Romain Febvre wins again and takes the MXGP points lead in Germany after Max Nagl suffers an injury.
Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre continued his forward drive to the top of the victory rostrum and into the FIM MXGP World Championship points lead on a slick Talkessel motocross circuit at the Grand Prix of Germany, round 10 of the FIM Motocross World Championship, in Teutschenthal, Germany, Sunday.
The German round marked the talented Frenchman’s third consecutive MXGP victory, and it allowed him to take the series points lead away from Germany’s Max Nagl, who was unable to compete after suffering an ankle injury during Saturday’s qualifying race. In MX2, Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser claimed his third MX2 win of the year.
Febvre finished a strong second in Saturday’s qualifier, and he used that to his advantage to round the first turn second, Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna rider Dean Ferris at the start of the first moto on Sunday. Febvre dogged Ferris on the first lap and then took control on lap two, pulling clear of Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev for the moto win. Febvre didn’t get as clean a start in moto two, but he had the pace to pass his way up from seventh place, becoming part of a four-rider battle that included injured the still-injured World Champion Antonio Cairoli, Ferris and Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin. Febvre worked his way into second place after Paulin took the lead from Ferris, and he tried to pass Febvre a few times, to no avail. Febvre then backed off and made sure that he made no mistakes to finish second and claim the overall win. More importantly, he is now the MXGP series leader.
“Having the red plate is really nice but this is the 10th GP and there are still 16 motos to go,” Paulin said. “There is something like 400 points still up for distribution, so we need to keep consistent. Dean [Ferris] was difficult to pass today, and in the second moto we had a nice battle with Gautier [Paulin], but I knew I needed second to win the GP, so I made sure of that until the end. We had a lot of crashes this weekend, and this is not only because of the riders but the track preparation. They put too much water on the track before our race. We need to take risks for nothing. We have the red plate…but there are eight GPs to go and anything can happen…like we saw this weekend.”
Paulin looked as smooth and as fluid as ever on his way to his third race win of the season in moto two, which combined with his third-place finish in moto two to net him second overall.
“It’s great to be up front again,” Paulin said. “I have a great feeling when I ride like this, and I really enjoy the bike. For sure it’s fun for me to be back up here again.”
The battle for third was so close that it ended up being decided in a tiebreaker among Rockstar Energy Suzuki’s Kevin Strijbos, Bobryshev and Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Jeremy Van Horebeek. Strijbos, who is still on the rusty side after missing half the season due to a wrist and thumb injury, rode an inspired race, passing his way into third place late in moto two to secure third place via 5-3 moto finishes. Van Horebeek claimed fourth overall, ahead of Bobryshev, who had to play catch-up throughout the second moto after crashing in turn one.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Cairoli, put in another gritty performance despite his debilitating hand injury, coming away seventh overall, and that result could prove to be crucial as he is still third in the MXGP points—and a healthy Cairoli is a dangerous Cairoli, especially with so many points still up for grabs.
Honda Gariboldi’s Gajser is carrying some serious momentum in MX2 at the moment, as his third win of the season has vaulted him into second in the MX2 championship standings, although he still 100 points behind series leader Jeffrey Herlings. Gasjer was careful on the throttle at Talkessel, and he came away with the first-moto win. Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Max Anstie won moto two, but Gasjer was better than the rest, finishing second to land the overall win. Anstie’s second-moto win was crucial as it tied him on points with Swiss rider Valentin Guillod of the Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube team. Despite finishing eighth in the first moto, Anstie’s second-moto win gave him second overall ahead of Guillod, who finished third overall despite putting together the better package with 2-5 moto scores.
The FIM World Motocross Championship will now take a break for one week but will reconvene at Uddevalla for the Grand Prix of Sweden on July 4-5.
FIM Motocross World Championship
Grand Prix of Germany
Talkessel
Teutschenthal, Germany
Results: June 22, 2015 (Round 10 of 18)
MXGP Overall
1. Romain Febvre (FRA)-Yam/1-2
2. Gautier Paulin (FRA)-Hon/3-1
3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL)-Suz/5-3
4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL)-Yam/4-4
5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS)-Hon/2-7
6. Dean Ferris (AUS)-Hus/7-5
7. Shaun Simpson (GBR)-KTM/6-9
8. Christophe Charlier (FRA)-Hon/8-10
9. Antonio Cairoli (ITA)-KTM/14-6
10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED)-Suz/9-12
FIM MXGP Series Points Standings (After 10 of 18 rounds)
1. Romain Febvre-369
2. Maximilian Nagl-360
3. Antonio Cairoli-352
4. Gautier Paulin-324
5. Evgeny Bobryshev-306
6. Clement Desalle-291
7. Shaun Simpson-227
8. Jeremy Van Horebeek-194
9. Todd Waters-192
10. Glenn Coldenhoff-169
MX2 Overall
1. Tim Gajser (SLO)-Hon/1-2
2. Max Anstie (GBR)-Kaw/8-1
3. Valentin Guillod (SUI)-Yam/2-5
4. Jordi Tixier (FRA)-Kaw3-6
5. Julien Lieber (BEL)-Yam/5-4
6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI)-Suz/12-3
7. Pauls Jonass (LAT)-KTM/6-7
8. Benoit Paturel (FRA)-Yam/7-8
9. Brian Bogers (NED)-KTM/9-11
10. Henry Jacobi (GER)-KTM/10-10
FIM MX2 Series Points Standings (After 10 of 18 rounds)
1. Jeffrey Herlings-398
2. Tim Gajser-298
3. Valentin Guillod-297
4. Pauls Jonass-288
5. Jordi Tixier-286
6. Jeremy Seewer-275
7. Aleksandr Tonkov-256
8. Max Anstie-248
9. Julien Lieber-243
10. Dylan Ferrandis-205
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