British MX GP at Matterley Basin - full reports It was obvious the weather gods were out to redeem themselves today, offering peace with their fine display of blue sky and sunshine. Thanks to the endless hours spent on the track last night, moving mud and fixing jumps, the circuit of Matterley Basin was primed and ready for round eight of the FIM Motocross World Championship which fell perfectly into the hands of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s duo of champions Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings.
MXGP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli put on a brave face this weekend after losing a person he considers to be the most important figure in his life, his father. Despite suffering from sleepless nights and doing his best to deal with the understandable grief, Cairoli lined up today with an angel on his shoulder and used that same strength that has made him seven-times world champion to take his fifth overall victory of the season.  Cairoli
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Clement Desalle gets kudos for actually finding his edge today. Had the twenty-five year old Belgian not of washed the front end at speed in race one, the overall could have been completely different. Nevertheless, bent bars and all he managed to salvage fourth and then went on to make a statement in race two when he got off to a good start and knuckled down to take home an unchallenged win. A combination of fourth and first place scores landed the Belgian in second overall. Introducing MXGP’s Mr. Consistency, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek continues to keep up his podium appearances with a pair of thirds for third overall. The Belgian second year MXGP contender later said, "I guess this was a bad day for me but people say you win championships on your bad days, so I guess it’s not so bad. But I like this track, I just struggled the whole weekend from qualifying to free practice to training. But two thirds is always better than two times zero, especially at the end of the season.” Fourth overall equates a season best result for Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Tyla Rattray who battled his way from a bad start in race one to take home eighth. Out for redemption in race two, the South African got off to a much better start up in fourth. A pass on 24MX Honda’s Jeremy Delince ran him into third, but it was short lived when the red plate holder Antonio Cairoli came through a few laps later. Regardless, the 2008 FIM MX2 World Champion held on to a solid fourth for the remainder of the moto to take home fourth overall. After attempting his return to the gates of MXGP at round six of the FIM Motocross World Championship in Valkenswaard, where he opted to forfeit after warm-up on Sunday, it seems the extra couple of weeks of training have done a world of good for the fan favorite CLS Kawasaki Monster Energy’s Tommy Searle. The Brit re-established himself as a top five rider with his fifth and sixth place scores for fifth overall. Although he’s technically Scottish, MXGP of Great Britain still feels like a home GP for Hitachi Construction Machinery UK KTM’s Shaun Simpson who qualified second in the slop here yesterday. Disappointingly today, the Scotsman could only put together a ninth and a sixth for seventh overall which left him one point clear of another popular rider here in Great Britain Wilvo Forkrent KTM’s Jake Nicholls.
MXGP Race 1 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 35:06.163; 2. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:03.859; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:13.248; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:19.366; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:27.520; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:40.699; 7. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:42.154; 8. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Husqvarna), +0:53.366; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:12.119; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +1:12.857 MXGP Race 2 top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 35:00.023; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:17.717; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:31.838; 4. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Husqvarna), +0:35.822; 5. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:42.005; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:43.077; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:54.148; 8. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), +0:59.449; 9. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +1:01.224; 10. Joel Roelants (BEL, Honda), +1:03.625 MXGP Overall top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 47 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 43 p.; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 40 p.; 4. Tyla Rattray (RSA, HUS), 31 p.; 5. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 31 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 30 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 27 p.; 8. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 26 p.; 9. Steven Frossard (FRA, KAW), 22 p.; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 20 p. MXGP World Championship Classification Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 351 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 323 p.; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 316 p.; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 250 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, KAW), 205 p.; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HON), 166 p.; 7. Steven Frossard (FRA, KAW), 164 p.; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 159 p.; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, HON), 153 p.; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, HON), 145 p. MXGP Manufacturer: 1. KTM, 351 points; 2. Suzuki, 333 p.; 3. Yamaha, 316 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 307 p.; 5. Honda, 250 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 200 p.; 7. TM, 144 p.
MX2 The run-away train of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings is clearly set to full steam ahead with the nineteen-year old nicknamed ‘The Bullet’ soaring to yet another convincing double victory. "I really enjoyed racing out here today, the British fans are some of the best in the world, they are awesome and I felt like I got a lot of respect from them this year which was really cool.” 
Proving he does in fact have the goods, just not quite as refined as the current FIM MX2 World Champ Herlings, CLS Kawasaki Monster Energy’s Arnaud Tonus matched the lap time of Herlings in race two and kept the Dutchman honest for the first quarter of a moto. A plausible second place finish in that race combined with a bad start in race one which saw him rebound for fifth, still was enough for a respectable second overall. Honda Gariboldi’s youngster Tim Gajser reached a milestone in his career today in Matterley Basin, putting in two impressive top five finishes, a fourth and a third, for third over all and his first ever FIM MX2 World Championship podium finish. At the tender age of seventeen-years-old it’s clear the future is bright for the young Honda rider who seems to ride with the smarts of a seasoned pro: "when I got stuck behind Dylan, I never thought about what place I was in, I just kept looking forward and for who was next”, the Slovenian said. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jordi Tixier took a hard fought fourth overall. The French vice-world champion was pushing it to the limit in race one which helped him pull off second place. An average start in race two saw the youngster struggle his way forward to fifth. Glued to the list of MX2 top fivers, Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre brawled his way to an eighth and fourth respectively for fifth overall. Meanwhile fan favorite BikeIT Yamaha Cosworth’s Max Anstie definitely turned heads in race one when he was the only rider in the class to send it sky high over the quad and clear it lap after lap. A few flashes of the Anstie we had seen at MXGP of Qatar also surfaced throughout that moto as he railed his way to third. In race two, the funny Brit got smashed on the finger with a rock causing such immense pain he had to pull in. It was later confirmed the bone had been compressed. MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:59.916; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:21.339; 3. Max Anstie (GBR, Yamaha), +0:24.047; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:25.259; 5. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:29.250; 6. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), +0:38.942; 7. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:56.260; 8. Romain Febvre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:59.972; 9. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +1:06.233; 10. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:10.803 MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:08.239; 2. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:16.689; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:41.286; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:42.239; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:59.739; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +1:02.273; 7. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:05.939; 8. Damon Graulus (BEL, KTM), +1:10.042; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +1:12.980; 10. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM) 
MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KAW), 38 p.; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 38 p.; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 38 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 31 p.; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 27 p.; 7. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 25 p.; 8. Damon Graulus (BEL, KTM), 23 p.; 9. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 23 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 20 p. MX2 World Championship Classification Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 344 points; 2. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KAW), 305 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 263 p.; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 253 p.; 5. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 248 p.; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 209 p.; 7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 197 p.; 8. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 184 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 176 p.; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 173 p MX2 Manufacturer: 1. KTM, 374 points; 2. Kawasaki, 331 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 269 p.; 4. Suzuki, 249 p.; 5. Honda, 219 p.; 6. Yamaha, 215 p.; 7. TM, 6 p. |
As for race one runner-up Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Steven Frossard, 