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Round seven of the 2021 FIM Motocross World Championship in Latvia saw MXGP and MX2 Championship leaders Tim Gajser and Maxime Renaux taking overall victories to extend their respective class leads.

In the first MXGP race at the Kegums circuit, it was Jeffrey Herlings, of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, who grabbed the holeshot ahead of fellow factory KTM rider Jorge Prado and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff, who was being pushed by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli.

Home hero and Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing rider Pauls Jonass got off to a strong start in the race as he was sitting in sixth place ahead of Romain Febvre, of Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team, and MRT Racing Team KTM’s Alessandro Lupino.

Meanwhile, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Seewer and Ben Watson were buried in the mid-field.

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Kjer Olsen went out of the first race, while his team-mate Arminas Jasikonis did not line-up for the races at all, due to a crash in timed practice this morning.

Herlings continued to lead Gajser who was looking to close the gap down, with Prado, Coldenhoff and Cairoli just behind, while Febvre was trying to push Cairoli for fifth.

Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen got off to a fantastic start in the race as he briefly ran in the top five, though did not finish the race as he rode back to the paddock.

Just as it looked like Prado, Coldenhoff, Cairoli and Febvre were starting to settle behind Herlings and Gajser, Cairoli sensed his opportunity to get around Coldenhoff to get himself into fourth place.

Cairoli then went after Prado to steal third, while the Spaniard was coming under more pressure from Coldenhoff and Febvre, as well as Jonass who was starting to close in on the group.

Febvre then passed Coldenhoff and set his sights on Prado, with Jonass also making a move on Coldenhoff which the Latvian fans loved.

In the end, Gajser could do nothing to close the gap to Herlings who was the race winner, with the Slovenian finishing second and Cairoli placing third.

In race two, it was Febvre who led the rest of the field into the first corner to secure his fifth Fox Holeshot of the season. The Frenchman then led Prado, Herlings, Cairoli and Vlaanderen.

Cairoli then crashed out of fourth and re-joined the race inside the top 10, all while things were looking good for Febvre but just two laps later the Kawasaki rider made a mistake and crashed out of the lead with Prado inheriting P1.

Jonass had a tough start to the second heat after crashing in the first corner. He then chased Watson for 15th, after doing so he caught onto JM Honda Racing’s Henry Jacobi who rode into the side of the Latvian and thus both riders went down.

Jonass managed to get back up to 15th by the end of the race with Jacobi ahead in 14th.

Prado continued to lead Herlings, as Gajser was looking to close in on the pair.

Herlings then stepped things up in the closing stages of the second race as he took the gap down from 2.6 seconds to 0.789 – and it was clear that the race win was his focus.

It then looked like Febvre was chasing down Gajser for third with a smoking bike, putting his race in doubt.

The gap between Prado and Herlings remained under a second for the remainder of the race and on the final lap it looked like he was going to make a pass but was dealt another blow this season as he went down. The Bullet managed to pick himself up in fourth, only with Gajser and Febvre going through.

In the end, Prado was the race winner, with Gajser second and Febvre third.

With two very solid 2-2 results, Gajser was the overall Grand Prix winner, while Prado and Herlings were tied on 43 points for second and third.

The overall victory was the perfect comeback for Gajser who struggled in Loket and Lommel as he continues to lead the MXGP World Championship on 270 points, 13 ahead of Febvre who has Prado breathing down his neck a further two points behind.

Tim Gajser said afterwards: “That was the goal for today, just to have two solid starts. I was riding well, didn’t make any mistakes, I was consistent and we managed. Of course, we had a little bit of luck with Jeffrey going down on the last lap but super happy about the day.

“It’s good to go into the summer break with the overall and work hard to improve some things to make sure I am strong in the next GPs, so I’m really looking forward to coming back to Turkey as I really like the track.

“In the last couple of weeks, I was just adding too much pressure onto myself, so today I just said to myself, just enjoy it and have fun. I really don’t want to look at the championship as it’s still early in the season, but I just want to focus on each GP. Of course, I will take a rest day and then will train hard to be strong for the second half of the season.”

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RESULTS & STANDINGS:

MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:16.523; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:07.703; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:11.783; 4. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), +0:15.598; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:16.934; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, GASGAS), +0:18.641; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:38.794; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, KTM), +0:49.702; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:51.833; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, GASGAS), +1:05.516.

MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:

1. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 36:22.889; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:07.092; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:15.563; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:26.606; 5. Brian Bogers (NED, GASGAS), +0:45.399; 6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:54.203; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:58.321; 8. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +1:00.486; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, KTM), +1:08.843; 10. Ben Watson (GBR, Yamaha), +1:10.292.

MXGP – GP Top 10 Classification:

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 44 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 43 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 43 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 36 p.; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 35 p.; 6. Brian Bogers (NED, GAS), 27 p.; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 26 p.; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, KTM), 25 p.; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, GAS), 21 p.; 10. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 19 p.

MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification:

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 270 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 257 p.; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 255 p.; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 252 p.; 5. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 227 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 206 p.; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, GAS), 180 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 174 p.; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, KTM), 134 p.; 10. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 130 p.

MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:

1. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), 35:49.854; 2. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, KTM), +0:05.989; 3. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:09.857; 4. Jed Beaton (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:10.701; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:13.810; 6. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), +0:14.718; 7. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Kawasaki), +0:24.155; 8. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), +0:29.084; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:33.119; 10. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:36.031.

MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:

1. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), 35:36.088; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:03.991; 3. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, KTM), +0:10.646; 4. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), +0:12.473; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:30.841; 6. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), +0:35.150; 7. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:36.555; 8. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:39.295; 9. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Kawasaki), +0:56.809; 10. Isak Gifting (SWE, GASGAS), +0:59.130.

MX2 – GP Top 10 Classification:

1. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 50 points; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 42 p.; 3. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 33 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 30 p.; 6. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), 28 p.; 7. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, KAW), 26 p.; 8. Jed Beaton (AUS, HUS), 26 p.; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 25 p.; 10. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 21 p.

MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification:

1. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 271 points; 2. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, KTM), 237 p.; 3. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 235 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 214 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 204 p.; 6. Jed Beaton (AUS, HUS), 197 p.; 7. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, KAW), 192 p.; 8. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 184 p.; 9. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), 184 p.; 10. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 137 p.