Italian defending world MX1 champion Antonio Cairoli and German superstar Ken Roczen each strengthened their grip on the MX1 and MX2 world titles respectively at the weekend, at the tenth round of 15 in the world championships in Latvia.

The fifth round of the UEM EMX2 Championship was also staged at Kegums, Latvia, with Estonian Priit Rätsep dominating both heats, ahead of Stefan Olsen and Romain Febvre, who were second and third respectively.

MX1 CLASS

It was a perfect weekend for Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Cairoli after winning Saturday’s qualifying race and both of Sunday’s MX1 heats. The Italian felt very comfortable on the track and he admitted that the changes they made on it favour his riding and helped him obtain his first double victory of the season.

Monster Energy Yamaha’s Steven Frossard was on the second step of the podium thanks to two solid second places. At the beginning of the first race, Frossard struggled a lot due to some arm pump problems, but by half of the heat, he felt better, moved up three positions and he crossed the finish line just 3 tenths of a second behind Cairoli. In the following race, Frossard obtained a solid second place.

The changes done on the Latvian track did not really suit Honda World Motocross’ team rider Evgeny Bobryshev, but he still managed to obtain a third overall position. During the first race, Bobryshev rode second until the last lap of the race, when the Russian could not hold Frossard’s pressure, as Bobryshev felt dizzy due to the heat. In the second race, Bobryshev started fourth behind Belgian Clement Desalle, and when the Belgian made a mistake, the Russian took the third position until the chequered flag.

His team-mate Rui Gonçalves rode solidly and he obtained an overall fourth position thanks to his 7-4 result. The Portuguese has been struggling in the last GP due to a problem in his blood, but his Sunday’s performance proved that Gonçalves is almost fully fit again to finish among the top five riders of the series.

Monster Energy Yamaha’s Davide Philippaerts obtained a solid fifth place in the first race, and after a bad start in the second heat, he succeeded in moving from an initial 17th position up to a final fifth place. The Italian is still sixth in the MX1 point standings, but Gonçalves is just one point behind him.

The sixth overall position was for German Max Nagl, who did an excellent first race finishing fourth behind Cairoli, Frossard and Bobryshev, but he crashed at the beginning of race two and crossed the finish line in the tenth position.

Belgian Ken De Dycker achieved a final seventh overall position after finishing sixth and ninth respectively. The Belgian seems to have some problems with his starts, but he then recovers some positions and finishes among the top ten classified riders. The next GP he will ride home, so he is looking forward to finishing higher up in the races.

His compatriot Steve Ramon started 18th in the first race and crossed the finish line in the 10th position. The Belgian had a good start in the following heat and thanks to his sixth position, he obtained an overall eighth place.

Desalle was not lucky this weekend in Latvia, and although racing among the top five riders during both heats, he finished ninth overall. In the first race, Desalle touched Frossard’s rear wheel and went down to the ground and in the second heat, he made a mistake and crossed the finish line eighth.

Estonian Tanel Leok was only 12th in the first race, but he did an incredible second race finishing seventh and he completed the top 10 of the Latvian GP.

The best Latvian rider in the MX1 class was Ivo Steinbergs, classified 23rd after his 19-20 result.

MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:16.295; 2. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), +0:00.347; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:03.150; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:04.608; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:25.846; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:30.979; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:32.517; 8. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:42.908; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:51.153; 10. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:51.555.

MX1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40:14.909; 2. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), +0:05.972; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:17.125; 4. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:20.181; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:24.390; 6. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:25.439; 7. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +0:27.268; 8. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:39.859; 9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:43.339; 10. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:46.707.

MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 44 p.; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 40 p.; 4. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 32 p.; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 32 p.; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 27 p.; 8. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 26 p.; 9. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 26 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), 23 p.

MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 416 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 374 p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 370 p.; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 334 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 311 p.; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 282 p.; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 281 p.; 8. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 229 p.; 9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 228 p.; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 215 p.;

MX2 CLASS

Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Roczen dominated both heats with great authority, but in the second one his team-mate Jeffery Herlings managed to lead five laps. Roczen felt very comfortable this weekend in Kegums and he is now leading the championship with a 27 points advantage over Herlings.

The Dutch rider crashed in the first race, but he came back with an incredible rhythm and crossed the finish line third, behind Roczen and Searle. Herlings rode right behind Britain’s Tommy Searle during the last laps, but the British rider managed to keep the second position until the chequered flag. In the second race, Herlings took the lead in the third lap, but he could not stand Roczen’s pressure and had to settle down with the second position and the second step of the podium.

CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Searle obtained a final third position after finishing second and third respectively. Searle admitted that he is still having some difficulties to fight for the holeshot with Roczen, but he was satisfied with his performance in Kegums, as he managed to make very good lap times.

After missing the top five positions in the last GP, CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Max Anstie succeeded in finishing fourth overall, ahead of American Zach Osborne. Anstie had the same problem as his team-mate Searle and he also struggled with his starts. However, he finished fifth and fourth respectively.

Bike-it Cosworth Wild Wolf Yamaha’s Osborne was fourth at the start of race one, but he quickly dropped some positions and finished seventh. In the second heat, Osborne had a very bad start but he managed to cross the finish line in the fifth position, which gave him the overall fifth.

Finnish Harri Kullas was not feeling comfortable lately on his Yamaha machine, but this weekend he recovered his confidence as he obtained an overall sixth position after finishing ninth and sixth.

Valentin Teillet finished seventh behind Kullas in the overall classification and he impressed everybody, as he managed to ride third during the first eight laps of the second race. The French rider has worked really hard to recover himself from his shoulder injury, so today’s result is an important compensation for the French rider’s efforts.

Gautier Paulin did not have a good weekend in Latvia and missed very important points for the chase of the Title. The French rider did a very good start in race one, but he finished eighth due to an early crash in the second corner of the heat. In race two Paulin crashed again and hurt his shoulder, but he crossed the finish line tenth and obtained an overall eighth position.

Jake Nicholls did an incredible first race, going from an initial 22nd position to a final 12th place and in the second heat he got a solid eighth position and finished ninth ahead of home rider Kullas.

Swiss rider Arnaud Tonus finished fourth in the first heat, but he got a DNF in the second one, as one of his rear wheel spokes broke when he was riding fifth.

Jeremy Van Horebeek decided not to take part in the races because he was in pain after the crash he suffered in Teutschenthal last weekend.

MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), 39:00.838; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:10.995; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:16.150; 4. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:20.418; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:26.496; 6. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, KTM), +0:37.072; 7. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +0:39.118; 8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:40.202; 9. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), +0:41.608; 10. Valentin Teillet (FRA, Suzuki), +1:02.232.

MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), 40:24.762; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:13.947; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:18.712; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:19.082; 5. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +0:37.594; 6. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), +0:52.396; 7. Valentin Teillet (FRA, Suzuki), +1:00.394; 8. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +1:14.291; 9. Matiss Karro (LAT, Honda), +1:16.269; 10. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +1:17.747.

MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 42 p.; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), 34 p.; 5. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 30 p.; 6. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 27 p.; 7. Valentin Teillet (FRA, Suzuki), 25 p.; 8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), 24 p.; 9. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Matiss Karro (LAT, Honda), 18 p.

MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), 446 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 419 p.; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 370 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), 343 p.; 5. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 295 p.; 6. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), 274 p.; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), 249 p.; 8. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 224 p.; 9. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, KTM), 207 p.; 10. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 170 p.

UEM EMX2

The big surprise of the UEM EMX2 series was Priit Rätsep, who arrived in Kegums being 16th of the Championship and dominated both races with an incredible rhythm. The Estonian will have to prove his talent in the deep sand track of Lommel in two weeks time, where Dylan Ferrandis will hopefully be back at the starting grid.

Second overall was Stefan Olsen from Denmark, who obtained two solid second positions, always ahead of new championship leader Romain Febvre. The French was back on his bike after a long break after the Spanish round, as he had been recovering from his left ankle injury suffered in Portugal.

Charles Lefrançois lost the leadership of the championship, as he could only finish tenth overall.

The 11th round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place in two weeks’ time during the 31st July weekend in the deep sand track of Lommel, Belgium, where it will also take place the penultimate round of the UEM EMX2 championship and the fourth round of the FIM Veterans World Cup.