After 11 of 18 rounds, the MXGP and MX2 motocross world championships are starting to settle down and we have two riders dominating the respective grades, Tim Gajser and Jeffery Herlings.

The riders head to round 12 in Lombardia, Italy, this weekend, the GP of Mantova, where we expect both red plate holders, Honda Gariboldi’s Gajser (pictured here) and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Herlings, to further strengthen their claims on the 2016 titles.

New Zealand’s Ben Townley is currently 15th overall after a patchy season dogged by illness and injury, but he will be keen also to move up in Italy.

The 31-year-old former MX2 world champion crashed his Suzuki in the first MXGP race at last week’s British GP, but bounced back to finish 12th in the next race.

It’s interesting to note that Gajser is only 19 years old, that’s two years younger than MX2 hero Herlings, and it already seems easy to forget he is still a rookie in the premier class.

Up until last weekend, the racing between Gajser and the defending MXGP World Champion, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre, had been mind blowing. Their determination to win races encouraged both of them to ride so close to the edge it made you squint in awe as you watched them and the insane speed they ride at. Even some of the most famed and successful riders in the world such as Antonio Cairoli and Max Nagl, just to name a couple, were left scratching their heads. Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev even said, “I don’t know how they are going so fast, I have to check because I couldn’t catch them.”

Unfortunately, Febvre’s championship chase took a massive blow last weekend with a concussion in the qualifying race forcing him out of the main events.

As a result, he lost 50 points to Gajser, who blew everyone out of the water once again with a double moto win. Yamaha put out a statement last weekend saying that Febvre will not race in Great Britain and Italy, which is a massive shame since Mantova was a track that saw Febvre take a double victory last season. With that said, Cairoli will probably jump to second place in the standings this weekend, since he is now only three points shy of the champ.

As for the track, it made its first appearance on the world-stage back in 1991 where American Trampas Parker won. It since has hosted eight rounds of the FIM Motocross World Championship. Cairoli has won three grand prix’ here, two in MX2, and one in MXGP, in years 07, 08 and 2010. Last year’s MXGP winner was Febvre, while in MX2 it was Britain’s Max Anstie.

This weekend, the eighth round of the European Championship EMX250 will also take place, as will the sixth round of the European Championship EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing.

The FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship will return to Mantova for the first time since 2008 with the fifth round of the 2016 series taking place this weekend too.

© Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

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Championship standings:

MXGP Championship Top Ten:

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 482 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 408 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 405 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 378 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 367 p.; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 321 p.; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 242 p.; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 212 p.; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 204 p.; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 201 p.

MX2 Championship Top Ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 547 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 399 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 370 p.; 4. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 298 p.; 5. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 293 p.; 6. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 273 p.; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 258 p.; 8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 244 p.; 9. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 242 p.; 10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 209 p.