Cairoli and Herlings shine at Arco di Trento
Monday 15 April: The fourth Grand Prix of the FIM Motocross World Championship took place today at Arco di Trento in front of 23000 people.
The crowd was very pleased to see their home rider Antonio
Cairoli on top of the podium.
As well as the impressive talent of
Jeffrey Herlings win both MX2 heats starting from the back of the pack.
Before
the MX1 and MX2 races started the EMX125 European riders took part in
the second race of the Italian round. Pauls Jonass dominated the heat
and obtained the overall victory, while Anton Lundgren and Calvin
Vlaanderen completed the top three.
MX1
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli did not have a
good day yesterday, but today he was fully focused on his starts, as he
knew they were going to be the key to win his home Grand Prix. The
Italian took the holeshot in both heats, winning the Get Athena holeshot
award after the first race, and he succeeded in making good laps and
controlling the heats until the chequered flag. Cairoli congratulated
the organizers for the great job done especially on the track and he was
also very pleased with the big crowd that travelled to Arco di Trento
to support him and see him winning his 57th Grand Prix victory. Cairoli
has now the same number of GP victories as Smets and in front of him
there is only Stefan Everts with 101 GP wins.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Ken De Dycker did not have a good start in
the first race and it was really difficult for him to go up the front,
but in the end he managed to finish fourth. In the second race he had a
good start and he rode comfortably in second from the beginning until
the end to finish second overall of the Grand Prix. At the moment De
Dycker is second of the championship six points ahead of Clement
Desalle.
The third overall position was for Kawasaki Racing Team’s Gautier Paulin
after finishing second and fourth in today’s races. In the first race
Paulin was fifth in the first corner, but he quickly moved up to third
and after five laps he could overtake Tommy Searle who was riding
second. The French rider tried to close the gap with race leader
Cairoli, but he made several mistakes and he finally had to settle down
for second. Paulin admitted that his start was not that good in the
second race and that he almost crashed, but he gave all his best lap
after lap to move from his initial eighteenth position up to fourth,
which gave him the third overall position being tight in 40 points with
De Dycker.
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Clement Desalle had a very good first
race, where he finished third behind Paulin after having started down in
the sixth position. The Belgian rider tried to overtake Paulin during
the whole race, but in the end he had to settle down with the third
position. In the second moto Desalle crashed in the second corner with
Tommy Searle and David Philippaerts and he had to restart his race from
the last position to finish eighth. In the end, Desalle finished fourth
overall of the Grand Prix.
His teammate Kevin Strijbos finished fifth overall just two points
behind Desalle. In both heats Strijbos did not have a good start and
whereas in the first race he started ninth in the second one he was
fourteenth. However, the Rockstar Energy Suzuki World rider managed to
get a good speed and he finished sixth and fifth respectively.
Tommy Searle had really good starts today, but in neither of the heats
the British rider could keep his initial position. In the first race he
rode second behind Cairoli during the first laps, but he could not keep
the rhythm and he dropped down to fifth. In the second race Searle
started at the front again, but in the second corner he was involved in a
crash with Desalle and Philippaerts and had to fight from the back of
the pack. Searle did an incredible recovery finishing sixth in the race
and also sixth of the Grand Prix.
Max Nagl was seventh overall this weekend and he is getting his
confidence back race after race. In the first heat he was only able to
finish eleventh, but he did an incredible second moto finishing third
ahead of Paulin and Strijbos. Xavier Boog finished eighth overall and
Jeremy Van Horebeek and Jonathan Barragan completed the top ten.
Home riders David Philippaerts and Davide Guarneri finished fourteenth
and fifteenth respectively. Both riders were touched by bad luck this
weekend; while Philippaerts crashed at the start of the second race,
Guarneri had to pull out from the second race due to a mechanical
problem.
MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM),
40:31.783; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:03.045; 3. Clement
Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:04.537; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM),
+0:41.728; 5. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:46.724; 6. Kevin Strijbos
(BEL, Suzuki), +0:50.663; 7. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki),
+0:56.209; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, KTM), +0:57.255; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR,
TM), +1:00.618; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +1:22.412;
MX1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM),
41:03.682; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:06.931; 3. Maximilian Nagl
(GER, Honda), +0:11.561; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:17.281;
5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:18.686; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR,
Kawasaki), +0:31.259; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, KTM), +0:32.388; 8. Clement
Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:33.570; 9. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM),
+0:41.915; 10. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:45.159;
MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50
points; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA,
Kawasaki), 40 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 33 p.; 5. Kevin
Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 31 p.; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 31 p.;
7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 30 p.; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, KTM), 27
p.; 9. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 10. Jonathan Barragan
(ESP, KTM), 20 p.;
MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA,
KTM), 192 points; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 155 p.; 3. Clement
Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 149 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 148
p.; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 120 p.; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR,
Kawasaki), 118 p.; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 89 p.; 8. Evgeny
Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 87 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, KTM), 83 p.; 10.
Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 75 p.;
MX1 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 197 points; 2. Suzuki, 157 p.; 3. Kawasaki, 148 p.; 4. Honda, 129 p.; 5. Yamaha, 67 p.; 6. TM, 54 p.;
Ken DeDycker's heel-clicker on Saturday
MX2
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s KTM admitted today that it seems
that he is becoming his own rival, as he had to fight once again from
the back of the pack to win both races and win the fourth Grand Prix of
the year. In the first race he did not have a good jump off the gate but
he was confident with himself as he knew he had the speed to ride for
the lead. In fact, by the middle of the race he caught his teammate
Tixier who was riding at the front, and when there were five laps to go
Herlings managed to take the lead. In the second race Herlings hit the
gate at the start, so he had to give all his best once again to move all
the way up to the lead from the very last position.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jordi Tixier obtained the Get Athena
Holeshot Award after getting the holeshot of the first race.
The French
rider was dominating the race comfortably until he was overtaken by his
teammate Herlings by the end of the heat. In the second race Tixier
could not start at the front and it was very difficult for the French
rider to recover some positions. In the end Tixier finished fourth of
the race and second of the Grand Prix.
KTM Silver Action’s José Butrón obtained his second podium of the season
after finishing sixth and second in today’s races. In the first heat
the Spanish rider had a great start and after riding second in in the
first lap, he rode third most of the heat. However, he had a mechanical
problem, which made him dropped down to the sixth position. In the
second race Butrón succeeded in taking the holeshot and led the first
sixth laps until Herlings overtook him. At that point Dean Ferris was
behind the Spanish rider and he was making a lot on pressure on him, but
Butrón gave all his best to finish second and achieve the third overall
position of the Gran Prix.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Christophe Charlier missed the podium today for
just one point but all in all the French rider was very satisfied with
his performance this weekend. In the first heat he had a really good
start and after riding most of the race second, he dropped down to his
final third position when he was overtaken by Tixier. In the second race
he did not have such a good start and he was only able to cross the
finish line in fifth.
Standing Construct KTM’s Glenn Coldenhoff finished fifth overall after
finishing fifth and sixth in today’s races. In the first race Lupino and
Ferris crashed after the start right in front of Goldenhoff, so the
Dutch rider was back in the 17th position in the first lap. In the
second heat Coldenhoff started eighth and he managed to move up to the
fifth position, but in the last half of the race Charlier overtook him.
Dylan Ferrandis had a good weekend at Arco di Trento finishing eighth in
both motos and obtaining an overall sixth position. Seventh was Max
Anstie and eighth was Dean Ferris who rode second in the first laps of
the second race to finish third behind Butrón. However, in the first
heat Ferris crashed at the start with Lupino and he was forced to pull
out from the race.
Jeremy Seewer obtained a solid ninth position while home rider
Alessandro Lupino rounded the top ten. The Italian rider crashed at the
start of the first race with Dean Ferris and he fractured his fourth
rib. Lupino managed to finish sixteenth and he did a massive effort in
the second race to cross the finish line seventh.
American Decotis needed his mechanic’s assistance to start the bike in
the first race, so he could not choose a good gate for the start. The
American was almost last in the first lap and he was only able to move
up to the 21st position. In the second race Decotis had to pull out from
the race, as he was not feeling well.
MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM),
41:00.398; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:04.125; 3. Christophe Charlier
(FRA, Yamaha), +0:06.682; 4. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:21.103; 5.
Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:40.822; 6. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM),
+0:47.318; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), +0:55.638; 8. Dylan Ferrandis
(FRA, Kawasaki), +0:58.686; 9. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), +1:02.578;
10. Mel Pocock (GBR, Yamaha), +1:04.552;
MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM),
40:36.884; 2. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:31.262; 3. Dean Ferris (AUS,
Yamaha), +0:37.339; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:43.477; 5. Christophe
Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:47.672; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM),
+0:51.542; 7. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:52.025; 8. Dylan
Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:22.992; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki),
+1:29.288; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +1:36.186;
MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50
points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM),
37 p.; 4. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 36 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff
(NED, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 26 p.; 7. Max
Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), 26 p.; 8. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 20 p.; 9.
Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), 20 p.; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA,
Kawasaki), 19 p.;
MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED,
KTM), 200 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 141 p.; 3. Glenn
Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 128 p.; 4. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 111 p.; 5.
Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 107 p.; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM),
98 p.; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), 98 p.; 8. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha),
89 p.; 9. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 82 p.; 10. Mel Pocock (GBR,
Yamaha), 77 p.;
MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 200 points; 2. Yamaha, 143 p.; 3. Suzuki, 120 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 90 p.; 5. Honda, 67 p.; 6. TM, 8 p.; 7. Husqvarna, 1 p.;