Double KTM victory while Philippaerts shines in Mexico
Tuesday 15 May: This is the official Youthstream race report that goes in-depth after the initial report from MX-Life.TV Commentator Paul Malin.
Nicolas España’s track hosted today the
fourth Grand Prix of the FIM Motocross World Championship, where Antonio
Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings handed another double victory to KTM.
There was very exciting racing in both classes and the big crowd of 25,000 present
in the GP could enjoy watching the best riders in the world racing with
their Mexican idols in 38C of heat.
Antonio Cairoli had a tough second race but
he got an eventual overall victory after crossing the finish line third
in the second lap. Clement Desalle gave all his best once again this
weekend, but had to settle down with a second overall position as he
could not keep the lead in the second heat until the chequered flag.
David Philippaerts won the second heat and completed the podium in
Mexico.
In the MX2 class Jeffrey Herlings dominated both heats, but Tommy Searle
proved that he has the speed and the rhythm to be at the top but he was
touched once again by bad luck. Jeremy Van Horebeek did two solid motos
and he was third overall of the GP.
MX1
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Cairoli obtained the second GP
win of the season in Mexico after going 1-3 in today’s races. In the
first heat, after the first ten minutes the Italian found his rhythm and
managed to overtake Desalle and Pourcel and Cairoli pulled away with
the victory. At the start of the second heat Cairoli almost crashed and
was down to sixth and he then pushed really hard to finish third and
obtain the final overall victory.
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Desalle finished second in both heats and
he missed the first step of the podium for just one point. The Belgian
rode a consistent first moto, and in the second one he moved from third
to first and exchanged the lead with Philippaerts during the last
minutes of the race. In the end, Philippaerts imposed an incredible
rhythm and Desalle had to settle down with the second place.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Philippaerts had a really tough first heat, as
he suffered a heavy crash at the start of the first race and had to
enter the pitlane. However, the Italian did not give up and finished
tenth. Philippaerts made an outstanding second heat, moving from sixth
to first imposing a superb rhythm, and obtained the third overall
position.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s De Dycker ended fourth overall, being
tight in points with Philippaerts. This weekend De Dycker obtained the
best result of the season after finishing third in the first heat.
However, he did not have such a good second race and could only cross
the finish line fifth and this is why he missed the opportunity of being
on the podium today.
It was one of the best weekends for Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Leok
finishing fifth overall thanks to his 6-6 result. In the first heat, the
Estonian had to fight really hard to go from an initial twelfth
position up to sixth, but in the second one he managed to ride a
consistent moto from beginning to the end.
Boog had a bad start in the first heat, but he gave his best to move
from 17th up to the eighth position. However, in the second heat he rode
second behind Christophe Pourcel during the first laps, but in the end
he had to settle down with the seventh place, which have give the sixth
overall position.
Strijbos went 5-10 and finished seventh overall tight in points with
Boog. Eighth was Barragán and Gonçalves and Christophe Pourcel completed
the top ten.
Christophe Pourcel took the holeshot of both heats, but could not keep
the lead in neither of the two. In the first moto, he got some green
fence stuck on his back wheel and had to pull out while he was fourth,
whereas in the second race he was not able to keep the rhythm of his
pursuers and crossed the finish line fourth.
On the other hand, Paulin did not have an excellent start in the first
race, but he managed to cross the finish line in the fourth position.
However, the French rider was not able to start the second heat because
his engine failed during the sighting lap.
His compatriot Frossard hit his leg on the ground during the first heat
and he could not stand the pain on his still injured right knee and he
had to enter the pitlane. The weekend was over for the French rider and
he is now a doubt for the upcoming Grand Prix.
Simpson was also another unfortunate rider of the weekend, as he dislocated his left shoulder during the first heat.
Fernandéz, winner of yesterday’s qualifying race, was seventeenth
overall today and home rider Martin García achieved his initial goal and
he finished nineteenth.
Monster Energy Yamaha's David Philippaerts.
MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40:53.481; 2. Clement
Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:07.664; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM),
+0:30.519; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:43.925; 5. Kevin
Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:48.259; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:53.089;
7. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), +1:07.005; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA,
Kawasaki), +1:14.736; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +1:19.620; 10.
David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:34.840;
MX1 Race 2 top ten: 1. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 40:15.650; ; 2.
Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:01.323; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA,
KTM), +0:05.451; 4. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:11.445; 5.
Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:14.190; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki),
+0:16.658; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:17.784; 8. Rui Goncalves
(POR, Honda), +0:18.654; 9. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), +0:29.974;
10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:45.232;
MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 points; 2.
Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 44 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA,
Yamaha), 36 p.; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Tanel Leok (EST,
Suzuki), 30 p.; 6. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 27 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos
(BEL, KTM), 27 p.; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), 26 p.; 9. Rui
Goncalves (POR, Honda), 25 p.; 10. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki),
23 p.;
MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 178 points; 2.
Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 149 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA,
Kawasaki), 134 p.; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 131 p.; 5. Christophe
Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 129 p.; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha),
105 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 103 p.; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA,
Kawasaki), 99 p.; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 92 p.; 10. Rui Goncalves
(POR, Honda), 79 p.;
MX1 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 178 points; 2. Kawasaki, 165 p.; 3. Suzuki,
159 p.; 4. Yamaha, 130 p.; 5. Honda, 116 p.; 6. TM, 12 p.;
MX2
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Herlings had another perfect
weekend and managed to win both heats with superb authority. In the
first moto Herlings was fifth in the opening lap, but he then quickly
moved up to the lead in the fourth lap. From then on, the Dutch rider
imposed his rhythm even having some problems with his goggles since the
very beginning of the race. In the second heat, he had a good start and
managed to lead the race from beginning to end, crossing the finish line
with almost 25 seconds advantage over the second classified Searle.
Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Searle was on the
second step of the podium this weekend in Mexico after finishing second
in both heats. The British rider could not start in the front in the
first race and he struggled a little bit to climb up to the final second
position. In the second race, Searle had a good start but he made a
mistake in the first lap and went down to ninth. However, he managed to
recover himself really quickly and he achieved crossing the finish line
second once again.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Van Horebeek was back on the podium this
weekend and he managed to keep the second position of the championship
one point ahead Searle. Van Horebeek took the holeshot in both heats and
in the first one he managed to keep the lead during the first three
laps. The Belgian rider pushed so much to chase Herlings, that by the
end of the race he had run out of energy and finished third. Between the
motos Van Horebeek was a bit sick due to the extra effort of the first
race, but he succeeded in finishing third and going up again on the
podium.
Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Roelants was back on
the bike this weekend after the big crash he suffered in Italy during
the first moto two weeks ago, and with the overall fourth position he
actually proved that he is fully fit again. In the first heat Roelants
did not have a really good start and he was only sixth, but he rode a
solid second moto and crossed the finish line in the fourth position.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Charlier has obtained the best result of the
season this weekend after his injury on his right foot. Charlier was
very satisfied with his fifth overall position and he is now looking
forward to racing next week in Brazil to try to improve this weekend’s
result.
Tixier finished in a consistent fifth position in the first race, but he
crashed in the second moto while he was fourth and he went down to
eighth. The French rider could not improve such positon and he obtained
the sixth overall place.
Nicholls was seventh of the GP of Mexico and he was followed by Anstie,
who had been second yesterday at the qualifying race. Coldenhoff was
ninth and Lupino completed the top ten.
Ferrandis obtained a really good fourth position in the first race, but
he crashed at the start of the second moto and he was out of the race
because his bike was badly damaged. The French young rider finished
eleventh overall.
His teammate Teillet was riding third in the first race, when he crashed
and had to enter the pitlane because he had a severe pain on his left
hand. Fortunately, he has nothing broken, but he could not take part in
the second heat.
Leib, winner of the MX2 qualifying race yesterday, injured his left hand
in the first heat while he was sixth and he was also taken to the
hospital. As Teillet, the American does not have anything broken, but he
was not able to enter the second heat.
The best Mexican MX2 rider was Luis Ruelas who finished in the eighteenth overall position.
MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 40:55.196; ; 2.
Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:05.894; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL,
KTM), +0:09.001; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:47.159; 5. Jordi
Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:47.666; 6. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki),
+0:48.714; 7. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:00.731; 8. Max
Anstie (GBR, Honda), +1:19.093; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:24.396;
10. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +1:27.746;
MX2 Race 2 top ten: . Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:06.278; ; 2. Tommy
Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:24.774; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM),
+0:27.163; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:36.183; 5. Christophe
Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:51.182; 6. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM),
+1:05.255; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +1:13.023; 8. Jordi Tixier
(FRA, KTM), +1:17.628; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), +1:25.586; 10. Harri
Kullas (FIN, Suzuki), +1:30.408;
MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Tommy
Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 44 p.; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 40
p.; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 33 p.; 5. Christophe Charlier
(FRA, Yamaha), 30 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Jake
Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 26 p.; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 25 p.; 9. Glenn
Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 20 p.; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), 20
p.;
MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 194 points; 2.
Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 154 p.; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR,
Kawasaki), 153 p.; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 118 p.; 5. Jordi
Tixier (FRA, KTM), 107 p.; 6. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 105 p.; 7. Jake
Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 95 p.; 8. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 91 p.;
9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), 80 p.; 10. Harri Kullas (FIN,
Suzuki), 76 p.;
MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 194 points; 2. Kawasaki, 176 p.; 3. Yamaha,
113 p.; 4. Honda, 109 p.; 5. Suzuki, 93 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 80 p.; 7. TM, 5
p.;