MXGP – Cairoli and Herlings wins at French GP

Saint Jean d’Angely woke up this morning with some intimidating clouds, but in the end it held off for the main events. The crowd present in the French track witnessed one of the best Grand Prix of the season with superb racing in both MX1 and MX2 classes, where Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings were the overall winners.

Although Antonio Cairoli was the clear dominant of the MX1 class, the crowd specially followed with enthusiasm the battle for the top five positions, where at some point it was disputed among eight riders. In the end, Christophe Pourcel and Gautier Paulin were second and third overall.

In the MX2 class Jeffrey Herlings and Tommy Searle shared the moto wins, but it was the Dutch who took the overall because the Brit was third in the first race and Herlings was second in the last moto. Jeremy Van Horebeek completed the podium having his left ankle injured.

MX1

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Cairoli admitted that yesterday he did not feel as comfortable as usual on his KTM, but they changed some settings of the bike and today the Italian felt much better. He had two good starts and he kept the lead until the chequered flag in both motos. At the moment, Cairoli is leading the series with 39 points advantage over Christophe Pourcel, who is now second in the championship.

CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Christophe Pourcel was very satisfied with the second overall position, having previously admitted that Saint Jean d’Angely was not one of his favourite tracks. The French rider did not have good starts in any of the heats and had to fight hard to make the moves up to the front. However, in the first heat, Pourcel succeeded in obtaining the second position in the opening lap, but by the end of the race his compatriot Paulin overtook him. In the second race Pourcel started from an initial sixth position and he had to give his best to finish second and claim the second step of the podium.

The third place was for Kawasaki Racing Team’s Paulin, who did an incredible first race going from ninth to second. In fact, he imposed an incredible rhythm by the end moto and Cairoli had to push harder in order to keep the lead. In the second moto the Kawasaki rider did not have a good start either, but he was already second in lap ten. However, a mistake in a downhill made him lose a lot of time, as well as three positions. In the end, Gautier crossed the finish line third and completed the podium being tight in points with Pourcel.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Desalle was affected by some personal circumstances this weekend, which prevented him to be fully focus for the Grand Prix. However, once he was on the bike he gave the best of himself as he normally does. In the end, Desalle went 5-4 and he obtained a final fourth position.

Kawasaki Racing Team’s Boog completed the top five of his home Grand Prix thanks to his 4-7 result. The French rider took the holeshot of the first heat, but he could not keep the lead and he actually went down to fourth in the first lap. Boog was able to overtake Gonçalves, but Christophe Pourcel overtook Boog by the end of the race. In the second heat, Boog did not have a good start and he was only able to finish seventh.

Philippaerts struggled with the start in the first moto and he was only able to cross the finish line tenth. But in the second race the Italian started at the front behind Cairoli and his teammate Frossard. However, Philippaerts could not keep that position and he crossed the finish line fifth, which gave him the overall sixth position.

The French crowd was able to see the comeback of Frossard, after he had struggled a lot in the previous three Grand Prix. Frossard finished eighth in the first moto and he did an incredible start in the second heat. In fact, he was even able to overtake Cairoli and led the second race during four laps. In the end, Frossard could not keep that rhythm and he finished eighth, seventh overall in the Grand Prix.

MX1 Race 1 top ten:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 38:29.928;
2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.258;
3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:14.964;
4. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:17.382;
5. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:21.858;
6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:23.566;
7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:27.154;
8. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), +0:30.296;
9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:30.832;
10. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:41.517;

MX1 Race 2 top ten:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 38:51.915;
2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:04.043;
3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:10.331;
4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:14.353;
5. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:16.055;
6. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:21.310;
7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:21.501;
8. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), +0:24.767;
9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:29.120;
10. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:45.782;

MX1 Overall top ten:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points;
2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 42 p.;
3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 42 p.;
4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 34 p.;
5. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 32 p.;
6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 27 p.;
7. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 26 p.;
8. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 25 p.;
9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 25 p.;
10. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 24 p.;

MX1 Championship top ten:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 253 points;
2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 214 p.;
3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 213 p.;
4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 212 p.;
5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 179 p.;
6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 169 p.;
7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 161 p.;
8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 154 p.;
9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 134 p.;
10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 121 p.;

MX2

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Herlings was very satisfied with the overall victory this weekend because he had never had a podium finish in Saint Jean d’Angely. The Dutch rider led the first heat from beginning to end, but in the second one he struggled a little bit with his start. However, after nine laps, Herlings was already second, but Searle had checked out and the Dutch had to settle down with the second place.

Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Tommy Searle admitted that he did not made the best gate pick in the first moto and he had to fight from an initial twelfth position until a well deserved third place. In the second heat he had a really good start and although he started behind Tonus, Searle made the move during the third lap and he kept the lead until the chequered flag. Searle was second overall, two points behind Herlings.

The third overall position was for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Van Horebeek thanks to his 2-3 result. The Belgian did a superb performance taking into account that he was riding with his left ankle injured due to an accident he suffered during the warm up. During the second moto, he hit his foot again against the ground, so he could not improve his third position.

Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Roelants had some problems with the start of the first heat, as well as his teammate, Searle. The Belgian started from the eighth position, but he succeeded in finishing fourth, the same result he obtained in the second heat. Roelants ended fourth overall in the Grand Prix.

Home rider Tixier completed the top five thanks to his 6-5 result. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider had really good starts; in fact, he took the holeshot of the second heat. However, the French rider was not able to keep the pressure from the rest of the riders and had to settle down with the fifth overall result.

Teillet went from sixth to fourth in the first heat, but he then made a mistake and dropped down one position. In the second heat he was only able to finish ninth, which gave him the final sixth position. His teammate Ferrandis did not take part in the races today because he injured his wrist yesterday during the qualifying heat. Tomorrow Ferrandis will have more scans done on his wrist to determine the seriousness of the injury.

MX2 Race 1 top ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 38:43.782;
2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:08.542;
3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:20.337;
4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:30.338;
5. Valentin Teillet (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:32.786;
6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:40.229;
7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:41.359;
8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:42.563;
9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:52.544;
10. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +1:01.570;

MX2 Race 2 top ten:

1. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 38:42.069;
2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:03.695;
3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:04.651;
4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:05.462;
5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:22.371;
6. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:37.195;
7. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), +0:37.856;
8. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:44.540;
9. Valentin Teillet (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:02.571;
10. Petar Petrov (BUL, Suzuki), +1:08.058;

MX2 Overall top ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 47 points;
2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 45 p.;
3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 42 p.;
4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 36 p.;
5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 31 p.;
6. Valentin Teillet (FRA, Kawasaki), 28 p.;
7. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 24 p.;
8. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 23 p.;
9. Petar Petrov (BUL, Suzuki), 19 p.;
10. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), 18 p.;

MX2 Championship top ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 270 points;
2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 248 p.;
3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 231 p.;
4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 188 p.;
5. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 160 p.;
6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 159 p.;
7. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 144 p.;
8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), 118 p.;
9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 110 p.;
10. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 107 p.;