Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Words by Stephen St.Pierre
The MXGP World Championship circus is flying across the Atlantic for this weekend’s fourth round in South America at the Villa la Angostura circuit in Patagonia, Argentina, a racetrack used last year after the GPs returned to Argentina for the first time since 1995. Getting to the location is quite a feat as riders and teams must fly into the capital city, Buenos Aires, drive through the city to board another flight to the town of Bariloche, and then jump in a vehicle for the long commute to the racetrack. The long trip is well worth it as the location is one of the most scenic on the calendar nestled in beautiful greenery and surrounded by the dramatic peaks of the Andes Mountains. As if the scenery isn’t enough, the track has been called a motocross rider’s paradise with a dark, soft, sand-like soil that looks like it has plenty of traction. The track was very well received last year for its wide flowing layout combined with its huge variety of jumps and obstacles, its many line options and places to pass. Add all this up and throw in the very passionate and loud Argentinian fans, a weather forecast of clear skies and 20 degrees Celsius, and this should prove to be a great weekend of racing.
When the race was held here last year it was the third round and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto had just won his first GP in only his second race at Round 2 in Thailand. His confidence must have been quite high as he lined up for the qualifying race and it showed as he turned in what may have been his best performance ever in the MXGP class. He started seventh and then proceeded to pass all the top guns and finish second behind Red Bull KTM’s Antonio Cairoli, pulling right up onto the back fender of the 8-time World Champion on the last lap of the qualifying race. Villopoto finished fourth overall that weekend; none of us knew then that that would be last time the American multi-time champion would post a top 10 result as a crash in the second moto at the next round in Italy would put an end to his brilliant career.
Current red plate holder and reigning MXGP Champion, Monster Energy Yamaha’s Romain Febvre, will be looking for a better result than his seventh place finish here last year. If his performance at the last round, the MXGP of Europe in Valkenswaard, where he passed both his teammate Jeremy Van Horebeek and Antonio Cairoli on the last 2 laps to win the overall, is any indication of how he is riding he should be looking to finish on the podium. Meanwhile, MXGP rookie and reigning MX2 World Champion, Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser, has quickly shaken his underdog status with three race wins in his last six motos. The 19-year-old Slovenian has landed on the box at every round so far this year and will be out to keep that streak going this weekend.
As for last year’s MXGP of Patagonia, Argentina winner, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Max Nagl, who may not have had the best start to his 2016 season, turned that around at the last round in Valkenswaard where he won the qualifier and finished the weekend on the second step of the podium. During the press conference after the race, Nagl mentioned how excited he was to return to Argentina and how much he enjoys the track here. Team Suzuki’s Ben Townley didn’t make the trip and will miss Round 4 suffering from a virus he caught before Easter.
MXGP Championship Top 10: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 137 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 124 p.; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 107 p.; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 104 p.; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 100 p.; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 84 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 80 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 79 p.; 9. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 63 p.; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 55 p.
Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings has been absolutely perfect this year winning all 6 motos in the MX2 class. The “Bullet” has won races all over the world in many different countries but Argentina is not one of them. Last year Herlings won both pole position and the qualifying race by a country mile but threw away his chances at the overall when he had a spectacular mid-air crash in the first moto which left his KTM mangled. He did manage to get the bike ready for Moto 2, which he won, and is probably as close as you can get to a sure thing to win this weekend, but as we saw last year anything can happen.
Herlings’ KTM teammate Paul Jonass and Team Suzuki’s Jeremy Seewer are tied for second in the world championship standings and are both coming off good finishes in Valkenswaard. They had good results in Argentina last year both finishing on the podium, Jonass in second and Seewer taking the third spot. Expect a good battle between the two of them as they both would like to leave Patagonia in second place in the standings. Last year’s winner, Team Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dylan Ferrandis, took advantage of Herlings’ first moto DNF to take the win, his first overall win in the MX2 class. Ferrandis is still recovering from shoulder surgery following an injury incurred in Thailand at Round 2 this year.
MX2 Championship Top 10: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 150 points; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 112 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 112 p.; 4. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 91 p.; 5. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 78 p.; 6. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 76 p.; 7. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 75 p.; 8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 60 p.; 9. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 60 p.; 10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 59 p
Qualifying races will be held on Saturday the 9th with the GP following on Sunday the 10th. All races can been seen live on MXGP-TV.com
