Herlings wins..again!

Italian MX2 GP

maddix park mx
www.mxlarge.com  Geoff Mayer
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Jeffrey Herlings should be known as the ironman as the defending World MX2 Champion put together another masterclass of 1/1 results despite suffering from his French GP accident. In a day of hot temperatures and a track that was rock hard and very demanding the Red Bull KTM Factory rider was just amazing.

Of course another amazing performance was that of Italian Alessandro Lupino, who finished third overall with 6/2 results in a great performance for the young Monster Energy Kawasaki rider. Second overall was Mister Consistent Jose Butron 2/5 results.

MX2 Moto one

Can’t explain the feeling as the MX2 riders lined up on the start line, this Grand Prix with a huge crowd, beautiful weather and the best MX2 riders in the World was just perfect. Tonkov led again out of the start followed by Butron, Ferris and Herlings.
Butron took the lead from Tonkov as Herlings passed Ferris on lap one. Further back came Nicholls, Tixier, Ratsep, Pocock, Charlier and Lupino in 10th place. Coldenhoff was 12th, Banks Browne 13th, Anstie 16th and Ferrandis 24th.
Butron held a slight lead, although both Tonkov and Herlings was closing as this race started looking more and more exciting. Herlings still carrying his injury from France dropped off a little as Tonkov began to put huge pressure on Butron for the lead.
Ferris continued to get pressure from Nicholls and Tixier as the top six riders were all in tough fights. British riders held strong, with Nicholls 5th, Pocock 7th, Anstie 14th and Banks Browne 15th. Desprey is out with a mechanical problem.
More ups and downs for British riders as Charliers pushed past Pocock on lap seven, and Nicholls made a move on Ferris for fourth position. Herlings seems to have turned it up a notch as he blasted past Tonkov and sets out after Butron.
Within half a lap Herlings was putting pressure on Butron for the lead and on lap 10 zapped past over a jump. Despite serious problems with his body the Dutchman found a way to the front. Tixier past Ferris as the Aussie dropped back to 6th position.
Tonkov outsmarted Butron in a corner to move into second and Charlier started putting pressure on Ferris. The top seven all pushing hard for results. Charlier finds a way past his fellow Monster Energy Yamaha rider Ferris on lap 12.
Herlings has extended his lead to five seconds over Tonkov, with Butron a further two seconds back. Nicholls held a four second lead over Tixier and Charlier who were both in a great battle. Pocock was 8th, Anstie 13th and Banks Browne 16th.
The local crowd has their chance to scream and blow air-horns as Lupino passed Pocock for 8th place and set his sights on Ferris in seventh. Herlings lead after 17 laps was now 10 seconds, but the entire crowd watched was Lupino as he closed in on Ferris.
Lupino moved into seventh as Ferrandis continued his brilliant charge into 14th place, moving up from 24th on the first lap. While we all watched Lupinos progress a great battle was going on between Tonkov and Butron for second place, Butron pushed Tonkov out in a corner, taking over second on lap 19.
Herlings wins the race as Butron finishes second just ahead of Tonkov who crashed hard over the finish line jump. Fortunately crossing the line, although in the air without his bike, he was later placed in 22nd place, a disjustice for a brilliant performance.

MX2 moto two

The second MX2 moto started with Tonkov again leading, from Herlings, Lupino, Ratsep, Butron, Pocock, Tixier, Nicholls, Banks Browne, and Olsen in 10th. Ferris was back in 14th, Coldenhoff 19th.

While Tonkov was doing an amazing job leading, behind him Herlings and Lupino were giving the crowd a show as the chased down the leader. Butron passed Ratsep, while Charlier was up to 9th and Ferris into 10th places. Ferris moved past both Nicholls and Charlier as he started a charge of his own.

Tixier made a pass on Pocock, and Butron was onto the back wheel of Lupino. Ferris was also looking for a way past Pocock, as the riders entered the second lap. Anstie was having trouble after getting into problems on the demanding Italian circuit.

Herlings took the lead on the third lap, and Ratsep dropped back as Tixier passed him, Ferris also got Pocock, then moves into sixth, passing Ratsep. British riders were in the top ten mix with Pocock in 8th, Nicholls 9th and Banks Browne 10th.

Herlings remained in the lead with around two seconds on Tonkov, with Lupino a further three seconds back. Not a lot of positions changes up front, although Charlier works his way past Ferris who makes a mistake in a corner.

Nicholls is up to 8th place as his fellow Brit Pocock drops back to 12th. British riders in trouble as Coldenhoff passes Banks Browne for 10th place and Pocock drops back to 13th as Clermont passes him.

With not a lot happening in the later stages of the moto the crowd was brought to life as Lupino started making ground on Tonkov for second place. Not a lot better noises than a sports crowd going crazy and with just two laps to go and Lupino onto the back wheel of Tonkov this race suddenly got interesting.

Lupino passed Tonkov to the cheers of the crowd and collected second in the moto. Herlings won the moto, but the celebration of the Italian people and Lupino was what made this moto special.

FIM World MX2 Championship results / Grand Prix of Italy

Moto one MX2: 1. Herlings, 2. Butron, 3. Nicholls, 4. Tixier, 5. Charlier, 6. Lupino, 7. Ferris, 8. Pocock, 9. Coldenhoff, 10. Petrov, 11. Ferrandis, 12. Ratsep, 13. Anstie, 14. Banks Browne, 15. Clermont

Moto two mx2: 1. Herlings, 2. Lupino, 3. Tonkov, 4. Tixier, 5. Butron, 6. Charlier, 7. Ferris, 8. Nicholls, 9. Petrov, 10. Coldenhoff, 11. Clermont, 12. Rauchenecker, 13. Banks Browne, 14. Gajser, 15. Olsen

MX2 Overall: 1. Herlings 50pts, 2. Butron 38pts, 3. Lupino 37pts, 4. Tixier 36pts, 5. Nicholls 33pts, 6. Charlier 31pts, 7. Ferris 28pts, 8. Petrov 23pts, 9. Coldenhoff 23pts, 10. Tonkov 20pts, 11. Pocock 18pts, 12. Clermont 16pts, 13. Banks Browne 15pts, 14. Rauchenecker 12pts, 15. Ratsep 12pts

MX2 Championship points: 1. Herlings 447, 2. Tixier 323, 3. Butron 285, 4. Charlier 261, 5. Coldenhoff 260, 6. Ferris 225, 7. Nicholls 214, 8. Anstie 201, 9. Lupino 199, 10. Ferrandis 159, 11. Pocock 158pts, 12. Petrov 158pts

 
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