PHOTOGRAPHY BY J.P. ACEVEDO
Red Bull Ice One Husqvarna’s Max Nagl put on an impressive performance in moto two to take the win and the overall victory at the MXGP of Patagonia Argentina.
At first it looked as though moto-one winner Clement Desalle was going to be unbeatable. The Rockstar Energy Suzuki rider led moto one rather convincingly and held off a persistent Tony Cairoli on the Red Bull KTM to hold on to the win. In that battle, Cairoli ended up on the ground. Despite feeling poorly after hitting his head pretty hard, the Italian was able to hold onto second ahead of Nagl.
The second moto looked to be déjà vu all over again as Desalle once again got to the lead early. But hole-shot winner Nagl took advantage of a slight mistake by Desalle to take the lead before the halfway mark and never looked back. Desalle could’ve kept the overall win if he held onto second, but Cairoli got by Desalle this time around to earn another second place finish.
It turned out to be a big surprise for Nagl as well, as he earned his second Grand Prix win this season.
“We’re all surprised actually, because nobody expected that it’s going like this,” Nagl said. “The prepartion is going so good with the setup of the bike. I’m so happy the bike is so strong. The team is doing so good effort. They prepare everything so well—my mechanics. I’m just so proud about myself also for the riding.”
Although it wasn’t a win, Desalle was satisfied with second and happy to leave Argentina still in the points lead.
“It’s true I wanted to have the victory, but same time it’s good that I could keep it on two wheels and save to the end,” Desalle said. “So I’m happy about it. Yes it’s true I want to win, but if it be like this at the end of the championship it’s okay for me.”
In the second moto, Cairoli was hurting a bit from the crash, but didn’t let it get in the way of trying to get that win. Unfortunately for the multi-time World champ, Nagl was just too strong and he had to settle for another second-place finish; third overall.
“Max was actually riding really well,” Cairoli said. “He deserved this GP because he was riding really good. We have to work a little bit still. I’m not in completely good shape, but we will get there soon. Everything is going to plan at the moment.”
Kawasaki Racing Team’s Ryan Villopoto ended the day fourth overall with a pair of fourth-place finishes. In moto one, Villopoto worked his way up from sixth to third, but was overtaken by the hard-charging Nagl. Villopoto had a worse start to moto two in 11th. The multi-time AMA was able to work his way up to fourth and although nipping at the heels of third place—first Cairoli, then Desalle—he once again had to settle for fourth.
In fifth was Team HRC Honda’s Gauthier Paulin who struggled on a track that was a bit slick, finishing sixth in moto one and seventh in moto two. Behind Paulin was the Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube teammates—Jeremy van Horebeek (9-5) and rookie Romain Febvre (8-6).
In eighth was Paulin’s teammate Evgeny Bobryshev. The Russian had a much better first moto in fifth, and overcame an early crash in the second moto to finish 10th. Nagl’s teammate Todd Waters was ninth overall, finishing 11th in moto one and ninth in moto two. Rounding out the top 10 was MXGP rookie Glenn Coldenhoff on the other Rockstar Energy Suzuki with a 14-8 tally.
2015 MXGP Of Patagonia Argentina Results
1. Max Nagl (Husqvarna) 3-1
2. Clement Desalle (Suzuki) 1-3
3. Tony Cairoli (KTM) 2-2
4. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) 4-4
5. Gautier Paulin (Honda) 6-7
6. Jeremy van Horebeek (Yamaha) 9-5
7. Romain Febvre (Yamaha) 8-6
8. Evgeny Bobryshev (Honda) 5-10
9. Todd Waters (Husqvarna) 11-9
10. Glenn Coldenhoff (Suzuki) 14-8
