The 2016 MXGP series will return to action this weekend at the old school clay track of Loket, in the Czech Republic, this weekend for the 13th round of 18 of the FIM Motocross World Championship.

With 12 rounds already in the bag, it’s a six-round race to the conclusion, starting in Loket. This is a track that made its Grand Prix debut back in 1995 and has since hosted 19 GP events.

Joel Smets, a familiar face in the paddock as the rider mentor at KTM, was the first ever winner at Loket and he did it on a beasty Husaberg 500.

Loket has been good to a number of riders – Antonio Cairoli, Romain Febvre, Kevin Strijbos, Clement Desalle, Gautier Paulin, Jeffrey Herlings, Valentin Guillod, David Philippaerts and Jeremy Van Horebeek are some of the riders that have been victorious at this track.

So who will make a break for it following the break? We are about to find out!

The European Championship EMX300 will also be lining up for the fifth round of their series, while most exciting part of the weekend, in terms of the European Championships, will be watching the future stars racing 85cc and 65cc do battle on the world stage for the final rounds of their EMX85 and EMX65 championships.

Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser – what can be said that hasn’t been said already? The kid is crushing it and looks to be the safest bet for the title this year. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Febvre should be back this weekend, and is likely to be Gajser’s biggest problem, even though it doesn’t have to be since he has a massive points lead.

But, if there is one thing we have learned about Gajser, is that he has an all or nothing riding style and he races to the flag regardless of what is on the line. As for Romain, it will be good to have him back after his ugly crash at the MXGP of Great Britain.

While Gajser and Febvre have been dominating the MXGP class more often than not, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Cairoli has capitalised on Febvre’s error and is now sitting second in the championship standing.

Cairoli has proved on a few occasions he has the goods, and feels as though he has some unfinished business in the premier class. He is 92 points down on Gajser, so his goal may no longer be ‘winning the championship’ but instead, rounding out the season in winning form.

Another rider who is looking to bounce back is Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Desalle.

He could really use a win before the season is out, as he has been smacking his head against the wall this year with an array of injuries suffocating his speed. In saying that, the Kawasaki ace finally made it onto the box at the MXGP of Lombardia-Italy, which could be a sign of danger for the rest of the guys in MXGP especially since he loves this track as the venue at which he landed on the podium for the first time in his career and has also won two grand prix’ here, 2009 and 2013.

Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin is also fond of the hard clay here in Loket.

He won the MX2 grand prix at Loket in 2009 and is known to have impeccable throttle control, which works well on this kind of surface. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek is in the same boat. In fact, back in 2014 he won his first and only MXGP round at Loket.

Also look out for Kemea Yamaha Official MX Team’s Valentin Guillod. He was the winner of the grand prix here in Loket last year, in the MX2 class, and also won here in the European Championship’s premier class, the EMX250 back in 2013.

As for the ‘Yellow’ guys, Team Suzuki World MXGP, Kevin Strijbos should be back this weekend, which is exciting for him as a two-time grand prix winner here. He will also be joined by Arminas Jasikonis, a young gun fresh out of Lithuania, who will be making his MXGP debut.

© Photos by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

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MXGP Championship Top Ten:

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 532 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 440 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 408 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 401 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 396 p.; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 351 p.; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 267 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 230 p.; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 212 p.; 10. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 210 p.