Motocross News


It was the day for champions today in Pietramurata, Italy, as Tim Gajser and Tom Vialle claimed the 2020 MXGP and MX2 World titles, in the opening races of the MXGP of Pietramurata.

For Gajser, the 2020 season came with ups and downs. The Slovenian looked strong in the first two rounds in Matterley Basin and Valkenswaard, where he finished second both times. But then we saw him struggle in Latvia, as the season resumed, before he turned things around for the MXGP of Lombardia where he finally got his hands on the red plate. He then got his first overall victory two rounds later during the MXGP of Europe in Mantova, before following that up with a string of podiums and race wins. Today, the Slovenian turned the red plate gold, as he claimed his fourth world title with a fourth overall Grand Prix victory of the season, along with a 14th heat win in race two. The stats for Gajser are pretty impressive in 2020, he has 13 podiums to his name, has led a total of 205 laps along with 8 pole positions this season, more than any other rider in the category.


Trentino is a circuit that Gajser knows how to win at, as he secured his first ever Grand Prix victory in Pietramurata back in 2015, the same year he asserted his first world title in MX2 and then followed it up with an MXGP world title in Charlotte, USA, during his rookie season in the 450cc class. Title number three came last season in Imola, as he wrapped things up three rounds early and now his fourth at the MXGP of Pietramurata during the penultimate round of the year.

Meanwhile in MX2, Vialle had a close battle with Jago Geerts all season long. Geerts was the early championship leader, though by the second round Vialle was able to take over the spot and retain that position until today, as he swapped the red plate for a gold one. He confirmed his first world title with a confident race win, which saw him take the Fox Holeshot from the outside. This was his 13th heat win of the season and while the Frenchman missed out on a spot on the podium, the only thing that mattered was the championship.

Last year, Vialle joined the Red Bull KTM Factory squad and was already a key player in the championship. His first podium in MX2 came in Uddevalla during the MXGP of Sweden, last season and he ended the season fourth, just 5 points down on Geerts. This season, the Frenchman entered as the leading factory KTM rider and he took on the role with confidence as he racked up a total of 7 GP wins, his first at the MXGP of the Netherlands, 13 podiums and led a total of 309 laps. He is also this year’s winner of the Fox Holeshot Awards with a total of 20 points, with one round remaining.

Tim Gajser sealed his fourth world title in style, with a 2-1 result that saw him take to the top step of the box. Following a tough start to the first race, Gajser was able to make a good recovery, passing Alessandro Lupino and Brent Van Doninck. The Slovenian caught up to the race leader, Jeremy Seewer who he pushed until the end, though could not manage to get around the Swiss. But a second-place finish was enough for him to secure the gold plate.

In race two (the re-run), Gajser was able to get a good jump out of the gate and grab the Fox Holeshot to then lead every lap of the race, despite immense pressure from Romain Febvre to claim his 14th race win of 2020.

There was a re-start of the second MXGP race, due to a red flag which was caused by an incident involving Gajser and Jeremy Van Horebeek, who was taken off track, but luckily walked back to the camper in decent conditions.

Seewer finished second overall today. The Swiss was looking strong all day, as he took his first pole position in time practice, then managed to grab the Fox Holeshot in race one and lead the race from gate drop to chequered flag. This was his 3rd heat win of the year. Then in the second race, the factory Yamaha rider was able to grab another good start, though was quickly passed by Febvre for P2 and eventually finished the race in 3rd, which gave him a solid overall result, to keep third position in the championship standings, just 4 points behind Cairoli.

Febvre was the last rider to claim a podium spot today, as he worked hard in race one to get up to 5th and then in race two had a much better start, inside the top 5 and made some quick passes on the opening lap to get behind Gajser, where he kept him tight all race long. The Frenchman really applied the pressure onto the 4-time world champion, though in the end was forced to settle for 2nd, which put him third overall.

With Gajser crowned champion, the door is now wide open for the vice-champion position. Today, Antonio Cairoli had not such a bad day, though may not have been what he had expected, following an overall victory last time around. The Italian finished the first race 6th after a crash while pushing Seewer for the lead, though he did try to re-group and had some nice battles with Lupino and Febvre. While in the second race we saw the 9-time world champion battle with Clement Desalle though he could not get around the Belgian and had to settle for 5th. This has allowed Seewer to close in, in terms of championship points, as there’s only 4 points in it, heading into the final round.

It was a good day for Alessandro Lupino who took a season best result in race one as he crossed the line in 3rd. Race two was a bit tougher for the local rider, who finished 11th which gave him 6th overall.

“It feels just unbelievable," Gajser said. "Like I said many times, winning one is incredible but now four is just…speechless. I’m really happy. It was a weird season, but anyway in the end everything came together, and we won another title. In the first race, I was already struggling with the clutch and was riding without the clutch the whole race, finishing second. Then in the second race, I had a nice battle with Romain [Febvre] who was really pushing and I’m super happy to win the title and the overall on the same day”.

MX2

While Vialle missed out on a podium finish today, the Frenchman still claimed his maiden world title in incredible fashion, as he took race 1 Fox Holeshot today from the outside gate, and then led every lap of the opening race, to cross the line with his 13th race win but this time officially as world champion. The second race was the complete opposite for the factory KTM rider, who struggled out of the start and then was hit by another rider which damaged his gear lever. Vialle was forced into the pits for repairs, though did re-join the race to finish in 23rd.

In terms of the podium though, it was Jago Geerts who made it two on the bounce with a 5-1 results, which saw him very narrowly take the overall win over his teammate, Ben Watson and Australian Jed Beaton. Geerts crashed out in the opening race, which meant he had to work hard, to get around the likes of Ruben Fernandez and Morgan Lesiardo, to come back to 5th, though he had a nice battle with Renaux and Watson for a spot in the top 3. The second race was much better for the Belgian, who grabbed the Fox Holeshot and controlled the race from then on, despite the pressure from Watson throughout the entire heat.

Watson joined his Monster Energy Yamaha Factory teammate, to secure his 5th podium of 2020, with a 4th and a 2nd in the races today. Watson pushed Geerts right until the end, as the pair finished the second race, separated by just 1.938 seconds.

Despite missing out on the top step of the box by just a single point, Beaton was third as he claimed his 3rd podium of the season. Beaton had a much more consistent day, compared to the previous GP, as he finished the opening race in second, while in race two, he was fourth, after trying to push Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing’s Thibault Benistant for P3. Today’s solid results have also helped the Australian to get himself back into 4th in the MX2 Championship standings.

With Vialle crowned champion, this leaves Geerts as the vice world champion, as Maxime Renaux is 120 points down on the leader, in third. But it’s the battle for the bronze medal which will be the focus at the next GP, as Beaton is just 13 points shy of the third spot. Renaux had some solid races today, finishing 3rd in race one, after a few laps behind Bailey Malkiewicz , who he eventually passed for the spot and 5th in race two, which gave him 4th overall, 4 points off a podium spot.

“In the first race, I had to come from outside the top ten, as I made a small mistake on the second lap, but my riding felt good and it was really difficult to pass, so could only finish fifth," Geerts explained. "In the second heat, I took the holeshot so I was really happy with that and then Ben [Watson] was chasing me the whole race, in the end, I could win, so I’m really happy with the day and the 6th overall win of the season”.

For Tom Vialle is wasn't his easiest day but the end result was perfect: “It was really difficult this morning when I got the penalty, but I got the FOX Holeshot in the first race and it was fantastic," Vialle said. "On the last lap of the first race, I was almost crying and feeling so strange but then to win the title is just fantastic. I didn’t get a great start in the second race and then somebody hit me from behind and I was stuck, so I had to go back to pitlane to fix it but I still finished. Thank you to All who supported me to win the MX2 title! ”.

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), 34:52.423
2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:04.307
3. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Yamaha), +0:08.634
4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:09.794
5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:11.484
6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:16.094
7. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:22.055
8. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:25.167
9. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:32.658
10. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:39.149

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:44.449
2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.940
3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:29.409
4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:38.367
5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:51.007
6. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:56.175
7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:59.864
8. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, GASGAS), +1:02.902
9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +1:07.102
10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +1:14.378

MXGP - GP Top 10 Classification:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 47 Points
2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 45 Points
3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 38 Points
4. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 36 Points
5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 31 Points
6. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, YAM), 30 Points
7. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 28 Points
8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 26 Points
9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 26 Points
10. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, GAS), 20 Points

MXGP - World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 673 Points
2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 584 Points
3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 580 Points
4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 525 Points
5. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 476 Points
6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 467 Points
7. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 438 Points
8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, GAS), 375 Points
9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 316 Points
10. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 282 Points

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 34:52.254
2. Jed Beaton (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:05.885
3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:09.567
4. Ben Watson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:10.554
5. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:15.950
6. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:23.606
7. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:29.658
8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Yamaha), +0:30.677
9. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Kawasaki), +0:37.072
10. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, Honda), +0:38.674

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), 35:10.371
2. Ben Watson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:01.938
3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:05.532
4. Jed Beaton (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:06.614
5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:25.616
6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Yamaha), +0:27.440
7. Stephen Rubini (FRA, Honda), +0:30.353
8. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:31.496
9. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Honda), +0:43.914
10. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), +0:47.092

MX2 - GP Top 10 Classification:
1. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 41 Points
2. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 40 Points
3. Jed Beaton (AUS, HUS), 40 Points
4. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 36 Points
5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 34 Points
6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, YAM), 28 Points
7. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 28 Points
8. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 25 Points
9. Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 24 Points
10. Alvin Östlund (SWE, HON), 20 Points

MX2 - World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 718 Points
2. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 661 Points
3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 541 Points
4. Jed Beaton (AUS, HUS), 528 Points
5. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 517 Points
6. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 506 Points
7. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KAW), 454 Points
8. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 338 Points
9. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, YAM), 332 Points
10. Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 259 Points