Perfect conditions greeted the riders for round nine of the FIM Motocross World Championship in Spain at the weekend, with Slovenian Tim Gajser and Dutchman Jeffrey Herlings strengthening their grips on their respective red plates.

Honda’s Gajser scored an impressive double moto victory at the course at Talavera, his second double this year with the first being at the season opener in Qatar on his MXGP debut, he now has a 24-point lead in the championship over the French defending champion Romain Febvre (Yamaha).

Fellow Frenchman Gautier Paulin who stood on the podium for the first time since August last year. Paulin is currently the vice-world champion has been on the couch for most of the season after injuring his back and ribs in a training accident in April. He only made his return to racing two weeks ago at the MXGP of Trentino where he finished 14th. Incredibly, he was third at the weekend.

Kawasaki’s Clement Desalle has been nursing injuries since the start of the season but has shown he can still run the pace with his fourth place finish at the weekend, while Honda’s Evgeny Bobryshev rounded out the top five ahead of Febvre, who also put in a gritty performance.

KTM’s multi-time world champion Antonio Cairoli also had a rough weekend. The Italian only finished seventh after crashing in both races but on a positive note he set the fastest lap, which means he was the fastest guy around Talavera at the weekend. Meanwhile, keeping the Spanish fans on their toes, KTM’s Jose Butron equalled his best result this weekend with an 11th.

MX2 CLASS

KTM’s Herlings made a solid statement with his dominance on the clay of Talavera. He scored a double moto victory for his ninth consecutive grand prix overall.

Yamaha’s Benoit Paturel blossomed at the weekend. The young Frenchman led the first couple of laps in race two before being passed by Herlings. Paturel finished second overall. This achievement is a career milestone for the lad riding the number ‘6’.

KTM’s Pauls Jonass clawed points back on Suzuki Jeremy Seewer today with a pair of thirds for third overall in comparison to Seewer’s 11th in race one and fourth in race two for seventh overall on the day. Both of these riders are similar in speed and are battling for second place in the championship, so every point counts. Jonass took 12 points on Seewer today, but still trails the Swiss man by 25.

Kawasaki Dylan Ferrandis was the top qualifier in Spain, but unfortunately had nothing to answer Herlings at the weekend.

Yamaha’s Aleksandr Tonkov did enough for fifth, which was his fourth top five finish of the season.

© Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

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RESULTS & STANDINGS:

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten:

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:19.713; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:07.344; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:11.598; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:13.207; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:15.021; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:16.983; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:18.001; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:18.012; 9. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:38.268; 10. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:40.756

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten:

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:15.981; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:03.607; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:06.614; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:12.734; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:18.755; 6. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:32.631; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:39.036; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:45.513; 9. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:51.895; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:53.494

MXGP Overall Top Ten:

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 50 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 44 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 38 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 35 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 31 p.; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 30 p.; 7. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 28 p.; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 27 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 27 p.; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 21 p.

MXGP Championship Top Ten:

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 385 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 361 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 338 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 317 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 295 p.; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 274 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 210 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 204 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 180 p.; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 156 p.

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:15.998; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:20.611; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:23.309; 4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:24.732; 5. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:27.811; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:32.183; 7. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Honda), +0:51.412; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:55.124; 9. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Kawasaki), +0:58.111; 10. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +1:00.907.

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:54.462; 2. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:07.249; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:19.128; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:26.815; 5. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:33.608; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:35.751; 7. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +0:37.504; 8. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:38.404; 9. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), +0:41.551; 10. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Honda), +0:43.558.

MX2 Overall Top Ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 40 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 38 p.; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 30 p.; 6. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 28 p.; 8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 25 p.; 9. Michele Cervellin (ITA, HON), 25 p.; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 22 p.

MX2 Championship Top Ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 447 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 325 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 300 p.; 4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 251 p.; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 240 p.; 6. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 210 p.; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 205 p.; 8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 204 p.; 9. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 200 p.; 10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 197 p.