Herlings and Pourcel win at Fermo in italy

Monday 30 April: Red Bull Factory KTM rider Jeffrey Herlings picked himself up from the floor at turn one in race two to win a dramatic MX2 Italian Grand Prix. In MX1 it was the CP377 Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Christophe Pourcel who took the victory, while Antonio Cairoli took second overall, after winning the second. Copy by Paul Malin.

MX2: In race one Jeffrey Herlings got his Red Bull KTM off to the best start to lead all twenty laps from start to finish, winning comfortably from his team mate Jeremy Van Horebeek. The star of the show though was Michael Leib on the Monster Energy Yamaha, who worked his way from fifteenth on lap one to record a solid third to secure his first ever podium finish in a FIM MX2 World Championship race.

The big news in race one was that both Tommy Searle and Joel Roelants, Team Floride Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki riders failed to finish; Roelants with a big crash, while Searle’s bike stopped a few laps from home after sustaining damage in a first lap collision.

The second race saw both Searle and Herlings crash at turn one, with Searle buried at the bottom of the pile. Michael Leib who was riding with a damaged knee from race one, found himself leading for thirteen of the sixteen laps before being caught and passed by both Herlings and Searle, who came from eleventh and thirtieth respectively. Herlings won the Grand Prix with two race wins, Michael Leib was an emotional second, and Jeremy Van Horebeek was third overall.

Monster Energy Yamaha's Michael Leib. Youthstream image.

MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 40:06.301; 2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:16.652; 3. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), +0:21.834; 4. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:27.065; 5. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:34.091; 6. Harri Kullas (FIN, Suzuki), +0:36.761; 7. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:40.763; 8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:43.712; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:48.831; 10. Nikolaj Larsen (DEN, Suzuki), +1:03.412;

MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:49.655; ; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:03.234; 3. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), +0:17.454; 4. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:28.991; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:32.368; 6. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:34.819; 7. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:40.922; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), +0:57.391; 9. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:04.357; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, Suzuki), +1:16.502;

MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), 40 p.; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 30 p.; 5. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 26 p.; 6. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 7. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 23 p.; 9. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 22 p.; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), 22 p.;

MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 144 points; 2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 114 p.; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 109 p.; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 85 p.; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 80 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 78 p.; 7. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 73 p.; 8. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 69 p.; 9. Harri Kullas (FIN, Suzuki), 65 p.; 10. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), 61 p.;

MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 144 points; 2. Kawasaki, 132 p.; 3. Honda, 84 p.; 4. Yamaha, 83 p.; 5. Suzuki, 73 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 60 p.; 7. TM, 5 p.;

MX1: The two Kawasaki’s of Christophe Pourcel and Gautier Paulin provided the drama in the first MX1 race, with the official Kawasaki Racing Team (KRT) bike of Gautier Paulin trailing his fellow countryman until two laps to go after Pourcel stalled his bike in a slow turn. Paulin passed Pourcel’s CP377 Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki and looked sure to win, until he too ran
wide on the final lap allowing Pourcel to re-take the lead three turns from the flag and win the race. Crowd favourite, Antonio Cairoli (Red Bull KTM) was third after starting fifth on the first lap.

In race two, Cairoli took the holeshot from Pourcel, as Gautier Paulin went down in the first turn. The Bulgarian GP winner would make it back to sixth to finish fourth overall in the Grand Prix.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki rider Clement Desalle was third for the whole race and this would be good enough for him to take third overall in the GP. The challenge for the lead from Pourcel never materialized and despite being hit in the face from a stray rock, the Kawasaki rider never quite managed to get close enough to Cairoli, who secured the second race win in front of a packed Fermo circuit.

Second place in the race was good enough for Christophe Pourcel to record his first Grand Prix victory of the season, while Cairoli’s race win was good enough for second overall on the GP. Desalle was third.

Kawasaki’s Christophe Pourcel during Saturday's Qualifying. Youthstream image.

MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 40:45.152; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:00.807; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:10.841; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:45.920; 5. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:46.277; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:49.834; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:57.051; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:59.812; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:04.282; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +1:07.930;

MX1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:48.505; ; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:09.147; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:15.265; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:20.222; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:31.310; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:42.169; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:54.334; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:02.716; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +1:05.010; 10. Dean Ferris (AUS, Kawasaki), +1:06.052;

MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 47 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 38 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 37 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 31 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 25 p.; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 23 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 20 p.;

MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 133 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 116 p.; 3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 106 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 105 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 95 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 76 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 72 p.; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 69 p.; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 69 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 62 p.;

MX1 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 133 points; 2. Kawasaki, 129 p.; 3. Suzuki, 115 p.; 4. Yamaha, 94 p.; 5. Honda, 89 p.; 6. TM, 12 p.;

UEM EMX125
The second round of the UEM EMX125 championship took place this morning and Tim Gajser was once again on the top of the podium. The Silver Action rider won easily yesterday, but this morning he had to fight a bit more to cross the finish line first, because he made a couple of mistakes during the heat. Magne Klingshelm from Norway was second overall thanks to his 5-2 result and Calvin Vlaanderen completed the top three.

Home rider Davide Bonini was only sixth yesterday and today, he made several mistakes in the second heat and he could only finish fourth. The Italian finally missed the podium for just two points.