Overall victory for Paulin and maiden podium for Lupino in Sevlievo

Monday 22 April: The fifth Grand Prix of the FIM Motocross World Championship took place today in Sevlievo, Bulgaria early this morning NZ time.

Gautier Paulin and Jeffery Herlings went out with the overall victories. In MX1 Antonio Cairoli finished second and Clement Desalle third, while Jordi Tixier and Alessandro Lupino completed the MX2 podium.

MX1
Kawasaki Racing Team’s Gautier Paulin obtained the first overall victory of the season and he wins in Sevlievo for the second year in a row. The French rider dominated the qualifying race yesterday and the first race today, but in the second moto he crossed the finish line second behind Cairoli. Paulin explained that he could not pass the Italian, but he was very for having been able to race behind Cairoli during all the heat. Paulin is now determined to keep on working hard in order to try to stop the Italian and keep on fighting for the Championship now that he is up to the second position in the point standings.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli did not have a good qualifying race yesterday, but today he succeeded in finishing second overall with a 4-1 result. In the first race the Italian had a good start, but in the first corner Nagl pushed him to the outside and he was down to the seventh position. The red plate holder rode the first half of the heat behind Nagl, but once he overtook him he gave chase to Searle who was riding fourth. In the end Cairoli overtook the British rider and ended the heat in fourth. The Italian had another great start in the second race, but this time he managed to be second in the first corner behind Paulin and he quickly made the pass over the French rider and led the race until the chequered flag.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Clement Desalle was back on the podium this weekend after finishing third in both races. After two great starts Desalle had to battle with his teammate Strijbos to finish on the podium; while in the first race Desalle could not overtake Strijbos, in the second one Desalle finished in front of his teammate. Desalle admitted that in the first race he made several mistakes which made him lose some ground with Strijbos and after exchanging the second position several times, Desalle could only finish third.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Kevin Strijbos missed the podium this weekend being tight in 40 points with his teammate Desalle, but he was very satisfied for having finished third in the first race. However, Strijbos was a little disappointed with his fourth position in the second race because a problem in his goggles stopped him to fight for the third position, every time that he was closing the gap with the Desalle, a lot of sand was getting into his eyes.

Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jeremy Van Horebeek obtained the best result of the season this weekend finishing fifth overall. In the first race the Belgian rider started down in eighth and he rode behind Philippaerts most of the heat, but in the last laps Van Horebeek closed the gap, overtook the Italian and crossed the finish line seventh. In the second race Van Horebeek had a better start and he was riding fifth comfortably until he was overtaken by De Dycker and had to settle down with the sixth place.

Tommy Searle started third in the first race, but he lost one position with Desalle after a couple of laps. The British rider gave it all to keep such position until the end, but he could not stop Cairoli to overtake him and he ended fifth. In the second race he started seventh and when he was trying to overtake Van Horebeek he made a mistake and went down to fifteenth. In the end Searle crossed the finish line eighth and finished sixth overall of the Grand Prix.

It was not an easy weekend for Ken De Dycker who struggled with his starts and could only finish ninth in the first race. In the second one, he did an incredible recovery moving from eleventh to fifth, which gave him the overall seventh position. De Dycker has gone from second to fourth in the point standings, but he is only six points behind Desalle who is third at the moment.

David Philippaerts obtained an overall eighth position, followed by Max Nagl and Davide Guarneri.

MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 40:14.945; 2. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:04.689; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:06.006; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:30.205; 5. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:35.733; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), +0:40.606; 7. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:45.322; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), +0:52.735; 9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +1:05.573; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +1:14.625;
MX1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40:00.784; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.888; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:07.415; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:08.501; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:40.876; 6. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:44.408; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:47.683; 8. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:48.078; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), +0:56.418; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +1:01.838;
MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 47 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 43 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 40 p.; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 40 p.; 5. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 29 p.; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 29 p.; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 28 p.; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), 25 p.; 9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 25 p.; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 22 p.;
MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 235 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 195 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 189 p.; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 183 p.; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 160 p.; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 147 p.; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 109 p.; 8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 100 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, KTM), 90 p.; 10. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 87 p.;
MX1 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 240 points; 2. Suzuki, 199 p.; 3. Kawasaki, 195 p.; 4. Honda, 156 p.; 5. Yamaha, 85 p.; 6. TM, 72 p.;

MX2
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings was very satisfied with his victory this weekend because it is the first time in nine years that the Dutch wins in the Bulgarian track. The Dutch rider imposed once again an incredible rhythm at the front and while in the first race he crossed the finish line twenty-five seconds ahead of Tixier, in the second heat he finished forty seconds in front. Herlings admitted in the press conference that he is now comparing his lap times with the MX1 riders and his goal is to keep on improving his speed race after race.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jordi Tixier had two great starts once again and he managed to lead the first six laps of the first race, but once his teammate Herlings overtook him there was nothing he could do to pass him back. In the second race Tixier explained that Jake Nicholls pushed him a little bit to the outside in the first corner and he was too wide to get the holeshot, but the French rider managed to move up to second already in the opening lap. Tixier tried to follow Herlings’ lines in the first laps, but it was impossible for him to catch him, so he decided to ride safe and try to keep a comfortable gap with Alessandro Lupino and Max Anstie who were riding behind him.

It was a great day for Alessandro Lupino who was able to finish eighth and third in today’s races and obtained his maiden podium in the MX2 class. The CLS MX2 Kawasaki Monster Energy Pro Circuit rider was riding with two ribs broken from a crash he suffered in Arco di Trento, but he admitted that he could not feel the pain when he was riding third in the second race. When he crossed the finish line the Italian rider did not know that he had ended on the podium and it was only when he saw Cairoli waiting for him at the winning circle that he realized what he had just achieved. Lupino was visibly emotional at the press conference remembering those moments and he said that he will keep on working hard to try to finish on the podium in the Grand Prix to come.

Silver Action KTM’s José Butrón rode once again this weekend for a podium finish, but this time the Spanish rider ended fourth overall just one point behind Lupino. In the first race Butrón started at the front but he dropped down to third already in the opening lap. After seven laps the Spaniard could not keep his rhythm and Teillet overtook him and Butrón could not pass him back. In the second race Butrón had another good start but after the first sixth laps the KTM rider started getting tired and he could only finish seventh.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Max Anstie starred in an incredible recovery in the first race moving from an initial twenty-first position to a final ninth place. In the second heat Anstie could not start at the front either but he was fourth after the first six laps. However, even if he tried to overtake Lupino, he had to settle down to the fourth place which gave him the overall fifth position in the Grand Prix.

Christophe Charlier was satisfied with his second race, as he could work all the way through the fifth position after starting down in the thirteenth place, but he was disappointed with his starts because they stopped him to achieve his main goal which was finishing on the podium. The French rider ended sixth overall ahead of Glenn Coldenhoff and Dean Ferris.

The ninth overall position went for Jake Nicholls, who had really good starts in both motos but he made several mistakes in both races which made him finish sixth and fourteenth. Valentin Teillet, who had finished third in the first race, crashed in the second one and decided to retire from the race because he had hit his injured shoulder. The French rider ended tenth of the Grand Prix.

Home rider Petar Petrov rode really well this weekend and the crowd present in Sevlievo could enjoy watching their local rider finishing eleventh overall of the Grand Prix.

MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:21.965; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:25.397; 3. Valentin Teillet (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:36.700; 4. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:42.217; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:44.519; 6. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:47.745; 7. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:55.354; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:56.889; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), +0:57.451; 10. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), +1:10.358;
MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 40:29.060; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:40.387; 3. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:44.302; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), +0:47.967; 5. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:02.871; 6. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), +1:10.192; 7. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:11.042; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +1:23.777; 9. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:24.743; 10. Pascal Rauchenecker (AUT, KTM), +1:36.000;
MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), 33 p.; 4. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 32 p.; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), 30 p.; 6. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 30 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 26 p.; 9. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Valentin Teillet (FRA, Kawasaki), 20 p.;
MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 250 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 185 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 157 p.; 4. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 143 p.; 5. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 137 p.; 6. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), 128 p.; 7. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 115 p.; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), 109 p.; 9. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 104 p.; 10. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), 98 p.;
MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 250 points; 2. Yamaha, 173 p.; 3. Suzuki, 150 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 130 p.; 5. Honda, 84 p.; 6. TM, 21 p.; 7. Husqvarna, 1 p.;