MXGP

LEON (Mexico), 13 April 2016 – After being wowed by the MXGP of Patagonia Argentina last weekend where the racing was top notch, particularly in the premier class, we’ve landed in Leon, Mexico, where the fifth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place.

This weekend is the third time in succession that the MXGP has been here in town. In recent times this round of the series took place near the end of the calendar, but after the mud fest last year and since September is rainy season for this area of the world, the round has been shifted forward for a more stable climate where the risk of rain has been massively reduced.

Interestingly, the MXGP of Leon has never been won by the same rider twice, not only in the MXGP class but also in MX2. In 2014 it was Gautier Paulin and Jordi Tixier who were able to do the victory dance, while last year it was Romain Febvre and Thomas Covington. Judging by the previous rounds and the result patterns of the MXGP of Leon, we are in for a hard-core awesome round of racing.

Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser took a decent chunk out of Febvre’s lead in Argentina & has good memories of Mexico where he won his first ever MX2 race back in 2014. The nineteen-year-old Slovenian impressively has a 50% win rate in MXGP at the moment having won four from the eight races thus far, and two from four grand prix overalls. ‘Tiga’ really likes the track in Mexico and judging by the pace he’s running at the moment, is probably a good rider to put your chips on.

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl has lined up at the last two rounds a seemingly new man. He’s been fast and aggressive out on track and that paid off with the German taking his first race win of the 2016 season in race one last weekend. Although he was bummed he didn’t take the overall win in Patagonia, Max is feeling positive for this round in Mexico since the track is said to be one of his favourites.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli is known for his methodical approach to the championship. Just like he has done over the previous years, he is racking up consistent results. After a thirteen round podium drought, TC222 bounced back for third overall last weekend and quietly snuck into third place in the championship standings. The Italian star missed the MXGP of Leon last year due to injury, but was second overall the year before and should be in good shape to land on the box once again this weekend.

A rough day in the office saw Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre break his astonishing sixteen round podium streak. Even though he went down in both races last weekend, it never broke his stride and he bounced back for a respectable fourth overall. At the MXGP of Leon last year, Febvre had already wrapped up the title, he only need to cruise for the rest of the season. Instead he went out in race one and obliterated everyone to win by a whopping forty-five seconds. To put that into perspective, everyone remembers Ryan Villopoto winning the MXGP of Thailand qualifier by an astonishing thirty-three seconds. Well, add ten more seconds to that gap, and that’s what Febvre did here last year. Amazing.

Last but not least, there is the heroic Shaun Simpson who is doing it for the satellite teams onboard his Wilvo Virus Performance KTM. Simpson was second here last year so we can’t count him out for another top five or podium performance. Also we can’t forget Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev who actually won the Tag Heuer fastest lap last weekend, which means he was the fastest rider in the world on that day but a couple of strokes of bad luck meant he would finish outside the top five.

2015 MXGP of Leon MXGP Top 3

1. Romain Febvre

2. Shaun Simpson

3. Evgeny Bobryshev

MXGP Championship Top 10: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 172 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 169 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 144 p.; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 138 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 134 p.; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 125 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 105 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 103 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 82 p.; 10. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 74 p.

Every now and then the sport turns out a one of a kind talent, and it just leaves everyone scratching their heads as to how he can ride the way he does. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings is one of them. Don’t take anything away from the rest of MX2, those kids are hauling too, Jeffrey is just on another level at the moment. While The Bullet is running on pure confidence, and he rides at a pace that makes people question if he is even human, he has proved in the past he is real and he can make mistakes and those mistakes have been his undoing. Because of those mistakes, Herlings has never won here in Leon, although he did win the hearts of most when he attempted to race in 2014 with a broken femur. It was obvious he was in pain, he could barely walk, but that is what being world champion meant to him. Maybe that is the difference? Maybe he wants it more than anyone else. Either way, if he keeps riding the way he is and manages to keep a cool head, he should be able to wrap up his third MX2 world title this year.

Team Suzuki World MX2’s Jeremy Seewer has been indulging in his fair share of podium pie this season. He has now had three in a row and looks to be picking up the pace. The Swiss rider will be hoping for another ‘lovely day’, as his butt patch reads.

Red Bull gives you wings, don’t take the slogan seriously. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass tried last year when he was catapulted horrifically from his bike. Amazingly, he was ok but it was a costly mistake in terms of winning the MX2 world championship, which eventually went to Tim Gajser. Putting that spectacular crash aside, Jonass was incredibly fast around Leon last year where he won his first ever MX2 race. He hasn’t won one since and it might be a little difficult against his teammate this weekend, but either way, we are sure the courageous Latvian will give it his best shot.

It may pay to keep an eye on TM Racing Factory Team’s Samuele Bernardini. The Italian, who is the only TM rider in the class, made his debut to MX2 halfway through last year and is already starting to crack the top five. Also, Bernardini is blistering fast out of the gate, which always assists in achieving good results.

And then there is last years MX2 round of Leon winner Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Covington. Last year the American took his first ever race win and overall out here, which will leave him buzzing on the gate this weekend. Hopefully all his stars can fall in line once again and we can see Covington fulfill his potential and the same for Kemea Yamaha MX Official Team’s Benoit Paturel who uncorked his first bottle of bubbles here in 2015 on the third step of the podium.

2015 MXGP of Leon MX2 Top 3

1. Thomas Covington

2. Tim Gajser

3. Benoit Paturel

MX2 Championship Top 10: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 200 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 152 p.; 3. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 131 p.; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 130 p.; 5. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 104 p.; 6. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 99 p.; 7. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 91 p.; 8. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 84 p.; 9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 78 p.; 10. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 70 p.

All the photos of the MXGP of Leon 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 Leon

The Fox Holeshot award runs across the entire 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 MXGP of Patagonia Argentina in Neuquen, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Antonio Cairoli took the Fox Holeshot in MXGP race one while Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser scored the Fox Holeshot point in MXGP race two.

Meanwhile in MX2 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Anstie claimed both Fox Holeshots.

Watch MXGP of Patagonia Argentina ‘Fox Holeshot’ fims here below.

MXGP FOX Holeshot film

MX2 FOX Holeshot film

The gates dropped at round four of the FIM Motocross World Championship, the MXGP of Patagonia Argentina in Neuquen. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings set the fastest lap time for the weekend in MX2 while Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev set the fastest time over the weekend in MXGP.

Both riders have added one point to their TAG Heuer fastest lap score sheets. 

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.

Watch all the race highlights from the MXGP of Patagonia Argentina in the video below: 

NEUQUEN (Patagonia - Argentina), 10 April 2016 – Set at the foothills of the picturesque mountains of Villa la Angostura, the spectacular yet deceiving natured volcanic loam circuit of Patagonia played host to the fourth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship. Bringing it home for the extremely animated and enthusiastic crowds out here in Argentina were Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings, the Slovenian taking his second MXGP victory of the season while Herlings romped to his 51^st career MX2 win.

Don’t judge a book by its cover. The track here in Villa la Angostura is perhaps one of the best looking tracks on the calendar. While its width and beautifully sculpted jumps are loved by the riders, it shapes up to be very tricky as the hard base blanketed by a layer of loam is hard to read and has a habit of kicking riders when they least expect it. Despite the technical, physical and mental demand of the circuit it was the nineteen-year-old rookie Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser who excelled for his second grand prix overall of the year. “I had a really good weekend”, the Slovenian said, “I won my first ever qualifying race yesterday and I took a FOX holeshot and won today. Next we go to Mexico and I have good memories there, I won my first ever MX2 race there and I really like the track so I look forward to going there.”

It’s been a long time coming for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli who finally filled the big boots he walks in with his first podium finish since May last year. “I’m not yet at my best, but I have to make the best of it, I am happy with my riding although I have to ride different to what I am used to because I feel not strong enough in some places. But it’s ok and it gets better and better.” Second overall here in Argentina saw TC222 jump from fifth in the championship standings up to third.

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl is slowly but surely moving in the right direction. The small statured German was looking good today. He took his first race win of the season in the first moto but after a last ditch effort to catch Cairoli for second in the final race, he decided it was too risky and backed off. “I’m a little bit disappointed because I could have won this GP, but I backed off and the Yamaha guys passed me, but a third place is better than a DNF, so I am happy.”

The red plate holder, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre broke his 16 round podium streak and almost relinquished the red plate here in Argentina after binning it a number of times in both races. Thanks to his ‘never say die’ fighting spirit the Frenchman put in yet another epic last lap surge in the final moto to pass both Nagl & Van Horebeek for third in that race which combined with his sixth in race one, was enough for fourth overall.

Febvre lost a bunch of points to Gajser today but nevertheless he will head into the MXGP of Leon in Mexico next weekend with a three-point lead over the rookie. Meanwhile his Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing teammate Jeremy Van Horebeek put in two solid top five finishes to round out the top five.

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), 34:29.721; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:05.185; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:07.776; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:11.472; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:12.973; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:24.641; 7. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:34.253; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:40.168; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:46.162; 10. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:52.900

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:47.423; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:03.936; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:07.794; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:11.910; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:19.640; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:40.886; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:47.977; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:51.197; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:53.609; 10. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:54.351

MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 45 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 41 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 35 p.; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 34 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 27 p.; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 27 p.; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 25 p.; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 24 p.; 10. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 24 p.

MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 172 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 169 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 144 p.; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 138 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 134 p.; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 125 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 105 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 103 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 82 p.; 10. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 74 p.

MXGP Manufacturer: 1. Yamaha, 173 points; 2. Honda, 171 p.; 3. KTM, 151 p.; 4. Husqvarna, 136 p.; 5. Suzuki, 115 p.; 6. Kawasaki, 87 p.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings seems to have returned to his old self. He’s oozing confidence and appears to enjoy every lap he is racing at the moment with big whips and scrubs, to the point the fans almost toppled the fences over in excitement.  At the last round in Valkenswaard, The Bullet reached a milestone with his 50^th grand prix victory, and today in Villa la Angostura he hit yet another with his 100^th race win! In addition to remaining unbeaten, Herlings won in Argentina for the first time in his career.

Team Suzuki World MX2’s Jeremy Seewer had his work cut out for him today as he spent both races bashing bars with the competition. It wasn’t easy, he may have left a few yellow plastic scuffs on some riders, but eventually he got it together for second overall, “I feel amazing I have been on the podium three times in a row now, I will try to keep on going like this.”

Just like he did in Thailand, Wilvo Standing Construct Yamaha’s Aleksandr Tonkov had that right grip twisted today where he landed on the podium for the second time this year. After such a good day in the office, Tonkov has moved up to third in the championship after Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass DNF’d the first race after high-siding big-time on turn two where he split his chin open. Unfortunately for Jonass, he dropped from second to fourth.

TM Racing Factory Team’s Samuele Bernardini’s cat-like reactions got him off to two epic starts this weekend. Since Bernardini made his debut in MX2 halfway through last year he has proven he knows how to get off the gate, although his lack of experience racing up front in the worlds premier series always seemed to get the better of him. The Italian is now onto his second season in MX2 and with two fantastic starts today he delivered the goods for fourth overall, his best ever finish by far.

Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Petar Petrov looked at home on the circuit here in Patagonia as he served up pancakes all afternoon on the huge jumps. Petrov is a big lad and struggles on the start. Despite always having to come from behind, the Bulgarian put in a solid performance for fifth overall which was his first top five of the season.

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:29.494; 2. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:34.840; 3. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:36.815; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:49.465; 5. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +0:56.817; 6. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +1:07.056; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), +1:09.327; 8. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Kawasaki), +1:13.359; 9. Jorge Zaragoza (ESP, Honda), +1:22.090; 10. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +1:23.679

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:54.991; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:30.746; 3. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:33.248; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:41.457; 5. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:43.160; 6. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +0:51.648; 7. Roberts Justs (LAT, KTM), +0:57.064; 8. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:58.093; 9. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Kawasaki), +1:03.564; 10. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +1:11.648

MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 40 p.; 3. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 40 p.; 4. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 31 p.; 5. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 28 p.; 6. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 25 p.; 7. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 24 p.; 8. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 22 p.; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 22 p.

MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 200 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 152 p.; 3. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 131 p.; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 130 p.; 5. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 104 p.; 6. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 99 p.; 7. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 91 p.; 8. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 84 p.; 9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 78 p.; 10. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 70 p.

MX2 Manufacturer: 1. KTM, 200 points; 2. Suzuki, 152 p.; 3. Yamaha, 148 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 131 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 107 p.; 6. TM, 91 p.; 7. Honda, 78 p.

Click here to obtain the complete results

All the photos of the MXGP of Patagonia Argentina will be available here

MXGP PATAGONIA ARGENTINA – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1550m

Type of ground: dark soil

Temperature: 19°C

Weather conditions: sunny

Crowd Attendance: 29,000

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 fifth round of the 2016 FIM Motocross World Championship will take place next weekend on April 17^th in Leon, Mexico for the MXGP of Leon.

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

MXGP of Patagonia Argentina

Watch the Official GoPro Lap from the MXGP of Patagonia Argentina with Max Nagl and Davy Pootjes here: