#matterleybasin

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Jeffrey Herlings and Pauls Jonass win big in Great Britain

The 2018 edition of the MXGP of Great Britain is complete under sunny skies at the Matterley Basin circuit. Eager British fans lined the track witnessed some of the best races of the season so far and saw Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings and Pauls Jonass assert themselves as undisputed winners.

The unusually sunny British weather was scorching hot and when combined with the nearly 2,000 meter circuit provided testing but epic conditions for the world’s best motocross riders. The stadium like venue gave perfect viewing for all in attendance as the racing action kicked off.

Aside from the wild MXGP and MX2 racing the FIM Veterans Motocross World Cup was action packed with riders like last year’s winner, Martin Zerava, who won the VMX in 2014 and 2017 too, the 2 time Motocross World Champion KTM Rocket Juniors Mickael Pichon, and multi time GP winner Mervyn Anstie all joining in the racing. Saturday’s Race 1 was led from start to finish by Zerava while Pichon worked his way back to the front after a bad start while Anstie crashed out. Anstie crash looked worse than it was fortunately but a fracture to his collar bone plus some injured ribs left him out of racing Sunday. When the racing returned Sunday so too did the dominant performance from Zerava with Pichon again second for a surprising result. Finland’s Niko Kalatie rode consistent all weekend taking 2 third place finishes to round out the podium behind Pichon and back to back winner Zerava.

MXGP MXGP Race 1 started with a Fox Holeshot from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Antonio Cairoli just ahead of his teammate Glen Coldenhoff. A few spots further back was the other Red Bull KTM of Jeffrey Herlings, the MXGP points leader.

Team HRC’s Tim Gajser also had a good start and ran third after the start but by the end of the 1st official lap Herlings moved into second as Coldenhoff dropped to fifth behind the surging Clement Desalle on his Monster Energy Kawasaki.

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Romain Febvre and Jeremy Van Horebeek ran 6th and 7th with BIKE IT DRT Kawasaki’s Tommy Searle in 8th. Febvre later jumped into 5th past Coldenhoff which he held for the remainder of the race.

Searle was looking strong before a piece of plastic caught in his chain started to distract the Brit. Meanwhile Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Julien Lieber was gaining ground and with 4 laps remaining Lieber took a spot from Searle along with Wilvo Yamaha Official MXGP’s Jeremy Seewer. Searle took the 9th back when Seewer fell in a turn and lost a handful of positions before finishing fourth.

Back at the front the battle was on between Cairoli and Herlings. A bad lap and some mistakes left Herlings in a position to take the lead but Cairoli fought back and the two carried on for the next laps. With 2 laps to go Herlings dove to the inside of Cairoli and both bobbled with Cairoli going down. Herlings took the race win but Cairoli got up quickly and managed second with Gajser 3rd.

Race 2 started just the same with Cairoli taking the FOX Holeshot and Herlings around 4th with Febvre and Desalle in between. Meanwhile Gajser lost traction and had a big save in front of Pit Lane. After the first few corners Herlings was already into 2nd and chasing down Cairoli while Desalle took 3rd from Febvre.

The front two started to pull away from Desalle after a couple of laps as both were setting their fastest laps each time around. On lap 6 Desalle fell, letting both Febvre and Gajser through before remounting his Kawasaki.

Gajser then started to close on Febvre coming within passing distance several times but couldn’t make it through. As Gajser continued to try to get by Febvre it was Desalle who ended up making it past the Slovenian.

When the 2 lap board came out Herlings was still behind Cairoli by a few seconds and realized he need to make a pass for the lead. As the pair started the final lap and came down the start straight into the first turn Herlings spotted his opportunity and took the spot! Herlings’ pace on the final lap resulted in the fastest lap of the race with a 2:19.285 and gave him the race win for maximum points and the clear overall. Herlings win gave him his 100th World Championship podium as Cairoli finished 2nd and Febvre took 3rd.

Jeffrey Herlings: “I am very happy to be here in this spot and to win… we made it happen and it’s a pleasure. It was a great race, both times I managed to get the lead, the first race 2 laps until the end and in the last race it was in the last lap, it was an amazing fight and a great way to get my 100th podium.”

Romain Febvre: “I am really happy to be on the podium again as the last few weeks have been tough…”

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:58.965; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:10.188; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:14.527; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:32.384; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:47.533; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:50.591; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:58.183; 8. Julien Lieber (BEL, Kawasaki), +1:01.933; 9. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:06.611; 10. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Suzuki), +1:09.122.

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:26.698; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:01.150; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:40.145; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:42.049; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:54.266; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:58.266; 7. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:59.513; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +1:01.221; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Suzuki), +1:32.712; 10. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:39.421.

MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 36 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 36 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 36 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, SUZ), 23 p.; 8. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 23 p.; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 22 p.; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 17 p.

MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 436 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 382 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 314 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 291 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 267 p.; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 257 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 237 p.; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 207 p.; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 198 p.; 10. Julien Lieber (BEL, KAW), 162 p.

MXGP Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 447 points; 2. Kawasaki, 325 p.; 3. Yamaha, 314 p.; 4. Husqvarna, 283 p.; 5. Honda, 272 p.; 6. TM, 160 p.; 7. Suzuki, 139 p.

MX2 Much like in the MXGP class tension is building within the MX2 championship as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass and Jorge Prado each try to assert themselves as the top rider. Prado who won yesterday’s Qualifying Race by a near mile took the Race 1 Holeshot but Jonass responded before the pair excited turn 3.

While Jonass was leading and Prado held second F&H Racing Team’s Ruben Fernandez was off to a blistering start. Fernandez ran third in front of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Covington and Thomas Kjer Olsen. Fernandez held the position the first 5 laps before Covington took the spot.

On the same lap as Covington’s move forward his teammate, Olsen, was shifted back by Team HRC’s Calvin Vlaanderen. The following lap both Vlaanderen and Olsen moved Fernandez down the running order.

Things then started happening fast for the #70 of Fernandez dropping another 2 positions the next lap and 4 more after that. Olsen however found his groove again and passed Vlaanderen back and went even further forward to pass Covington. Olsen then faced a mechanical issue and was unable to finish the race while Jonass and Prado crossed the finish line followed by Covington, Vlaanderen, and Jumbo No Fear Vamo Honda’s Marshal Weltin, who had a stellar ride. Also impressive was Kemea Yamaha Official MX2 Team’s Ben Watson who after having an issue on the start came back from dead last to finish 6th.

Race 2 was another Fox Holeshot from the fast starting spaniard, Jorge Prado. Race 1 winner Jonass was behind Prado from the start but didn’t let the #61 get far away. In third was STC Racing Husqvarna’s Henry Jacobi with Olsen and Vlaanderen giving chase.

Just outside the top 5 was F&H Racing Team’s Jed Beaton in 6th but on his third time around he ejected of the uphill triple and did not finish the race. Inheriting 6th position from Beaton was LRT KTM’s Davy Pootjes.

On around lap 6 the battle for 3rd intensified between Jacobi and Olsen. Olsen went around the outside of Jacobi but the German fought back which caused him to miss his line and as Olsen tried to charge by again Jacobi slammed the door causing Olsen to go down. The battle allowed Vlaanderen to pass both and jump into third. Olsen tried to rebound from the fall but his bike again gave out forcing another DNF.

Just after the battle for third was decided Pauls Jonass charged past Prado for the lead. Meanwhile Watson was again fighting forward after another bad start and with 2 laps to go the British hero took 4th from Jacobi as Jonass won the race ahead of Prado and Vlaanderen. The overall finished the same as race 2 with Jonass on the top step, Prado second, and Vlaanderen taking 3rd for the second time.

Pauls Jonass: “Today I managed to turn it around and in the first race on the start I was just behind Prado and managed to pass him right away. I am happy to go 1-1 again and especially like this because in previous races when Jorge has got the holeshot and a lead he just pulls away, so for me it was good to catch him and pass him in the last laps today.”

Jorge Prado: “It was tough, really tough, he (Jonass) was riding really good this weekend so I did my best and I am happy with that.”

Clavin Vlaanderen: “It is really good to get back to back podiums. There is a big battle for 3rd place on the podium with about 5 guys so it is fun to battle with them, it is good racing and it’s always clean.”

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 36:21.354; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), +0:00.840; 3. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +0:49.040; 4. Calvin Vlaanderen (RSA, Honda), +0:55.651; 5. Marshal Weltin (USA, Honda), +0:59.351; 6. Ben Watson (GBR, Yamaha), +1:00.863; 7. Henry Jacobi (GER, Husqvarna), +1:01.791; 8. Jed Beaton (AUS, Kawasaki), +1:06.628; 9. Anthony Rodriguez (VEN, Yamaha), +1:10.412; 10. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Yamaha), +1:16.918

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 36:42.951; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), +0:01.294; 3. Calvin Vlaanderen (RSA, Honda), +0:38.493; 4. Ben Watson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:40.283; 5. Henry Jacobi (GER, Husqvarna), +0:54.081; 6. Iker Larranaga Olano (ESP, Husqvarna), +0:58.663; 7. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:59.296; 8. Davy Pootjes (NED, KTM), +1:07.559; 9. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +1:13.917; 10. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Yamaha), +1:23.880.

MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Calvin Vlaanderen (RSA, HON), 38 p.; 4. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 33 p.; 5. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 32 p.; 6. Henry Jacobi (GER, HUS), 30 p.; 7. Iker Larranaga Olano (ESP, HUS), 25 p.; 8. Marshal Weltin (USA, HON), 24 p.; 9. Michele Cervellin (ITA, YAM), 22 p.; 10. Anthony Rodriguez (VEN, YAM), 22 p.

MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 401 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 373 p.; 3. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 288 p.; 4. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 279 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (RSA, HON), 234 p.; 6. Jed Beaton (AUS, KAW), 216 p.; 7. Henry Jacobi (GER, HUS), 187 p.; 8. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 179 p.; 9. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 166 p.; 10. Michele Cervellin (ITA, YAM), 161 p

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Cairoli and Prado on the Gas in Great Britain

The 2018 MXGP of Great Britain is underway at the Matterley Basin circuit after today’s busy Qualifying races. Gifted with warm weather and sunshine the grass lined and hilly British track was epic today. Taking holeshots and winning their respective qualifying races by massive margins were Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli and Jorge Prado.

The circuit, which hosted the 2017 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations Presented by Fiat Professional, was in top shape today after rain earlier in the week created perfect soil. The MXGP and MX2 class where also joined by the first races of EMX250, EMX300 presented by FMF Racing, and the FIM Veterans Motocross World Cup. Regardless of the class on track the racing was always full of action!

The ultra competitive EMX250 class had 73 riders entered but taking the Saturday race win was Carglass Honda Racing’s Steven Clarke in a wild last lap pass for the lead on Tom Vialle. Winning Race 1 of EMX300 Presented by FMF Racing was one of the British favorites, Verde Substance KTM’s Brad Anderson. Anderson held on to the win against a late charge from Vaclav Kovar who took second ahead of Ashley Wilde.

In the FIM Veterans Motocross World Cup first race of the weekend Martin Zarava took full advantage of a strong start and beat out KTM Rocket Junior’s Mickael Pichon, a two time FIM Motocross World Champion.

MXGP Straight from the start Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli set a blistering pace, with the Holeshot and a clear track ahead he sprinted away from the MXGP field. Just behind Cairoli was another Red Bull KTM but instead of the usual Jeffrey Herlings chasing the #222 it was Glenn Coldenhoff. Herlings however wasn’t much further back than Coldenhoff as he sat in 4th position.

Splitting the KTM trio was Team HRC’s Tim Gajser who gave chase to Coldenhoff in 3rd. Gajser was on the back wheel of Coldenhoff lap after lap as Cairoli slipped away and Herlings dangerously lingered behind.

Running a surprisingly strong qualifying race in 5th and 6th were the two Brits of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Anstie and Bike It DRT Kawasaki’s Tommy Searle. Anstie led Searle for the first 5 laps before Anstie fell in a turn on the bottom section of the track. The fall dropped Anstie to 9th and moved Searle into 5th briefly.

Only one lap after Searle moved into the top 5 he was forced out of it by Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing’s Clement Desalle who was on his way forward from 8th on the first lap. At the same time Herlings started to charge and quickly caught the Honda of Gajser.

On lap 8 Herlings moved to 3rd and on the next lap he continued his charge to take 2nd from Coldenhoff. Cairoli however was too far gone and finished the race 20 seconds ahead of Herlings, Coldenhoff, Gajser, and Desalle.

Antonio Cairoli stated: “I’m really happy because we had again a good start which at the last race was a struggle, hopefully also tomorrow we can have another good start. I rode smooth, and really liked the track and how they prepared it today.”

Tommy Searle finished the race 7th after being passed by Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Gautier Paulin on the last lap. Searle in the press conference: “I’m feeling better after a few weeks on the bike. This weekend I feel better coming in, I’m a lot more confident in myself, and it started off well with a 7th.”

Max Anstie: “It is nice to be back in Matterley Basin, I have great memories here from the Motocross of Nations. You know I come here and everybody says I need to do the same as I did at the MXoN and it’s hard but at the end of the day I’m always going to do my best.”

MXGP Qualifying Race Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 25:51.194; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:20.021; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:24.133; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:28.038; 5. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:32.821; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:35.508; 7. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:37.473; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:44.604; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:46.521; 10. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:48.041.

MX2 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado has clearly been reading the playbook of his older teammate Antonio Cairoli as he took the Holeshot of the MX2 Qualifying Race and checked out from his competitors. Prado rode full of confidence and flow throwing whips and scrubbing jumps all while gaining time on the rest of the field.

Chasing Prado from the first turn was the MX2 points leader and his championship rival Pauls Jonass aboard another Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine. Jonass simply couldn’t match the pace of Prado and was instead in a battle of his own to hold off Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Kjer Olsen.

Olsen was followed by the British fans MX2 favorite, Kemea Yamaha Official MX2’s Ben Watson. Watson’s good start helped him to close in to within striking distance of Olsen but at about the halfway point Watson had to ride defensive because the returning Team 114 Motorsports rider Hunter Lawrence was coming up fast.

Lawrence was 7th on the opening lap but by the time he made his way to 6th he had a gap up 5th. Lawrence was able to reel in Team HRC’s Calvin Vlaanderen and made the pass on lap 6. Also coming up through the field was F&H Racing Team’s Jed Beaton after an early fall. Beaton was able to charge his way forward and pass Vlaanderen for 6th with 2 laps to go. Prado went on to take home the win with Jonass second, Olsen third, and Watson 4th.

Jorge Prado said: “I was having fun the whole time so I think that was the key for me, I was really relaxed and able to make a gap and control the race, even try some different lines for tomorrow.”

Ben Watson: “I’m quite happy with the 4th gate pick but I didn’t feel so good today, like I wasn’t riding like myself, I’m not sure if it has to do with the home GP but I’m taking it like any other race, I just want to treat it normal and have the same preparation.”