Red Bull KTM’s Antonio Cairoli and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s came up big with wins in their respective classes as the FIM Motocross World Championship made a much-anticipated return to Swiss soil on Sunday for round 15 of the series at the technically demanding Schweizer Zucker Circuit in Frauenfeld-Gachnang, Switzerland.
Cairoli, who parked the KTM 350 SX-F that he has been riding in favor of the brawnier KTM 450 SX-F, put the extra power to good use on Saturday by winning the qualifying over the current MXGP series points leader, Tim Gasjer of the Honda Gariboldi team. In Sunday’s first MXGP moto, Cairoli follwed that up with great start that put him to the front of Moto 1, and he held the lead to the finish, claiming the win by 7.5 seconds over Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin of France. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Clement Desalle also had a strong first moto, finishing third.
Gasjer, who has struggled to with consistency of late, did so again in Switzerland, hitting the ground hard enough to bend his handlebars and ruin his front brake. However, the Slovenian has also shown how tough he can be when he needs to salvage a finish. A hard charge allowed him to finish ninth in Moto 1. Gasjer was clearly on a mission in Moto 2 as he battled with Cairoli for the win after Cairoli pulled the holeshot. The two waged an epic, back-and-forth battle for the lead, but Gasjer got the better of it and move into the lead for good on lap three. Cairoli would also be passed by Febvre, who went on to take the fight to Gasjer in the last few laps of the second moto.
Cairoli showed Gasjer a wheel on the pit straightaway at one point, but Gasjer was able to dig deep and find the speed to pull away again leaving Febvre to finish second in the moto and third overall. Despite a last-lap crash with a lapper, Cairoli was able to finish fifth in Moto 2, which was good enough to seal his third MXGP overall win of the season. Gasjer was second overall.
“It was a very good weekend, and we are back on the 450 this weekend,” Cairoli said. “We’re still testing these past weeks, but I immediately felt very good with the bike. We won the qualifying and the first moto, and today I was in the lead in the second race. Tim [Gajser] and Romain [Febvre] were pushing very hard and also taking some risks in some places. I tried to stay with Tim, but I was a bit tired from the first moto. I’m still adapting to the 450, and changing is not always easy, so I settled into third place. Then the last lap the track was very rough and the ruts were deep and they were not easy to get out of. The lapped rider crossed my line so I made a mistake and I crashed. It took a while before I could start again so Glenn [Coldenhoff] and [Evgeny] Bobryshev went past. I was disappointed then, because I wasn’t sure it I could still win the GP. It is good to go into the two-week break with a win, and I’ll try to regroup for the sand in Assen. My goal is to win the remaining races and to finish as close as possible to the top. So let’s see how we finish the season.”
In MX2, Anstie claimed his second consecutive sweep and moved to fourth place in the FIM MX2 World Championship Series standings. The British rider got a great start in Moto 1, taking the lead and pulling away for a relatively easy win. It was tougher in Moto 2, however, as Team Suzuki World MX2’s Jeremy Seewer put up a valiant fight in an effort to grab a GP win in front of his countrymen after finishing second to Anstie in Moto 1. However, Anstie eventually got the better of Seewer in Moto 2 as well, and locked up the win.
“It was an awesome GP and it felt really nice to get my second overall victory,” Anstie said. “During the last three weeks we’ve raced in three completely different tracks and to me that makes for a real world championship. We had a great battle with Jeremy in both motos here in Switzerland. In the opening moto I got the lead early on and managed to open a small gap for the win. In the second race it was just me and Jeremy battling it out all the way to the finish. He pushed extra hard in front of his home crowd, so it was great I ended up getting another moto win. Climbing to fourth in the series standings is also good. My plan is to take each of the remaining races separately to collect as many points as I can before the finish of the series.”
Seewer still gave his fellow Swiss a reason to celebrate as his 2-2 moto finishes netted second overall for the second consecutive weekend. The finish also put him much closer to the injured Jeffrey Herlings in the MX2 World Championship points standings; Herlings still leads Seewer, 597-554 Kemea. Yamaha MX Official Team’s Benoit Paturel showed his potential as a star of the future by finishing 3-3 for third overall. Paturel also moved into third place in the series points standings.
Round 16 will take place at the Dutch TT Circuit in Assen, Holland, August 27-28 before the series heads to the USA for its final two rounds.
2016 FIM Motocross World Championship
Schweizer Zucker Circuit
Frauenfeld-Gachnang, Switzerland
Results: August 7, 2016 (Round 15 of 18)
MXGP Overall
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA)-KTM/1-5
2. Tim Gajser (SLO)-Hon/9-1
3. Romain Febvre (FRA)-Yam/8-3
4. Gautier Paulin (FRA)-Hon/2-11
5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED)-KTM/11-3
6. Tommy Searle (GBR)-Kaw/7-6
7. Jordi Tixier (FRA)-Kaw/6-7
8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL)-Yam/4-10
9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS)-Hon/12-4
10. Clement Desalle (BEL)-Kaw/3-16
2016 FIM MXGP World Championship Series Points Standings (after 15 of 18 rounds)
1. Tim Gajser-644
2. Antonio Cairoli-545
3. Max Nagl-509
4. Romain Febvre-499
5. Evgeny Bobryshev-472
6. Jeremy Van Horebeek-446
7. Valentin Guillod-308
8. Glenn Coldenhoff-307
9. Clement Desalle-298
10. Kevin Strijbos-279
MX2 Overall
1. Max Anstie (GBR)-Hus/1-1
2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI)-Suz/2-2
3. Benoit Paturel (FRA)-Yam/3-3
4. Samuele Bernardini (ITA)-TM/4-6
5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED)-KTM/6-5
6. Brian Bogers (NED)-KTM/10-4
7. Thomas Covington (USA)-Hus/8-10
8. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN)-Hus/7-11
9. Pascal Rauchenecker (AUT)-Hus/5-13
10. Ivo Monticelli (ITA)-KTM/12-7
2016 FIM MX2 World Championship Series Points Standings (after 15 of 18 rounds)
1. Jeffrey Herlings-597
2. Jeremy Seewer-554
3. Benoit Paturel-433
4. Max Anstie-416
5. Pauls Jonass-403
6. Dylan Ferrandis-378
7. Petar Petrov-340
8. Samuele Bernardini-327
9. Aleksandr Tonkov-320
10. Brian Bogers-309
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