Red Bull KTM riders Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings top their respective classes in Teutschenthal, Germany.
Red Bull KTM’s Antonio Cairoli became just the third rider to score an MXGP overall win this season while teammate Jeffrey Herlings battled through illness to remain perfect in MX2 when the series visited the cantankerous Teutschenthal circuit for the MXGP of Germany, Sunday.
There was drama in the first MXGP moto as Red Bull KTM’s Antonio Cairoli grabbed the holeshot with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna teammates Christophe Charlier and Max Nagl slotting into second and third place respectively, ahead of rookie sensation and Honda Gariboldi rider Tim Gasjer. Meanwhile, reigning MXGP World Champion Romain Febvre was forced to work his way through the pack after banging bars with Monster Energy Yamaha teammate Jeremy Van Horebeek and crashing on the opening lap.
Gasjer leaped his way past both the Husqvarna men by lap four and set his sights on Cairoli, leaping past him in the same step-up jump where he had passed Nagl, but Cairoli fought back and eventually pulled clear of Gasjer to take the moto win, followed by Gasjer, Nagl, Charlier and Suzuki’s Kevin Strijbos. Febvre could only make his way up to 10th place by the finish of the moto.
The second MXGP moto was the scene of a gnarly first-turn crash that involved Charlier and numerous other riders. Cairoli once again won the start and took the early lead in the race, followed by Team Honda HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev, Nagl, Gasjer and Van Horebeek. Febvre ran eighth.
While Bobryshev kept Cairoli honest, Gasjer soon latched onto the Russian and began to pressure him for second place, and the two engaged in a fantastic battle for second place, right behind the leader, for two laps. That battle ended when Bobryshev got loose coming out of a corner and cut a cross the track. Gasjer was on the gas, and he clipped Bobryshev’s back tire, sending Gasjer to the turf. Van Horebeek would also suffer a scary-looking crash when a nasty crosswind wind blew him off course over the finish line jump on lap 10, knocking him out of sixth place.
Cairoli went on to win the moto by 2.7 seconds over Bobryshev, with Febvre fighting his way to third and Gasjer finishing fourth, ahead of Kemea Yamaha’s Valentin Guillod. Cairoli’s performance gave him the sweep, while Gasjer’s 2-4 finishes netted second overall ahead of Bobryshev, who went 8-2. It was Cairoli’s first World Championship MXGP win since the MXGP of Great Britain in May 2015. This win marked the multi-time former World Champion’s fourth win at Teutschenthal.
“I’ve been searching for this win for some time now,” Cairoli said. “I’ve been missing some speed, but I started to feel good already in Latvia. Now I hope to be here on the podium and fighting for the win every weekend.”
Despite having dominated the MX2 series up to the German round, Herlings knew he would have his work cut out for him if he wanted to maintain his undedfeated streak as he came into the weekend battling an illness. It showed As Herlings didn’t get off to his usual rocket start in moto one. Instead, he ran fifth on the first lap as Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Dylan Ferrandis took the early lead and tried to get away. Herlings quickly moved up to third by lap two and then battled with teammate Pauls Jonass for a lap before moving into second and going after Ferrandis. It took four more laps, but Herlings made his way past Ferrandis into the lead then checked out to take the moto win by just over 14 seconds–about half his usual margin of victory. Ferrandis finished second, with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Max Anstie moving up to third.
Moto two saw Herlings fifth again, behind Anstie, Ferrandis, Yamaha-mounted Benoit Paturel and Team Suzuki’s Jeremy Seewer. Herlings ran as far back as 8.3 seconds off the lead early in the race before he began to charge forward, passing Seewer for fourth place on lap five, and their battle would carry them into the shadow of Paturel in third.
Herlings finally got going as soon as Seewer passed Paturel with just over nine minutes remaining in the moto. Herlings battled furiously with Seewer for third place, and it turned into a battle for second when leader Anstie crashed in a corner on lap 12, handing the lead to Ferrandis, who was well within striking distance of Seewer and Herlings, making for a three-rider battle for the lead. Seewer then passed Ferrandis for the lead, leaving Herlings briefly stranded behind the Kawasaki rider.
But Herlings wasn’t done. He passed Ferrandis and put in one last attack on Seewer just as the time clock expired, leaving two laps remaining. Herlings made his move when Seewer went just a little too wide in a left-hand corner, taking the lead and holding on through the last lap to win the moto and claim his 54th career GP win with just 2.3 seconds to spare. Seewer and Ferrandis were second and third respectively.
Ferrandis’ 2-3 moto scores gave him second overall while Seewer was third overall with 4-2 scores.
2016 FIM Motocross World Championship
Teutschenthal, Germany
Results: May 8, 2016 (Round 7 of 18)
MXGP Overall
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA)-KTM/1-1
2. Tim Gajser (SLO)-Hon/2-4
3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS)-Hon/8-2
4. Max Nagl (GER)-Hus/3-6
5. Romain Febvre (FRA)-Yam/10-3
6. Ben Townley (NZL)-Suz/7-7
7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL)-Suz/5-10
8. Christophe Charlier (FRA)-Hus/4-13
9. Shaun Simpson (GBR)-KTM/9-8
10. Valentin Guillod (SUI)-Yam/14-5
2016 FIM MXGP World Championship Series Points Standings (after 7 of 18 rounds)
1. Tim Gajser-299/4 wins
2. Romain Febvre-291/2 wins
3. Antonio Cairoli-263/1 win
4. Maximilian Nagl-238
5. Evgeny Bobryshev-232
6. Jeremy Van Horebeek-215
7. Kevin Strijbos-169
8. Shaun Simpson-168
9. Valentin Guillod-139
10. Glenn Coldenhoff-136
MX2 Overall
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED)-KTM/1-1
2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA)-Kaw/2-3
3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI)-Suz/4-2
4. Max Anstie (GBR)-Hus/3-5
5. Benoit Paturel (FRA)-Yam/7-4
6. Brent Van doninck (BEL)-Yam/8-7
7. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS)-Kaw/9-8
8. Pauls Jonass (LAT)-KTM/5-12
9. Brian Bogers (NED)-KTM/10-9
10. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS)-Yam/6-13
FIM MX2 World Championship Series Points Standings (after 7 of 18 rounds)
1. Jeffrey Herlings-350/7 wins
2. Jeremy Seewer-270
3. Pauls Jonass-218
4. Aleksandr Tonkov-186
5. Benoit Paturel-186
6. Petar Petrov-183
7. Max Anstie-162
8. Vsevolod Brylyakov-157
9. Samuele Bernardini-149
10. Brent Van doninck-129
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