Historic day for Cairoli in Loket MX1 It was a start to finish win for Tony Cairoli (Red Bull KTM) as he did just enough to keep Christophe Pourcel (CP377 Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) at bay for the duration of the twenty-one lap moto. The surprise of the race though was Max Nagl (Red Bull KTM) who, in his first GP back from injury moved past both the Kawasaki's of Xavier Boog (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Gautier Paulin (Kawasaki Racing Team) as he raced to third place to the delight of the German fans. Clement Desalle (Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1) got held up at the first turn at the start of the race but rode a solid race to finish fourth. Race two saw Max Nagl take the holeshot and lead for the first eight laps, before being caught and passed by Desalle. On the same lap and almost at the same time Tony Cairoli moved from fourth to third as he displaced Christophe Pourcel and for much of the race the first four were no more than four seconds apart. With four laps to go, Pourcel moved ahead of Desalle to take second, but it was all to brief as the Frenchman fell in turn one, dropping back to fourth, but he was able to remount a successful challenge and found a way past Nagl with two laps to go. Cairoli won the race from Desalle with Pourcel third and Nagl fourth, but for Tony Cairoli his second race win not only secured the overall GP victory, but he extended his lead to thirty pounts over Desalle and took his fiftieth career victory in the process and is now tied third with the great Joel Robert of Belgium in the all-time win list. MX2 Jeffrey Herlings (Red Bull KTM) wasted no time in getting to the front in the first race as he passed Jose Butron (DIGA Racing KTM) and his Red Bull KTM team-mate Jeremy Van Horebeek to eventually win by almost thirty seconds from Tommy Searle (Floride Monster Energy Proc Circuit Kawasaki), who was handed a bit of luck when Van Horebeek suffered a mechanical problem at half distance. Also perfectly placed was Jake Nicholls (Nestaan JM Racing KTM) as he took his first moto podium finish with third. Race two was a bit more dramatic and as Jeremy Van Horebeek raced clear up front, his team-mate Herlings was having to deal with the close attention of Tommy Searle, who seized his moment on lap nine as he drove his Kawasaki hard up the inside of the KTM leaving Herlings on the floor. Four laps later though the Dutch teemager was right back on the wheel of Searle and easily moved into second as the Brit 'hit the wall' and had nothing left in the tank. In the closing stages of the race Herlings found the rear wheel of Van Horebeek but it as an easy pass, ensuring an easy route to victory. The race finished Herlings, Van Horebeek and Searle but the overall podium was Herlings (1-1) Searle (2-3) and Zach Osborne (Monster Energy Yamaha) (4-4).  Photo: Jeffrey Herlings leading the Czech Grand Prix |