Cycle News Staff | March 9, 2020
Red Bull KTM factory riders Jeffrey Herlings and Tom Vialle swept the Dutch round of the 2020 FIM Motocross World Championship at the Valkenswaard Circuit in Valkenswaard, The Netherlands, March 7-8. Neither rider swept their respective classes after what was a wet day playing in the sand, but second-moto victories by both Herlings and Vialle sealed the deal for the two KTM riders.
Herlings had his hands full all day long with defending champ Tim Gajser on the HRC Honda. Herlings got out front early in the first MXGP moto but even the local sand master couldn’t keep Gajser at bay.
Gajser roosted past the 2018 MXGP champ and never looked back, taking the win with a massive 21-second cushion between his Honda and the KTM rider, Herlings.
Another 20-plus-seconds back came the third-place rider, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Arminas Jasikonis, followed by Red Bull KTM’s Jorge Prado and Monster Energy Yamaha’s Gautier Paulin.
Clement Desalle (Kawasaki), Antonio Cairoli (KTM), Jeremy Van Horebeek (Honda) and Brian Bogers (KTM) completed the top 10.
Herlings got off to another fast start in moto two, but Gajser was in close pursuit. This being the tie-breaking second moto, it was a battle for the overall victory between these MXGP two superstars. Gajser kept the pressure turned up until he went down violently. He was not injured in the fall and got back going quickly enough to keep second. Even though Herlings and Gajser matched points on the day, Herlings was declared the overall victor based on his second-moto win.
“It’s been a great weekend for the whole Red Bull KTM Team, it was very demanding, but I’m very pleased to win my ninth overall here in Valkenswaard,” Herlings said. “We had great battles, my team did a very good job, I’m so glad to be on top at my home GP. Everything so far is better than last year, I’m really happy but it’s a long season and many things can happen that I think the most important thing is to stay consistent and that’s my goal for this year.”
Gajser was thrilled to get the win in the first moto, especially after having a poor gate choice after suffering a DNF during Saturday’s qualifying race.
“Overall, I’m super happy, especially with what happened yesterday and also with the gate pick that I had for today,” Gajser said. “It was difficult to make a good start, but I managed to make two solid ones in the top five. The first race was nice, as I was able to make quick passes in the beginning and a little gap to control the race. In the second race, I was behind Jeffrey and we were really pushing. In the second lap, I got roosted and couldn’t see properly, but anyway, I tried to stay with him.”
Jasikonis was third again in the moto for third overall. “The last race was really tough,” the Lithuanian said. “The last 15 minutes were difficult in my mind, not physically. I had quite a big crash but that didn’t stop me. I stopped for goggles because it was so difficult with lappers. Overall it was a tough race, but it was worth it for a podium. It’s been a long way for me and thanks to all my team, they always kept believing in me, they gave me a chance, and this is a little payback for their hard work, but for sure I will keep going for many more.”
Van Horebeek, Coldenhoff, Desalle, Evgeny Bobryshev (Husqvarna) and Harri Kullas (Honda) rounded out the top 10 in the second moto.
The top five overall went Herlings, Gajser, Jasikonis, Cairoli and Van Horebeek.
Herlings leads the championship with 94 points, followed by Gajser with 85. Cairoli is third with 68.
In MX2, Jago Geerts (Yamaha) was unstoppable as he ran down the field, including Vialle, to take the first-moto win. Unfortunately for the Belgian, he went down in the sloppy first turn in the second moto and made it up to only seventh, eliminating any chance he had of taking the overall.
Instead, that went to Vialle who easily won the second moto, taking the checkered flag well clear of Great Britain’s Jed Beaton (Husqvarna).
French rider Maxime Renaux (Yamaha) ended up taking second overall via 3-2 moto finishes, while Geerts still managed to get on the podium with third.
Beaton (2-4) and Yamaha-mounted Ben Watson (5-4) rounded out the top five overall.
With the win, Vialle is the new points leader and will wear the red plate at the next GP in Argentina.
“I’m really happy with this weekend, I felt really good on the track already yesterday,” Vialle said. “Today I had a good first race, I got the holeshot and was leading almost the whole race until Jago passed me. In the second race, I got the holeshot again and was leading the race. It was really good, and I was feeling really good on the bike. First time I take the red plate so I’m really happy about that.”
Vialle leads Geerts in the MX2 Championship by five points. Beaton is third, eight points behind Geerts. CN
2020 FIM Motocross World Championship
Round 2
Valkenswaard Circuit
Valkenswaard, The Netherlands
RESULTS (March 8, 2020)
MXGP (overall, top 10)
1. |
Jeffrey Herlings |
(KTM) |
2. |
Tim Gajser |
(Hon) |
3. |
Arminas Jasikonis |
(Hus) |
4. |
Antonio Cairoli |
(KTM) |
5. |
Jeremy Van Horebeek |
(Hon) |
6. |
Clement Desalle |
(Kaw) |
7. |
Glenn Coldenhoff |
(GG) |
8. |
Gautier Paulin |
(Yam) |
9. |
Jorge Prado |
(KTM) |
10. |
Shaun Simpson |
(KTM) |
|
|
|
MX2 (Overall, Top 10)
1. |
Tom Vialle |
(KTM) |
2. |
Maxime Renaux |
(Yam) |
3. |
Jago Geerts |
(Yam) |
4. |
Jed Beaton |
(Hus) |
5. |
Ben Watson |
(Yam) |
6. |
Conrad Mewse |
(KTM) |
7. |
Thomas Kjer Olsen |
(Hus) |
8. |
Jeremy Sydow |
(GG) |
9. |
Rene Hofer |
(KTM) |
10. |
Simon Laengenfelder |
(GG) |