Cairoli and Herlings top Mexican podium

Monday 14 May: A first time for the Mexican Grand Prix at Nicolas España’s track in Guadalajara, Mexico. MX-Life TV Commentator Paul Malin reports for Youthstream. Malin was a member of the 1994 winning MXDN British Team. Thumbnail: Moto Mag.

Saturday: Rodolfo Fernández and Michael Leib won the MX1 and MX2 qualifying races respectively. The big crowd present on Saturday were not only locals, but people from different parts of Mexico and even South America, as having the FIM Motocross World Championship in Mexico is a unique opportunity for them to see the best motocross riders in the world.

Rodolfo Fernández, who was born in the USA but he moved to Guatemala since he was five, took an excellent start in the qualifying race and he managed to lead the heat until the chequered flag.

Sunday: The two Red Bull KTM riders Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings produced fine rides to win their respective classes in the Grand Prix of Mexico today. Tommy Searle and Jeremy Van Horebeek were also on the podium in MX2, while Cairoli was joined by Clement Desalle and David Philippaerts.

In what was a challenging weekend in Guadalajara, Mexico, the riders of the FIM MX1/MX2 World Motocross Championship put on a fantastic display of riding in front of the thousands of fans who attended the fourth round of the series. High temperatures and a high altitude circuit, coupled with a tough demanding circuit meant the riders had to be on the top of their game.

MX2: Jeremy Van Horebeek fired his Red bull KTM into the lead in race one followed by his team-mate Jeffrey Herlings and Valentin Teillet (Rockstar Energy Bud Racing Kawasaki). Tommy Searle was fourth on his Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki.

Herlings passed Van Horebeek on lap three of twenty and would go on to win by more than seven seconds from Tommy Searle who took more than half the race to first pass Teillet, and then Van Horebeek two laps from the end. Herlings won the race from Searle and Van Horebeek.

Van Horebeek once again grabbed the holeshot but this time Herlings wasted no time in passing his team-mate and was the new leader halfway round the opening lap. Tommy Searle fell from third on lap one and lost two positions but eventually found his way back to second by the end of the race. Van Horebeek was again third and the overall Grand Prix reflected the results from the races. Herlings won the GP of Mexico from Searle and Van Horebeek.

Searle, Herlings and Van Horebeek on the podium in Guadalajara. Photo courtesy of Youthstream.

MX1: Despite taking turns in leading race one, Clement Desalle (Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1) and Christophe Pourcel (Team CP377 Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) had no answer to Antonio Cairoli on the Red Bull KTM, who came from third on lap one to take the lead from Desalle with eight laps to go.

Desalle would finish second from Ken De Dycker (Red Bull KTM) after Pourcel made a pit stop to remove the track side fencing from his rear wheel.

The Monster Energy Yamaha’s of David Philippaerts and Shaun Simpson fell in the wave section on lap one; Simpson dislocated a shoulder, while Philippaerts fought through to tenth.

The second race was one by David Philippaerts who seemed to come from nowhere in the second half of the race to pass, Cairoli who had fallen from third, as well as DeDycker, Pourcel and Desalle, the latter with five laps to go.

It was the Monster Energy Yamaha riders first win of the season and would secure him third overall in the Grand Prix.
Desalle finished second in the race and the GP, while Cairoli came home in third, which was good enough for the overall victory.

MX1 Qualifying at Guagalajara on Saturday.