Belgium’s Clement Desalle and young Dutchman Jeffrey Herlings were the top two individuals at the weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix at Agueda.

For MX1 class rider Desalle it was his first GP win of the season, while, for Herlings, the MX2 class outright win further stamped his authority on the class as he extended his championship lead.

Suzuki rider Desalle went 1-3 and obtained his third MX1 class overall victory in a row in Portugal, while Frenchman Gautier Paulin and Italy’s defending MX1 world champion Antonio Cairoli were second and third respectively.

KTM’s Herlings was the overall winner in MX2, but Britain’s Tommy Searle managed to win the second heat and was on the second step of the podium. Jeremy Van Horebeek is still struggling with his foot injury, but he managed to squeeze onto the podium in third overall.

Desalle won the first MX1 moto with more than a six-second advantage over Frenchman Christophe Pourcel, but he could only be third in the second race.

The Belgian rider admitted that he was a bit disappointed with his performance in the second heat, because he had lost too much energy in the beginning of the heat, as he had a bad start and had to push really hard to catch the leading group. Desalle will travel to his home Grand Prix second in the point standings.

Second overall was Kawasaki Racing Team’s Paulin after he finished fourth in the first heat and won the second moto.

At the start of the first race, Paulin hit his pipe with another bike and the pipe went on the radiator and made his Kawasaki machine very hot by the middle of the race. The French rider was satisfied with the fourth position in the first moto and for being again on the podium thanks to the victory of the second heat.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Cairoli was third in the first moto and he was about to win the second heat, which would have given him the overall victory. The current leader of the series rode really close to Paulin during the last three laps of the second heat and in the very last lap the Italian managed to overtake Paulin. However, Cairoli could not keep the lead and had to settle down with the second position, which gave him third overall for the Grand Prix.

The fourth overall position went to CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Pourcel, who took the holeshot in both motos but he could not win either of them.

In the first heat the French rider finished second behind Desalle, and in the second race he was able to lead the first half of the race but he then made a mistake and he went down to the third position. In the end Pourcel crossed the finish line fourth and finished fourth overall in the Grand Prix. The French rider is now fourth in the Championship, one point behind Gautier and four points behind Desalle.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Ken De Dycker completed the top five thanks to double fifth positions in the races. The Belgian rider did really well, taking into account that he started from the very outside, as he had the last gate pick today due to his DNF in the qualifying race the day before.

France’s Xavier Boog did not have an easy first moto because he got stuck behind a crash at the start and had to break hard in order not to crash. The French rider put a lot of effort to move from 16th to seventh and such extra effort left him with without energies to battle in the second moto. Boog was eleventh in the second race and he finished sixth overall of the Grand Prix.

Home rider Rui Gonçalves leaves his home Grand Prix disappointed after not having been able to finish on the podium. In the first moto the Portuguese got stuck behind Italian  David Philippaerts and Tanel Leok’s crash at the start and he was only able to finish 14th, whereas in the second race he got a better start and he crossed the finish line sixth, which gave him the overall seventh position.

Spain’s Jonathan Barragán had a good start in the first moto and he ended sixth, but he crashed in the second heat and ended 14th, eighth overall of the Grand Prix. Leok and Philippaerts completed the top 10.

Russian Evgeny Bobryshev did not finish the first moto because his bike stopped while he was riding 11th. In the second heat he finished seventh and he ended 16th in the Grand Prix.

In the MX2 class, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Herlings obtained his fifth Grand Prix victory of the season after going 1-2 in his two races.

The Dutch rider had a good start in the first moto and he crossed the finish line with a comfortable 24 seconds advantage over his team-mate Van Horebeek. In the second race he had another good start and led most of the heat, but with just three laps to go he got stuck with a lapped rider and was down to second. Herlings was finally second, but he got the overall for the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Searle admitted that the first moto was a nightmare for him; firstly it took him a while to find a good rhythm and, by the time he was catching Van Horebeek, he had a problem with the clutch adjuster.

He admitted that he was trying to adjust his clutch in the wrong way, so at some point he thought about getting off his bike and walk back, but he tried hard again and managed to finish third. In the second heat everything went better for the British rider, and although he rode second most of the heat, he overtook Herlings with just two laps to go and won the second race.

Third overall was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Van Horebeek, thanks to his 2-6 result.

Portuguese Grand Prix results:

MX1 Race 1 top 10:

1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 40:04.024; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.155; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:16.903; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:23.550; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:41.323; 6. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), +0:43.183; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:45.298; 8. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:13.177; 9. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), +1:16.143; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +1:16.869.

MX1 Race 2 top 10:

1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 39:04.520; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:00.484; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:25.785; 4. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:29.957; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:31.550; 6. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:33.435; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:38.248; 8. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:43.679; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:48.689; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:50.250.

MX1 Overall top 10:

1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 45 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 43 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 40 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 24 p.; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 22 p.; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), 22 p.; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 21 p.; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 21 p.

MX1 Championship top 10:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 295 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 258 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 255 p.; 4. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 254 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 211 p.; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 190 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 185 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 171 p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 156 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 142 p.

MX2 Race 1 top 10:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:10.276; ; 2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:24.395; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:34.653; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:38.290; 5. Valentin Teillet (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:44.211; 6. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:50.077; 7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:58.699; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +1:02.894; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), +1:07.030; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), +1:28.511.

MX2 Race 2 top 10:

1. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 40:43.230; ; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:20.811; 3. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), +1:14.010; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:22.077; 5. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +1:24.427; 6. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +1:55.160; 7. Mel Pocock (GBR, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 8. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), -1 lap(s); 9. Harri Kullas (FIN, Suzuki), -1 lap(s); 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s).

MX2 Overall top 10:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 47 points; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 45 p.; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 37 p.; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 31 p.; 5. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 28 p.; 7. Mel Pocock (GBR, Yamaha), 24 p.; 8. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), 20 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 19 p.; 10. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 18 p.

MX2 Championship top 10:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 317 points; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 293 p.; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 268 p.; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 204 p.; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 191 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 187 p.; 7. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 175 p.; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), 129 p.; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 126 p.; 10. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 125 p.

Photos courtesy Suzuki