Cairoli and Herlings win qualifying in Agueda - Portugal
Sunday 10 June: Day one of the Portuguese Grand Prix started with menacing clouds which ended up with some light showers during both qualifying races, which did not stop Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings winning their qualifying heats.
The rain did not affect the riding of
the riders, but if it keeps on raining the track conditions may change
significantly for Sunday (Portugal time). The first race of the third round of
the UEM EMX125 took also place today in Agueda; Tim Gajser obtained a
comfortable win, crossing the finish line almost 25 second before second
classified Calvin Vlaanderen. Magne Klingsheim was third and James Dunn
and Simone Furlotti completed the top five.
MX1
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli had a good start
and he rode third during the first laps of the qualifying moto behind
Belgian rider Clement Desalle. Evgeny Bobryshev crashed when he was
leading, so Cairoli moved up to second and he succeeded in overtaking
Desalle by the end of the heat. It was actually the fourth MX1 pole
position of the season for the Italian.
The second place was finally for Clement Desalle, who had a really good
start, took advantage of Bobryshev crash and led the race during five
laps. The Rockstar Energy Suzuki World rider could not win the
qualifying race as he did last year, but he is very confident for
tomorrow and he expects to fight for the overall victory.
CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Christophe Pourcel rode a
solid qualifying race and he finished in the third position. The French
rider rode safe by the end of the heat because both Cairoli and Desalle
had already opened a big hap at the front, so Pourcel decided to save
some energy for tomorrow’s races.
Honda World Motocross’ Rui Gonçalves started really well his home Grand
Prix by finishing fourth in the qualifying race. The Portuguese rider
has always obtained really good results in Agueda and although he
admitted that he is still struggling with some pain in his thumb and
also his leg, he is very positive for the main races tomorrow.
The fifth position was for Kawasaki Racing Team’s Gautier Paulin, who
did a really good qualifying race even not having had a great start. The
French rider was back in the eighth position in the beginning of the
moto, but his lap times were really good and managed to finish fifth,
which gives him good hopes for tomorrow.
Italian Davide Guarneri obtained the best sixth result during the
pre-qualifying session and he rode a consistent qualifying race, keeping
his initial sixth position until the chequered flag. Xavier Boog, who
did not have a good start, succeeded in finishing seventh, followed by
Jonathan Barragán. Tanel Leok, fastest today in the pre-qualifying
session, was only able to finish ninth and Kevin Strijbos completed the
top ten.
Italian David Philippaerts finished his roll-off of his goggles during
the qualifying heat and had some visibility problems by the end of the
race. Besides, he made a mistake in a double jump and he lost two
positions. In the end, Philippaerts finished twelfth.
Evgeny Bobryshev took the holeshot of the qualifying heat and dominated
the first laps, but he then made a mistake and crashed. The Russian
tried to start the bike again but he finally couldn’t, and he had to
pull out from the heat with some pain in his chest.
Ken De Dycker did also crash in the beginning of the heat while he was
tenth, he had to enter the pitlane and the qualifying heat was over for
the Belgian rider. However, De Dycker is feeling well and he will be at
the starting line tomorrow ready to clinch another top five result.
MX1 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 25:21.612;
2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:07.754; 3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA,
Kawasaki), +0:20.028; 4. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:21.244; 5.
Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:29.755; 6. Davide Guarneri (ITA,
KTM), +0:39.140; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:39.985; 8. Jonathan
Barragan (ESP, Honda), +0:41.311; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki),
+0:42.285; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:44.445;
Gautier Paulin
Antonio Cairoli
MX2
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings won the
qualifying race today in Agueda, crossing the finish line 15 seconds
ahead of second classified, Tommy Searle. Herlings was fourth in the
opening lap, but his fast lap times made him move up to the first
position already in lap three. The leader of the series admitted that he
felt really comfortable today, so he is determined to go 1-1 and win
the Portuguese GP like he did last year.
Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Tommy Searle did not
have a good start and rode fifth during the first laps of the qualifying
heat. At that point it was Teillet, Van Horebeek, Herlings and his
teammate Roelants riding in front of Searle, but the Brit started
improving his rhythm and in lap four he was already second, position he
managed to keep until the end of the heat.
Jeremy Van Horebeek had a really good start and led the opening lap, but
the Belgian could not keep such position, and by lap three he was
already third. However, the Red Bull KTM Factory rider is felling well
and he expects to have another top three result tomorrow.
The fourth position was for Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro
Circuit’s Joel Roelants, who managed to ride up front and fight for the
top five positions. The Belgian rider did a solid moto, so he might be
able to finish on the podium again, as he did in the two first Grand
Prix of the season.
Completing the top five was Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Valentin
Teillet. The French rider took the holeshot of the qualifying race and
led the first three laps of the moto, but in the end, he could not keep
such position and had to settle down with the fifth place. In any case,
the main races are tomorrow and his performance today proved that he can
fight even for a podium finish.
His compatriot Tixier did a consistent qualifying moto and finished
sixth, followed by another French rider Dylan Ferrandis, who is riding
with some pain on his hand due to a crash he suffered in France last
weekend. Coldenhoff was eighth, Petrov ninth and Febvre completed the
top ten. Both Anstie and Tonus did not have great starts and had to
settle down with the eleventh and tenth positions respectively.
MX2 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 25:06.499;
2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:15.272; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL,
KTM), +0:18.102; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:19.467; 5.
Valentin Teillet (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:33.513; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM),
+0:38.694; 7. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:47.544; 8. Glenn
Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:49.931; 9. Petar Petrov (BUL, Suzuki),
+0:54.849; 10. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), +0:58.641;
Dylan Ferrandis
Jeffrey Herlings