By Stephen St.Pierre
Photos Courtesy of MXGP
The MXGP riders took to the all-new Suphan Buri track in Thailand in 40+ degree temperature for their qualifying race to determine gate picks for the second round of the world championship series. This is the fourth year the FIM World Championship has visited Thailand and the Suphan Buri circuit is the third one they have used in this country. Although this racetrack is said to be an improvement over last year’s venue, the track itself is very flat with an intermediate to hard pack surface and a series of man-made jumps. The FIM World Championship has become the most varied motocross series in the world as riders and teams visit every corner of the globe and must deal with a wide range of track types, varied climates and different cultures. American Ryan Villopoto won this event last year going 1-3, which turned out to be his only victory in the MXGP class and the last one of his career as an injury he sustained at Round 4, the MXGP of Trentino, while battling with Clement Desalle forced him out of the series and eventually into retirement.
Qualifying races are held the day before and each class has one 25 minute moto to determine gate picks. In the MX2 class, Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings, who landed in Thailand only 24 hours before hitting the track and had only 3 hours of sleep, wasted no time getting into the lead as he grabbed his first holeshot of the season and led the entire race. By the end of the 13 lap moto the Dutchman was 20 seconds ahead of French rider Benoit Paturel and took the pole position. Paturel, aboard his Kemea Yamaha, rode an impressive race passing both Italian Samuel Bernardini aboard a factory TM and Red Bull KTM mounted Pauls Jonass on his way to a second place finish. British rider Max Anstie aboard his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna finished in third after a couple of passes late in the race. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dylan Ferrandis, who finished second in Qatar and who has been tagged as the biggest competition for Herlings, separated his shoulder during qualifying. The Frenchman tweeted after the race that it happened “In the waves section without crashing,” and forced him to withdraw from the GP and onto a flight home for further evaluation.
In the MXGP class, New Zealand’s Ben Townley, who came out of retirement and replaced Team Suzuki’s Clement Desalle (Desalle moved to Monster Energy Kawasaki for 2016), bumped his way into the lead in turn 2 and held off the challenges of both reigning MXGP champion Yamaha’s Romain Febvre, and 7-time MXGP Champion, Red Bull KTM’s Antonio Cairoli. Townley held the lead for the entire race finishing 3 seconds ahead of Febvre and 5 ahead of Cairoli giving him pole position for only the second time in the premier class, the first being back in 2005. After the race, Townley admitted to perhaps pushing too hard. This could have an effect tomorrow as the extreme heat will continue all weekend. Belgium’s Jeremy Van Horebeek aboard his Monster Energy Yamaha finished fourth and last weekend’s first time MXGP winner in Qatar and the reigning MX2 world champion Tim Gajser of Slovenia rounded out the top 5.
Perhaps the biggest news of the day were the comments made by Townley in his post-race interview when he said the following, “Coming to these tracks, they are just not good enough. You’re going to hear honest and open from me. Qatar and here isn’t the pinnacle of our sport. We are the MXGP, the best riders in the world, and these guys can’t sit here and honestly say it is an amazing place to ride a motorcycle. We are in a flat
paddock in the middle of nowhere. He went on to say, “I tried to get a GP in New Zealand and we would have been there this weekend or the following weekend. You guys would have the best event on the entire calendar if you came to New Zealand. That is where the culture shock is for me; to be here and in conditions like this. This, in my opinion, is not good enough for the sport. I’m glad I got the opportunity to say that here today. We get told to not put the sport in disrepute, but this is the best championship in the world. I think that it deserves better.”
His post-race comments didn’t go unnoticed by Youthstream President Giuseppe Luongo, the company that manages the exclusive television, marketing and promotional worldwide rights of the FIM Motocross World Championship. Luongo held a press conference following Townley’s to announce that MXGP will be heading to Indonesia in 2017, 2018 and 2019. He also did not hold back on his opinion on what the New Zealander had just said. “I am very disappointed. It is not the way for a professional rider to talk in a press conference like this; I never say something when a rider finishes fifteenth, sixteenth, eighteenth or twentieth place, because he is not fast. I cannot say it is sh*t, it is not good and so on.”
“The people here make a big effort to make the track. The weather conditions are very hot; in Thailand it is very hot. The riders know it is very hot, they have to come here prepared for this kind of track. If they want to be World Champion, they have to show they can be fast everywhere. The people on the track work day and night to make it the best condition, and, frankly, the track is much better than last year.
“Also to say that Qatar was sh*t and this was sh*t, when a rider is not fast I do not say they are sh*t. I have to respect their work and they have to respect the work of the organizers if they want to be professional. I am very, very disappointed and I have already spoken to Suzuki about it. If Ben Townley wants a change of work, I will employ him to come and make the track for us.” I am pretty sure you haven’t heard the end of this one.
The extreme heat on race day took its toll on the track as riders had to deal with a rock hard surface with blue groove and extreme ruts. That didn’t stop defending MXGP World Champion, Monster Energy Yamaha’s Romain Febvre from sweeping both motos and capturing the red plate going into Round 3. The Frenchman combined good starts with his smooth riding style and great throttle control to a convincing 1-1 performance and the maximum 50 points. While it took him 13 laps to grab the lead in Moto 1, he got there by the second corner of Moto 2 and led the entire race.
Rookie sensation Gariboldi Honda rider Tim Gajser proved that his victory in Qatar was no fluke finishing 3-5 for second overall as he took advantage of his competitors’ mistakes and mechanical problems. The rookie Slovenian pilot scored 36 points, and coupled with his win last weekend in Qatar holds down second place in the championship.
Rounding out the top 3 was Febvre’s teammate, Belgian Jeremy Van Horebeek who’s 5-4 finishes gave him 34 points and earned him the last spot on the podium. Van Horebeek is off to a good start in 2016 after finishing fourth in Round 1 and appears to be back in form after a difficult 2015 campaign where expectations were high after his runner up finish in the 2014 championship.
Team Honda’s Evgeny Bobryshev had two rather uneventful motos going 4-7 for fourth overall and 32 points. He inherited fourth place in the first moto when pole sitter Team Suzuki ‘s Ben Townley crashed out on lap nine and after starting eight in Moto 2 could only gain one spot.
Red Bull KTM’s Antonio Cairoli looked good this weekend, posting the fastest lap of the day, and started well in both motos. He led 12 of 19 laps in the first moto before being passed by Febvre and finished less than 3 seconds behind the winner. A stalled motor while up front on the first lap of Moto 2 put him outside of the top 20. He was able to fight back to finish twelfth giving him 2-12 finishes for the day, 31 points, and fifth overall.
Notable performances were put in by both Team Suzuki’s Ben Townley and Rockstar Husqvarna’s Max Nagl of Germany. After neither rider finished the first moto, Townley, who won the qualifying race, finished second in Moto 2 only 6 seconds behind the winner and less than 2 seconds ahead of the German in third.
Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings’ first moto Fox Holeshot and wire to wire win was a sign of what we might expect to see a lot of in the MX2 class this season. His perfect record thus far this year shows his determination at putting the last two seasons behind him where he threw away his chances at the championship with costly mistakes that resulted in season ending injuries. He won both motos easily, aided by the absence of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dylan Ferrandis who finished second in Qatar and suffered a shoulder injury during qualifying. Herlings, who has been nicknamed “The Bullet,” picked up 50 points and already has a 26 point lead after only 2 rounds. This was Herlings’ forty-ninth GP win, which means he will be vying for his fiftieth at his home GP in the Netherlands at the end of the month.
With Ferrandis out of the race, second place went to Team Suzuki’s Jeremy Seewer whose 3-3 finish earned him his first podium of the year and the best finish of his career. The Swiss rider has been fast at both races this year and the 40 points he earned in Thailand puts him second overall for the championship.
Taking the last spot on the podium was Russia’s Aleksandr Tonkov aboard his Wilvo Standing Construct Yamaha living up to his reputation as a top 3 guy. The 40 points he earned by going 2-4 on the day was enough to tie him with Seewer with the Swiss rider getting the nod for finishing ahead of Tonkov in the second moto. His third place finish in Thailand puts the Russian in third for the championship only 4 points back of second.
Rounding out the top 5 were Benoit Paturel aboard his Kemea Yamaha who qualified second and finished 4-6 for fourth overall and 33 points, and Red Bull KTM’s Latvian Pauls Jonass whose 9-5 finishes gave him fifth for the day and 28 points. Paturel fought an epic battle for third place with Tonkov in Moto 1, and had to regroup in the second moto after making a mistake on the start and fighting back all the way to fourth until eventually fading back to sixth. Jonass had a huge crash in Moto 1 when he locked bars with TM Racing’s Samuel Bernardini and went down hard remounting to finish ninth. The KTM’s Jonass then pulled off the Fox Holeshot in the second moto but eventually faded back to fifth.
Notable performances were put in by Max Anstie aboard his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna who finished second in Moto 2 after starting tenth. Anstie crashed hard early in the first moto going off the track and through the UFO billboard then retired on lap 8 with a mechanical issue. His teammate, USA’s Thomas Covington, was fifth in the first moto but failed to finish Moto 2.
Round 3, The MXGP of Europe, will take place at the Valkenswaard Circuit in the Netherlands on March 28th. You can watch the race live on MXGP-TV.com