Paulin clinches sensational MX1 victory in Maggiora
Monday 17 June: The main races of the Grand Prix of Italy took place today at the emblematic track of Maggiora, which was packed with 38000 spectators.
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The crowd was outstanding and they supported
their home riders until the very last lap. However, Antonio Cairoli
finished third overall as Gautier Paulin conquered the podium and his
teammate Ken De Dycker finished second. In the MX2 class Jeffrey
Herlings was first and José Butrón second, but it was Alessandro
Lupino’s third place that made the crowd go crazy.
Before the MX1 and MX2 races started, the MX3 and WMX took part in their
final races, and while Klemen Gercar obtained the overall victory after
his 2-2 result, Chiara Fontanesi dominated both heats with great
authority.
MX1
Kawasaki Racing Team’s Gautier Paulin obtained his third GP
victory this weekend after finishing second in the first race behind
Clement Desalle and winning the second heat from the likes of Antonio
Cairoli.
It was not an easy win for the French rider, but he managed to
keep the lead until the finish line even having the home rider racing
right behind his rear wheel during the last three laps. Youthstream image.
Paulin was
visibly emotional on the podium and he admitted that such victory was
the perfect reward for all the effort he puts for improving every Grand
Prix.
The second overall position was for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Ken De
Dycker whose last podium had been in the Italian track of Arco di
Trento in April. The Belgian rider felt really well on the track today
and he managed to take two good starts and ride two consistent motos. De
Dycker obtained a comfortable second position in the first race and in
the second one he rode second during the first half of the heat, but he
could not stop Cairoli to pass him.
Home rider Antonio Cairoli could not finish on the top of the podium
this weekend but he was very proud of the crowd that packed Maggiora and
cheered for him until the very last moment. The Red Bull KTM Factory
Racing rider started leading the first race but he made a mistake,
crashed and twisted the knee he had injured in 2008. Suddenly Cairoli
felt some pain, but after some laps he managed to recover the rhythm and
moved up to third. However, he made another mistake and dropped two
positions to finally finish fourth. Cairoli had to tape his knee to
start the second race and he needed around fifteen minutes to warm up
his knee and be able to push. The Italian overtook his teammate De
Dycker and he quickly gave charge to Paulin, but despite being really
close to pass him, he had to settle down with the second position, which
gave him the final third overall result.
Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jeremy Van Horebeek gave another step forward
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today in Maggiora obtaining his best result of the season in fourth. The
Belgian rider started fifth in both heats and he was able to ride two
consistent motos until the finish line.
Honda World Motocross’ Max Nagl did not have a good jump off the gate in
the first race but he managed to find a good rhythm and he moved from
tenth to sixth. In the second race the German succeeded to start with
the front group, but after a couple of laps he had a problem with his
front wheel and he started dropping positions. In the end the Honda
rider was able to finish sixth again which gave him the fifth overall
position in the Grand Prix.
Kevin Strijbos was fourth after the start of the first race and he moved
up to third when Cairoli crashed in the second lap. However, the
Belgian could not keep the rhythm and he finished seventh. In the second
race Strijbos started down in fifteenth but he made a great recovery
and crossed the finish line seventh to finish sixth in the Grand Prix.
Tommy Searle was expecting to finish among the top five today but two
poor starts made him finish seventh overall, ahead of home rider Davide
Guarneri and Xavier Boog.
Clement Desalle started behind Cairoli in the first race and when the
Italian crashed, the Suzuki rider took the lead and he kept it until the
chequered flag. In the second race Desalle had a mechanical problem on
his bike and he could not finish the race, so in the end he obtained a
final tenth place.
Russian Evgeny Bobryshev was a bit disappointed with his twelfth overall
position, as he had really good feelings yesterday in the qualifying
race. Bobryshev crashed a couple of times in the first race and he made a
small mistake in the second one when he was riding close to the front
group. In the end he crossed the finish line eleventh.
Billy Mackenzie achieved his goal today by finishing fifteenth after obtaining a 16-14 result.
Home rider Philippaerts, who hit heavily his eye yesterday in a crash
during the qualifying race, decided to try to race the first moto, but
an early crash made him decide to retire. Philippaerts was very
disappointed for not having been able to obtain a good result in front
of his crowd, especially after having raced second in yesterday’s
qualifying race.
MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki),
39:15.768; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:07.677; 3. Gautier Paulin
(FRA, Kawasaki), +0:12.885; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:18.838; 5.
Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:24.491; 6. Maximilian Nagl
(GER, Honda), +0:27.572; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:54.258; 8.
Xavier Boog (FRA, KTM), +0:55.629; 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM),
+1:03.755; 10. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:05.871;
MX1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 40:06.399; 2.
Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:10.337; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM),
+0:30.330; 4. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:38.201; 5. Tommy
Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:41.906; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda),
+0:54.265; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:57.269; 8. Davide
Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +1:30.183; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, KTM), +1:31.308;
10. Milko Potisek (FRA, Yamaha), +1:33.087;
MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki),
45 points; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA,
KTM), 40 p.; 4. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 34 p.; 5.
Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 30 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 28
p.; 7. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 27 p.; 8. Davide Guarneri (ITA,
KTM), 25 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, KTM), 25 p.; 10. Clement Desalle (BEL,
Suzuki), 25 p.;
MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 417
points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 366 p.; 3. Clement Desalle
(BEL, Suzuki), 334 p.; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 319 p.; 5. Kevin
Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 271 p.; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 266 p.;
7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 220 p.; 8. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL,
Kawasaki), 205 p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 180 p.; 10. David
Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), 145 p.;
MX1 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 426 points; 2. Kawasaki, 368 p.; 3. Suzuki, 360 p.; 4. Honda, 282 p.; 5. Yamaha, 151 p.; 6. TM, 130 p.;
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MX2
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings started fourth
in the first race and it was not until half way through the heat that
the Dutch rider overtook Tonkov and gave charge to José Butrón who was
leading the race at that point. After one lap Herlings took the lead and
kept it until the end of the race. In the second moto Herlings started
behind Tonkov, but this time the red plate holder overtook him quickly
and kept a good rhythm until the end.
KTM Silver Action’s José Butrón felt really comfortable today in the
Italian track, especially because he is used to high temperatures and
hard pack tracks like the one in Maggiora. The Spanish rider missed the
holeshot of the first race, but Alexander Tonkov made a mistake when he
was leading and the Spanish rider took the lead. However, Herlings was
coming really fast from behind and Butrón dropped down to second; Tonkov
passed the Spaniard back, but with two laps to go Butrón passed him
back and crossed the finish line second. In the second race his start
was not that good but he managed to obtain a consistent fifth place
which gave him the overall second position.
KTM Silver Action’s José Butrón in Saturday's qualifying. Youthstream image.
Home rider Lupino was one of the protagonists of the Italian Grand Prix
making the crowd go crazy in the second race. The Italian had finished
sixth in the first race after a poor start, but in the second one he
started third. The CLS MX2 Kawasaki Monster Energy Pro Circuit rider
rode third most of the race, but with two laps to go he gave it all,
managed to overtake Tonkov and he finished on the third step of the
podium.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jordi Tixier was really close today to be
back on the podium, but in the end he had to settle down with the fourth
place just one point behind Lupino. In the first race Tixier started
seventh and he struggled to find a good rhythm, but by the middle of the
race he moved up to fifth and with two laps to go he overtook Charlier.
In the second race he had a similar start, but after six laps he was
already fourth; the French rider gave it all to overtake Lupino and
Tonkov, but in the end he crossed the finish line fourth.
Wilvo Neestan JM Racing KTM’s Jake Nicholls obtained an overall fifth
position thanks to his 3-8 result. In the first race he had a good start
and he rode a consistent moto in fourth until the chequered flag. In
the end the British rider was third because Tonkov was disqualified. In
the second race Nicholls was ninth at the start and he was only able to
finish eighth, but he was fifth of the Grand Prix.
Christophe Charlier started around the ninth position in both motos and
his 5-6 result gave him the overall sixth place. Dean Ferris was seventh
and Petar Petrov and Glenn Coldenhoff were eighth and ninth
respectively.
Alexander Tonkov, who won yesterday’s qualifying race, obtained the GET
Athena Holeshot Award in the first heat and he also took the holeshot in
the second race. However, he was a bit disappointed because he was only
able to finish tenth overall even if he finished third in the second
heat. The Russian was unclassified in the first race because he crashed
in the final corner before the finish line.
MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM),
39:45.247; 2. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:06.950; 3. Jake Nicholls (GBR,
KTM), +0:10.783; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:14.889; 5. Christophe
Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:17.447; 6. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki),
+0:30.400; 7. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), +0:35.588; 8. Mel Pocock (GBR,
Yamaha), +0:39.139; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:42.273; 10.
Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), +0:43.331;
MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM),
39:21.192; 2. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:04.411; 3. Alexander
Tonkov (RUS, Honda), +0:05.591; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:05.835;
5. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:11.703; 6. Christophe Charlier (FRA,
Yamaha), +0:14.386; 7. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), +0:34.128; 8. Jake
Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:39.106; 9. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha),
+0:44.669; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:48.224;
MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50
points; 2. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 38 p.; 3. Alessandro Lupino (ITA,
Kawasaki), 37 p.; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Jake Nicholls
(GBR, KTM), 33 p.; 6. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 31 p.; 7. Dean
Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 28 p.; 8. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), 23 p.; 9.
Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Alexander Tonkov (RUS, Honda),
20 p.;
MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED,
KTM), 447 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 323 p.; 3. Jose Butron
(ESP, KTM), 285 p.; 4. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 261 p.; 5.
Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 260 p.; 6. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 225
p.; 7. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 214 p.; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki),
201 p.; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), 199 p.; 10. Dylan
Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 159 p.;
MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 450 points; 2. Yamaha, 310
p.; 3. Kawasaki, 268 p.; 4. Suzuki, 225 p.; 5. Honda, 187 p.; 6. TM, 37
p.; 7. Husqvarna, 1 p.;