MX2

NAKHONCHAISRI (Thailand), 08 March 2015 - Intense is one word that sums up today with temperatures soaring so high, to the point the Event Management team together with the team managers decided to reduce both MXGP and MX2’s second race by five minutes. In MXGP Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Ryan Villopoto obtained his first race and overall victory, while Jeffrey Herlings dominated both heats in MX2.

With the fans stoked to see the real Ryan Villopoto show up and do what he has been touted to do dominating race one for his first race win of the season, we were just as impressed with the all new race demeanor of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings as he rode cool and smart to remain unbeaten in Asia, as well as in the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship.

Starting with the topic on everybody’s lips, Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Ryan Villopoto. His performance yesterday in qualifying and in race one today was nothing short of amazing. The American looked right at home on the jump riddled circuit here in Nakhonchaisri, and couldn’t be touched in those two races. While finishing seventh at the first round of MXGP is nothing to turn your nose up at when racing the best riders in the world, to someone who is so used to winning championships, the result wouldn’t have been what he wanted. Today, RV’s feat took him from zero to hero, allowing him to raise the Stars and Stripes as the middle flag on the podium of the FIM Motocross World Championship for the first time since 2009.

Meanwhile Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Clement Desalle was also very impressive this weekend and is exhibiting the type of consistency that cannot be flawed. The Belgian hardly put a foot wrong and was clearly the second fastest guy in both races. After finishing with a pair of seconds, for second overall just as he did at round one in Qatar, Desalle was awarded the red plate symbolizing he is the new MXGP championship points leader.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli made his statement in the second race when he pulled the Fox Holeshot and stormed away to his first MXGP race victory of the year. The Italian said “I cannot complain, I am getting better every weekend and I know that right now I am not in the best form, but I know that when I am, I can be up front so I am just looking forward to the next race”

Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre put in some eye-opening performances today. Last year’s MX2 world championship bronze medalist, who was forced up to MXGP due to the age cap on MX2, has proved that you don’t have to be ‘big’ to ride a 450cc. The Frenchman, small in stature, has clearly got a handle on his YZ450F Yamaha which was evident when he wrapped up third in the first race and bounced back from an average start for fourth in the second race for fourth overall.

As for Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Kevin Strijbos, it’s all about putting points on the board as he battled through the pain and discomfort of a wrist injury for fifth overall while Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin couldn’t find his groove and had to settle for sixth.

Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl had ‘one of those days’ and only finished seventh which has dropped him back to third in the championship standings. It was a little bit unfortunate for the German who carried the red plate into this round, but looking at the bigger picture, some points are better than no points. Just ask the likes of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo Tommy Searle and Ken De Dycker who both crashed and DNF’d both races.

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Ryan Villopoto (USA, Kawasaki), 34:09.149; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:10.536; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:23.931; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:28.213; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:34.893; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:40.874; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:49.471; 8. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +1:08.958; 9. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +1:20.819; 10. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +1:40.905

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 29:10.216; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:09.756; 3. Ryan Villopoto (USA, Kawasaki), +0:22.788; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:51.327; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:59.278; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +1:03.006; 7. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +1:05.485; 8. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +1:16.036; 9. Dean Ferris (AUS, Husqvarna), +1:18.208; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:19.321

MXGP Overall: 1. Ryan Villopoto (USA, KAW), 45 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 44 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 41 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 38 p.; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 31 p.; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 29 p.; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 28 p.; 8. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 26 p.; 9. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KAW), 26 p.; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 20 p.

MXGP Championship: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 88 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 79 p.; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 78 p.; 4. Ryan Villopoto (USA, KAW), 70 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 67 p.; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 67 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 55 p.; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 45 p.; 9. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 40 p.; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 38 p.

MXGP Manufacturer: 1. Suzuki, 88 points; 2. Husqvarna, 82 p.; 3. KTM, 79 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 70 p.; 5. Yamaha, 70 p.; 6. Honda, 67 p.; 7. TM, 28 p.

Another amazing ride is in the bag for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings as he continues to take every race as it comes. With Herlings dominating just as he has done over the previous years, the former two-time FIM MX2 World Champion is already getting questioned what are your future plans. Herlings, this year, has two feet firmly on the ground answered “I am just taking each race as it comes, I know that anything can happen in a second. I used to make plans, like win the world championship then race in MXGP for fun, but I have learned not to look that far ahead.”

The young Latvian Pauls Jonass is really starting to turn heads now. Last weekend at MXGP of Qatar the Red Bull KTM Factory rider stole a couple of holeshots and managed to hold the pace for a couple of laps. Today in Thailand, he not only got good starts, he maintained the pace of the top guys and held off a couple of the most publicized names in MX2 to secure his spot on the second step of the podium, which for him is a career best finish.

After being ill yesterday, Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Dylan Ferrandis managed to race his way to third overall for his second podium finish of the season. The Frenchman went on to say “my goal is to win. For the last five years I have never been 100% but now I feel good, better than I ever have. I believe that when I am riding the best I can, I can race with Jeffrey and that’s what I want to do”

Ferrandis’ Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team teammate Thomas Covington is really starting to get a handle on things. The young American rode solid today for two fifth place finishes for fourth overall.

Meanwhile Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube’s Valentin Guillod, looking as stylish as always, felt a little off due to being sick but managed to battle on and finish fifth overall. 

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:58.798; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:07.602; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:20.513; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:26.923; 5. Thomas Covington (USA, Kawasaki), +0:30.333; 6. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:46.653; 7. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:52.247; 8. Mel Pocock (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:06.255; 9. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +1:22.264; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), +1:31.510

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 30:06.023; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:10.312; 3. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:16.508; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:37.006; 5. Thomas Covington (USA, Kawasaki), +0:40.267; 6. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:49.406; 7. Mel Pocock (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:51.874; 8. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +1:00.529; 9. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), +1:07.961; 10. Roberts Justs (LAT, KTM), +1:17.137

MX2 Overall: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 40 p.; 4. Thomas Covington (USA, KAW), 32 p.; 5. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 30 p.; 6. Mel Pocock (GBR, KAW), 27 p.; 7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 25 p.; 8. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), 23 p.; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 20 p.; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 20 p.

MX2 Championship: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 100 points; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 78 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 70 p.; 4. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 62 p.; 5. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 58 p.; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 56 p.; 7. Thomas Covington (USA, KAW), 53 p.; 8. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 52 p.; 9. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), 41 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 38 p

MX2 Manufacturer: 1. KTM, 100 points; 2. Kawasaki, 78 p.; 3. Yamaha, 77 p.; 4. Honda, 61 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 56 p.; 6. Suzuki, 38 p

Click here to obtain the complete results.

All the photos of the MXGP of Thailand are available here

MXGP THAILAND – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1500m

Type of ground: Intermediate to hard

Temperature: 36°C

Weather conditions: sunny

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.

The Next MXGP will take place in 2 weeks time in Neuquen, Patagonia Argentina on the 29th March weekend

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

MXGP of Thailand

Go on-board as Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing's Todd Waters and Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe's Glenn Coldenhoff take us for a GoPro lap around MXGP of Thailand's circuit here in Nakhonchaisri.

Round two of the FIM Women's Motocross World Championship has commenced, check out the race highlights from race one.

It was an awesome days racing out here in Nakhonchaisri where round two of the FIM Motocross World Championship, MXGP of Thailand, took place. If you missed it, check out the videos below for a quick re-cap of what happened in both MXGP and MX2 qualifying heats.

MXGP Qualifying Race highlights

MX2 Qualifying Race highlights

The Studio Show at MXGP of Thailand features last weekend's MX2 runner-up Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube's Julien Lieber and 24MX Honda Racing's Filip Bengtsson. Check it out.

NAKHONCHAISRI (Thailand), 07 March 2015 – It was a scorching start to the second round of the FIM Motocross World Championship, no pun intended, for Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Ryan Villopoto and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings as they both dominated their qualifying race heats in scintillating fashion.

Meanwhile, Yamaha MXFontaracing’s Kiara Fontanesi banked her first twenty-five points this year, after bouncing back from a first turn pile-up to dominate the first race of the second round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship.

The show was well and truly stolen today when Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Ryan Villopoto held a tight line around turn one, nabbed the holeshot and went on to obliterate the field for one of the most convincing qualifying heat victories we’ve seen in a while. Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Clement Desalle rode cool, calm and collective for an unchallenged second while the battle for third was where the real race shaped up.

In the early stages Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tommy Searle bashed about with teammate Ken De Dycker and the MXGP red plate holder Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl for third but ended up crashing a few laps in which dropped him back to tenth.

While De Dycker and Nagl bickered over third they found themselves welcoming Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin to the party around mid-moto. Paulin was absolutely hauling after a less than mediocre start left him well outside of the top ten on the opening lap. After slicing through the field at a rate of knots, Paulin made light work of both Nagl and De Dycker to take over third. With Paulin opening the door in the race against the giant Belgian De Dycker, Nagl followed him through to take over and finish fourth. De Dycker managed to finish fifth while Villopoto’s Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tyla Rattray rounded out the top six.

As for the eight-time FIM Motocross World Champion, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli managed to bounce back to eighth after going down on turn one.

MXGP Qualifying Race Top Ten: 1. Ryan Villopoto (USA, Kawasaki), 23:41.909; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:33.419; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:39.764; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:45.150; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:53.571; 6. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:57.761; 7. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:03.839; 8. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +1:08.477; 9. Steven Frossard (FRA, KTM), +1:13.457; 10. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), +1:14.376

When the gates slammed to the ground it was The Bullet Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings who shot out of the gate and nailed the holeshot ahead of his raging MX2 counterparts, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Jeremy Seewer, Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser and the Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s duo of Dylan Ferrandis and Jordi Tixier.

As Herlings went on to dominate, effortlessly controlling the race for his second consecutive qualifying heat victory this year, the freight-train of riders behind him went bar to bar for second. As one of the most improved riders this season, Jonass had a firm grip on second despite an early race challenge from Seewer who ended up stacking it on lap three and dropping back to sixth.

With Seewer down, the Kawasaki boys Ferrandis and Tixier were able to take advantage and move up into third and fourth with only a flicker of red in the form of Gajser breaking up the green. With third place up for grabs the trio Ferrandis, Tixier and Gajser impressively threw their supercross skills on the table when they started tripling in to the rhythm section, a jump that not even the MXGP riders were doing.

After tossing third about between themselves for the majority of the race, when the checkered flag was waved it was Gariboldi Honda’s Tim Gajser who managed to secure third behind the hauling Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo of Jeffrey Herlings and Pauls Jonass.  Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Dylan Ferrandis finished up in fourth while his teammate, the defending MX2 world champion Jordi Tixier recovered from a small crash at the end of pit lane for fifth.

MX2 Qualifying Race Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 24:22.323; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:15.751; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:17.694; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:28.623; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:31.415; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:35.128; 7. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:40.125; 8. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:46.505; 9. Mel Pocock (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:56.238; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +1:01.487

Click here to obtain the complete results.

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

MXGP THAILAND – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1500m

Type of ground: Intermediate soil to hard

Temperature: 36°C

Weather conditions: sunny and humide

MXGP will be 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.

TIMETABLE

Sunday: WMX Warm up 10:00; MX2 Warm up 10:20; MXGP Warm up 10:40; WMX Race 2 11:25; 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

NAKHONCHAISRI (Thailand), 07 March 2015 – As we move to Thailand for the second round of the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship, Youthstream would like to announce the continuation of its strong partnership with Athena who will be providing Youthstream staff with bags from the popular Ogio range.

Ogio is a globally recognized brand known for its high performance bags and luggage carry cases. With a fantastic reputation for effectively combining design, function and durability, Ogio’s high performance bags are the best in the world.

As a partner of MXGP, Ogio will supply Youthstream’s staff with an Ogio Rig 9800, which will be in addition to the Ogio Terminal and the Newt 15 backpack that were provided in 2014. Ogio’s logo will be visible on the official MXGP podium and MXGP press conference backdrops. They will also have an advertisement page in the MXGP Mag, as well as clickable banners online at www.MXGP.com, which will provide an instant link to their all new online shop www.mxgp-ogio.com

Created in collaboration with Youthstream the online shop www.mxgp-ogio.com is the go to place to purchase all Ogio merchandise. The shop stocks everything from goggle bags right through to full-blown luggage and gear bags. 

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

MXGP-OGIO Store

Athena Facebook

MXGP-TV Host Lisa Leyland caught up with the current MXGP championship points leader and MXGP 2015 round one dominator Max Nagl. Watch the video below to see what the Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing rider had to say in the video below: