MX2

Germany has a great history with the FIM World Motocross Championships. Riders such as Paul Friedrichs, Adolf Weil, Pit Beirer, Max Nagl and Ken Roczen have made Germany one of the proudest nations in our sport.

Way back in 1957 a guy named Fritz Betzelbacher won the European 250cc championship, unfortunately for Betzelbacher the 250 class was not classified as a world championship until 1962, but that European Championship victory was the first signs of things to come from the German riders.

In 1965 East German rider Paul Friedrichs finished second to British legend Jeff Smith in the 500cc World Championship and many were looking at the young German as the next rider to challenge the might of the Swedish and British riders.

Sure enough a year later in 1966 Friedrichs would win his first world title, adding titles in 1967 and 1968. Friedrichs was a very consistent performer and finished top three in 1969 (third), and 1972 (second).

Just as Friedrichs was losing his power in the 500cc class two other young German riders started making waves. Adolf Weil and Willy Bauer finish second in the 250cc and 500cc World Championships in 1973 and when Weil moved to the 500cc class in 1974 he added a third place in that very same season, and then also finished third in 1976. Hans Maisch added a third place in the 250cc class in 1978.

Germany had to wait nearly 20 years when in 1997 Pit Beirer scored third place in the 250cc championship. Beirer backed that third place spot with another top three finish (third) again in 1998, then scored a close second in 1999. Beirer had looked likely to win the 1999 title and only bad luck and problems at the GP of Germany saw him lose a grip on the points lead held by Frenchman Frederic Bolley. Beirer who was a tough and determined racer also scored third places in 2000 and 2002.

With the new era arriving Max Nagl scored second place in the 2009 MX1 class and Ken Roczen followed that up with his own second place in the 2010 MX2 class. Roczen would be crowned MX2 World Champion in 2011 and become the first German Motocross World Champion since Friedrichs way back in 1968.

With four motocross world championship titles (three to East Germany’s Friedrichs and one to Roczen) Germany is among the most successful nations in the sport of Motocross. They also won the 2012 Motocross of Nations at the Lommel circuit.

Have you ever wondered “is there more to a Monster Girl than just a pretty face and a hot body?” If you have, problem solved! We, MXGP, have come up with an idea in collaboration with Monster Energy where we will select a Monster Girl from each round of MXGP and ask her a few random questions. The ‘interviewed’ Monster Girl and her answers will be featured on our website on every Wednesday following each MXGP round.

At MXGP of Latvia in Kegums we caught up with Barbara and this is what we asked her:

When you go out for dinner, what do you typically order? 

I love Thai food, so Thai green curry is amazing. Anything spicy! I of course love Spanish food also!

Do you know any jokes? 

What do you call a man with no shins…. Tony!

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go, and why? 

Thailand, it is my favourite place in the world, I got to go for the MXGP this year. I love its natural beauty and the people are amazing. The food is also a bonus!

Do you have a special talent or skill? 

I can do the split! I love to dance!

Did you study, if so, what? 

No I have always been a model, and I was lucky to join Monster when I was young!

The Honda JTech team hereby announces agreement to finish the working relationship with the MX2 rider Damon Graulus.

After meetings and discussions during the MXGP of Latvia and in the following days, Honda JTech and Graulus have decided, in mutual agreement, to bring the cooperation to an end with immediate effect.

The 2016 season started well with a good winter testing and training programme, but this difficult decision was taken by both parties because the ideas and working philosophies were too different to make it possible to continue the working relationship.

Honda JTech would like to thank Damon Graulus for his efforts in the first six MX2 Grands Prix of this season, and wish him well in his future.

Honda JTech continue to successfully field four Honda CRF250R machines: in the EMX250 class with reigning European Champion Nick Kouwenberg alongside newcomers Nick Adams and Filippo Zonta, and in MX2 with Henry Jacobi.

MONACO (Principality of Monaco), 5 May 2016 - Youthstream and Milestone are pleased to announce that MXGP2 – Agueda and Bastogne Tracks DLC is now available for €6,99.

The DLC adds the historical tracks of Agueda and Bastogne into MXGP2, giving the chance to relive the adrenaline from the past for a “dirty old fashioned” experience. The new DLC will be playable into all the game modes with the exception of the Career Mode.

By clicking HERE you will be able to watch the video trailer.

MXGP2 is developed by Milestone S.r.l., Italy’s leading videogame developer for consoles and PC, and the world’s foremost developer of videogames dedicated to the world of motorcycling.

Follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/MXGPVideogame, on the official YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/MXGPVideogame, check out #MXGPVideogame, or visit the site www.mxgpvideogame.com.

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

Milestone

TEUTSCHENTHAL (Germany), 04 May 2016 - The season so far has been wilder, crazier and tighter than ever as only 1 point separates the current world champions, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre and Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser, in the premier class heading into the seventh round of the FIM Motocross World Championship which will take place this weekend in Teutschenthal, Germany. 

Teutschenthal will have a lot to live up to this weekend as one of the most history rich stops on the calendar. The first ever round of the FIM Motocross World Championship to take place at the old school venue was back in 1971. It has since held 20 rounds, and on top of that, the 2013 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, which set the world on fire with Germany, the hosting nation, racing with the numbers 1, 2 and 3 as the defending champions. Unfortunately, they didn’t win in front of their home crowd, instead the victory went to Team Belgium and their line up of Clement Desalle, Jeremy Van Horebeek and Ken De Dycker, two of which, Desalle and Van Horebeek, will be racing this weekend.

The first round of the Honda European Championship EMX150 will also take place, as will the third rounds of the European Championship EMX250, which is led by Bodo Scmidt Motorsports Thomas Kjer Olsen, and the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship, which is led by Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing’s Courtney Duncan.

It was all champagne showers here last year for both riders that are leading the championship. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre won in MXGP while Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser won in MX2, which means this weekend will be a true test of the best.

Not only is the grand prix victory on the line, so is the championship lead. Gajser seems to be in his element at the moment, he’s been insanely fast and incredibly smooth and in turn has won the last three grand prix’. Meanwhile Febvre seems to be a little bit frustrated. With that said, it has been said that a podium finish isn’t enough for the defending champion. He wants to win! Which is understandable and believable if you watch the intensity he rides with. In saying that, he seemed pretty happy to be on the box last weekend after spending the majority of it fiddling with bike settings.

As per usual, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli is coming in as the most winning-est rider. He has won three grand prix’ here in Teutschenthal as well as both races at the 2013 Nations for the overall in his class. Last weekend in Latvia, the Italian came oh-so close to topping the box for the first time in almost a year. He went on to express his frustration of being knocked to the second step of the podium saying, “I want to win,” with an immediate repeat, “I really want to win, I want to win bad.”

And then there is the local, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl, who seems to be reinvigorated and ready for a win.  The traditional hills of Teutschenthal are bound to be riddled with Nagl fans, who is yet to win at this venue. Imagine if he gets the job done this weekend? Ze Germans might actually topple the fences in excitement.

For Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Clement Desalle, this track has had some bittersweet memories with both the bitter and the sweet occurring on the same day. At the 2013 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, the Belgian crashed on the first corner in the final race and broke his shoulder. That was the bitter. The sweet part came on the same day when he was able to stand on top of the podium as the winner of the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, which for any rider lucky enough to do so, is one of the best moments of their careers. Putting the cherry on top of the cake, he also won the MXGP overall in 2014.

Rounding out some key points for the MXGP class, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek always seems to be lurking around the podium, inside the top five, yet has only got up there once, in Thailand. While in other news, we also have to make mention of Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev, who was the breakout star in 2011 when he won both motos in the premier class for his first ever grand prix victory. Even to this day, it is his only overall win, so another is must be on the cards some time soon.

2015 MXGP of Germany MXGP Top 3

1. Romain Febvre

2. Gautier Paulin

3. Kevin Strijbos

MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 260 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 259 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 213 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 203 p.; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 200 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 197 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 143 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 142 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 121 p.; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 116 p.

Astonishingly, since Teutschenthal has been on the calendar for almost forever, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings has only won here once, back in 2014. The Bullet is a bit of a legend worldwide but out in this neck of the woods, he is also remembered for his massive scrub gone wrong which saw him break his collar-bone about 15 seconds into the Qualifying Race on Saturday last year. This time around, he might not scrub THAT hard, and he will probably remain unbeaten.

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Anstie finally uncorked a bottle of fizz last weekend. The Brit was the bridesmaid to Herlings, in second, which as said before, basically feels like a win for these guys in MX2. Last year he was second behind the eventual world champion, Gajser, and while he’ll hope to lay the smack down on Herlings, chances are he’ll be stoked with yet another podium finish.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass is always fun to watch. He always rides his hardest and that means ‘pin it till you bin it’. Unfortunately for the MX2 vice world champion, he’s been binning it way too much and now sits third in the championship, 37 points down on Team Suzuki World MX2’s Jeremy Seewer in second.

Speaking of Seewer and that points gap, the Suzuki star has made it clear that consistency is his goal, and so far, he is doing a good job. He’s been on the podium five times on the bounce and will be looking to make that six this weekend.

Meanwhile, Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team have their full MX2 line up back with the return of Dylan Ferrandis. Both he and Petar Petrov were inside the top five last weekend after putting in creditable performances. Ferrandis with a fifth overall after two months off the bike, literally, and Petrov with a near holeshot and fourth overall, next stop? The box.

2015 MXGP of Germany MX2 Top 3

1. Tim Gajser

2. Max Anstie

3. Valentin Guillod

MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 300 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 230 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 193 p.; 4. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 165 p.; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 163 p.; 6. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 154 p.; 7. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 133 p.; 8. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 132 p.; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 126 p.; 10. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 110 p.

All the photos of the MXGP of Germany will be available here

TIMETABLE

Saturday: EMX150 Free/Timed Practice 07:25; EMX250 Group1 Free/Timed Practice 08:00; EMX250 Group 2 Free/Timed Practice 08:35; EMX250 Group 3 Free/Timed Practice 09:10; WMX Free Practice 09:45; MX2 Free Practice 10:15; MXGP Free Practice 10:45; WMX Time Practice 11:30; EMX250 Last chance Qualifying Race 1 12:10; EMX250 Last chance Qualifying Race 2 12:45; EMX150 Race 1 13:20; MX2 Time Practice 14:00; MXGP Time Practice 14:35; WMX Race 1 15:20; MX2 Qualifying Race 16:10; MXGP Qualifying Race 17:00; EMX250 Race 1 17:40.

Sunday: EMX150 Warm-up 08:15; WMX Warm-up 08:30; EMX250 Warm-up 08:45; MX2 Warm up 09:00; MXGP Warm up 09:20; EMX150 Race 2 09:50; WMX Race 2 10:40; EMX250 Race 2 11:30; MX2 Race 1 13:15; MXGP Race 1 14:15; MX2 Race 2 16:10; MXGP Race 2 17:10.

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

MXGP of Germany

Gariboldi Honda rider Tim Gajser is really impressing the motocross world at the moment. Taking his fourth Grand Prix victory in the MXGP class, and his ninth in his career the HRC rider showed what an amazing talent he is.

With his ninth victory he joins former world champions like Brad Lackey, John Van Den Berk, Hakan Andersson and is just a few GP wins away from the likes of Greg Albertyn, Trampas Parker and Bengt Aberg, all champions of the sport.

Arriving in the MXGP championship as the MX2 champion gave Gajser some credibility, however nobody could have imagined he would be sitting just one point off the red plate, and won so many moto’s and GPs, so early in his 450cc career.

We caught up with Gajser and asked him about his victory in Latvia. One very special win, under really tough circumstances.

Q: How do you feel after such a big crash in that second moto?

Gajser: Actually I have some pain in my wrist, but it should be ok for Germany. In the second race I was behind Tony and I made a mistake in the waves section and Max crashed into me. I was too aggressive and I made a lot of mistakes, but my riding got better and better and eventually I was able to get fourth and get the overall.

Q: Did you know you had won the Grand Prix when you crossed the finish line in fourth place in that second moto?

Gajser: I didn’t know I had won the Grand Prix when I crossed the line. My pit was telling me to pass Nagl. This was my most difficult Grand Prix in my career. You crash and you give it all you have and to try and pass as many riders as possible, and I am so happy with the second moto.

Q: You get up from that crash and it took you a while to get going. Riders were passing you all over the place when you sat still on your bike. Could you ever have expected you would win the GP from there?

Gajser: No, I didn’t expect to go for the Grand Prix win. Actually when I got up I stalled the bike and it took me some time to get it going again. I picked up the bike and I pulled the clutch and stalled the bike and riders were passing me all over the place. I thought I was 15^th or 16^th (he was 23^rd).

Q: Now onto Germany.

Gajser: I am looking forward to Germany, but also Italy where I got my first ever Grand Prix victory a year ago. I like hard pack.

MONACO (Principality of Monaco), 04 May 2016 - Last weekend the MXGP Facebook page reached 300,000 likes! For us, this is an outstanding achievement and to celebrate we are running a LIKE & SHARE competition where one lucky fan will WIN 2 x VIP SKYBOX GOLD passes to the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations in Maggiora, Italy, as well as 2 x nights accommodation!

All you have to do to enter is LIKE & SHARE the photo pinned to the top of our Facebook page and when we have reached 350K fans, we will randomly select the lucky winner!

We would like to extend a massive thank you to all of our fans, you are all awesome and we appreciate your support!  

Click HERE & LIKE & SHARE to enter.

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

MXGP Facebook

One hundred and twenty-ninth issue of this bi-weekly motorcycle sport magazine, tackling the latest races and issues in MotoGP, MXGP, AMA Motocross/Supercross and World Superbike as well as general motorcycling and accessories with the best blogs and photographs. In OTOR 129: Latvia and Italy covered; MXGP and WorldSBK edge along their slates with trips to Kegums and Imola last weekend. Blogs, images, reaction and more from the terrain to the tarmac. Going large: Tim Gajser; MXGP sensation and current MX2 world champ (no less) Tim Gajser talks about his adaptation to the 450 and surprising the premier class. MotoGP movers; some of the thoughts and words from the MotoGP paddock on tyres, Lorenzo, Brad Binder and more and ace photography from CormacGP ahead of Le Mans. Old Yella: Yamaha XSR rated; does the spirit of the LC live in there somewhere? Roland Brown goes for a spin on Yamaha’s new XSR900 shape-shifter to see it can turn heads from the MT. 

Check it out HERE

The Entry lists for the MXGP of Germany, which will take place on May, 7^th and 8^th as well as the official timetable of the event are online.

In addition to the MXGP and MX2 classes, the third round of the European Championship EMX250 and the Women’s Motocross World Championship will also be taking place.

This weekend also the Honda European Championship EMX150 will kick off in Teutschenthal. The Entry list for this class will be available shortly.

Please find here below the official timetable of the event and the entry lists to be downloaded

TIMETABLE

MXGP Entry List

MX2 Entry List

WMX Entry List

EMX250 Entry List

The gates dropped at the sixth round of the 2016 FIM Motocross World Championship at Kegums, Latvia where Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing's Romain Febvre set the fastest lap time for the weekend in MXGP while Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings set the fastest time over the weekend in MX2. Herlings extends his lead in the competition while Febvre takes his first point!

If you don’t know about this competition, the way it works is; he who sets the fastest lap time in each MXGP or MX2 over the weekend at each round of MXGP this year will be awarded 1 point towards the TAG Heuer sponsored ‘fastest lap’ competition. At the end of the season, the rider who has the most points will be awarded an elegant gift of prestige, a TAG Heuer watch.

If you scroll down on the main page at MXGP.com you will see the TAG HEUER Fastest Lap results grid, which is situated directly underneath the FOX Holeshot results grid.