Can Germany’s Max Nagl and Dutchman Jeffery Herlings dominate again in MXGP and MX2 respectively when Thailand hosts round two of the Motocross World Championships this weekend?

Will Defending MXGP world champion Antonio Cairoli get himself back onto the podium? Will multi-time American motocross and supercross champion Ryan Villopoto have more of an impact this weekend than he did last weekend in Qatar?

Those questions and more will be answered in just a couple of days.

Last weekend the season opener of MXGP took place in Losail, Qatar, and Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Nagl and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Herlings made perfect starts to their 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship campaigns with double race victories.

This weekend round two series will take place at the all new track and location in Nakhonchaisri, Thailand, where intense heat and humidity will be a factor in the overall performances of the riders.

Built on a small road race circuit, MXGP’s in-house track builder (Kiwi Greg Atkins) has said the track is different to most other tracks he works with on the calendar, it will be tight and technical yet relatively fast.

Meanwhile, also taking place this weekend, and for the first time ever within Asia, the second round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship will have Team One One Four’s Livia Lancelot hoping to remain unbeaten.

Nagl will want to continue his streak of domination. Nagl is confident, his team said he has the fastest bike on the line, which can’t really be questioned after he pulled off two holeshots last weekend, followed by total domination of both MXGP races.

Meanwhile a bogging engine robbed Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s title threat Clement Desalle of a race win on Thai soil last year. This year, given everything runs well, Desalle could quite easily land on the top step of the podium.

Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin is on a mission to uncork as many bottles of bubbles as he can this year. The Frenchman is not shy in admitting he definitely prefers life on the top step and as always, he stands a good chance.

As for world MXGP No.1 Cairoli, who finished fourth overall last weekend, heat has never been an issue in the past.

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider has won four from four FIM MXGP World Championship races in Thailand.

With the track being described as ‘tight’ it may just work in favour of the eight-time FIM Motocross World Champion who is one of a handful of riders opting to race a 350cc engine over the typical 450cc.

Thailand was the start of a chain of back-to-back podiums for Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Jeremy Van Horebeek last year. The Belgian finished third overall at MXGP of Thailand in 2014 and is determined to perform just as good, if not better, this time round, so keep an eye on the blue machine with No.89.

This weekend will be very interesting for Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Villopoto, who was clearly disappointed with his performance last weekend, where he finished the day a lacklustre seventh overall.

The track in Nakhonchaisri is 100% new, which means it will be a completely even playing field for everyone racing.

Photo courtesy Ray Archer

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