MXGP

Gautier Paulin Dominates Valkenswaard, Max Nagl Secures Red Plate

Author: Aaryn Minerds

Posted:

Monday, April 27th, 2015

11:34 AM

Gautier Paulin continued his domination of the MXGP of Europe on Sunday with a clean sweep of race wins to take the overall victory, while IceOne Husqvarna's Max Nagl secured the championship lead with a solid second place overall result at Valkenswaard.

Paulin showed unrelenting pace all weekend and along with two very strong starts, he had to make just a few passes on the opening laps to secure the lead.

Once he got to the front, he was in a league of his own as he chalked up two runaway wins.

‰ÛÏIt is very special and standing on the podium with all the fans singing the national anthem is something you cannot buy." Paulin stated. "It‰Ûªs something that just a win can bring.

"I‰Ûªm really happy to feel that again today as it is something really really cool and this is what we do all the work for. I want to thank all the crew because they all believe in what we can do, and since Arco we can things are really starting to come together so I have so much pleasure from this win.

"It‰Ûªs been a great race, especially when you dominate the weekend ‰ÛÒ qualifying win, first moto win, second moto win ‰ÛÒ it‰Ûªs just been a perfect weekend.‰Û

Max Nagl will run the red plate heading into round five after another podium result on the weekend - Credit: Acevedo J.P.

On fire in this year‰Ûªs MXGP class, Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing‰Ûªs Max Nagl secured his fourth podium result in five races to end his weekend second overall and with it regain control of the championship lead.

Nagl came out swinging in race one and grabbed the holeshot. Enjoying a battle with Evgeny Bobryshev, the Husqvarna rider eventually pulled clear to place second.

Outside the top five starting race two, Nagl steadily worked his way into contention. Moving up the leader board he ended his race strongly in second for second overall for the round and a 5 point championship lead over Rockstar Suzuki's Clement Desalle.

‰ÛÏThis season just keeps getting better and better." Nagl stated. "It‰Ûªs my fourth podium result in five races and I leave this weekend with the lead in the championship standings.

"If I‰Ûªm honest Saturday was not a good day for me. I didn‰Ûªt feel good in my riding but my team worked incredibly hard to find the best setup for this track and on race day my confidence was back. I can‰Ûªt thank them enough for that.

"In race one I just rode smart and made sure I didn‰Ûªt crash to take second. My start wasn‰Ûªt so good in race two but I was able to work my way forward to finish second. Another podium result and now the red plate in the championship makes it yet another great weekend of racing.‰Û

Clement Desalle continued his podium run finishing third but lost the championship lead but five points - Credit: Suzuki

Desalle finished the round in third overall and in the process maintained his 100% podium appearance record.

‰ÛÏBeing on the podium today is OK." Desalle admitted. "I was disappointed about my crash yesterday. I knew it would be a difficult weekend so I am proud of this podium and it feels like quite a while since I had one in the sand.

"It gives me some confidence and shows that my condition is good. It is really important to be on the podium every week and it keeps you high in the standings. The year is still young and now we are coming up to some really good tracks and I hope we will have some good racing.‰Û

Evgeny Bobryshev just missed out on his first podium result for Honda - Credit: Honda

It was so very nearly a Team HRC double podium, with Evgeny Bobryshev putting in a strong showing.

Bobryshev finished third in race one and, having been running as high as second in race two, was involved in a scrap to the line for third place, which was also a fight for the final step on the podium.

By the flag, 1.4seconds was the gap by which he missed what would have been his first ever MXGP podium with Team HRC.

‰ÛÏTo be honest it was a tough weekend for me and I‰Ûªm really happy with this." Bobryshev said. "I compressed my back last Wednesday so we‰Ûªve been working with the team physio all weekend and I was fighting through the pain.

"But the final result was really good. I missed the podium by a little, but I call it good points and just kept it on two wheels because the track was really tough and many riders crashed. I‰Ûªm really happy as we have been working a lot and improved the bike a lot, and I‰Ûªd also like to congratulate all the team for the victory with Gautier as everyone really deserves this.‰Û

It was a tough day for Antonio Cairoli - Credit: Ray Archer

The day proved to be a tough one for championship favorite, Red Bull KTM's Antonio Cairoli.

The Italian superstar suffered a big crash in the opening moto and while he was able to remount his 350 SX-F, Cairoli was soon forced to retire from the race due to damage sustained his bike.

Returning for the second moto, an injured Cairoli pushed through for a 7th place finished to end the day 11th overall and now trails the championship leader Nagl by 30 points.

Australia's Husqvarna duo of Dean Ferris and Todd Waters both finished the day tied on 14th points with Cairoli, with Ferris being classified in 12th on the back of his moto two result of 13th after a 15th place finish in moto one.

Waters aboard his FC450 scored a pair of 14th place finishes in the two motos and continues to remain inside the top ten in the championship standings, sitting in 9th place, while Ferris moved up to 17th after five rounds of the 2015 championship.

Jeffery Herlings showed his sand riding skills in another impressive performance on his way to a 1-1 result - Credit: Ray Archer

In the MX2 class it was Red Bull KTM's Jeffrey Herlings who was at his bullet-like best in front of his home crowd at the Valkenswaard circuit in the Netherlands, delivering a stunning 1-1 overall victory.

‰ÛÏIt‰Ûªs good to have won here again but the sixth time it wasn‰Ûªt easy." Herlings commented. :I had a pretty good start in the first moto and stayed out of trouble.

"But I didn‰Ûªt have a good start in the second moto. I had a small crash and I had to come back from the middle of the pack. So I made it a little tough for myself. But I worked my way up to front and won, so that was good.‰Û

MX1 Podium - Credit: Acevedo J.P.

MX1 Round Results
1. Gutier Paulin - 50 Pts
2. Max Nagl - 44 Pts
3. Clement Desalle - 38 Pts
4. Evgeny Bobryshev - 38 Pts
5. Shaun Simpson - 31 Pts
6. Tyla Rattray - 28 Pts
7. Romain Febvre - 27 Pts
8. Ken de Dycker - 25 Pts
9. Glenn Coldenhoff - 25 Pts
10. Tommy Searle - 19 Pts
11. Antonio Cairoli - 14 Pts
12. Dean Ferris - 14 Pts
13. Todd Waters - 14 Pts

MX1 Championship Standings:
1. Max Nagl - 214 Pts
2. Clement Desalle - 209 Pts
3. Antonio Cairoli - 184 Pts
4. Gautier Paulin - 178 Pts
5. Romain Febvre - 156 Pts
6. Evgeny Bobryshev - 138 Pts
7. Ryan Villopoto - 124 Pts
8. Shaun Simpson - 98 Pts
9. Todd Waters - 92 Pts
10. Glenn Coldenhoff - 86 Pts
17. Dean Ferris - 46 Pts

MX2 Podium - Acevedo J.P.

MX2 Round Results:
1. Jeffrey Herlings - 50 Pts
2. Jordi Tixier - 40 Pts
3. Aleksandr Tonkov - 38 Pts
4. Brian Bogers - 31 Pts
5. Valentin Guillod - 28 Pts
6. Jeremy Seewer - 26 Pts
7. Dylan Ferrandis - 26 Pts
8. Brent Van doninck - 23 Pts
9. Jens Getteman - 22 Pts
10. Max Anstie - 22 Pts

MX2 Chamionship Standings: 1. Jeffrey Herlings - 222 Pts
2. Dylan Ferrandis - 185 Pts
3. Pauls Jonass - 148 Pts
4. Tim Gajser - 137 Pts
5. Aleksandr Tonkov - 133 Pts
6. Vallentine Guillod - 129 Pts
7. Jermey Seewer - 125 Pts
8. Julien Lieber - 121 Pts
9. Jordi Tixier - 115 Pts
10. Thomas Covington - 102 Pts

Top Image: Guiter Paulin on his way to a perfect 1-1 result at Valkenswaard

Credit: Honda