Ryan Nitzen | November 10, 2021
The MXGP of Città di Mantova served as the series finale and concluded one of the closest title fights in recent memory. Back-and-forth racing forced a ‘winner takes all’ situation as the championship was decided in the last race of the season.
Tensions were high as Romain Febvre (Kawasaki) entered the day as the points leader, just three over KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings. Tim Gajser (Honda) trailed in third, 15 back from Febvre but still mathematically in the fight.
The start of race one went to Jorge Prado (KTM) but both Febvre and Herlings followed in close pursuit. The three riders waged an aggressive battle for much of the early moto, with Herlings eventually passing both riders and moving into the lead. With Herlings up front, Prado served as a buffer for a few laps before Febvre made the crucial move for second.
Gajser again suffered a poor start and clawed his way through the field. He worked his way around Cairoli and Prado before crossing the line third, just 0.4 seconds behind Febvre in second. Herlings took a commanding moto victory and tied up the points going into the final race.
Whoever finished higher in race two would decide the championship. Once again Prado led Febvre, Herlings, and Gajser through turn one. By the end of lap one Febvre passed for the lead over Prado. The KTM rider quickly handed over the second place position to Herlings who set his sights on the leader. A decisive pass for the lead was made on lap two when Febvre left the inside line wide open for Herlings. The KTM rider slipped through and never relinquished his grip.
The battle for second still went strong as Gajser stalked Febvre near the half-way point. However a monumental mistake from Febvre saw him grab a handful of Kawasaki throttle, looping the bike and crashing out of second place. Gajser took advantage and continued to close on Herlings before finishing in the runner up position. Febvre remounted and crossed the line third, just five points shy of the world championship. Herlings’ clutch performance and 1-1 victories earned him a second career MXGP title.
“To go 1-1 today was special,” said Herlings. “I haven’t slept for a week thinking about what could happen, what might happen and this-and-that. This wasn’t an easy championship. All three of us kept charging until the last moto, especially me and Romain in these last two races, and the pressure was on. I didn’t break and I made the championship happen.”
“It wasn’t enough to get the title,” said Febvre. “So, I am really disappointed at the moment for sure. The only thing is that I gave my all, so I don’t have regrets for sure. But to finish the season this close is really tough emotionally. I will try again next year and hope for a better result”.
“It’s not easy to accept but that’s how it is,” said Gajser. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Losing makes you stronger. It’s not the end of the world. Tomorrow is going to be tomorrow, and we’ll have another opportunity next year. Congrats to the guys, to Jeffrey, to Romain, for a good season. We were having some nice battles. Definitely disappointed at the moment, but that’s how it is.”
This race also marked the last MXGP for fan favorite and veteran, Antonio Cairoli. Unfortunately it was a day he’d rather forget in front of home Italian crowd. A crash in race one left him with a broken shifter and a 28th place finish. The KTM rider mustered a 10th in race two, ending his day with 15th overall.
The fight in the MX2 division was between KTM’s Tom Vialle and Yamaha’s Jago Geerts as they duked it out for second in the overall points standings. Maxime Renaux (Yamaha) previously secured the overall title back in Trentino.
Vialle grabbed the early lead with Geerts closely behind in second. On lap two Geerts made his way to the front and never looked back. Vialle later crashed and was forced to retire from the race early. This DNF resulted in Vialle scoring zero points while Geerts capitalized with the maximum payout.
The crash in race one meant Vialle would hinder him from lining up in race two, thus handing second place over to Geerts. Mattia Guadanini (KTM) grabbed the early lead over Rene Hofer (KTM) and Yamaha teammates Geerts and Renaux. The orange and blue battle went on for the opening laps but Renaux eventually took control of the race by lap three. Geerts followed suit behind his teammate and despite a late-race effort, he could not claim the top spot. The Belgian slid out while attempting to pass his teammate on the final lap and settled for second. Renaux claimed the race win, but Geerts’ 1-2 was good enough for the overall. Renaux’s 3-1 gave him second on the day and Kay De Wolf (Husqvarna) rounded off the podium with 2-6 scores.
As the MXGP season concludes it’s Maxime Renaux topping the MX2 division ahead of Jago Geerts and Tom Vialle.
“I’m really happy,” said Geerts. “The last two rounds here were really good. Even in the last race, I was chasing Maxime and made a small crash, but then I came back. I wanted to make a move on the last lap and crashed again, but my speed was really good, and second overall in the championship was the goal when we came here after a tough season, so I am very happy that we could achieve that. I hope we can continue like this in 2022.”
RESULTS
MXGP
1. |
Jeffrey Herlings |
KTM |
1-1 |
2. |
Tim Gajser |
HON |
3-2 |
3. |
Romain Febvre |
KAW |
2-3 |
4. |
Jeremy Seewer |
YAM |
4-4 |
5. |
Jorge Prado |
KTM |
5-7 |
MX2
1. |
Jago Geerts |
YAM |
1-2 |
2. |
Maxime Renaux |
YAM |
3-1 |
3. |
Kay De Wolf |
HUS |
2-6 |
4. |
Mattia Guadanini |
KTM |
5-3 |
5. |
Mikkel Haarup |
KAW |
4-7 |
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