Thailand MXGP Preview

By Stephen St Pierre

Thailand will play host to round 2 of the FIM World Championship this weekend and for the first time the event will take place on the Suphan Buri track which is located a couple of hours north west of Bangkok. The competitors will be on a level playing field as the track was built new, specifically for this event and is very different from last year’s jumpy circuit which some riders described as being “supercrossy”. The new track is said to be quicker with less jumps, a much better flow and soil that is described as being intermediate to hard-ish. American Ryan Villopoto won this event last year 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 the Italian round forced him out of the series and led to his retirement.

While the new track will challenge the teams as they look for the proper setup as well as tire selection perhaps the biggest factor this weekend will be the heat as temperatures are expected to be in the 38-40 degree Celsius range. Last year’s event was contested in brutal heat which forced the organizers to shorten the second moto by 5 minutes as many riders fell victim to the high temperatures.

Reigning MX2 World Champion Tim Gasjer aboard his Gariboldi Honda surprised everyone last weekend going 1-1 at the season opening MXGP in Qatar. Gasjer’s decision to move to the premier class and not defend his MX2 title was not without controversy but the 19 year old Slovenia born rider was quick to show that he is ready to compete with the big boys. He will have his work cut out for him this weekend in Thailand as he struggled with the heat there last year and was unable to compete in the second moto. “I will do my best, and not think about what happened last year in Thailand. I will drink more water and just enjoy myself. I know that it will be really hot”.

The defending MXGP world champion, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre has always done well in Thailand. Over the last three years he has landed on the podium twice in MX2 and just missed it here in the MXGP class last year. The Frenchman had only one pre-season race under his belt due to a cut right arm and it showed in Qatar. During his post-race interview he spoke of having arm-pump in the first moto and a small crash in the second after over-jumping that resulted in him going 3-2. It was still Febvre’s fourteenth consecutive MXGP podium.

One year ago Ryan Villopoto won the final race of his career in Thailand.

Red Bull KTM’s Tony Cairoli was another rider who was using Qatar to see where his fitness was at. The Italian rider who is going for his seventh MXGP title broke several ribs in a training accident in January. After the race he admitted that he lacked strength through the left side of his torso to properly grip the 450SX-F but almost made the podium finishing 4-6 for fifth overall. Cairoli has had a lot of success in Thailand where he has never finished off the podium. The Italian legend has won twice here and is arguably one of the fittest riders in the class. He hasn’t had a top 3 overall in his last eleven MXGP appearances with his most recent being a third place at the MXGP of France last year. This weekend’s forecast of high heat could play in his favor.

The Far East has always been good to MX2’s opening round winner Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings who has never been challenged nor beaten there. After getting the win at the MXGP of Qatar where Team Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dylan Ferrandis was the only rider to come close to matching his speed for an entire race, the Dutchman is likely only going to pick up more momentum in Thailand.

As for Ferrandis, the Frenchman admitted his pre-season set-up wasn’t perfect and there was still a bit of work to do to get his bike to where he needs it to be. The Kawasaki rider returned to Europe after Qatar where he was able to get in another couple of days of riding and testing in the hope of returning to Thailand with a better set-up in order to challenge Herlings.

Qualifying will take place on Saturday with the race being held on Sunday. Canadian viewers can watch the race live on MXGP-TV.com but with the time zone difference will have to get up very early.