Cairoli and Herlings lead another KTM double at packed Russian GP

Monday 23 July: Semigorje (Russia) and Round 11 the MXGP of Russia. Overalls: MX1 was Cairoli, Desalle, de Dycker. MX2 was Herlings, Searle, van Horebeek

The sun was finally out to host the main races of the eleventh Grand Prix of the FIM Motocross World Championship, and the 45000 people gathered at Semigorje this weekend and the great racing in both MX1 and MX2 classes turn the MXGP Russia into one of the most successful events so far this season. All the riders were really impressed by the crowd who came to watch them racing and they were all also very satisfied with new track they found at Semigorje. Antonio Cairoli was the overall winner in the MX1 class, while Clement Desalle and Ken De Dycker were second and third respectively being tight in forty-two points. Christophe Pourcel was fourth and home rider Bobryshev completed the top five.

In the MX2 class Jeffrey Herlings was back on the top of the podium and Tommy Searle and Jeremy Van Horebeek completed the top three also being tight in forty-two points. Joel Roelants and Jake Nicholls were fourth and fifth respectively.

Early in the morning the UEM EMX250 riders disputed the second heat of the Russian round and Mel Pocock dominated it from beginning to end. The British rider obtained the overall victory and he is now leading the championship with twenty points advantage over Olsen, who was second overall this weekend. Mike Kras completed the podium thanks to his 3-3 result and he is now third in the point standings.

MX1: Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli obtained his 49th Grand Prix victory and he is just one GP away from motocross legend Joël Robert. The Italian had a perfect first race, taking the holeshot and leading the moto with superb authority, but things got a bit complicated in the second race. Cairoli took again the holeshot, but he made a mistake in the second lap and he dropped down to third. However, by lap seven Cairoli was already second and with just four laps to go, the five times World Champion overtook Desalle and cross the finish line first.

Antonio Cairoli on Saturday.

Ken de Dycker on Saturday - his Mechanic is Kiwi Jeremy Long.

The second overall position was for Clement Desalle, who was third in the first race and second in the final one. The Rockstar Energy Suzuki World rider admitted that he was very satisfied with his riding this weekend, but he would have liked to conquer the first step of the podium. Desalle got a consistent third position in the first race, and he succeeded in leading most of the second heat, but he made a mistake at the end of it and he had to settle down with the second place. Desalle keeps on being second in the championship, twenty points behind Cairoli.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Ken De Dycker was back again on the podium this weekend thanks to his 2-3 result. The Belgian had excellent starts in both races; in the first one he started at the front and he led the first five laps. However, De Dycker admitted that he got a little bit too nervous and he could not keep the lead and crossed the finish line second behind Cairoli. In the second race he started from the fifth position and he was able to finish third, which gave him the third overall position, being tight in points with Desalle.

Christophe Pourcel missed the podium this weekend in Russia, but he made two solid races and he finished fourth overall. In the first race the CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit rider started third and although he pushed really hard to overtake Desalle during the whole heat, he had to settle down with the fourth place. In the second moto Pourcel had a really good start and he took advantage of Cairoli’s mistake to take the lead, but he could not keep it until the end and crossed the finish line third.

Home rider Evgeny Bobryshev could not go on the podium this weekend in front of his crowd, but he finished fifth overall after going 6-5 at today’s races. The Honda World Motocross rider struggled a little bit with his starts, but he was able to quickly recuperate some positions. The Russian rider admitted that racing home has been an amazing experience for him, as he had the full support of the crowd, who was cheering for him as he was leading the races.

His teammate Rui Gonçalves was very satisfied with his sixth overall position, as he was coming to the Russian Grand Prix facing some problems in his arm. Seventh overall was Gautier Paulin, who was seventh in both heats, eighth was Kevin Strijbos and Jonathan Barragán and Tanel Leok completed the top ten.

Shaun Simpson, who was second yesterday at the qualifying race, struggled a little bit today and he was only able to finish twelfth overall.

MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:45.999; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:05.960; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:07.579; 4. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:09.938; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:30.092; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:35.017; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:37.056; 8. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:48.946; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:50.714; 10. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), +0:52.555;

MX1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:21.770; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:07.892; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:25.744; 4. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:33.416; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:36.099; 6. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:40.135; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:52.103; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), +1:03.761; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:15.308; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +1:18.144;

MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 42 p.; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 36 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 31 p.; 6. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 28 p.; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 28 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 25 p.; 9. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), 24 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 23 p.;

MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 442 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 422 p.; 3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 393 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 376 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 341 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 304 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 277 p.; 8. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 253 p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 247 p.; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 212 p.;

MX1 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 492 points; 2. Kawasaki, 463 p.; 3. Suzuki, 433 p.; 4. Honda, 322 p.; 5. Yamaha, 320 p.; 6. TM, 58 p.;

MX2: Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings had a superb weekend wining with superb authority both heats and conquering again the first step of the podium, after having missed it in the last four Grand Prix. The Dutch rider admitted that he enjoyed a lot the hard sand track of Semigorje and a clear proof of that are the 36 seconds advantage he had in both heats with the second classified.

Saturday's MX2 Qualifying race.

Herlings on Raceday - note the crowd?

Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Tommy Searle had difficult starts today because he started from the very outside of the gate. However, Searle did two incredible races, starting almost from the very last position and crossing the finish line third and second respectively.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek, who had a tough qualifying race yesterday, rode really well today and finished third overall being tight in points with Searle. In the first race he obtained a consistent second position, but in the second moto he could not keep his initial second place until the end because Searle was coming really fast from behind and the Belgian had run out of energies and had to settle down with the third position.

Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Joel Roelants was not able to be back at the top of the rostrum this weekend, but all in all, he was very satisfied with his fourth overall position. In the first heat he had a really good start and he was riding third when he entered the pitlane to have his rear wheel checked as he thought there was something wrong with it. In the end there was only a thick clump of mud stuck in the wheel, so he was able to go back to the race quickly. However, he entered in the ninth position and had to give his best to cross the finish line fifth. In the second moto he obtained a consistent fourth place.

Jake Nicholls completed the top five of the Russian Grand Prix thanks to his 4-5 result. In both races the Nestaan JM Racing KTM rider had really good starts, and in the second heat he managed to ride third during the first half of it. However, Nicholls could not keep Searle’s and Roelants’ pressure and he crossed the finish line fourth.

Jordi Tixier, winner of the qualifying race yesterday, could only finished sixth overall today. The French rider almost took the holeshot of the first race, but he could not find a good rhythm and crossed the finish line sixth. In the second race Tixier could not repeat such good start and he was fifth in reaching the first corner. The French rider kept such position during the first half of the race, but he was then overtaken by Nicholls, and Tixier was only able to finish sixth.

Arnaud Tonus did not have good starts today, but he succeeded in finishing seventh overall. Eighth was Dylan Ferrandis, and Glen Coldenhoff and Jose Butrón completed the top ten.

Valentin Teillet finished eleventh overall in his comeback to the championship after his left collarbone injury and he was followed by Zach Osborne and Max Anstie.

Home rider Alexander Tonkov crashed at the beginning of the first race and he had to enter the pitlane because he had hit his head heavily. However, the Russian was recovered by the start of race two and he crossed the finish line fifteenth.

MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:53.338; 2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:36.909; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:51.053; 4. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:53.904; 5. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:54.708; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:06.916; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +1:17.646; 8. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:26.459; 9. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +1:27.903; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), +1:28.828;

MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:17.233; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:36.562; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:40.536; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:45.992; 5. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +1:00.572; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:07.705; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), +1:15.805; 8. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +1:35.061; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:40.633; 10. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +1:44.341;

MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 42 p.; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 34 p.; 5. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 34 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), 23 p.; 8. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 23 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 21 p.;

MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 478 points; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 429 p.; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 417 p.; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 344 p.; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 309 p.; 6. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 289 p.; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 238 p.; 8. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 218 p.; 9. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 213 p.; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), 196 p.;

MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 521 points; 2. Kawasaki, 499 p.; 3. Yamaha, 310 p.; 4. Honda, 259 p.; 5. Suzuki, 223 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 201 p.; 7. TM, 11 p.;