Ryan Villopoto finished second to Antonio Cairoli in Saturday MXGP qualifying moto in Argentina, but he set the fastest lap along the way. File Photo By Ray Archer
Defending MXGP Champion Antonio Cairoli won the qualifying moto at the Grand Prix of Argentina today, but he had to hold off a charging Ryan Villopoto, the winner of the last MXGP round in Argentina, at the end.
After qualifying quickest in practice, Villopoto, on the Monster Energy Kawasaki, started the race off inside the top 10, while Cairoli launched his Red Bull KTM to the front. As the race progressed, Villopoto slowly worked his way up through the field until he got into second late in the race. He caught Cairoli near the end but couldn’t pull off the pass for the win. Instead, the victory went to Cairoli with Villopoto taking second; along the way, Villopoto posted the quickest lap time of the race with a 1:46:517. Cairoli was second quickest with a 1:46:636.
Third in the moto was opening-round winner in Qatar, Husqvarna’s Max Nagl who finished the race six seconds behind Villopoto.
Suzuki Clement Desalle was fourth, while Belgian Jeremy Van Horebeek was fifth.
In the MX2 division, there were no surprises. Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings blew everyone away, taking the win 22 seconds ahead of Latvia’s Pauls Jonass. American Thomas Covington, on the Monster Energy Kawasaki, was fourth, taking the checkered flag 34 seconds behind Herlings.
2015 MXGP of Patagonia Argentina
Qualifying Results
1. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 25:10.966
2. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) 25:12.562
3. Max Nagl (Husqvarna) 25:18.533
4. Clement Desalle (Suzuki) 25:27.785
5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (Yamaha) 25:28.947
6. Romain Febvre (Yamaha) 25:29.960
7. Gautier Paulin (Honda) 25:35.344
8. Evgeny Bobryshev (Honda) 25:48.699
9. Todd Waters (Husqvarna) 25:54.739
10. Shaun Simpson (KTM) 25:56.682
