Cycle News Staff | September 14, 2021
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings and Tom Vialle repeated their success from the previous Sunday to take overall Wednesday victories in the MXGP and MX2 classes, respectively, at the Bitci MXGP of Afyon, September 8.
Photos by KTM images/Ray Archer
Herlings remains undefeated at the facility, taking a fourth consecutive Grand Prix win in Afyon and remains the only MXGP rider to ever win here. In addition, Herlings also matched Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli GP win record, as he secured his 93rd career triumph.
The overall victory didn’t come easily for either of the factory KTM pilots, as both Herlings and Vialle were challenged by a group of riders who were all hungry for the win.
Herlings got a little lucky in the first moto when both Jorge Prado and Romain Febvre fell while leading. Febvre went down on the last lap, handing Herlings the point. At the time, Herlings was being pressured by teammate Antonio Cairoli but held on to take the win.
Honda’s Tim Gajser bounced back from a first-moto third to win the second moto, but it wasn’t enough to beat Herlings’ 1-2 for the overall victory.
Cairoli was third overall with a 2-3.
Gajser extended his points lead to 28 over Febvre. Cairoli and Herlings are right behind in third and fourth, respectively.
In the 250cc class, Vialle traded moto wins with Yamaha’s Maxime Renaux, with Vialle getting credit for the overall victory, the 11th of his career, with a 2-1. Mattia Guadagnini (KTM) was third overall with a 3-6.
In the championship, Renaux still leads the way with 361 points, followed by Guadagnini with 312. Jago Geerts (Yamaha), eighth overall on the day, is third with 290 points.
Click here for all the latest MXGP news.