Quick thoughts: British GP – success!
A big congratulations are in order to organiser Steve Dixon and the MXGP crew for rescuing the event after storm Jorge threatened to ruin the opening round of the year! The naysayers were out in force but had to eat humble pie on Sunday when the track was in perfect condition and full of technicality for the riders – and even the weather finally played ball! Steve mentioned it was the first round for the British GP or no British GP at all, well it proved a good decision to go for it and everyone involved can be proud of their efforts. Matterley Basin is one of the best tracks on the calendar with a little bit of everything to challenge the riders, and even with all the rain and wind, the track still came out the winner.
Quote of the weekend was without doubt Jeffrey Herlings and things you never thought you would hear the four-time world champion say! “I don’t even want to win every single race and the good thing is I’ve already lost a moto!” It is a remarkable quote given Herlings history of wanting to dominate his rivals but the Dutchman talked a lot about being smarter coming into the year but he proved it on Sunday. He didn’t go all out to pull a big lead in race one then was being content with second in race two to win the overall. Maybe 2020 is the year Herlings really rides with the big picture in mind.
MX2 depth. Despite a number of riders being forced up in 2020 to MXGP the MX2 class was really, really strong at the first round of the year. The teenagers from EMX2 are in and they are fast, Hofer and Haarup to name but two are showing they are the real deal and the MX2 regulars now smell the scent of victory with Prado out. With three teenagers on the podium, the next generation are coming and everyone is confident and hopeful this can be their year and no-one is giving an inch. Three new fast Aussies are also in the mix to join a finally healthy Jed Beaton, the class is stacked and it should provide some great racing throughout the year.
Quality overload in MXGP. At times you just had to laugh at the amount of elite riders in MXGP! The names in 20th to 30th are just ridiculous and it’s amazing that so much quality won’t even get points week to week. It’s almost not fair on them! As my Gatedrop colleague, Andy McKinstry, told me yesterday, ‘the top thirty in MXGP are all warriors.’ That just about sums it up, these boys are fighting tooth and nail just to get points now and anyone that does, deserves huge respect.
The elite mark their territory early. Despite two crashes in race one for Tim Gajser, a more careful Jeffrey Herlings and a riding injured Tony Cairoli, the three big title contenders all made the podium on the tricky and technical rutted circuit for the first round of the championship. Despite all the drama during the weekend, the best still found a way to put themselves in position to go for the title. Even Jorge Prado kept himself in it with a tenth overall on a track that certainly wasn’t ideal for guy fresh off a broken femur.
Article: Jonathan McCready
