Motocross

Antonio Cairoli dominates MXGP of Lombardia

Posted:

Monday, June 26th, 2017

9:54 AM

Antonio Cairoli and Jeremy Seewer overcame a rough sand circuit in exceedingly hot and humid conditions to take the MX1 and MX2 class wins respectively at the Fiat Professional Fullback MXGP of Lombardia, the eleventh round of the 2017 FIM Motocross World Championship at Ottobiano, Italy.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing‰Ûªs Antonio Cairoli has now won 2 of 2 Italian GPs and today he did so in style. Cairoli started the day by winning race 1 by 18 seconds ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Jeffrey Herlings. Herlings closed on Cairoli early in the race and attempted to make a pass on the Italian but it would not suffice. Cairoli, feeling the pressure responded and left Herlings to battle with the heat on the way to second.

In race 2 the story was similar but Herlings in his first pass attempt made it by the #222 but only momentarily. Cairoli, after passing Herlings back faced another charge and this time a mistake allowed Herlings into the lead on lap 4. Herlings then opened up a 4 second gap but the heat combined with the energy of battling again slowed Herlings. On lap 10 Cairoli charged his way past to secure his 81st career overall.

"I did my best, I gave 100%, everything I had, and we had a good race," Cairoli said. "I‰Ûªm happy to see all the people who came to support me and even after 14 years people still come to see me, it‰Ûªs amazing. I am happy that I have a lot of fans and that motocross is growing in Italy because that is what we are working for. I had the ‰ÛÏSand King‰Û

Antonio Cairoli dominates MXGP of Lombardia

Jeffrey Herlings and Antonio Cairoli battled hard on track and took the top two spots on the MX1 podium for Red Bull KTM. Photo: Ray Archer

Herlings, who needed some light medical attention for dehydration after the second moto, was happy to come away with second overall after a tough day.

‰ÛÏWe were fast! I had been feeling sick all day and I just got dizzy half way through the motos," Herlings said. "It is not normal that I black out like that and don‰Ûªt remember too much of the second race; apparently I got second! I do know it was cool to fight like that: Tony is a great rider and a great athlete for the sport. It was nice to battle with him and hopefully many more will come.‰Û

Cairoli's MXGP of Lombardia win was his second for the season on home soil. Photo: Ray Archer

The Brit crossed the finish line 4 after the first lap but about halfway into the race passed for 3rd. The combination of 5th and 3rd put Anstie 3rd overall in what would be his first ever MXGP podium finish.

‰ÛÏIt‰Ûªs awesome, it‰Ûªs amazing, I‰Ûªve been dreaming of this for a long time, it‰Ûªs different in MX2 and you know it‰Ûªs tough, these guys are so fastm," Anstie enthused. " It‰Ûªs awesome to get my first podium and have Tony there in Italy, the fans are crazy. It‰Ûªs awesome to stand up there alongside him (Cairoli), I have a lot of respect for all of these guys!‰Û

Max Anstie took his first MXGP podium with third overall. Photo: Ray Archer

Max Nagl put the second Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing MXGP bike in the top 5 today. Yesterday Nagl grabbed the qualifying race holeshot and with his 4th gate pick. Although today he would start the first lap of both races outside the top 5 he would work his forward to 7th and 4th, scoring 32 championship points and 5th overall.

The other Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider, Gautier Paulin, had a strong race 1 where he both started and finished 4th. However race 2 he would finish 10th combining for 6th overall.

Another rider who had one strong race mixed with another that was subpar is Suzuki World MXGP‰Ûªs Arminas Jasikonis. Jasikonis qualified 2nd but had issues after the first lap in race 1 today and by the end finished 32nd. But at the start of race 2 the long legged Lithuanian took the lead before being passed later in the race finishing 5th for 12th overall.

Team HRC's Tim Gajser finished 10th overall in his return from injury. The 2016 champion did however run as high as 4th in race 1 before falling and taking tenth.

Jeremy Seewer took the MX2 class win.

Coming into the weekend Suzuki Word MX2‰Ûªs Jeremy Seewer struggled in qualifying but turned his luck around to take the GP overall. In race 1 after a top 5 start the Swiss rider passed his way into the lead and by the end he won with a lead of over 12 seconds. Seewer has succumbed to the heat before but in race 2 managed to fend off the challenge taking 2nd and winning his 3rd overall of the year.

‰ÛÏIt is always nice to win, but this is only my third GP winm" Seewer said. "I tried to save as much energy as possible and it eventually worked out, it feels awesome to win a GP. It‰Ûªs always good to gain points back but there is still a lot of racing left to go.‰Û

Second overall was enough to keep Pauls Jonass in the title race lead in MX2. Photo: Youthstream

In race 2 he would resume his holeshot tradition and lead every lap to the finish. ‰ÛÏAll weekend I struggled to find the flow and feeling, the first race I got a bad start and it made it tough, I lost a lot of energy in the first laps just fighting for position," Jonass said. "But it‰Ûªs nice to finish the weekend with a win, after how I felt yesterday it is good step forward and I‰Ûªm just happy to bring home some good points.‰Û

Thomas Covington rounded out the podium in MX2. Photo: Ray Archer

Kemea Yamaha Official MX Team's Benoit Paturel would likely lead the championship if charging through the pack had bonus points. Paturel is clearly fast enough to win but is continually hampered by the first laps of racing. The Frenchman started 8th in race 1 then passed 6 riders to finish second. Race 2 would be even more of challenge when he started outside of the top 25 before passing 18 of the best MX2 riders to finish 7th. His mental fortitude and unwillingness to give up scored him 4th overall.

Suzuki World MX2‰Ûªs Bas Vaessen accomplished the best result of his MX2 career today by far with 5th overall. Vaessen started 14th in race one before finishing 7th which in turn boosted his confidence for race 2. When the gate dropped for the second time Vaessen was 4th and after running 3rd for two laps he returned to 4th to finish out the weekend.

Race 1 holeshot winner, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing‰Ûªs Jorge Prado Garcia, finished 18th and did not contend race 2 after the heat proved to be to much.

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten:
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 35:16.580
2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:18.376
3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:35.788
4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:40.227
5. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:42.471
6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:43.912
7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:50.960
8. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:52.229
9. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:52.620
10. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:57.487.

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten:
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 35:31.111
2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:32.821
3. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:37.107
4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:46.221
5. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Suzuki), +0:47.845
6. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:54.255
7. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:56.107
8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +1:10.955
9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Honda), +1:16.702
10. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +1:34.478.

MXGP Overall Top Ten:
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points
2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 44 p.
3. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 36 p.
4. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 33 p.
5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 32 p.
6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 31 p.
7. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 27 p.
8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 25 p.
9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 23 p.
10. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 21 p.

MXGP Championship Top Ten:
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 431 points
2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 364 p.
3. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 361 p.
4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 335 p.
5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 282 p.
6. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 275 p.
7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 261 p.
8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 255 p.
9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 245 p.
10. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 227 p.

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten:
1. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), 34:07.314
2. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:12.304
3. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), +0:25.676
4. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +0:27.353
5. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:30.597
6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:31.165
7. Bas Vaessen (NED, Suzuki), +0:50.633
8. Alvin ÌÐstlund (SWE, Yamaha), +0:53.425
9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:56.816
10. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +1:01.479.

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten:
1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 34:31.700
2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:11.335
3. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +0:15.865
4. Bas Vaessen (NED, Suzuki), +0:36.265
5. Alvin ÌÐstlund (SWE, Yamaha), +0:43.412
6. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:46.871
7. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:51.253
8. Ben Watson (GBR, KTM), +1:00.804
9. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +1:02.948
10. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), +1:04.931.

MX2 Overall Top Ten:
1. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 47 points
2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 40 p.
3. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 38 p.
4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 36 p.
5. Bas Vaessen (NED, SUZ), 32 p.
6. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), 31 p.
7. Alvin ÌÐstlund (SWE, YAM), 29 p.
8. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 28 p.
9. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 26 p.
10. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 21 p.

MX2 Championship Top Ten:
1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 454 points
2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 416 p.
3. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 343 p.
4. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), 339 p.
5. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 330 p.
6. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 263 p.
7. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 233 p.
8. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 212 p.
9. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, SUZ), 199 p.
10. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 195 p.