MX2 & MXGP: Who impressed in Valkenswaard?
MX2
Things are going incredibly well for Pauls Jonass at the moment. He was flying all weekend long at Valkenswaard and took both moto wins for the overall victory. This year is definitely the best he has ever rode in his career. His KTM is a rocket out of the gate and that is certainly helping. Before the start of the season the biggest question mark was if Pauls would be able to handle the pressure of being one of the favourites for the championship? So far, so good as he has a nice nineteen points advantage in the championship standings. Next up is his home GP in Latvia where he will have his home crowd behind him.
With a full winter preparation behind him Brent Van Doninck was one to watch out for in the MX2 World Championship this year. So far he has been consistent but he got back on the box in the sand of Valkenswaard which shouldn’t be too surprising as he is always fast there. He is struggling with his starts as he crossed the line down in sixteenth after lap one in the first moto. He charged through the field and salvaged a fifth in the first moto. He had a better start in the second moto in the top ten and he came through to third to end up third overall. If he can improve his starts then he can definitely podium on a hard pack track, that should be the next target for the Belgian.
Another rider struggling with his starts is Calvin Vlaanderen. He ended up fifth overall but had the speed to push for a podium on his HSF Logistics KTM. Vlaanderen is starting to really step it up at the last few GP’s and if he can continue to do so then it might not be long until he can get himself on the box. He currently sits eleventh in the championship standings but there’s no reason why he can’t get himself into the top ten before the end of the season.
It hasn’t been an easy start to the season for Aussie rider, Hunter Lawrence but he finally put his potential together to have a good GP in Valkenswaard. A solid tenth in race one was already an improvement from his recent GP’s but he bettered that in the second moto to finish a very good fifth place. That is progress for the rookie who is still adapting to life in the MX2 class after moving up from EMX250 but that will help his confidence moving forward.
A shout out to Brian Hsu who showed some very impressive speed in the sand this weekend. This is only his second GP of the year so he is behind the other GP regulars who have more races under their belt. He finished fifth in the qualifying race which meant he had a good gate for the main races. In the first moto he was in fourth before he crashed with another rider and that meant he didn’t score any points. In the second moto he had a great start and was in second for half the race before he started to fade. He also crashed but ended up in sixth. Once he gets more races under his belt he might just be the surprise package at the remaining GP’s.
MXGP
What a weekend it was for Gautier Paulin as he became the fourth winner in the MXGP series in 2017. He grabbed the holeshot in the first moto and was under intense pressure pretty much the entire moto but he showed true grit and determination to hold on for the moto win. He started the second moto in fourth, he needed to pass Van Horebeek to clinch the victory and he did it on lap twelve. He also found his way around Bobryshev, then had Herlings all over his rear wheel but he held on for second to take the GP victory. He had a tough time on the HRC Honda but the Frenchman is flying on the Husqvarna and seems to be getting better. He has now won with four different manufactures – Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and Husqvarna which is pretty impressive.
It hasn’t been an easy start to the season for Jeffrey Herlings but finally he looks to be getting back on form and improving. One area he seriously needs to improve though are his starts as they just aren’t good enough. In the first moto he was just inside the top ten at the start and got himself into third by the end of the moto. In the second moto he had a much worse start as he was around fifteenth but he got back into seventh by the end of the first lap, that was an incredible first lap. Again, he had to settle for third which gave him second overall, it’s certainly progress! With a weekend off that gives him plenty of time to test and improve for Latvia where he should be even better, if he can improve his starts he could battle for the win.
We are definitely seeing a new Jeremy Van Horebeek this year and he looks great! In the first race he started in fifth and got himself into second behind Paulin, at the finish line it was less than a second! He was sitting in third in the second moto which would have gave him the overall but he was sick after Mexico and it affected him during the second moto in Holland. He didn’t look good on the podium which was a shame. If that didn’t affect him then he definitely could have won the GP. He will be hoping that he’s 100% in Latvia where he will hope to be at least on the podium again.
What a weekend it was for Arminas Jasikonis battling with the best riders in the world all weekend long. The big Lithuanian went fifth and seventh in the moto’s on his Factory Suzuki. In the first moto he was less than six seconds behind the race winner! This will give him a lot of confidence, watching him reminded me a lot of watching a young Ken De Dycker!
Pics: Nigel McKinstry
