The technical, hard sand track of Zelta Zirgs, at Kegums, proved to be the perfect terrain for MX1 defending world champion Antonio Cairoli and MX2 defending world champion Jeffrey Herlings as they both raced to victory at the Latvian GP at the weekend.

In MX1, Belgian giant Ken De Dycker was tight in a points battle with KTM team-mate Cairoli after winning the first race and finishing second in the second one, while fellow Belgian Clement Desalle (Suzuki) was once again on the third step of the podium.

In the MX2 class, Spain’s José Butrón grabbed two good starts and finished second overall, while Frenchman Jordi Tixier completed the top three.

The final races of rounds three and four of the EMX125 and EMX250 European Championships also took place in Kegums and while local hero  Pauls Jonass (KTM) remained unbeaten in the EMX125 class, in the action-packed EMX250 final, it was Suzuki’s Jeremy Seewer who put a stop to the winning streak of Valentin Guillod to take home his first EMX250 race win of the season.

MX1 CLASS

Cairoli was on the top of the podium this weekend, as he did last year in Latvia. In the first race the Italian was second behind his teammate after the first corner and he tried to keep a good rhythm but he did not want to push too much because he is not training 100% due to his knee injury. In the second race Cairoli started in the front and he was able to dominate the race from start to end.

De Dycker also obtained the same result as he did last year in Kegums by finishing second overall; the Belgian rider obtained the holeshot in the first race and he quickly opened a big gap with Cairoli and managed to keep the lead until the chequered flag. In the second race De Dycker also had a good start, but this time it was Cairoli the first one to reach the first corner and the Belgian rode behind his team-mate during the whole race. De Dycker admitted that he was very satisfied with how the weekend went for him and even if he is still fourth in the championship, he is just eight points behind his compatriot Desalle. During the press conference, De Dycker thanked KTM for trusting him and for having signed him for two more seasons.

On Saturday, Desalle did not have a good feeling with either his bike or the track, but after making some changes on the settings of his Suzuki, the Belgian rider felt much better and he rode both motos comfortably.

In the first race Desalle did not have a good start, but he was able to move up to third very fast and kept such position until the end of the race, whereas in the second heat he had a better start, but by the time he moved up to third both Cairoli and De Dycker had opened a big gap at the front. It has been a positive weekend for Desalle, but he admitted that he is now looking forward to finishing on the top of the podium and not third overall as he did at the weekend.

Kawasaki’s Gautier Paulin missed once again the podium this weekend, but all in all he was satisfied with his riding. In the first race the French rider had a really good start, but the first corner was really slippery and Cairoli touched his front wheel, Paulin crashed and he had to start from the last position.

The Kawasaki rider recovered his rhythm really quickly and he was already eleventh after the first lap. Paulin kept on recuperating positions and in the end he crossed the finish line fifth. In the second race Paulin was riding consistently in the fourth position behind Desalle, when Britain’s Tommy Searle surprised him from behind and the French rider dropped down one position. By the middle of the race Searle stalled the bike in a corner and Paulin moved up to fourth and he kept such position until the chequered flag.

His team-mate Jeremy Van Horebeek had another good weekend and he managed to finished fifth overall thanks to his 4-5 result. The Kawasaki Racing Team’s rider had a good start in the first race and he rode a consistent moto in fourth.

In the second one Van Horebeek started down in the sixth place behind Paulin and by the middle of the race he was also surprised by Searle. Van Horebeek also took advantage of the British mistake and in the end he crossed the finish line fifth behind Paulin.

Searle was down in the 16th position after the start of the first race, but he made an incredible recovery to finish seventh. In the second moto he was thirteenth after the first corner, so once again he had to give it all to move up to the fourth place ahead of Paulin. However, he stalled the bike in a corner when he was about to overtake Desalle, he dropped down two positions and he crossed the finish line sixth, which gave him also the overall sixth position in the Grand Prix.

Belgian Kevin Strijbos was expecting to finish among the top five this weekend, but he had to settle down with a final seventh position after finishing sixth and seventh in today’s races. Portugal’s Rui Gonçalves, who was back this weekend from a little knee injury, finished 11th in the first race after a poor start, but he took the holeshot of the second one. The Portuguese rode third during the first two laps, but a mistake forced him to drop several positions and ended eighth in the race and also in the Grand Prix.

Germany’s Max Nagl did not find himself comfortable on the Latvian track and he finished ninth overall and Belgian Joel Roelants completed the top 10.

Home rider Matiss Karro succeeded to keep on two wheels during the whole weekend and he was very satisfied with his 13th overall position. The second best Latvian rider was Augusts Justs in 19th.

Russian Evgeny Bobryshev had a solid first race and finished eighth, but in the second moto a stone entered the radiator of his Honda and he was forced to pull out from the race. The Russian finished 17th overall.

Frenchman Steven Frossard made a mistake in the beginning of the first race and he hit the finger he dislocated yesterday, so he decided to retire. In the second heat the French rider was struggling with pain and he entered the pitlane already after the first lap.

MX2 CLASS

Herlings had an outstanding day in Latvia and he dominated both heats.

In the first moto the Dutch rider started behind Butrón and he managed to pass him after two laps even if he admitted that he was struggling with arm pump at the beginning of the race. Herlings crossed the finish line forty seconds ahead of Butrón, and in the second race he managed to take the holeshot, he pulled away and this time he finished fifty seconds ahead of the second classified, Tixier. Herlings keeps on proving that he has a special talent and with 18 years of age he has already obtained the same 27 Grand Prix victories as the best ever Dutch rider Dave Strijbos.

Butrón was once again on the second step of the podium thanks to his 2-3 result. The Spanish rider obtained the holeshot in the first race and he managed to keep the second position until the chequered flag.

In the second moto Butrón started also at the front, but this time he could not hold the second position and he finished third behind Tixier. Butrón keeps on being third in the MX2 championship and his goal is to keep on training hard to finish on the podium at every Grand Prix.

Tixier was a bit disappointed with the third overall position, as he was expecting to finish second behind his team-mate Herlings. In the first race Tixier managed to overtake Butrón after five laps, but he crashed as he was pushing really hard to catch his team-mate. In the end the French rider finished fourth but he was able to obtain the fastest lap of the race. In the second heat Tixier did not have a good start, but he quickly moved from seventh to second and this time he managed to keep the position until the end.

The fourth overall position was for a strong Petar Petrov who obtained the best result of the season after crossing the finish line eighth and fourth in the races. In the first race the Yamaha rider started down in the thirteenth position, but he managed to get a good rhythm and crossed the finish line eighth ahead of Alessandro Lupino. In the second moto he was eighth after the first corner and after five laps he was already fourth. The Bulgarian rider was able to hold such position and he was extremely satisfied with such result, as it was a good reward for the hard work he and his team are doing during the whole season.

KTM’s Romain Febvre was back again racing among the top MX2 riders and his 7-5 result made him finish fifth overall of the Grand Prix. The French young rider started around the sixth position in both heats and while he rode a consistent second heat in fifth, in the first moto he could not keep a good rhythm and he ended seventh.

Febvre was happy with his performance because, in Grand Prix after Grand Prix, he is recovering his physical condition.

His compatriot Dylan Ferrandis did not have really good starts and he ended 12th in the first race and sixth in the second one. Since the French rider was on the podium at his home Grand Prix, his results have not been really consistent but he has shown a little progress.

Dutchman Glenn Coldenhoff starred in a fantastic recovery in race one, moving from tenth to third, but a crash in the opening lap of race two forced him to enter the pitlane because the shift lever was damaged. The Belgian rider was back in the race after a few minutes, but he was only able to cross the finish line 19th and he finished seventh in the Grand Prix.

Britain’s Jake Nicholls was third after the start of the first race, but he could not keep such position and he finished fifth. The British rider did not have a really good start in the second race and he crashed while he was riding tenth. Nicholls dropped down to the twenty-second position to finish seventeenth in the race and eighth overall in the Grand Prix.

Harri Kullas was ninth and Jason Clermont completed the top 10.

Australian Dean Ferris crashed in the first race when he was recovering several positions after a bad start and he was only able to finish eighteenth. In the second moto the Australian obtained a solid seventh place which gave him the final 11th position.

Christophe Charlier did not have a good start in the first race but he managed to finish sixth, whereas in the second heat he was forced to retire because he crashed in the very beginning of the race when he had overtaken Febvre. The French rider ended 13th overall.

Lupino was down in the 17th position after the start of the first race, but he succeeded to finish ninth. In the second moto he started third behind Herlings and Butrón, but he had a big crash landing from the jump by the finish line and he was forced to retire because he had no feeling on his left leg. Lupino had some tests done on his leg and it seems that there is no serious injury.

It was also a difficult weekend for Alexandr Tonkov because he had a really big crash in the beginning of the first race while he was riding sixth and he had to stop in the pitlane because he had too much pain in one of his elbows. The Russian was not able take part in the final race.

 

Results from the Latvian GP at Kegums:

MX1 Race 1 top ten:

1. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 39:15.569; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:07.750; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:12.832; 4. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:25.821; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:32.184; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:34.058; 7. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:34.392; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:42.651; 9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), +0:48.658; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +0:57.589.

MX1 Race 2 top ten:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:33.938; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:05.408; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:09.753; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:12.063; 5. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:14.796; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:24.159; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:28.675; 8. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:49.576; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, Yamaha), +0:57.013; 10. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), +1:13.104.

MX1 Overall top ten:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 47 points; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 47 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 40 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 34 p.; 5. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 34 p.; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 29 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 29 p.; 8. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 23 p.; 9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 19 p.; 10. Joel Roelants (BEL, Yamaha), 18 p.

MX1 Championship top ten:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 514 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 432 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 414 p.; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 406 p.; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 327 p.; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 318 p.; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 272 p.; 8. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 271 p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 203 p.; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 186 p.

MX2 Race 1 top ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:23.741; 2. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:40.392; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:44.150; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:48.004; 5. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:53.224; 6. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:54.812; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), +0:55.963; 8. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), +1:12.712; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +1:15.794; 10. Jason Clermont (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:17.022;

MX2 Race 2 top ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:29.424; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:50.418; 3. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:57.147; 4. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), +1:03.053; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), +1:07.640; 6. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:21.923; 7. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), +1:35.685; 8. Tim Gajser (SLO, KTM), +1:43.567; 9. Pascal Rauchenecker (AUT, KTM), +1:47.383; 10. Stefan Kjer Olsen (DEN, Honda), +1:48.382;

MX2 Overall top ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), 31 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), 30 p.; 6. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 24 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 22 p.; 8. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 20 p.; 9. Harri Kullas (FIN, KTM), 18 p.; 10. Jason Clermont (FRA, Kawasaki), 18 p.

MX2 Championship top ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 542 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 403 p.; 3. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 353 p.; 4. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 322 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 304 p.; 6. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 273 p.; 7. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 272 p.; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), 244 p.; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), 228 p.; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), 196 p.

Words and photo courtesy Youthstream