Cycle News Staff | September 2, 2018
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings continues on a roll towards his first MXGP World Championship title today at the MXGP of Turkey, September 2. It was another impressive showing from the Dutchman.
In MX2, American Thomas Covington (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) grabbed his first overall victory of the year and the fourth of this career.
Herlings, Covington Top MXGP Of Turkey
The moto-one start was a closely fought battle between Herlings and Team HRC’s Tim Gajser. The Slovenian took the holeshot, but Herlings was into the lead by turn two. Red Bull KTM’s Glenn Coldenhoff was just behind Gajser but lost spots quickly to Clement Desalle (Monster Energy Kawasaki) and Antonio Cairoli (Red Bull KTM).
By lap two, Cairoli was up to second after passing Desalle, while Herlings pulled away at the front. Jeremy Van Horebeek (Monster Energy Yamaha) took fifth away from Coldenhoff on lap four but made no further progress.
Cairoli made his way around Gajser just after the finish, while Jeremy Seewer (Wilvo Yamaha) was also moving up a spot to seventh past Gautier Paulin (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna).
At the finish it was a win from Herlings with Cairoli just over 25 seconds back then Gajser, Desalle, and Van Horebeek.
Moto two was led by Herlings again just after the exit of turn two. Desalle was the winner of the Fox Holeshot for his first time this year, but he also gave way to Paulin, while his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna teammate Max Anstie fell, which led to a crash from Cairoli.
A mistake from Paulin then allowed Desalle back past and into second, but Gajser took the spot quickly. Coldenhoff was also on a charge from 10th, passing Tommy Searle (Bike It DRT Kawasaki).
Anstie continued to struggle but Paulin fought to hold fourth from the attacking Seewer. Cairoli, who at one point was back in 19th, worked forward only a few spots to finish 15th.
At the front Herlings came under pressure from Gajser on the last few laps but responded by reopening a gap and winning by 4.6 seconds. Desalle took thirrd with Paulin and Seewer rounding out the top five. The only difference between the race two finish and the overall result was Van Horebeek in fifth with a single point more than Seewer.
Herlings now leads the championship by 95 points heading into the MXGP of the Netherlands at Assen in two weeks.
In MX2, two title contenders of Red Bull KTM teammates Pauls Jonass and Jorge Prado spared off while Thomas Covington (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) took the win.
Race one started perfectly for Covington, as he scored the holeshot over Prado. Jonass took the lead from Covington at turn two, however, and Prado was right alongside to add extra pressure.
Hunter Lawrence (Honda 114 Motorsport) jumped past Ben Watson (Kemea Yamaha) in a close move to take fourth, as Thomas Kjer Olsen (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and Henry Jacobi (STC Husqvarna Racing) fought over sixth.
Prado was trying on many occasions to pass Covington for second, and the American was only able to keep him at bay for the first lap and half. As soon as Prado took sedond, he had his sights set on the win and beating his teammate Jonass.
Calvin Vlaanderen (Team HRC) crashed hard at the end of the pit lane straight while in 10th but was lucky to get back up in 16th uninjured. A battle ensued for the lead between Jonass and Prado peaking when Prado dove past Jonass who jumped and landed on the rear of points leader’s bike sending the Latvian down hard and Prado off track.
Jonass remounted and rejoined the race in sixth, while Prado came back on track in third. Inheriting the lead and second place was Covington and Lawrence. At the finish Covington took the race win followed by Lawrence, Prado, Watson, Olsen, and Jonass.
The first race put Jonass another five championship points back of the 30 Prado had coming into the race. Covington grabbed the holeshot again, with Watson second, Prado third, and Jonass fourth.
Jonass made two quick moves in the first turns to get past both Prado and Watson for second. Lawrence then passed Prado for fifth, and the Spaniard continued to drop positions to seventh.
Covington rode a solid race at the front, while Jonass tried to force an error, and with four laps to go, Covington tucked the front end on a roller. The mistake gave Jonass the lead and Olsen second, while Covington got up in third.
The top 10 held their positions for remainder of the race, which meant a win for Jonass followed by Olsen, Covington, Watson, and Lawrence. In the overall Covington took the GP victory for the first time this season with his consistent 1-3 finishes over Jonass and Olsen.
The points gap, which started as 30 then went out to 35, is now 24 and Prado still maintains the red plate with the 3-7 finishes as the championship heads to Assen.
“I got off to two good starts in the races here and I saw the opportunity to win then just tried to hang on to it,” said Covington. “I really wanted to get the 1-1 but just pushed a little too hard. luckily I got back up pretty quick and was still able to get the overall.”
MXGP of Turkey
Afyon, Turkey
RESULTS: September 2, 2018
(Round 18 of 20)
MXGP
MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 33:57.381; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:25.513; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:29.532; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:42.173; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:46.354; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:52.976; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:55.735; 8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:56.936; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:58.123; 10. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:01.027.
MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:38.520; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:04.656; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:31.485; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:35.466; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:37.832; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:46.893; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:52.943; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:53.732; 9. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:54.544; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +1:11.577.
MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 42 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 38 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 31 p.; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 31 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 30 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 28 p.; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, YAM), 25 p.; 10. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 23 p.
MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 833 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 738 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 619 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 591 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 544 p.; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 514 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 475 p.; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 423 p.; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 404 p.; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 328 p.
MX2
MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), 35:10.583; 2. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Honda), +0:02.864; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), +0:09.798; 4. Ben Watson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:12.576; 5. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:20.431; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:30.968; 7. Anthony Rodriguez (VEN, Yamaha), +0:37.418; 8. Henry Jacobi (GER, Husqvarna), +0:51.496; 9. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Yamaha), +0:52.593; 10. Simone Furlotti (ITA, Yamaha), +0:53.798.
MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 34:43.374; 2. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:03.148; 3. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +0:06.927; 4. Ben Watson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:08.533; 5. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Honda), +0:21.677; 6. Anthony Rodriguez (VEN, Yamaha), +0:28.718; 7. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), +0:34.789; 8. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Honda), +0:37.153; 9. Bas Vaessen (NED, Honda), +0:47.812; 10. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Yamaha), +0:56.440.
MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 45 points; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 38 p.; 4. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, HON), 38 p.; 5. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 36 p.; 6. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 34 p.; 7. Anthony Rodriguez (VEN, YAM), 29 p.; 8. Michele Cervellin (ITA, YAM), 23 p.; 9. Henry Jacobi (GER, HUS), 23 p.; 10. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, HON), 21 p.
MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 773 points; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 749 p.; 3. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 593 p.; 4. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 551 p.; 5. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 525 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, HON), 483 p.; 7. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 346 p.; 8. Michele Cervellin (ITA, YAM), 337 p.; 9. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, HON), 305 p.; 10. Henry Jacobi (GER, HUS), 301 p.
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