(ORLYONOK) Russia, 11 June 2017–The MXGP of Russia, the 10th stop of the 2017 FIM Motocross World Championship, was one to remember, especially for the overall winners Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Clement Desalle and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass. The pair of winners battled not only the rest of the field but the demanding conditions on their way to the top.
MXGP
Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Clement Desalle was all smiles as he claimed his second overall this season. Desalle’s back-to-back overall wins are due to his consistently strong results. Placing third in Moto 1 and winning Moto 2, the Belgian made it near impossible for anyone to outscore him. Gaining 45 championship points this weekend he now sits 2nd in the title chase.
“I was really doing good and feeling really good on the bike,” Desalle said. “I was just focused on me and tried to stay calm and finally I won the race and the GP. It is really nice to have the second GP in a row and I will keep working to have some more. This feeling is why we are all here.“
Gaining his fourth podium of the last five GP stops is Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings. Herlings narrowly missed out on the Fox Holeshot in Moto 1 and would settle into second the first half of the race before charging into the lead on lap 10. His second race start was not nearly as fortunate when he fell in the first corner. After remounting his KTM he fell once more on a downhill section of the track. The Dutchman isn’t known for performing well in the mud but his win combined with 8th in race 2 proved to be enough for 2nd overall.
“I feel like we made some good improvements and also on the start I think we’ve been really analyzing it a lot,” Herlings said. “We really made the best of our situation.“
Title contender Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Gautier Paulin was one of the most consistent and patient riders scoring 5-3 finishes for third overall. Paulin struggled off the start in both races and had to work his way forward from eighth to fifth and fifth to third in difficult conditions.
“Considering everything it is always positive to be on the podium,” Paulin said. “I didn’t have good starts at all. In the first race I really slid on the grid, and it was really tough to come back. Ending up third overall is very positive.“
Paulin’s Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing teammate Max Anstie had his career best 450 result coming in fourth overall. The Brit ran third for most of the day, 23 of 31 total laps to be exact, before finishing fourth in Moto 1 and fifth in Moto 2.
Points leader, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli took fifth overall after a strong second in the first race but a disappointing ninth in Moto 2. Though not having the weekend expected he goes into his home MXGP of Ottobiano with the red plate and a 47-point championship lead over Desalle.
“This weekend was good, I came prepared for this track,” Cairoli said. “I’m really happy about the championship at the moment and look forward to Ottobiano.“
Finishing sixth overall was Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Romain Febvre. While that is a strong result the real high note for Febvre was Moto 2 where he grabbed the holeshot and led the first 12 laps and finished second. While the speed and start were of winning form the mistake of running into a lapped rider proved costly.
Meanwhile Russian fan favorite Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev took a respectable 12th overall at his home GP only three weeks after surgery on a fractured collarbone.
Yesterday’s qualifying race winner Wilvo Yamaha MXGP’s Arnaud Tonus faced an entirely different surface today but he still managed a strong result. After a fall in race one would hold him to 9th, a strong start in race 2 propelled him to 4th. The combination of the two results position the Swiss rider seventh overall to end the weekend.
MX2
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Pauls Jonass showed that consistency is key on his way to the overall win. Jonass went 2-3 and was even lapped on Moto 2 but he still managed to grow his points lead on the competition.
“I was really surprised after the second moto that I won the overall, my mechanic put on the board GP win with 5 minutes to go,” Jonass said. “I was thinking, yeah, how was it possible? It was difficult and I was happy to manage two good races and I’m really happy to win the overall.”
The man who showed the most dominance in terms of individual races was by far Suzuki World MX2’s Jeremy Seewer. Seewer struggled off the start of Moto 1 and after throwing away his goggles only managed a seventh-place finish. The second race was a different story all together, Seewer had a good start and moved into the lead from fourth by lap eight, but by the finish lapped every rider except second who finished 2 minutes and 32 seconds later.
“It was tough out there…I just did my laps,” Seewer said. “I didn’t know I was leading and at the finish I was told that I had nearly lapped everyone and that was cool to see that and realize it at the finish line.”
HSF Logistics Motorsport’s Brian Bogers reached the podium for the first time this season taking third overall. In Moto 1 Bogers took sixth after running as high as fourth. Finishing second in Moto 2 was victory on its own, but another small victory was the fact that Bogers was the only rider not to be lapped in the race. After struggling early in the year the #189 has perhaps reached the turning point of his season in Russia.
“I feel amazing today even though it has been a hard a year for me,” he said. “The beginning of the season didn’t go as expected but today we made it on the podium and I’m really about it.”
Kemea Yamaha Official MX Team’s Benoit Paturel carried his hard earned momentum from France to Orlyonok and scored another impressive result. Benoit had an up and down day with 3-12 finishes but overall came out ahead of many with fourth overall. While previously know for bad starts of the grid, the last 2 races show he has been working hard to improve. The #6 was second after the first lap of rMoto 2 and even led for a lap before falling.
One of the other Kemea Yamaha Official MX Team riders, the young Alvin Ostlund, had his career best result in MX2 finishing fifth overall after going 8-6. Ostlund achieved his top five thanks to the way he worked his way forward to sixth in Moto 2 after starting the first lap in 11th.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Kjer Olsen had a head turning Moto 1 as he led every lap but the first on the way to the race win. Unfortunately for Olsen that would be the extent of the laps he completed and while he started Moto 2 he fell on the opening lap, damaged his bike, and pulled off unable to continue.
Two other MX2 riders who impressed today were Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado Garcia and Suzuki World MX2’s Hunter Lawrence. Prado took both Fox Holeshots and Lawrence run among the top 5 in both races before finishing fourth and 11th for sixth overall.
2017 FIM Motocross World Championship
MXGP of Russia
Orlyonok Circuit
Orlyonok, Russia
Results: June 11, 2016 (Round 10 of 18)
MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:07.381; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:19.520; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:24.095; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:35.592; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:48.462; 6. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Honda), +0:57.494; 7. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Suzuki), +0:58.944; 8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:59.378; 9. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +1:00.574; 10. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +1:10.577
MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), 35:15.906; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:14.954; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +1:19.867; 4. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +1:32.476; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +1:44.577; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +2:10.809; 7. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Suzuki), +2:15.047; 8. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +2:27.387; 9. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), -1 lap(s); 10. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), -1 lap(s)
MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 45 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 38 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 36 p.; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 34 p.; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 34 p.; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 33 p.; 7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 30 p.; 8. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, SUZ), 28 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 24 p.; 10. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 23 p.
MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 381 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 334 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 333 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 291 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 261 p.; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 261 p.; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 242 p.; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 233 p.; 9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 223 p.; 10. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 202 p.
MXGP Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 414 points; 2. Husqvarna, 354 p.; 3. Yamaha, 344 p.; 4. Honda, 337 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 334 p.; 6. Suzuki, 217 p.
MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), 36:17.027; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:02.099; 3. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:05.608; 4. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Suzuki), +0:30.777; 5. Bas Vaessen (NED, Suzuki), +0:33.877; 6. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:34.998; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:35.367; 8. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Yamaha), +1:49.785; 9. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +1:52.532; 10. David Herbreteau (FRA, Kawasaki), +2:12.487
MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), 36:56.146; 2. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +2:32.284; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), -1 lap(s); 4. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), -1 lap(s); 5. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), -1 lap(s); 6. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Yamaha), -2 lap(s); 7. Ben Watson (GBR, KTM), -2 lap(s); 8. Magne Klingsheim (NOR, Kawasaki), -2 lap(s); 9. Iker Larranaga Olano (ESP, Husqvarna), -2 lap(s); 10. Giuseppe Tropepe (ITA, Husqvarna), -3 lap(s).
MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 42 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 39 p.; 3. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 37 p.; 4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 29 p.; 5. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 28 p.; 6. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, SUZ), 28 p.; 7. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), 26 p.; 8. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 26 p.; 9. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 24 p.; 10. Ben Watson (GBR, KTM), 23 p.
MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 414 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 369 p.; 3. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 317 p.; 4. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), 308 p.; 5. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 294 p.; 6. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 230 p.; 7. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 225 p.; 8. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, SUZ), 199 p.; 9. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 184 p.; 10. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 174 p.
MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 458 points; 2. Suzuki, 384 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 373 p.; 4. Yamaha, 339 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 260 p.; 6. Honda, 157 p.; 7. TM, 111 p.
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