Jerffrey Herlings took his first win of the year after a stone in the back brake ignited the speed he had been missing so far this season!
Herlings was right on Gajser in 6th and putting the pressure on in race one when he had to stop to dislodge a stone in his back brake dropping him back to ninth – and from then the Dutchman unleashed speed not seen so far this year! He turned lap times no-one else on the track could match as he got himself back to sixth and was almost back to Gajser by the flag!
For race two the rain came down and Herlings gave Gajser a love tap in turn one and came out second with Gajser at the back of the top ten. Herlings rode in a safe second on a slippy, treacherous circuit for a long time behind holeshot man Coldenhoff, but took the lead with ten minutes to go to take his first win of the year and close the points right up and is only six behind Gajser now with his home GP next in the Dutch sand.
Herlings said: “I don’t know what to say! After the first moto I could never expect this, I got a rock in my rear brake, I fought my way back to sixth and the second moto everything worked out great.”
Coldenhoff took second in race two with Cairoli just getting past Jacobi for third at the end and then Jonass passing Jacobi in the last lap for fourth! Prado dropped to seventh after shadowing Cairoli in fourth for most of the race as Gajser made a late-race charge to sixth after bad start and getting stuck on a hill. But a subdued fifth in moto one and sixth in race two meant only seventh overall for Gajser just behind Pauls Jonass who once again showed he belongs in that elite company.
Romain Febvre rode fantastic in a dry first race to take an emotional win in dominating style with his throttle control superb. But it all went wrong in race two in the mud with three crashes resulting in a disappointing 12th place and fifth overall. Febvre though is still third in points and gained on Gajser with the top four in the world championship now all within 20 points!
Overall
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 40 points; 2. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 40 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 34 p.; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, GAS), 32 p.; 7. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 31 p.; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 26 p.; 9. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 22 p.; 10. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, BET), 21 p.; 11. Henry Jacobi (GER, HON), 20 p.; 12. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, KTM), 15 p.; 13. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 14 p.; 14. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 13 p.; 15. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 11 p.; 16. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, YAM), 10 p.; 17. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KAW), 10 p.; 18. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 7 p.; 19. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 5 p.; 20. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 5 p.
Championship
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 124 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 118 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 107 p.; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 105 p.; 5. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 97 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 86 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 82 p.; 8. Pauls Jonass (LAT, GAS), 82 p.; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, KTM), 69 p.; 10. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, BET), 60 p.; 11. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 45 p.; 12. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 44 p.; 13. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, YAM), 38 p.; 14. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 36 p.; 15. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 36 p.; 16. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 32 p.; 17. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 30 p.; 18. Henry Jacobi (GER, HON), 27 p.; 19. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 27 p.; 20. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 22 p
What a time to win your first MX2 GP! Mattia Guadagnini took his first ever GP win at home in Italy in one of the best tracks in the world, Maggiora, and also took the lead of the MX2 world championship in only his third round in the class in a dream day for the Italian. Guadagnini took a fine, calm second in race one behind Thibault Benistant who made it an EMX2 domination day in MX2 GP with a brilliant first moto win for the Kemea Yamaha rider -and he didn’t even look surprised after.
Race two didn’t go to plan though when he went down shortly after the start and came from last up to 14th but the overall win was gone. Guadagnini meanwhile was loving life with the lead, quickly displacing holeshot man Geerts and even though Renaux was into second quickly he had nothing for the Italian who was imperious yet again from the front to take a masterful win – and now he leads the championship and has to be considered a huge threat for this tile!
A disbelieving Guadagnini said. “I don’t know what to say, it was my dream to win my first GP in Italy. It’s crazy.”
Renaux rode well despite a crash in race one to come back to sixth and a sold second gave him second overall and perfectly placed in the championship just two points behind Guadagnini. Teammate Jago Geerts deserves a lot of credit for his podium. He got two good starts but wasn’t quite on the pace of the leaders, however he didn’t give and fought hard to keep people behind him to go 4-5 for third overall and finally a solid haul of points for the Belgian.
Ruben Fernandez rode great in race one to come through to third after a medicorce start but a crash in race two left him in panic mode and seeing a disappearing red plate. Fernandez rode aggressive but didn’t make a mistake in a strong ride through to 12th and some good damage limitation, he is still there in the championship just five points back but will rue that mistake.
It was more heartbreak for Tom Vialle, who couldn’t finish race one with his hand still too sore, and now he has to see his new teammate win and lead the championship! This is has been the toughest two weeks of Tom Vialle”s career, all the momentum over the last two years has gone – can he get it back?
Overall
1. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, KTM), 47 points; 2. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 37 p.; 3. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 34 p.; 4. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KAW), 32 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 32 p.; 6. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, KAW), 31 p.; 7. Jed Beaton (AUS, HUS), 30 p.; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 29 p.; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 26 p.; 10. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), 25 p.; 11. Andrea Adamo (ITA, GAS), 19 p.; 12. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 17 p.; 13. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 17 p.; 14. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 13 p.; 15. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, GAS), 12 p.; 16. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, KAW), 11 p.; 17. Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 11 p.; 18. Wilson Todd (AUS, KAW), 9 p.; 19. Petr Polak (CZE, YAM), 4 p.; 20. Emil Weckman (FIN, HON), 3 p
Championship
1. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, KTM), 113 points; 2. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 111 p.; 3. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 108 p.; 4. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, KAW), 105 p.; 5. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KAW), 99 p.; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 80 p.; 7. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), 79 p.; 8. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 70 p.; 9. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 67 p.; 10. Jed Beaton (AUS, HUS), 67 p.; 11. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 50 p.; 12. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 49 p.; 13. Andrea Adamo (ITA, GAS), 45 p.; 14. Wilson Todd (AUS, KAW), 42 p.; 15. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 39 p.; 16. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, KAW), 35 p.; 17. Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 30 p.; 18. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 28 p.; 19. Bastian Boegh Damm (DEN, KTM), 20 p.; 20. Lion Florian (GER, KTM), 13 p
Report: Jonathan McCready
