MX2

Gariboldi Honda rider Tim Gajser sure shocked the world with his debut GP victory last weekend in Qatar. The youngster even surprised himself, but then again surprising himself and the world has been the way his career has been since day one.

Going into Qatar the HRC factory backed rider knew he had done everything possible to be ready to give it 100% and it wouldn’t be his preparation that would let him down.

“My preparation was really good. I was training in Sardinia a lot and we did some races. I learnt some stuff on the 450 and I couldn’t wait to get to Qatar. I was really happy with the win, and now I am really looking forward to Thailand.”

Not too many riders get to enjoy such an amazing MXGP debut, but for Gajser everything fell into place, and really good starts made his job all that much easier.

“In Qatar I felt good all weekend. I was really relaxed and no pressure. I didn’t know what to expect, and I knew my preparation was good. I just wanted to give my best. While leading the two moto’s I really knew the gap because my mechanic put something on the board. So I knew how my races were going to be run and I felt comfortable with the speed I was riding.”

Now onto Thailand, where Gajser struggled last year with heat exhaustion. A year older and not struggling from injury Gajser won’t make the same mistakes as his 2015 adventure.

“I will do my best, and I don’t think about what happened last year in Thailand. I will drink more water and just enjoy myself. I know that it will be really hot. I worked a lot with my dad and we have to ride smoother on the 450 than on the 250, maybe that makes it easier in Thailand. I ride good and I feel comfortable on the bike.”

Whatever happens for the rest of the year Gajser can be pretty satisfied with his opening race of the MXGP season, and no doubt his confidence will be massive this weekend. 

SUPHAN BURI (Thailand), 2 March 2016 - It’s all new, it’s in central Thailand, and it will play host to the second round of the FIM Motocross World Championship this weekend. A new motocross track has been built in Suphan Buri, a province of Thailand located a couple of hours North West of Bangkok, the countries capital. It will be the first time this year that the riders of the MXGP and MX2 world championships are on a 100% level playing field with the track being made specifically for this event. In terms of what to expect from the track, the track staff have said it is in complete contrast to the jumpy circuit we had at the MXGP of Thailand last year. Instead it is an intermediate to hard-ish soil that has been well ripped with less jumps and a quicker and more flowing layout.

While a new track on its own is a big challenge, not just for the riders but for the teams as well as they will be searching all weekend to find a good bike set up and pick good tires, the biggest challenge is probably going to be the heat with the forecast predicting temperatures that will burst the thermometer at 38 – 40 degrees Celsius.

The first few rounds of the championship are always crazy; nerves, hype and expectation are a few things that often affect the riders while the mechanics and team staff are often revising set-ups and trying to settle back into the race environment. One rider who caught everyone by surprise last weekend at the opening round of the championship in Qatar was Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser. Gajser, who is last years FIM MX2 World Champion, was oozing confidence in Losail and it reflected in the way he raced. The new rookie sensation got off to two good starts and threw down consistently fast laps to dominate the premier class on his debut. The nineteen year old has struggled with the heat of Thailand in the past, so this weekend will be a massive test.

The defending MXGP world champion, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre has always done well here. Over the last three years he has landed on the podium twice in MX2 and just missed it here in the MXGP class last year. Judging by those statistics alone, and the fact he has amazing mental strength will make him a solid bet for the overall.

It’s cold in Russia right now, so this heat is a major challenge for Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev who is looking stronger than ever at the moment. The long time Honda rider doesn’t have the best memories from racing over here, but a winter of solid training and a great start in Qatar could be enough to make a difference in his results.

Thailand was the catalyst of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jeremy Van Horebeek’s podium streak in 2014. The Belgian in blue took his first ever premier class podium in the heat of Si Racha, Thailand back in 2014 and then strung together a further run of ten consecutive podiums thereafter. Ideally, he would love to play that record again, so let’s see if he can throw it on.

As for the eight-time world champ, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli is normally a force in this corner of the globe having never finished off of the podium. The Italian legend has topped the box twice and is arguably one of the fittest riders in the class. He hasn’t made a podium appearance in the last eleven rounds of the FIM Motocross World Championship with his most recent being a third place at the MXGP of France last year. This weekend the soaring heat could play in his favor and see him finally turn that ship around.

MXGP Championship Top 10: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 50 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 42 p.; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 42 p.; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 34 p.; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 33 p.; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 25 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 25 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 25 p.; 10. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 24 p.

2015 MXGP of Thailand MXGP Top 3

1. Ryan Villopoto

2.  Clement Desalle

3. Antonio Cairoli

Asian turf has always been good to MX2’s dominating force Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings who has never been challenged nor beaten out here. After getting the monkey off his back at the MXGP of Qatar where Team Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dylan Ferrandis was the only rider to match his speed for an entire race, the Dutchman is more than likely only going to pick up more momentum out here.

As for Ferrandis, the Frenchman admitted his pre-season set-up wasn’t perfect and there was still a bit of work to do to get his bike to where he needs it to be. The talented number ‘4’ returned to Europe after Qatar where he will get in another couple of days of riding and testing in the hope of returning with a better set-up where he can throw a spanner in the works for The Bullet, Herlings.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass was one of the biggest surprises of 2015 after struggling in the year prior to even crack the top ten and then showing up last year as a solid title contender. The Latvian hit a career milestone here in Thailand last year when he landed on the podium for the first time.

Meanwhile Team Suzuki World MX2’s Jeremy Seewer has had a solid winter training with the highly acclaimed Everts duo, the ten-time world champ, Stefan and his father, four-time world champ, Harry. Stefan and Harry both played a huge part in the turn around of Pauls Jonass and are now pegged to do the same with Seewer. The heat of Thailand took its toll on the Swiss rider last year, so hopefully he’s drinking like a fish and is as prepared as he can be to challenge for the podium this weekend.

Culture shock is the term that springs to mind when thinking of the kid who is currently fifth in the MX2 championship standings Kemea Yamaha Official MX Team’s Brent Van Doninck. It will be Van Doninck’s first ever time racing in this part of Asia and it will definitely be a test of physical and mental strength. How he performs now after a solid start to his 2016 MX2 campaign will be interesting.

MX2 Championship Top 10: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 44 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 34 p.; 5. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 31 p.; 6. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 30 p.; 7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 30 p.; 8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 25 p.; 9. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 17 p.; 10. Jens Getteman (BEL, KTM), 17 p.

2015 MXGP of Thailand MX2 Top 3

1. Jeffrey Herlings

2. Pauls Jonass

3. Dylan Ferrandis

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

TIMETABLE

Saturday: MX2 Free Practice 10:45; MXGP Free Practice 11:15; MX2 Time Practice 13:00; MXGP Time Practice 13:35; MX2 Qualifying Race 15:10; MXGP Qualifying Race 16:00.

Sunday: MX2 Warm up 10:20; MXGP Warm up 10:40; MX2 Race 1 12:15; MXGP Race 1 13:15; MX2 Race 2 15:10; MXGP Race 2 16:10.

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

MXGP of Thailand

Timetable and Entry lists for the MXGP of Thailand, which will take place in Suphan Buri the 6th March 2016 are online.

Timetable and Entry lists downloaded here below.

MXGP of Thailand Timetable

MXGP Entry List

MX2 Entry List

An MXGP special of this bi-weekly motorcycle sport magazine, tackling the latest races and issues in MotoGP, the FIM Motocross World Championship, AMA Motocross/Supercross and World Superbike as well as general motorcycling and accessories with the best blogs and photographs. This issue focuses on: 
- Gas-yer! Qatar MXGP; MXGP bowed to the introduction of another superlative rookie at Qatar last weekend with the launch of the 2016 series. Check out the images and the reaction. 
- Re-fitting the crown: Romain Febvre; the defending MXGP World Champ and factory Yamaha rider chats a major life and career changer in 2015 that now means he is the athlete that everybody is shooting for. 
-The last leap? Tonus talks; one of Europe’s hopes for Supercross success, Pro Circuit’s Arnaud Tonus, finally got back on track last weekend. We spoke to the Swiss about game-time in 2016. 
-Bikes and the Bling; what’s bright and shiny on the 2016 MXGP factory line-up? We asked team members from KTM, Husky, Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki to chat new stuff. 

Read OTOR MXGP Special

Copyright: Photo: Ray Archer

The FOX Holeshot award runs across the entire 2016 MXGP season. The way it works is 1 point is awarded for each race holeshot. He who has the most points in MXGP at the end of the season will win the grand prize of €10,000 while he with the most points in MX2 will win the grand prize of €5,000.

At the first round of the 2016 FIM Motocross World Championship season Team HRC duo Evgeny Bobryshev and Gautier Paulin claimed race one and race two's FOX Holeshot respectively. Meanwhile in MX2, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass claimed the first FOX Holeshot of the season in race one and Team Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dylan Ferrandis claiming the other in race two. 

MXGP FOX Holeshot Film

MX2 FOX Holeshot Film

MONACO (Principality of Monaco), 29 February 2016 - Youthstream and Milestone are pleased to announce the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations game mode in MXGP2 - The Official Motocross Videogame, available for PlayStation®4, Xbox One®, the all-in-one games and entertainment system and Windows PC®/STEAM™.

With the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations game mode, the player is officially part of the heart of motocross. Born in 1947, the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, is a team event scheduled at the end of the FIM Motocross World Championship, in which the riders compete representing their own country.

This new game mode involves, in fact, a selection of 11 most powerful compared Nations to choose from for a challenge with no holds barred and jumps. Each team consists of 3 riders, one for each different class, MXGP, MX2 and Open.

Besides 6 tracks are available in this game mode and they trace the tracks symbol of the championship:

• Lommel
• Teutschenthal
• Kegums
• Ernèe (2015)
• Maggiora
• Glen Helen

The player challenges other nations, participating in the competitions of each class with the selected rider, trying to get the best score. After the race, the three scores will be added together and the best Nation will win.

With this new gameplay, strategy becomes one of the main relevant points of the game. The player must know the characteristics of the rider, track and nation to be able to beat their rivals and win the races.

Watch the action trailer by clicking here

MXGP2 – The Official Motocross Videogame, which will be out the 31^st March 2016, 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

The gates dropped at the opening round of the 2016 FIM Motocross World Championship at Losail, Qatar where Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser 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.

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.

LOSAIL (Qatar), 27 February 2016 – Finding traction was the theme, both on the track and in the championship, for the fastest motocross riders in the world as they took to the tricky, square-edged track in Losail, Qatar for the opening round of the 2016 FIM Motocross World Championship, where Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings doubled up to claim the first Red Plates of the season.

It was a dream start to the season for the 2015 MX2 World Champion who instead of staying back in the MX2 class to defend his title, decided to take the plunge and race the premier class, MXGP. While many were wary of the young Honda Gariboldi riders decision, he soon silenced doubters with his exceptional performance which saw him take a double race victory to win the opening round of the 2016 MXGP World Championship on his debut appearance. Tim Gajser, at the tender age of nineteen, also put his name in the history books as the youngest rider ever to win in the premier class of the FIM Motocross World Championship on his debut. The Slovenian rookie sensation said, “I was really relaxed coming here, I didn’t have pressure on myself. I didn’t know what to expect, I knew I had a good winter, good preparation, good testing and good with the team, so I came here just wanting to give my best.”

Meanwhile last year’s rookie sensation, the defending MXGP World Champion Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre was running a fierce pace in both races. The Frenchman admitted his elbow was giving him a little bit of grief, “The first moto with my injury to the elbow I couldn’t ride like I expected, I was just too tight.” Nevertheless he put together two top three finishes to tie for second overall, “I was not happy with the riding” he said, “but I’m happy with the place. I made a mistake in the second race but I came back strong for second. I knew Tim was really good, I saw him riding a few times in the winter, I saw him riding with the 450 so I knew he would be good. Anyway we have 17 rounds to go.”

Yesterday’s top qualifier Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev took home the same amount of points as Febvre, but was pushed down to the third step of the podium due to Febvre’s second place in the final race. Bobby also finished both races inside the top three which made for a solid start to his 2016 MXGP campaign as he rounded off the podium in third.

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek rode some solid laps this weekend for fourth, which is one place better than he finished last year.

Making up the top five, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli is armed with titles and speed but has never won here in Qatar. The Italian who is already a legend in the FIM Motocross World Championship with his eight world titles, was forced to face the same truth once again as he nursed a few injuries home to fifth.

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 33:56.516; 2. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:07.507; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:19.644; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:23.148; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:27.015; 6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:29.383; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:30.886; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:32.227; 9. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:33.672; 10. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:35.336.

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:07.633; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:08.230; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:09.952; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:10.628; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:11.960; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:14.601; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:19.057; 8. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:20.221; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:41.741; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:42.891.

MXGP Overall: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 50 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 42 p.; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 42 p.; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 34 p.; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 33 p.; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 25 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 25 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 25 p.; 10. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 24 p.

MXGP Manufacturer: 1. Honda, 50 points; 2. Yamaha, 42 p.; 3. KTM, 34 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 25 p.; 5. Suzuki, 25 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 24 p

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings has been working hard all winter to come out all guns blazing here at the opening round of the FIM Motocross World Championship. The Bullet has had a tough run of injuries over the last couple of years but they haven’t slowed him down much as he had his KTM pinned in both races to dominate the opening round in the MX2 class.

Another rider banished from the last two seasons due to injury is Team Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dylan Ferrandis. Since doing his knee at the MXGP of Spain last year, the Frenchman has been laying low, but having won a race here in Losail once before, he was expected to be fast. In terms of speed, the number ‘4’ delivered. He had the guts but not the glory as he had to settle for second behind the former two time MX2 world champion, Herlings.

A thumb injury in the winter didn’t stop Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass from twisting the throttle to it’s fullest as he nailed a Fox Holeshot in the first race and was on the cable in the second to round off the podium with a convincing 3 – 3 performance.

Team Suzuki World MX2 Team Manager Stefan Everts informed us that Jeremy Seewer was feeling under the weather this weekend, but that didn’t stop him from stealing some thunder in the opening race when he got off to a great start and put the pass on Pauls Jonass to lead the first few laps. Although he proved he has the speed, the Swiss dropped back in both races but still posted two top five results for fourth overall.

Meanwhile Kemea Yamaha Official MX Team’s Brent Van Doninck had a stellar start to his 2016 MX2 campaign with an 8 – 4 result to round out the top five.

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:36.485; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.127; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:36.086; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:39.609; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:45.698; 6. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:46.475; 7. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +0:54.016; 8. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +1:00.550; 9. Jens Getteman (BEL, KTM), +1:08.121; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +1:12.918

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:39.257; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:17.253; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:33.722; 4. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:35.284; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:36.687; 6. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:38.114; 7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:39.889; 8. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:51.246; 9. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Kawasaki), +0:52.150

MX2 Overall: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 44 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 34 p.; 5. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 31 p.; 6. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 30 p.; 7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 30 p.; 8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 25 p.; 9. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 17 p.; 10. Jens Getteman (BEL, KTM), 17 p.

MX2 Manufacturer: 1. KTM, 50 points; 2. Kawasaki, 44 p.; 3. Yamaha, 34 p.; 4. Suzuki, 34 p.; 5. TM, 25 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 18 p.; 7. Honda, 16 p.

Click here to obtain the complete results.

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

MXGP QATAR – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1595m

Type of ground: hard pack

Temperature: 24°C

Weather conditions: sunny

Crowd Attendance: 10,000

MXGP was available across the board in high definition and is also globally available to view live and in HD on MXGP-TV.com. Click here for the complete list of countries and cooperating MXGP broadcasting networks.

NEXT ROUND

The next round of the 2016 FIM Motocross World Championship will take place on the weekend of March 6^th in Suphan Buri, Thailand.

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

MXGP of Qatar