MXGP Race Report From Latvia

By Stephen St. Pierre

Photos Courtesy of MXGP

The FIM Motocross World Championship has now completed 6 of the 18 rounds and each weekend we have been treated to some fabulous racing action. Round 6 saw riders being kicked and bucked all over the rough and technical sand circuit – Zelta Zirgs in Kegums, Latvia. Again we saw rookie sensation Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gasjer on the top spot of the podium winning his fourth overall this season and pulling within one point of Romain Febvre in the championship standings.

After winning the first moto, Gasjer’s victory this weekend was made even more impressive when he went down hard in a rough, wavy section on lap 2 of the second moto, and charged back from outside the top twenty to make a pass on the last lap to put him into fourth place and give him the points he needed for the overall. Gajser is the only rider to have finished on the box at every round this season. He now trails Febvre in the championship by 1 point and still tops all the stats with 3 qualifying race wins, 108 laps led, 6 race wins, 4 grand prix victories and 6 podium appearances.

Red Bull KTM’s Antonio Cairoli is in second place on the laps led chart this season with 39. The Italian finished 2-2 on the day for second overall and took the Fox Holeshot in Moto 1. He was close to getting his first victory since last year’s MXGP of Great Britain, but ended up being nudged down to second place when Tim Gajser collected two more points on the day with his last lap pass on Rockstar Husqvarna’s Max Nagl. Right after the race, the 8-time World Champion said, “I’m not happy about my performance because I’m missing some speed after fifteen minutes; I know I am back and I want to win, I want to win soon.”

Monster Energy Yamaha’s Romain Febvre looked frustrated after his fifth place finish in race one but was able to channel that energy into the second moto where he bounced back for the win. He came up one point short of Gasjer for the overall but leaves Latvia with the red plate still on his Yamaha. “We changed my bike completely in the second race and I feel like I was riding like I know how in the second moto so I am happy about that, and I am happy to be on the podium again,” he said.

Rounding out the top 5 were Monster Energy Yamaha’s Jeremy Van Horebeek and Rockstar Husqvarna’s Max Nagl who were tied with 38 points. Nagl got the Fox Holeshot in the second moto but went down when Gasjer high sided right in front of him on the second lap. Van Horebeek’s third place finish in Moto 2 was the tie breaker, earning him fourth overall for the day.

MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 43 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 41 p.; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 38 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 38 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 27 p.; 7. Christophe Charlier (FRA, HUS), 26 p.; 8. Ben Townley (NZL, SUZ), 22 p.; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 21 p.; 10. Milko Potisek (FRA, YAM), 20 p.

MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 260 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 259 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 213 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 203 p.; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 200 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 197 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 143 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 142 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 121 p.; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 116 p.

It seems the only person that can stop MX2 Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings is the man himself. The “Bullet” continued his winning ways this weekend taking the qualifying race on Saturday then winning both motos on Sunday by over thirty seconds, lapping more than half the field. All season the Dutch rider has had great starts but even if he doesn’t get the Fox Holeshot like he did in Moto 2, it never takes him long to grab the lead. While a lot of riders struggled with the roughness of the circuit, Herlings just got stronger and faster. “I’m back, I’m feeling strong and I’m just trying to get the best out of myself. It’s six out of six wins this weekend and I hope there will be many more to come,” he said after his win in the final race.

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Anstie finally caught a break! The British racer has been fast all season but has been faced with all sorts of adversity, from random off-track excursions through to mechanical failures. Anstie took the Fox Holeshot in Moto 1 on route to a pair of second place finishes to claim his first podium of the year. “It was a great weekend for the team and me,” Max Anstie said. “I’ve demonstrated a good turn of speed in several races this year, but have just never put it together for consistent finishes. This gives me a lot of confidence for the upcoming races.”

Team Suzuki’s Jeremy Seewer kept his podium streak alive with a third overall finish this weekend. The Swiss rider has earned podium finishes in every MX2 GP this season except for the season opener in Qatar where he finished fourth. Seewer continues to have a firm hold on second place in the Championship standings, and after Herlings has been the most consistent rider in MX2 this year.

Finishing in the top 5 were Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Petar Petrov who had to bounce back after a crash in race one where he passed a bunch of riders to finish sixth; he finished fourth in race two for fourth overall. After spending the last two months recovering from shoulder surgery, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dylan Ferrandis made an impressive return this weekend in the demanding conditions here in Latvia for fifth overall.

MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 44 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 38 p.; 4. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 33 p.; 5. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 31 p.; 6. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 28 p.; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 27 p.; 8. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 25 p.; 9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 24 p.; 10. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), 22 p.

MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 300 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 230 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 193 p.; 4. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 165 p.; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 163 p.; 6. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 154 p.; 7. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 133 p.; 8. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 132 p.; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 126 p.; 10. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 110 p.

Round 7 – The MXGP of Germany will take place next weekend May 7th-8th. All races can been seen live on MXGP-TV.com