It was the CP377 Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Christophe Pourcel who took the victory, while defending MX1 champion Antonio Cairoli took second overall, at the Italian Motocross Grand Prix at Fermo at the weekend, round three of the world championships.

 

Just as they had the week earlier when finishing 1-2 at the Bulgarian GP, the two Kawasaki’s of Pourcel and Gautier Paulin provided the drama in the first MX1 race, with the official Kawasaki Racing Team (KRT) bike of Paulin trailing his fellow Frenchman until two laps to go after Pourcel stalled his bike in a slow turn.

Paulin passed Pourcel and looked sure to win, until he too ran wide on the final lap allowing Pourcel to re-take the lead three turns from the flag and win the race.

Crowd favourite Cairoli (Red Bull KTM) was third after starting fifth on the first lap.

In race two, Cairoli took the holeshot from Pourcel, as Paulin went down in the first turn. The Bulgarian GP winner would make it back to sixth to finish fourth overall in the Grand Prix.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki rider Clement Desalle, of Belgium, was third for the whole race and this would be good enough for him to take third overall in the GP.

The challenge for the lead from Pourcel never materialized and despite being hit in the face from a stray rock, the Kawasaki rider never quite managed to get close enough to Cairoli, who secured the second race win in front of a packed Fermo circuit.

Second place in the race was good enough for Pourcel to record his first Grand Prix victory of the season, while Cairoli’s race win was good enough for second overall on the GP. Desalle was third.

 

MX2 CLASS

In race one, Dutch rider Jeffrey Herlings got his Red Bull KTM off to the best start to lead all twenty laps from start to finish, winning comfortably from his team-mate Jeremy Van Horebeek.

The star of the show though was Michael Leib on the Monster Energy Yamaha, who worked his way from 15th on lap one to record a solid third to secure his first ever podium finish in a FIM MX2 World Championship race.

The big news in race one was that both Team Floride Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki riders Tommy Searle and Joel Roelants failed to finish; Roelants with a big crash, while Searle’s bike stopped a few laps from home after sustaining damage in a first-lap collision.

The second race saw both Searle and Herlings crash at turn one, with Searle buried at the bottom of the pile.

Leib, who was riding with a damaged knee from race one, found himself leading for 13 of the 16 laps before being caught and passed by both Herlings and Searle, who came from 11th and 30th respectively.

Herlings won the Grand Prix with two race wins, Leib was an emotional second, and Van Horebeek was third overall.

Words courtesy Paul Malin

RESULTS:

MX1 class:

MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 40:45.152; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:00.807; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:10.841; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:45.920; 5. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:46.277; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:49.834; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:57.051; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:59.812; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:04.282; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +1:07.930.

MX1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:48.505; ; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:09.147; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:15.265; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:20.222; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:31.310; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:42.169; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:54.334; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:02.716; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +1:05.010; 10. Dean Ferris (AUS, Kawasaki), +1:06.052.

MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 47 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 38 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 37 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 31 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 25 p.; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 23 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 20 p.

MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 133 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 116 p.; 3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 106 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 105 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 95 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 76 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 72 p.; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 69 p.; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 69 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 62 p.

MX 2 Class:

MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 40:06.301; 2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:16.652; 3. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), +0:21.834; 4. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:27.065; 5. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:34.091; 6. Harri Kullas (FIN, Suzuki), +0:36.761; 7. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:40.763; 8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:43.712; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:48.831; 10. Nikolaj Larsen (DEN, Suzuki), +1:03.412.

MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:49.655; ; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:03.234; 3. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), +0:17.454; 4. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:28.991; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:32.368; 6. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:34.819; 7. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:40.922; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), +0:57.391; 9. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:04.357; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, Suzuki), +1:16.502.

MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), 40 p.; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 30 p.; 5. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 26 p.; 6. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 7. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 23 p.; 9. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 22 p.; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), 22 p.

MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 144 points; 2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 114 p.; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 109 p.; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 85 p.; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 80 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 78 p.; 7. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 73 p.; 8. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 69 p.; 9. Harri Kullas (FIN, Suzuki), 65 p.; 10. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), 61 p.