to win in front of his home fans, like Herlings did at Valkenswaard in the second round of the series.
MXGP World Championship Spain Results 2018
MXGP
MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 34:52.260; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:04.693; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:12.061; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:14.076; 5. Julien Lieber (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:25.080; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:26.294; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:35.890; 8. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:41.653; 9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, TM), +0:47.206; 10. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:53.029.
MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 34:23.638; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:01.830; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:23.498; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:28.612; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:29.971; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:43.888; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:48.158; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:50.046; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:57.229; 10. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Honda), +1:15.708.
MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 36 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 34 p.; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 28 p.; 7. Julien Lieber (BEL, KAW), 28 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 24 p.; 10. Maximilian Nagl (GER, TM), 22 p.
MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 141 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 141 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 103 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 101 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 98 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 79 p.; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 78 p.; 8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, TM), 60 p.; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 59 p.; 10. Julien Lieber (BEL, KAW), 54 p.
MXGP Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 150 points; 2. Yamaha, 108 p.; 3. Kawasaki, 103 p.; 4. Husqvarna, 102 p.; 5. Honda, 63 p.; 6. TM, 60 p.; 7. Suzuki, 30 p.
MXGP World Championship Spain Results 2018
MX2
MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 35:20.628; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), +0:03.886; 3. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:05.319; 4. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), +0:06.553; 5. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Honda), +0:07.313; 6. Darian Sanayei (USA, Kawasaki), +0:11.488; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (RSA, Honda), +0:16.544; 8. Jed Beaton (AUS, Kawasaki), +0:23.234; 9. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +0:38.655; 10. Adam Sterry (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:42.637
MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 34:59.912; 2. Darian Sanayei (USA, Kawasaki), +0:07.775; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), +0:12.139; 4. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:12.556; 5. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Honda), +0:22.616; 6. Jed Beaton (AUS, Kawasaki), +0:29.097; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (RSA, Honda), +0:30.329; 8. Ben Watson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:33.527; 9. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), +0:41.595; 10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:52.751
MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 38 p.; 4. Darian Sanayei (USA, KAW), 37 p.; 5. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, HON), 32 p.; 6. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Jed Beaton (AUS, KAW), 28 p.; 8. Calvin Vlaanderen (RSA, HON), 28 p.; 9. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 20 p.; 10. Bas Vaessen (NED, HON), 20 p.
MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 150 points; 2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 120 p.; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 105 p.; 4. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, HON), 99 p.; 5. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 81 p.; 6. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 81 p.; 7. Jed Beaton (AUS, KAW), 72 p.; 8. Darian Sanayei (USA, KAW), 68 p.; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (RSA, HON), 63 p.; 10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, YAM), 54 p.
MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 150 points; 2. Husqvarna, 120 p.; 3. Honda, 100 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 97 p.; 5. Yamaha, 89 p.; 6. TM, 28 p.
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