Paulin clinches sensational MX1 victory in Maggiora

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 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.;