Bikesportnz

It was the Trentino blues for New Zealand’s Dylan Walsh, attempting to move up the Motocross World Championship rankings at the weekend.

The promise of timed practice, in which both the JM Honda Racing riders, Kiwi Walsh (pictured here) and Frenchman Benoit Paturel, felt comfortable, never came to fruition in what was a disappointing day for them both. However Walsh demonstrated a good pace on the stony and hard pack Crossodrome Ciclamino near Lake Garda.

Walsh took his JM Honda Racing CRF450R to 6th in free practice to go on to an excellent 12th time in time practice, his best qualifying performance in the MXGP class. Team-mate Paturel had a solid qualifying result too, 14th.

Unfortunately Walsh nor Paturel got the results they were after in the opening moto. After a bad start, Walsh bounced back to 15th and ran 12th right before the end of the race.

Eventually the Kiwi MXGP rookie finished a disappointing 21st after stalling the bike on the final lap.

In spite of the short start straight, Walsh handily placed himself 7th by the exit of the second corner. Walsh successfully defended P8 for more than 15 minutes but wasn’t able to finish the moto after a pretty hard crash.

With more bike time under his belt since his return to MXGP last Sunday in Lommel, Paturel was looking forward to build up his race rhythm. On a track that’s notoriously difficult for overtaking, Paturel found it hard to climb the leader-board after two bad starts.

The second moto for the JM Honda Racing rider was clearly his best. Although his lap times were similar to those inside the top-15 the former GP winner just missed out on the last world championship point. After 37 minutes of racing Benoit came home less than three seconds behind 20th placed Jose Butron.

The JM Honda Racing squad will line up again on Wednesday for the penultimate round of the MXGP series in Pietramurata.

“It was not a great day for me, said Walsh.

“In moto 1 I got back to 12th after a terrible start but I stalled it on the last lap. I couldn’t get going which really ruined my result. The second moto was going pretty good for the first 17 minutes or so then I made a mistake and landed quite hard on my face.

“I couldn’t finish the race but the riding was really well so I’ll take those positives to build on for Wednesday.”

Walsh may be only 25th overall in the world series standings but this is still a solid position because he had not joined the team and therefore did not contest the first four rounds of the championships earlier this year.

Photo courtesy JM Honda Racing Team

Words by Tom Jacobs

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RESULTS & STANDINGS:

MXGP Race 1:

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 35:06.977; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:07.891; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:30.105; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:34.388; 5. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:40.260; 6. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:44.522; 7. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Yamaha), +0:48.919; 8. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:53.606; 9. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, GASGAS), +1:13.961; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +1:23.450; 11. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Yamaha), +1:34.579; 12. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +1:35.441; 13. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Honda), +1:36.395; 14. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:37.751; 15. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), +1:40.841; 16. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +1:44.258; 17. Tanel Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +1:47.152; 18. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, Yamaha), +1:49.481; 19. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:53.381; 20. Zachary Pichon (FRA, Honda), -1 lap(s); 21. Dylan Walsh (NZ, Honda), -1 lap(s); 22. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Honda), -1 lap(s); 23. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), -1 lap(s); 24. Ander Valentin (ESP, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 25. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Husqvarna), -9 lap(s); 26. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), -9 lap(s).

MXGP Race 2:

1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), 35:15.111; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:02.221; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:09.072; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:12.282; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:19.978; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:44.120; 7. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Yamaha), +0:45.684; 8. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, GASGAS), +0:57.306; 9. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:58.992; 10. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +1:00.107; 11. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Honda), +1:02.453; 12. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:19.998; 13. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +1:26.041; 14. Zachary Pichon (FRA, Honda), +1:28.091; 15. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Yamaha), +1:30.368; 16. Tanel Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +1:31.407; 17. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), +1:32.290; 18. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), +1:37.995; 19. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +1:42.906; 20. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:44.196; 21. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Honda), +1:47.168; 22. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), -1 lap(s); 23. Ander Valentin (ESP, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 24. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, Yamaha), -9 lap(s); 25. Dylan Walsh (NZ, Honda), -12 lap(s); 26. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Husqvarna), -15 lap(s).

MXGP of Trentino overall classification:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 44 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 43 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 40 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 38 p.; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 36 p.; 6. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, YAM), 28 p.; 7. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, GAS), 25 p.; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 24 p.; 9. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 22 p.; 10. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 22 p.; 11. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 21 p.; 12. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 18 p.; 13. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 16 p.; 14. Michele Cervellin (ITA, YAM), 16 p.; 15. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 13 p.; 16. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), 10 p.; 17. Tanel Leok (EST, HUS), 9 p.; 18. Zachary Pichon (FRA, HON), 8 p.; 19. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 3 p.; 20. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 3 p.; 21. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, YAM), 3 p.; 22. Benoit Paturel (FRA, HON), 0 p.; 23. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), 0 p.; 24. Ander Valentin (ESP, HUS), 0 p.; 25. Dylan Walsh (NZ, HON), 0 p.; 26. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HUS), 0 p.

MXGP standings after 16 rounds:

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 626 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 553 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 535 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 487 p.; 5. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 476 p.; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 441 p.; 7. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 402 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, GAS), 375 p.; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 307 p.; 10. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 263 p.; 11. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 254 p.; 12. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 248 p.; 13. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 234 p.; 14. Mitchell Evans (AUS, HON), 228 p.; 15. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 206 p.; 16. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, GAS), 186 p.; 17. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 146 p.; 18. Henry Jacobi (GER, YAM), 134 p.; 19. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, YAM), 110 p.; 20. Michele Cervellin (ITA, YAM), 100 p.; 21. Tanel Leok (EST, HUS), 81 p.; 22. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), 76 p.; 23. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HUS), 75 p.; 24. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 69 p.; 25. Dylan Walsh (NZ, HON), 67 p.; 26. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 65 p.; 27. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 47 p.; 28. Benoit Paturel (FRA, HON), 45 p.; 29. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 31 p.; 30. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 26 p.; 31. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 24 p.; 32. Pascal Rauchenecker (AUT, KTM), 19 p.; 33. Karlis Sabulis (LAT, KTM), 18 p.; 34. Nicholas Lapucci (ITA, KTM), 15 p.; 35. Thomas Covington (USA, YAM), 15 p.; 36. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, YAM), 12 p.; 37. Harri Kullas (EST, HON), 11 p.; 38. Nathan Watson (GBR, HON), 10 p.; 39. Zachary Pichon (FRA, HON), 10 p.; 40. Freek van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 9 p.; 41. Lars van Berkel (NED, HUS), 9 p.; 42. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), 9 p.; 43. Milko Potisek (FRA, YAM), 6 p.; 44. Ander Valentin (ESP, HUS), 4 p.; 45. Kay Ebben (NED, KTM), 2 p.; 46. Artem Guryev (RUS, HON), 2 p.; 47. Rene Rannikko (FIN, HUS), 2 p.; 48. Anton Gole (SWE, HON), 2 p.