The weekend’s MXGP of Russia, the 10th stop of the 2017 FIM Motocross World Championship, was one to remember, especially for the overall winners.

Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Clement Desalle won the MXGP class and and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass was MX2 class winner at the Orlyonok circuit.

The pair of winners battled not only the rest of the field but the demanding conditions on their way to the top.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Dylan Walsh finished 7-5 for third overall in the EMX250 class at the Russian GP. Fellow Kiwi Josiah Natzke finished 9-9 for eighth overall and Australia’s Jed Beaton finished 23-4 for 13th overall on the weekend.

Desalle was all smiles as he claimed his second MXGP overall this season. Desalle’s back to back overall wins are due to his consistently strong results. Placing third in race one and winning race two the Belgian made it near impossible for anyone to outscore him. Gaining 45 championship points this weekend he now sits second in the title chase.

Desalle said: “I was really doing good and feeling really good on the bike. I was just focused on me and tried to stay calm and finally I won the race and the GP. It is really nice to have the second GP in a row and I will keep working to have some more. This feeling is why we are all here.“

Gaining his fourth podium of the last five GP stops was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings. Herlings narrowly missed out on the holeshot in race one and would settle into second the first half of the race before charging into the lead on lap 10.

His second race start was not nearly as fortunate when he fell in the first corner. After remounting his KTM he fell once more on a downhill section of the track. The Dutchman isn’t known for performing well in the mud but his win combined with 8th in race two proved to be enough for second overall.

“I feel like we made some good improvements and also on the start I think we’ve been really analyzing it a lot,” said Herlings.

“We really made the best of our situation.”

Title contender Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Gautier Paulin was one of the most consistent and patient riders scoring 5-3 finishes for 3rd overall. Paulin struggled off the start in both races and had to work his way forward from 8th to 5th and 5th to 3rd in difficult conditions.

Paulin’s Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team-mate Max Anstie had his career best 450 result coming in fourth overall. The Brit ran third for most of the day, 23 of 31 total laps to be exact, before finishing fourth in race one and fifth in race two.

Points leader, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli took fifth overall after a strong second in the first race but a disappointing ninth in race two.

Though not having the weekend expected he goes into his home MXGP of Ottobiano with the red plate and a 47 point championship lead over Desalle.

“This weekend was good, I came prepared for this track. I’m really happy about the championship at the moment and look forward to Ottobiano,” said Cairoli.

Finishing sixth overall was Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Romain Febvre. While sixth overall is a strong result the real high note for Febvre was race two where he grabbed the holeshot and led the first 12 laps and finished second. While the speed and start were of winning form the mistake of running into a lapped rider proved costly.

MX2 CLASS

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Pauls Jonass showed that consistency is key on his way to the overall win.

Jonass went 2-3 and was even lapped on race two but he still managed to grow his points lead on the competition.

“I was really surprised after the second moto that I won the overall, my mechanic put on the board GP win with five minutes to go,” said Jonass.

“I was thinking, yeah, how was it possible? It was difficult and I was happy to manage two good races and I’m really happy to win the overall.”

The man who showed the most dominance in terms of individual races was by far Suzuki World MX2’s Jeremy Seewer. Seewer struggled off the start of race one and after throwing away his goggles only managed a seventh place finish.

The second race was a different story all together, Seewer had a good start and moved into the lead from fourth by lap eight, but, by the finish, lapped every rider except second who finished two minutes and 32 seconds later.

Seewer said: “It was tough out there … I just did my laps. I didn’t know I was leading and at the finish I was told that I had nearly lapped everyone and that was cool to see that and realize it at the finish line.”

Photo courtesy Kawasaki Europe

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RESULTS AND STANDINGS:

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:07.381; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:19.520; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:24.095; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:35.592; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:48.462; 6. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Honda), +0:57.494; 7. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Suzuki), +0:58.944; 8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:59.378; 9. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +1:00.574; 10. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +1:10.577

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten:

1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), 35:15.906; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:14.954; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +1:19.867; 4. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +1:32.476; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +1:44.577; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +2:10.809; 7. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Suzuki), +2:15.047; 8. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +2:27.387; 9. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), -1 lap(s); 10. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), -1 lap(s)

MXGP Overall Top Ten:

1. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 45 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 38 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 36 p.; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 34 p.; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 34 p.; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 33 p.; 7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 30 p.; 8. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, SUZ), 28 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 24 p.; 10. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 23 p.

MXGP Championship Top Ten:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 381 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 334 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 333 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 291 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 261 p.; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 261 p.; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 242 p.; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 233 p.; 9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 223 p.; 10. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 202 p.

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten:

1. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), 36:17.027; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:02.099; 3. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:05.608; 4. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Suzuki), +0:30.777; 5. Bas Vaessen (NED, Suzuki), +0:33.877; 6. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:34.998; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:35.367; 8. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Yamaha), +1:49.785; 9. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +1:52.532; 10. David Herbreteau (FRA, Kawasaki), +2:12.487

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten:

1. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), 36:56.146; 2. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +2:32.284; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), -1 lap(s); 4. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), -1 lap(s); 5. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), -1 lap(s); 6. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Yamaha), -2 lap(s); 7. Ben Watson (GBR, KTM), -2 lap(s); 8. Magne Klingsheim (NOR, Kawasaki), -2 lap(s); 9. Iker Larranaga Olano (ESP, Husqvarna), -2 lap(s); 10. Giuseppe Tropepe (ITA, Husqvarna), -3 lap(s).

MX2 Overall Top Ten:

1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 42 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 39 p.; 3. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 37 p.; 4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 29 p.; 5. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 28 p.; 6. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, SUZ), 28 p.; 7. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), 26 p.; 8. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 26 p.; 9. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 24 p.; 10. Ben Watson (GBR, KTM), 23 p.

MX2 Championship Top Ten:

1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 414 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 369 p.; 3. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 317 p.; 4. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), 308 p.; 5. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 294 p.; 6. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 230 p.; 7. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 225 p.; 8. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, SUZ), 199 p.; 9. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 184 p.; 10. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 174 p.