Cycle News Staff | September 8, 2020
Herlings, Renaux Top MXGP of Italy
Round six of the FIM Motocross World Championship played out in Faenza, Italy, September 6, with the MXGP of Italy, where Jeffrey Herlings (Red Bull KTM) and first-time winner Maxime Renaux (Yamaha SM Action M.C Migliori – J1 Racing) came away with the big wins, Herlings in MXGP and Renaux in MX2. For Herlings, it was his 90th career Grand Prix victory.
The 2018 MXGP Champion, Herlings, won both motos after skirmishes with teammates Antonio Cairoli and Jorge Prado, defending champ Tim Gajser, Kawasaki’s Romain Febvre and Yamaha’s Jeremy Seewer, who would go 2-2 for second overall.
Cairoli took third overall with a 3-3, and Romain Febvre fourth overall with a 6-4. Prado ended up rounding out the top five with a 4-6. Crashes hindered Gajser’s progress. He went 8-6 for sixth overall.
Herling is currently atop of the MXGP leaderboard with 263 points, a full 60 points clear of his KTM teammate Cairoli with 203 and Gajser with 196.
Herlings said, “In the first race I almost got the holeshot, I just went a bit wide but [Jorge] Prado was really good in the beginning and the roost hurt so it was hard to overtake him as he was riding the best lines. I felt like I could go faster but I couldn’t really pass. Both races when I could sense that he was tired that’s the point where I tried to overtake him in both races and open a small gap between me and Jeremy.
“In the second race, I overtook him. The rest of the pack, like Jeremy, were pretty quick so I had to race to the finish line. The speed of the top 10 is unbelievably fast, everybody is so close to each other. I felt good all day, I had two good starts, and two race wins so was a good day in the end. Starts are key and I will keep working on them.”
“In the first race I messed up my start by myself as I went a little bit too early,” Seewer said. “I was around 10th place. I felt really good and luckily could recover from that and catch up to the front group and finish second behind Jeffrey. I felt good, I used quite a bit of energy as I pushed the whole race and had no time to rest, as I had to pass riders throughout the race. So, I was happy to get a good start in the second one being fourth and straight past Tony [Cairoli] and ride the whole race behind Jeffrey, but as he mentioned it’s super hard to pass so I couldn’t really find a spot. He didn’t make any mistakes, and I just had to go for second. I’m super happy with my performance.”
Jago Geerts (Kawasaki) won the first MX2 moto and got a little help from leader Vialle when the KTM rider washed out and fell. Renaux took second, seven seconds in back of Geerts. Vialle crossed the finish line in fourth.
It was a three-rider race for the win late in the second MX2 moto. Renaux held the point position but Vialle and Geerts were right there putting the hammer down, but Renaux stayed tough as nails and held on to grab his first-ever moto win just three seconds ahead of Vialle and another five seconds ahead of Geerts.
The overall went to the Frenchman, Renaux, followed by Geerts and Vialle. Mathys Boisrame (Kawasaki) and Jed Beaton (Husqvarna) rounded out the top five overall.
“That was incredible,” said Renaux, “one of the best days of my life for sure. I got a good start in the second race and then managed to lead the whole race. It was really tough, it’s hot here so physically it was quite hard, but I managed to do it, and I’m really happy with that.”
Vialle, however, is still the championship lead with 257 points, followed by Geerts with 254 and Renaux with 196.
MXGP
- Jeffrey Herling (KTM) 1-1
- Jeremy Seewer (Yam) 2-2
- Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 3-3
- Romain Febvre (Kaw) 6-4
- Jorge Prado (KTM) 4-6
MX2
- Maxime Renaux (Yam) 2-1
- Jago Geerts (Yam) 1-3
- Tom Vialle (KTM) 4-2
- Mathys Boisrame (Kaw) 3-4
- Jed Beaton (Hus) 6-6
RESULTS
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