Published on 26 July 2015

Guillod the man in MX2!

Chaos is almost defining the 2015 FIM MX2 World Championship with all of the fastest riders facing some sort of adversity and one point or another. The championship leader Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings will not line up again this year, which has left the championship wide open.

Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube’s Valentin Guillod looked super fast all weekend with his super smooth and flamboyant style ironing out a lot of the gnarly bumps here in Loket. Despite crashing a number of times, the Swiss rider bounced back on every occasion to go 1 – 2 for his third overall victory of the season.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass brightened the atmosphere under the orange awning with his impressive third and fourth place finishes for second overall. “I didn’t expect to be on the podium this weekend because it is hard pack and a lot of guys are fast on the hard tracks, but I put in a lot of work in the winter with Stefan Everts and it’s paying off,” Jonass said in the post race interview.

Last year’s MX2 grand prix of the Czech Republic winner was Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jordi Tixier. Tixier was fast yesterday; he set the fastest time in timed practice but required stitches after a crash in the qualifying race. Despite the hurt, Tixier handled it like a pro and landed on the third step of the podium.

Meanwhile Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Benoit Paturel and Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Petar Petrov each put in season best performance to round out the top five in that order.

In other news, Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Max Anstie and Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser added to the MX2 mayhem this weekend with their bittersweet performances. Anstie put in a phenomenal ride in race one for a convincing victory but crashed out of the lead in race two when his hand came off of the handlebars on the approach to the waves which saw him hit the deck hard, whereas Gajser DNF’d the first race after coming together with Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Jeremy Seewer but bounced back for second place in race two.

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), 35:30.895; 2. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:02.493; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:04.887; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:14.885; 5. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:19.002; 6. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:25.674; 7. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:27.789; 8. Roberts Justs (LAT, KTM), +0:39.944; 9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:41.393; 10. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), +0:45.660.

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), 33:51.527; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:06.630; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:17.841; 4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:19.020; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:21.207; 6. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:22.043; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:22.646; 8. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:25.050; 9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:28.311; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:45.160.

MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 47 points; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 38 p.; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 36 p.; 4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 34 p.; 5. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 30 p.; 6. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 27 p.; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 25 p.; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 24 p.; 9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 24 p.; 10. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 22 p.

MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 423 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 399 p.; 3. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 399 p.; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 389 p.; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 370 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 369 p.; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 337 p.; 8. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 305 p.; 9. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 256 p.; 10. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 236 p.

MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 569 points; 2. Kawasaki, 533 p.; 3. Yamaha, 460 p.; 4. Honda, 440 p.; 5. Suzuki, 369 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 314 p.; 7. TM, 61 p.