Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac showed up to the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday night and smoked the MXGP regulars while Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Cooper Webb went 2-1 en route to a double American win at the Monster MXGP of Americas.
The penultimate round of the 2016 FIM Motocross World Championship also saw the crowning of both class champions, as Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gasjer of Slovenia clinched the premier MXGP title in his rookie season after finishing fifth in Moto 1. In MX2, Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings regained the title he was forced to relinquish in 2014 after suffering a serious leg injury at a charity race even though he suffered his first overall defeat of the season [in a straight-up battle on the track] to Webb.
MXGP
The penultimate round dodged a major bullet after a tropical storm blew into the area on Friday, forcing the qualifying moto to be scratched. Instead, the results of Saturday’s timed practices would be used to set the gate selection order for both classes. Tomac dominated the sessions in the MXGP class to earn the first gate pick for the Grand Prix motos, which were held under the lights.
Tomac was unstoppable as he led every lap of Moto 1, pulling away from Autotrader/Monster Energy/Yamaha’s Justin Barcia to win the moto by over 22 seconds. Barcia came in second, with Monster Energy Yamaha’s Jeremy Van Horebeek finishing as the top series regular after crossing the finish line third, just under 2 seconds behind Barcia.
Gasjer came through in a steady fourth place to become the first rider since South Africa’s Greg Albertyn to claim back-to-back World Championships in two different classes when Albertyn won the 125cc World Championship in 1992 and then claimed the 250cc World Championship the very next season. Gasjer has enjoyed a stellar 2016 season that includes seven overall wins, 15 moto wins and 15 overall podium finishes in 17 rounds.
Moto 2 was more of the same for Tomac, who appeared to be extremely comfortable on the fast Charlotte track. With the pressure to land the MXGP title off his back, Gasjer was free to let it all hang out, and he kept Tomac honest, finishing just 5 seconds behind the American superstar. Red Bull KTM’s Glenn Coldenhoff finished third in the moto.
The Charlotte win marked Tomac’s first career FIM Motocross World Championship victory.
“When I saw the water yesterday I thought the track was going to be a sloppy mess, but it turned out perfect,” Tomac said. “The dirt was as good as you can get for the type of dirt it was. I liked the track. It was a lot of fun, and the racing was a lot of fun, so I look forward to Glen Helen next week.”
Gasjer’s 2-4 finishes netted the newly crowned FIM MXGP World Champion second overall, while Van Horebeek earned his second MXGP podium of the season after finishing third overall via 3-5 finishes. Coldenhoff finished fourth overall, and Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing’s Clement Desalle finished fifth overall ahead of Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev, who was debuting the 2017 Honda CRF450R works bike at Charlotte.
MX2
Herlings was strong enough in Moto 1 to net the MX2 World Championship, but it didn’t come without a fight from 2016 AMA 250cc National Motocross Champion Webb and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner, who were visiting the series on their home turf. Herlings got off to a decent start as Forkner took the lead after teammate Adam Cianciarulo crashed hard just a couple turns away from the start. Forkner held the lead for the first nine laps of Moto 1 before crashing himself. Herlings was able to find the pace to get past both men on lap 10, however, and he held Webb off to claim the moto win and clinch the title that he would likely have earned last season if he had not been injured.
Forkner once again had the hot throttle hand in Moto 2, and he once again led the race for a long time—14 laps to be exact. Herlings ran second for just as long, but a motivated Webb was charging his way through the pack after getting off to a 19th-place start, and his momentum carried past Herlings on lap 15. One lap later, Webb also dispatched Forkner to land his first career FIM World Championship moto win and overall win. Herlings also got past Forkner to finish second and easily secure second overall.
Behind them came a pair of Americans, one a series visitor and the other the sole American representative in the World Championship. Forkner netted third overall via 3-3 finishes while Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Thomas Covington enjoyed a solid fourth overall via 4-4 moto finishes. HSF Logistics Motorsports Calvin Vlaanderen of the Netherlands finished fifth overall.
The World Championship series moves on to Southern California, wrapping up its 18-race tour at Glen Helen Raceway.
2016 FIM Motocross World Championship
The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte, North Carolina
Results: September 3, 2016 (Round 17 of 18)
MXGP Overall
1. Eli Tomac (USA)-Kaw/1-1
2. Tim Gajser (SLO)-Hon/2-4
3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL)-Yam/3-5
4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED)-KTM/6-3
5. Clement Desalle (BEL)-Kaw/5-7
6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS)-Hon/11-4
7. Romain Febvre (FRA)-Yam/9-6
8. Jordi Tixier (FRA)-Kaw/7-8
9. Max Nagl (GER)-Hus/10-9
10. Justin Barcia (USA)-Yam/2-32
2016 FIM MXGP World Championship Series Points Standings (after 17 of 18 rounds)
1. Tim Gajser-693*
2. Antonio Cairoli-603
3. Maximilian Nagl-565
4. Romain Febvre-549
5. Evgeny Bobryshev-522
6. Jeremy Van Horebeek-513
7. Glenn Coldenhoff-382
8. Clement Desalle-372
9. Valentin Guillod-335
10. Shaun Simpson-322
*Clinched series championship
MX2 Overall
1. Cooper Webb (USA)-Yam/2-1
2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED)-KTM/1-2
3. Austin Forkner (USA)-Kaw/3-3
4. Thomas Covington (USA)-Hus/4-4
5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED)-KTM/5-8
6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI)-Suz/10-5
7. Mitchell Harrison (USA)/9-7
8. Max Anstie (GBR)-Hus/6-10
9. Benoit Paturel (FRA)-Yam/11-6
10. Brian Bogers (NED)-KTM/8-11
2016 FIM MX2 World Championship Series Points Standings (after 17 of 18 rounds)
1. Jeffrey Herlings-689*
2. Jeremy Seewer-595
3. Benoit Paturel-485
4. Max Anstie-473
5. Pauls Jonass-403
6. Dylan Ferrandis-378
7. Brian Bogers-372
8. Samuele Bernardini-358
9. Petar Petrov-351
10. Aleksandr Tonkov-320
*Clinched series championship
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