Beyond Electric in Italy...
FIM MX World Champs 2015
“Seeing is believing!” and only those that were here in Pietramurata for round four of the FIM Motocross World Championship can tell you how incredible this race was. It will definitely go down in history as one of the best motocross races ever. The atmosphere was beyond electric which just added to the amazing show that was bought forth this weekend as Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl took his third MXGP round victory of the season while Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser claimed his first ever grand prix victory in MX2.
Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl is proving to be all business this year. Just when we thought MXGP couldn’t get more exciting, we are fast learning that if Max holeshots, he is untouchable. After taking a solid second place in race one, the German took his fourth FOX Holeshot of the season and ran away for yet another meritorious race victory which handed him his third MXGP overall and has moved him up to second place in the championship, just one point shy of the series leader Clement Desalle.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli seemed extra fired up this weekend, which he confirmed with his hair-raising victory in race one. Obviously a victory for the Italian on home turf just caused all sorts of pandemonium in the paddock, which added to the already electric atmosphere. A second place in race two landed TC222 on the second step of the podium here in Trentino. The Italian later confirmed he was a little angry this weekend, but for a humorous reason, “I fell in the shower this week and had to go to the hospital for stitches. I couldn’t believe that I race motocross and then I crash in the shower and hurt my head, so this made me a little bit angry” he laughed.
Meanwhile Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Clement Desalle is keeping the momentum flowing. The Belgian still embraces that beautiful effortless style where it seems obvious he is riding with the bigger picture in mind. Although with Ryan Villopoto in his sights during the final race, we saw another side to the number twenty-five where he was relentless on his mission to the front of the field. After narrowly escaping the carnage of Villopoto’s crash, which happened along side him, he later fell on his own but managed to remount for fourth in that race. In combination with his third from race one The MX Panda rounded off the podium for his fourth consecutive podium finish of the year.
Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre continues to creep closer to the podium and has definitely confirmed his position as the fastest young prospect in the MXGP class.
Team HRC’s duo of Gautier Paulin and yesterday’s top qualifier Evgeny Bobryshev were wedged off the start in both races. With the track being so gnarly and the depth of talent in the MXGP class being stronger than ever, making up ground was always going to be difficult which meant the pair finished fifth and sixth overall respectively.
Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Ryan Villopoto had the opportunity to steal the thunder from the MXGP regulars. In race one he came close as he was a solid player in an epic four-way battle for the win, yet in race two he was lucky to walk away from one of the most bizarre and gnarliest crashes of the season.
Max Nagl has won his third GP out of four with victory at the Grand Prix of Trentino today. The German rider scored 2-1 results to lead home Antonio Cairoli who scored 1-2 results and third overall was Clement Desalle with 3-4 scores. After a classic opening moto the second moto saw the unfortunate DNF of American Ryan Villopoto. Click here for clip of the crash.
One point now seperates the top three in the MXGP points with Desalle on 171, Cairoli 170, and Nagl 170.
The MXGP opening moto was a little wild early as Cairoli led from Nagl and Villopoto. The American came very close to going down as he pushed his way into third place, running off the circuit, and looking terribly out of shape.
Amazingly all the big guns were at the front and after a lap it was Cairoli, Nagl, Villopoto, Desalle, Febvre, Paulin, Frossard, Coldenhoff, Van Horebeek and Bobryshev in 10th spot.
Not a lot happened in the early going of this race as making up ground on the guy ahead was nearly impossible. Nagl was trying many different lines to make up the one second Cairoli had on it, but nothing was working and in fact he lost a little ground.
After five laps Cairoli had nearly two seconds on Nagl, with Villopoto back in third some four seconds off the pace of the leader. Desalle was Febvre were close to the American and on lap six, although Villopoto turned it up a little and started making ground on the two front guys.
The top four started getting a little closer and Villopoto was working overtime in third place, but the even that half a second to Nagl seemed nearly impossible to close.
Lap 12 and Nagl is onto Cairoli with Villopoto also close. The Italian crowd are going nuts as the top three fight for the moto win. Desalle is lurking in the fourth place.
Somebody has to make a mistake soon, the level of intensity is so high at the moment. Lapped riders are now becoming a problem for the front three.
Amazing action as Nagl nearly passes Cairoli, although Cairoli changes lines and stops the German in his tracks. Nagl tries again but again Cairoli is too smart. Desalle passes Villopoto and a legendary Grand Prix moto is being played out in front of this massive Italian crowd.
The craftsman Cairoli is riding just as he always does, not taking any risk, but controlling his competition, brilliant to watch.
Nagl continues to hound Cairoli, as they put some ground between themselves and Desalle. Nagl is all over the back wheel of the Italian, the pressure is immense, but Cairoli stays calm.
Nagl tries an inside pass, but doesn’t make it, then nearly runs into the back of Cairoli. In the shadows and two seconds back is Desalle, with Villopoto now four seconds back.
Cairoli wins from Nagl, Desalle and Villopoto in one of the most exciting races of this decade.
MXGP moto two
The second MXGP moto and it’s Nagl who blasts out of the start and takes the holeshot from Cairoli and Villopoto. The top ten after one lap are Nagl, Cairoli, Villopoto, Desalle, Coldenhoff, Waters, Febvre, Paulin, Searle and Philippaerts.
Nagl breaks away from Cairoli and holds a three second lead after one lap and more than five seconds after the second lap. The German is once again on fire.
Cairoli and Villopoto are in an intense battle for second place, the fight the whole motocross world are waiting for looks likely to explode, although Cairoli quickly turns it up a notch and pulls away from the American racer.
Desalle just as he is doing all season long is hovering around, waiting and watching. Nagl though is on fire as he pulls to a nine second lead after just five laps. Febvre has passed Waters for sixth spot.
Six laps and the lead is now more than 10 seconds and this GP looks like it might end up being Nagls again. Villopoto is back on the rear wheel of Cairoli as he tries to capture a podium place.
Now it’s Villopoto and Desalle swapping places and Desalle tries to make a pass. Then unbelievable Villopoto makes a huge mistake and goes down hard. It seems while he tried to stop Desalle passing got a handful of throttle and the bike lifted as he wheelied down the straight, eventually crashing to the ground. It looked like the American had hurt his knee.
Soon after Desalle also slid off. Up front Nagl continued to dominate with a 17 second lead as the race closed down. The top five was Nagl, Cairoli, Febvre, Desalle, Paulin.
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1
1 222 Cairoli, Antonio ITA KTM 34:01.846
2 12 Nagl, Maximilian GER Husqvarna 34:02.746
3 25 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki 34:03.443
4 2 Villopoto, Ryan USA Kawasaki 34:05.964
5 21 Paulin, Gautier FRA Honda 34:13.065
6 89 Van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL Yamaha 34:17.939
7 461 Febvre, Romain FRA Yamaha 34:29.245
8 777 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS Honda 32:50.486
9 9 de Dycker, Ken BEL KTM 32:58.776
10 259 Coldenhoff, Glenn NED Suzuki 33:00.098
11 39 Guarneri, Davide ITA TM 33:02.160
12 24 Simpson, Shaun GBR KTM 33:15.531
13 19 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 33:17.074
14 100 Searle, Tommy GBR KTM 33:19.463
15 47 Waters, Todd AUS Husqvarna 33:20.242
Ray Archer/KTM image
MXGP – Race 2 – Classification
1 12 Nagl, Maximilian GER DMSB Husqvarna 34:09.426
2 222 Cairoli, Antonio ITA FMI KTM 34:18.517
3 461 Febvre, Romain FRA FFM Yamaha 34:19.038
4 25 Desalle, Clement BEL FMB Suzuki 34:34.494
5 21 Paulin, Gautier FRA MCM Honda 34:36.338
6 777 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS FSM Honda 34:37.456
7 9 de Dycker, Ken BEL FMB KTM 35:00.204
8 19 Philippaerts, David ITA FMI Yamaha 35:03.174
9 39 Guarneri, Davide ITA FMI TM 35:06.446
10 24 Simpson, Shaun GBR ACU KTM 35:06.792
11 47 Waters, Todd AUS MA Husqvarna 35:23.283
12 999 Goncalves, Rui POR FMP Husqvarna 35:27.375
13 100 Searle, Tommy GBR ACU KTM 35:36.506
14 77 Lupino, Alessandro ITA FMI Honda 35:38.396
15 11 Bengtsson, Filip SWE SVEMO Honda 35:40.567
MXGP – Overall Classification
1 12 Nagl, Maximilian GER DMSB HUS 22 25 47
2 222 Cairoli, Antonio ITA FMI KTM 25 22 47
3 25 Desalle, Clement BEL FMB SUZ 20 18 38
4 461 Febvre, Romain FRA FFM YAM 14 20 34
5 21 Paulin, Gautier FRA MCM HON 16 16 32
6 777 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS FSM HON 13 15 28
7 9 de Dycker, Ken BEL FMB KTM 12 14 26
8 39 Guarneri, Davide ITA FMI TM 10 12 22
9 19 Philippaerts, David ITA FMI YAM 8 13 21
10 24 Simpson, Shaun GBR ACU KTM 9 11 20
11 2 Villopoto, Ryan USA AMA KAW 18 0 18
12 47 Waters, Todd AUS MA HUS 6 10 16
13 100 Searle, Tommy GBR ACU KTM 7 8 15
14 89 Van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL FMB YAM 15 0 15
15 259 Coldenhoff, Glenn NED KNMV SUZ 11 3 14
MXGP – Championship Classification
1 25 Desalle, C. BEL SUZ 171
2 12 Nagl, M. GER HUS 170
3 222 Cairoli, A. ITA KTM 170
4 461 Febvre, Romain FRA YAM 129
5 21 Paulin, G. FRA HON 128
6 2 Villopoto, R. USA KAW 124
7 777 Bobryshev, E. RUS HON 100
8 47 Waters, Todd AUS HUS 78
9 89 Van Horebeek, J. BEL YAM 75
10 39 Guarneri, D. ITA TM 70
11 24 Simpson, Shaun GBR KTM 67
12 259 Coldenhoff, G. NED SUZ 61
13 19 Philippaerts, D. ITA YAM 59
14 22 Strijbos, K. BEL SUZ 55
15 9 de Dycker, Ken BEL KTM 53
MX 2 Moto 1
By lap three Herlings lead over Tixier was more than two seconds, with Jonass another five seconds back. Gajser made his way past both Jonass and Tixier to move into second place. Jonass was struggling as he ended up back in ninth position after a mistake and Ferrandis was up to fifth position.
Herlings eventually won by 15 seconds over Gajser, with Tixier just pipping Anstie for third place as the two crossed the finish line together.
MX2 Moto 2
Second MX2 moto and Herlings is buried in the pack as Tixier leads from Gajser, also in the mix are Tonkov, Paturel, Bogers and then Herlings.
Herlings now eight seconds down on Gajser finally gets past Paturel and is now in fourth place and looking for a way to make ground on the top three. It isn’t easy on this slick, technical circuit.
On lap six Tonkov is down and out as he drops out of the top three and seemingly out of the race. Herlings moves into third place, but is still 8 seconds behind Gajser.
Herlings steps it up a notch and closes in on Tixier, and on lap 8 is on his back wheel. Gajser is still eight seconds ahead of the two. Herlings blasts past Tixier and is now seven seconds off Gajser with 13 minutes and two laps remaining.
Ferrandis is on fire as he passes Seewer for fifth spot, and is onto Paturel. Herlings moves to six seconds on Gajser, and with around 7 lap to go it will need to continue to make up a second a lap to get the moto win.
Herlings has the distance down to four seconds with around five laps remaining, but pulling those last seconds back isn’t easy and with a couple of laps to go Herling still has to make up nearly three seconds. Gajser is riding the race of his life.
Herlings working overtime to catch and pass the leader slips down, and the moto and GP victory goes to Gajser, the first time Herlings has been beaten straight up in a long time.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1
1 84 Herlings, Jeffrey NED KNMV KTM 34:14.247
2 243 Gajser, Tim SLO AMZS Honda 34:30.115
3 1 Tixier, Jordi FRA FFM Kawasaki 34:35.214
4 99 Anstie, Max GBR ACU Kawasaki 34:35.593
5 4 Ferrandis, Dylan FRA FFM Kawasaki 34:43.466
6 92 Guillod, Valentin SUI FMS Yamaha 34:46.202
7 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS Suzuki 35:00.129
8 59 Tonkov, Aleksandr RUS MFR Husqvarna 35:02.373
9 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT LAMSF KTM 35:09.579
10 33 Lieber, Julien BEL FMB Yamaha 35:13.618
11 172 Van doninck, Brent BEL FMB Yamaha 35:17.446
12 6 Paturel, Benoit FRA FFM Yamaha 35:24.809
13 18 Brylyakov, Vsevolod RUS MFR Honda 35:25.663
14 152 Petrov, Petar BUL QMMF KTM 35:30.334
15 95 Justs, Roberts LAT LAMSF KTM 35:30.665
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2
1 243 Gajser, Tim SLO AMZS Honda 34:27.396
2 84 Herlings, Jeffrey NED KNMV KTM 34:43.595
3 1 Tixier, Jordi FRA FFM Kawasaki 35:02.437
4 4 Ferrandis, Dylan FRA FFM Kawasaki 35:12.221
5 6 Paturel, Benoit FRA FFM Yamaha 35:13.358
6 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS Suzuki 35:20.608
7 99 Anstie, Max GBR ACU Kawasaki 35:26.375
8 92 Guillod, Valentin SUI FMS Yamaha 35:30.513
9 189 Bogers, Brian NED KNMV KTM 35:36.606
10 172 Van doninck, Brent BEL FMB Yamaha 35:39.700
11 33 Lieber, Julien BEL FMB Yamaha 35:52.513
12 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT LAMSF KTM 35:59.889
13 128 Monticelli, Ivo ITA FMI KTM 36:26.570
14 29 Jacobi, Henry GER DMSB KTM 34:30.875
15 152 Petrov, Petar BUL QMMF KTM 34:34.675
MX2 – GP Classification
1 243 Gajser, Tim SLO AMZS HON 22 25 47
2 84 Herlings, Jeffrey NED KNMV KTM 25 22 47
3 1 Tixier, Jordi FRA FFM KAW 20 20 40
4 4 Ferrandis, Dylan FRA FFM KAW 16 18 34
5 99 Anstie, Max GBR ACU KAW 18 14 32
6 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS SUZ 14 15 29
7 92 Guillod, Valentin SUI FMS YAM 15 13 28
8 6 Paturel, Benoit FRA FFM YAM 9 16 25
9 172 Van doninck, Brent BEL FMB YAM 10 11 21
10 33 Lieber, Julien BEL FMB YAM 11 10 21
11 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT LAMSF KTM 12 9 21
12 189 Bogers, Brian NED KNMV KTM 3 12 15
13 128 Monticelli, Ivo ITA FMI KTM 5 8 13
14 152 Petrov, Petar BUL QMMF KTM 7 6 13
15 59 Tonkov, Aleksandr RUS MFR HUS 13 0 13
MX2 – World Championship Classification
1 84 Herlings, J. NED KTM 172
2 4 Ferrandis, D. FRA KAW 159
3 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT KTM 133
4 243 Gajser, Tim SLO HON 126
5 33 Lieber, Julien BEL YAM 101
6 92 Guillod, V. SUI YAM 101
7 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI SUZ 99
8 59 Tonkov, A. RUS HUS 95
9 64 Covington, T. USA KAW 86
10 1 Tixier, Jordi FRA KAW 75
11 152 Petrov, Petar BUL KTM 70
12 99 Anstie, Max GBR KAW 67
13 6 Paturel, B. FRA YAM 60
14 189 Bogers, Brian NED KTM 57
15 128 Monticelli, I. ITA KTM 45