A wild weekend!

Excitement levels for MXGP 2015 are soaring especially with the results from pre-season events confirming that this season will in fact be as unpredictable as we had've hoped.

Looking fast and fierce in Shawbury, England at the Hawkstone International, Team Suzuki World MXGP’s Kevin Strijbos and Clement Desalle took the top two spots of the podium in MX1 with very impressive performances.

While Strijbos appeared to be riding hungrier than ever as he passed teammate Desalle for the win and the overall, the most impressive performance of the weekend was that of MXGP rookie, Suzuki Europe’s Glenn Coldenhoff who led a good portion of the races before fading due to arm-pump, which is to be expected from a 450 bike rookie of his stature.

Team Hitachi Construction Machinery Revo KTM’s Shaun Simpson finished fourth while Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Dean Ferris rounded out the top five.

In MX2 at Hawkstone, the number one plate of the reigning FIM MX2 World Champion Jordi Tixier made his first appearance of the year. Looking solid and extremely comfortable on his Monster Energy Kawasaki MX2 machine, Tixier passed Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Aleksandr Tonkov for the lead in both races to take a double victory. Tonkov blew off some cobwebs too with two seconds while Hitachi Construction Machinery Revo KTM’s Ben Watson, who will be an MX2 rookie this year, was the surprise of the weekend banking a solid pair of thirds for third overall. Former European Championship EMX250 Champion Steven Lenoir finished fourth while Watson’s teammate Petar Petrov bounced back from a couple of crashes for fifth.

Meanwhile in Castiglione Del Lago, Italy where the second round of the Italian Championship took place it became evident that the battle for the MXGP crown will be immense.

For starters, was awesome to see the 2008 FIM Motocross World Champion, DP19 Racing’s David Philippaerts bounce back from a few average years to win the MX1 class ahead of a legitimate MXGP title contender Redbull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl. Yamaha Factory Racing’s duo of Jeremy Van Horebeek and Romain Febvre rounded out the top four in that order while the eight-time FIM Motocross World Champion Antonio Cairoli was only fifth ahead of his Redbull KTM Factory Racing teammate Tommy Searle.

In the Elite race in Italy, Nagl took control confirming he’s in good shape for this year while Searle looks to be picking up some momentum finishing second. Philippaerts put in yet another mega performance for third while Febvre and Cairoli rounded out the top five.

With these brief overviews from the weekend, it looks like round one of the FIM Motocross World Championship, which is set to take place at the end of this month in Qatar is going to be nothing short of epic. You don’t want to miss it! To view the races live and on-demand, visit www.MXGP-TV.com and subscribe.