Internazionali d'Italia, Riola Sardo

The prelude to MXGP season 2015 began yesterday in Sardinia, Italy where the first round of the Italian Championship took place. With a huge line-up of ‘big’ names and weather being a factor in the condition of the sandy circuit of Riola Sardo, both MXGP favorites Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli flashed a glimpse of the cards they’re holding leading into MXGP round one in Qatar.

While Cairoli is known for his phenomenal speed in the sand, Paulin made a serious statement when he came out all guns blazing for the first moto win. While Cairoli did finish hot on his heels, it was a great feeling for Paulin and his new team to start the season so strong. Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek is already looking strong, and is more than likely to be one of the most consistent riders yet again this year, finishing third, while Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl also put in a solid performance for fourth with the biggest surprise of the race being Yamaha Factory Racing’s MXGP rookie Romain Febvre taking fifth.

Meanwhile in MX2 everything looks to be going to plan for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s newest prodigy Pauls Jonass who dominated Suzuki’s Jeremy Seewer and J-tech Honda’s Vsevolod Brylyakov who made up the top three.

As for the superfinal, Antonio Cairoli had officially warmed up and was back on top his game snagging the holeshot and blitzing the field for a comfortable win. Gautier Paulin put in another solid ride for second while Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tommy Searle managed to finish the day strong with a third. Rounding out the top five, Jose Butron knows how to man the bigger MXGP machine, taking to the whopped out circuit for fourth while Romain Febvre put in yet another impressive ride for fifth.

MX1 Overall

1. Gautier Paulin
2. Antonio Cairoli
3. Jeremy Van Horebeek
4. Max Nagl
5. Romain Febvre
6. Ken De Dycker
7. Tommy Searle
8. Jose Butron
9. Gert Krestinov
10. Nathan Watson
11. David Philippaerts
12. Rui Goncalves
13. Kristian Whatley
14. Dean Ferris
15. Todd Waters

MX2 Overall

1. Pauls Jonass
2. Jeremy Seewer
3. Vseevolod Brylyakov
4. Tim Gajser
5. Aleksandr Tonkov
6 .Davy Pootjes
7. Ivan Baranov
8. Jens Getteman
9. Joakin Furbetta
10. Alessandro D’Angelo

Elite Overall

1. Antonio Cairoli
2. Gautier Paulin
3. Tommy Searle
4. Jose Butron
5. Romain Febvre
6. Max Nagl
7. Pauls Jonass
8. Dean Ferris
9. Aleksandr Tonkov
10. Jens Getteman
11. Nathan Watson
12. Ken De Dycker
13. Kristian Whatley
14. Jeremy Van Horebeek
15. Davide Guarneri
16. Todd Waters
17. Gert Krestinov
18. Jeremy Seewer
19. Evgeny Bobryshev
20. Rui Goncalves