What a start to the season it’s been for Italian revelation, Mattia Guadagnini. The Italian missed out on the EMX250 title last year but he’s put that well and truly behind him. After surprising everyone at Maggiora by winning his first Grand Prix, he proved it wasn’t a fluke at Loket by winning the second Grand Prix of his career – he’s the first rider to win more than one MX2 GP overall so far this year which is incredible for a rookie.
The Italian got a great start in moto one and set a very high pace at the front to end up comfortably winning. In moto two he came home in fifth and 1-5 was enough to take the overall. In the championship chase he’s only two points behind the lead and it’s all to play for. Italian fans will be very excited with Guadagnini’s development – they could be darkhorses at the MXoN later in the season.
After a disaster of a start in the first moto things weren’t looking to good for Maxime Renaux but the Factory Yamaha MX2 rider showed amazing speed and had no problems making plenty of passes – at a track that was difficult to overtake on. The French rider was nineteenth on the first lap but charged his way through to fifth which was a great ride – he was probably the fastest rider in moto one.
In moto two, Renaux made life easier for himself with a good start, more of them are required as the season progresses. The Frenchman started second and that’s where he finished to secure second overall and hold onto the championship points lead. Despite being French he’s also good in sandy conditions so he will be looking to extend his points lead at Lommel this weekend. With the experience he has, he might just be favourite for this title now.
We all know how talented, Thibault Benistant is and he’ll remember Loket forever. In his rookie year in the class, he’s already secured his first MX2 GP podium and he did it in style in that second moto. He took the holeshot and never looked back setting a high pace at the front. He never looked nervous and looked like he’s been winning MX2 moto’s for years – he’s actually a rookie!
The first moto didn’t go as well after not finding the right rhythm he came home in ninth but it also shows how deep the class is this year. 9-1 was good enough for third overall and a special day for the French talent. Now he has a podium to his name he’ll want to stand on the top box and considering he already has two moto MX2 wins to his name, he could just do that!
After a difficult start to the season, Jed Beaton looks to have turned it around. Coming into the season the Aussie was many peoples pick to surprise for a championship push but the first three rounds didn’t go according to plan. Oss was a turning point though and at Loket he had pretty good speed again.
In the first moto he rode really well to come home in third and was less than five seconds of the win so that was an encouraging moto. He didn’t quite have the same flow in race two to finish eighth but 3-8 meant he was fourth overall which was a good day. The Factory Husqvarna rider has now worked himself up to sixth in the championship and he’ll look to keep moving up the standings as the season progresses.
After an impressive weekend at Oss for Wilson Todd he built on that and had another great day at Loket – two completely different tracks so he’s starting to show his versatility. The DRT Kawasaki rider got a really good start in the first moto as he was fourth after the first lap. He kept plugging away and was picking up speed as the moto went on – he rode really well to come home in eighth.
In race two, he couldn’t replicate his start from the first moto but he was able able to make a couple of passes to finish eleventh. Tenth overall was another step in the right direction for Todd and he’ll be wanting to keep up this consistency he’s shown the past two weeks.
Podcast! Jonathan McCready and Andy McKinstry discuss last weekend’s Loket MXGP, including Gasjer’s big crash, Prado’s win and if Herlings will ride in Lommel plus Guadagnini’s impressive MX2 win! Then we move onto Washougal and Sexton’s win first win of the year plus team USA MXoN talk! Listen on iTunes here.
MXGP from the beginning
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Article: Andy McKinstry
Pics: MXGP/Infront Moto Racing
