@RedBull @KTM Factory Racing’s Tony Cairoli captured the win in his opening moto then fought back hard in his second moto to claim third place and the overall victory in the MXGP if Britain on Sunday at the Matterley Basin circuit. With the win, Cairoli became the only rider to have won the British GP on six occasions and he said he was happy and proud to do so. “It’s these little things that make you work hard in the future,” he said.
It was Cairoli’s second consecutive victory in the 2015 World Championship and trims the gap to point leader Max Nagl to 21 after Round 7 of the 17-round championship. Cairoli is third in the standings behind Nagl and Clement Desalle of Belgium who are separated by just four points.
Factory teammate Jeffrey Herlings rounded off his day in MX2 with a very commendable 1-2 to finish on equal points to Swiss rider Valentin Guillod, who took the GP win by virtue of his victory in the second race. Herlings now has a commanding lead of 92 points in the MX2 fight for the title.
MX1 Action
The weekend was solid for Cairoli, who was the fastest qualifier on Saturday and looked very strong in his opening moto on the gnarly British track. Then in the second moto he was fourth at the start but about a third into the race he crashed and slipped back to sixth place. Meanwhile the action was hot at the front of the field with KTM rider Shaun Simpson trying to hold off Max Nagl and Desalle. The potential race order got shaken up when Roman Febvre joined the action and went on to take the second race win. In the meantime Cairoli had been chipping away at the opposition and by the second last lap had moved into third place, which was enough to give him the GP win. Factory teammate Ken de Dycker finished a solid eighth overall after finishing with an 11-8 moto score on the day.
MXGP riders in fact raced 2.5 motos, as the first race was red flagged just short of the half way mark because a rider was down on the track, which meant a complete restart.
Cairoli said he was happy with his decision to switch to the KTM 450 SX-F machine. “I like the bike and it seems we made the right choice, we’re closing the gap to the lead and that’s the most important thing.”
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MX2 Action
In his first race Herlings was out of the gates in fourth then delivered a dash of his well-known fighting spirit half way through. He was seven seconds behind leaders Max Anstie and Guillod when he fixed the two leaders in his sights. He then picked them both off in the following laps and went on to win by 5.5 seconds. Herlings said later that he was still riding with a very sore back from a crash in the last round in Spain.
Herlings was again in top form in his second moto but failed to catch Guillod in the final stages and had to settle for equal points and second step on the podium. Pauls Jonass, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s rookie was again impressive and wrapped up his day with a pair of fourth places and overall fourth. The young Latvian rider is third in the championship table behind Herlings and Guillod.
Jeffrey Herlings: “I’m definitely satisfied with this weekend. I have only won three GPs so far this season but what is important is to be consistent and do well in the championship. After seven rounds in I am 92 points in front so the main thing is to stay out of trouble and not get injured.”
Pauls Jonass: “This weekend was a big improvement after the last three weeks. I had two consistent motos and three really good starts. That made it easier. Now I hope we can bring in an even better result to France in the next round.”
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EMX Action
Matterley Basin also hosted rounds of the EMX 125 and 250, and Round Three of the WMX, and the EMX 125 proved to be an excellent day out for the KTM Factory Juniors under the charge of Stefan Everts. Conrad Mewes however was to have highs and lows. Initially he was credited with a 2-1-race result and the GP victory but race officials docked him 10 places in his second race for jumping on a yellow flag. This left teammates Josiah Natzke (NZL) and Jorge Prado (ESP) in overall 2-3 but still took Everts another step towards his goal of having all three of his charges on the EMX125 podium.
Mewes accepted this hard lesson and said he was still satisfied with his weekend, especially as he had improved his starts. “You cannot not get the start in this class because there’s already fast guys. This weekend just proves just how much the starts do mean.”
Natzke said he was happy with his weekend and added that Sunday was already an improvement on Saturday. He did have some difficulty in the opening moto after a close encounter that left his arm sore and made it difficult to hold on towards the end of the race. “I wanted to redeem myself and today I am very happy,” he said.
Prado, still only 14 and very slightly built compared to his race colleagues said he was happy to still be points leader after his 6-4 result for overall third. “This was a really difficult track and its not the best one for me, but I love it,” he said.
Everts said he was pleased with his Factory Juniors. “Conrad (Mewes) is back at the level we were hoping to see in the first race. He got his confidence back last week at the Dutch Championship and also coming here to Matterley Basin where he has done well in the past. Today’s penalty was a tough lesson in racing for him.” Of Prado he said: “Today he was good but he got tired. There’s nothing wrong with that because he’s only 14 and small. What I like about Jorge is his fighting spirit. Today he showed that even when he’s tired he fights back.”
The EMX 250 was won by British KTM rider Adam Sterry with a solid 2-2 race result. KTM Factory rider Davy Pootjes finished tenth after coming fourth in the opening moto but was disqualified for a race infringement in his second moto. In the WMX, KTM rider Steffi Laier made a return to the championship after a long absence and finished second overall.
Next Round (Round
at Villars sous Ecot - GP of France on May 31. MXGP of Great Britain at Matterley Basin, Winchester - Round 7
MXGP Results
1, Antonio Cairoli, ITA, KTM, (1 – 3)
2, Clement Desalle, BEL, Suzuki, (2 – 2)
3, Romain Febvre, FRA, Yamaha, (7 – 1)
4, Evgeny Bobryshev, RUS, Honda, (4 – 4)
5, Maximilian Nagl, GER, Husqvarna, (3 – 5)
6, Shaun Simpson, GBR, KTM, (5 - 6)
7, Gautier Paulin, FRA, Honda, (6 – 7)
8, Ken de Dycker, BEL, KTM, (11 –
9, Jeremy van Horebeek, BEL, Yamaha, (10 – 9)
10, Tyla Rattray, RSA, Kawasaki, (8 – 11)
Other KTM
12, Jose Butron, ESP, KTM (14 – 12)
16, Steven Frossard, FRA, KTM, (26 – 10)
MXGP Standings
1, Nagl, 295
2, Desalle, 291
3, Cairoli, 274
4, Paulin, 237
5, Febvre, 235
6, Bobryshev, 207
7, Simpson, 145
8, Ryan Villopoto, USA, Kawasaki, 124
9, Todd Waters, AUS, Husqvarna, 121
10, Rattray, 118
Other KTM
11, De Dycker, 107
17, Frossard, 68
18, Butron, 66
20, Tommy Searle, GBR, KTM, 49
MXGP Manufacturers Standings
1, Husqvarna, 299
2, KTM, 291
3, Suzuki, 291
MX2 Results
1, Valentin Guillod, SUI, Yamaha, (2 - 1)
2, Jeffrey Herlings, NED, KTM, (1 – 2)
3, Jordi Tixier, FRA, Kawasaki, (5 – 3)
4, Pauls Jonass, LAT, KTM, (4 – 4)
5, Max Anstie, GBR, Kawasaki, (3 – 6)
6, Jeremy Seewer, SUI, Suzuki, (6 – 5)
7, Aleksandr Tonkov, RUS, Husqvarna, (8 – 7)
8, Benoit Paturel, FRA, Yamaha, (9 –
9, Thomas Covington, USA, Kawasaki, (7 – 10)
10, Petar Petrov, BUL, Kawasaki, (11 – 9)
Other KTM
12, Roberts Justs, LAT, KTM, (14 – 11)
13, Henry Jacobi, GER, KTM, (13 – 14)
15, Ivo Monticelli, ITA, KTM, (10 – 23)
18, Ben Watson, GBR, KTM, (25 – 16)
19, Karel Kutsar, EST, KTM, (19 – 18))
MX2 Standings
1. Herlings, 308
2, Guillod, 216
3, Jonass, 213
4, Ferrandis, 205
5, Tonkov, 189
6, Tixier, 189
7, Seewer, 182
8, Gajser, 169
9, Lieber, 167
10, Anstie, 158
Other KTM
13, Petrov, 101
14, Bogers, 109
15, Justs, 79
19, Monticelli, 71
MX2 Manufacturers Classification
1, KTM, 330
2, Kawasaki, 289
3, Yamaha, 248
WMX Results after Round 3
1, Livia Lancelot, FRA, Kawasaki, (1 – 1)
2, Stephanie Laier, GER, KTM, (2 – 3)
3, Nancy van de Ven, NED, Yamaha, (3 – 4)
WMX Standings
1, Lancelot, 144
2, Kiara Fontanesi, ITA, Yamaha, 121
3, Van de Ven, 99
EMX125 Results of Round 4
1, Maxime Renaux, FRA, Yamaha, (1 - 2
2, Josiah Natzke, NZL, KTM, (7 - 1)
3, Jorge Prado Garcia, ESP, KTM, (6 - 4)
4, Ruben Fernandez Garcia, ESP, KTM, (9 - 3)
5, Stephen Rubini, FRA, KTM, (5 - 5)
6, Davide Cislaghi, ITA, TM, (4 - 7)
7, Conrad Mewse, GBR, KTM, (2 - 11)
EMX125 Standings after Round 4
1, Prado Garcia, 163
2, Renaux, 158
3, Natzke, 140
4, Sihvonen, 120
5, Mewse, 108
EMX 250 Results of Round 4
1, Adam Sterry, GBR, KTM, (2 - 3)
2, Steven Clarke, GBR, Husqvarna, (3 – 4)
3, Damon Graulus, BEL, Yamaha, (11 - 1)
4, Darian Sanayei, USA, Kawasaki, (1 – 12)
5, Nick Kouwenberg, NED, Honda, (6 - 6)
10, Davy Pootjes, NED, KTM, (4 - DNF)
EMX250 Standings after Round 4
1, Sterry, 150
2, Kouwenberg, 147
3, Graulus, 140
4, Desprey, 134
5, Ostlund, 104
8, Pootjes, 80
