MXGP

MAGGIORA (Italy), 14 June 2015 – MXGP of Italy, round nine of the FIM Motocross World Championship just added a mudder to the already extremely diverse series. Torrential rain flooded the premises earlier this morning, which left the track drenched and the riders caked in mud. Thankfully, the rain stopped around 11:30 in the morning and managed to hold off for all of the races.

Although it wasn’t the worst mud race ever, it was still extremely tricky especially with the classic track of Maggiora being clay based with a lot of elevation and cambered turns. Mud is known to be a bit of an equalizer in motocross circles, which may have been a contributing factor to the results in MXGP, but nevertheless the deserving overall victories went to Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre in MXGP and Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser in MX2.

Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre is on fire at the moment. The Frenchman is definitely a legitimate threat for the MXGP crown this year, which he confirmed with his heel-clicker sealed win in race one. Despite having a humungous crash in race two where he clipped Hitachi Construction Machinery Revo KTM’s Shaun Simpson, he bounced back for sixth and his second consecutive MXGP overall victory. “I am happy for my team because it is Yamaha’s 60^th anniversary and we are in yellow, so that is nice. In race two there was a little bit of sun on the hill so I had to change my line quick and I crashed. I had to ride with no front brake, on this track you can’t imagine how hard it was but I wanted to win the GP so I kept pushing.”

Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Kevin Strijbos put in an outstanding performance on his return from injury with an epic last lap pass on the championship leader, Max Nagl, to win the final race of the day. Strijbos doesn’t appear to have lost much speed in his time off and was stoked to have made such a solid come-back, “I was happy to be back here and with my thumb and my wrist everything was fine. I was pretty happy it rained because I like that a lot.”

The Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing squad are getting used to hanging around the podium. This time, instead of being there for their red plate holder, Max Nagl, it was the happy go lucky Australian Todd Waters, who landed on the podium for the first time in his young MXGP career. “It’s hard to talk because of the smile on my face. There was a few emotions, I came past pitlane in the last race and I got a pit board ‘podium position’ so I wanted to stretch those throttle cables and go for it for sure.”

It was an amazing weekend for the former FIM Motocross World Champion DP19 Yamaha Racing’s David Philippaerts who played a huge part in the marvelous atmosphere here at his almost local circuit of Maggiora. Philippaerts was unfortunately edged off the podium with Strijbos’ last minute pass on Nagl. Nevertheless, the Italian who tied with Todd Waters on points, was undoubtedly a winner in the eyes of the public.

Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Jeremy Van Horebeek had a rusty start to the season which was topped off with a broken foot at MXGP of Trentino. The injury vanquished all hopes of bettering last year’s result of vice-world champion. Nevertheless, the Belgian is mounting his come back which is seemingly moving in the right direction with a third place in race one that was followed by a remarkable ninth in race two, which he obtained after stacking it on the first corner. Van Horebeek rounded out the top five.

With torrential rain being a huge factor in how the results shaped up today, the red plate holder, Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl was forced to do some damage control after he went down on the opening lap in race one. After only coming home in fifteenth, the German evened out his day with a near race win in the final moto but it was only enough for seventh overall.

As for the defending champion Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli, the Italian star put in a brave performance today riding with a broken hand. Tony said on the heels of race two, “the first moto was the hardest of my career, the track was so bumpy and rutty & I could hardly hold on to my bike but it was good for the championship.”

As for Assomotor Honda’s Alessandro Lupino, he also added to the crowd intensity with a fantastic start in race one, which resulted in his season best finish, fifth. Unfortunately a great day was bought to a Holt for the Italian who could only manage twentieth in race two after a series of crashes.

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), 34:30.862; 2. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:16.185; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:22.837; 4. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:25.631; 5. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Honda), +0:39.407; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:43.504; 7. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:53.425; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:55.228; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:56.129; 10. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:58.612.

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 35:17.283; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:02.013; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:24.778; 4. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:29.652; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:32.520; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:36.443; 7. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:37.465; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:38.913; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:39.945; 10. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Honda), +0:53.466.

MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 40 points; 2. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 37 p.; 3. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 36 p.; 4. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 32 p.; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 31 p.; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 28 p.; 8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 27 p.; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 23 p.; 10. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 22 p.

MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 360 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 330 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 322 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 291 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 279 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 270 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 200 p.; 8. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 174 p.; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 158 p.; 10. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 155 p.

MXGP Manufacturer: 1. Husqvarna, 379 points; 2. KTM, 361 p.; 3. Suzuki, 356 p.; 4. Yamaha, 327 p.; 5. Honda, 325 p.; 6. Kawasaki, 237 p.; 7. TM, 70 p.

Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser mastered the slip and slide circuit here at a very slick and treacherous Maggiora. The Slovenian had the balance between attack and respect dialed on the chewed up track, which saw him awarded with the grand prix victory. Gajser smiled, “I had a couple of bad weeks where I was crashing and not riding so well but then everything changed and I’m back at the front again. It was great to win another GP.”

Expecting perfection in a mud race is more than unrealistic, which the maturing Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings knows better than anyone. The Dutchman mentioned after dominating every lap in race two that he couldn’t find his rhythm in race one and also had some issues with vision due to water between his tear-offs.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Jeremy Seewer is one rider who always has his head screwed on. He doesn’t take a lot of risks yet is extremely talented. His smooth and smart riding style landed him on the third step of the podium for the second time in his MX2 career, “I am happy to get my second ever podium today, the track was really difficult with the weather, so the start was actually the key. I got two really good starts and two really good finishes, so I am really happy and I’m already looking forward to the next GP’s.”

Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Aleksandr Tonkov claimed his first ever race win this weekend and added his name to the terse list of MX2 race winners in the ‘Jeffrey Herlings era’. The Russian was in line for his first ever grand prix victory today but a crash with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass left them both on the deck and dropped him back to fourth for the day.

Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Brent Van Doninck, the fourth place finisher in the European Championship EMX250 last year, put in his career best finish for fifth overall.

Also, TM Racing Factory Team’s Samuele Bernardini flew the flag high for the Italian fans with an eleventh place finish.

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), 35:43.948; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:10.152; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:19.927; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:43.043; 5. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +1:20.365; 6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +1:25.800; 7. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +1:29.160; 8. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +1:35.621; 9. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Honda), +1:37.483; 10. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +1:38.710.

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:14.548; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:01.424; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:03.496; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:05.292; 5. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:27.111; 6. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:39.218; 7. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:46.169; 8. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:54.992; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:57.393; 10. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +0:58.765.

MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 42 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 38 p.; 4. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 38 p.; 5. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 30 p.; 6. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 27 p.; 7. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 25 p.; 8. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 24 p.; 9. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 22 p.; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 22 p.

MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 398 points; 2. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 259 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 259 p.; 4. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 256 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 251 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 251 p.; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 246 p.; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 210 p.; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 209 p.; 10. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 205 p.

MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 420 points; 2. Kawasaki, 369 p.; 3. Yamaha, 314 p.; 4. Honda, 284 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 259 p.; 6. Suzuki, 246 p.; 7. TM, 22 p.

Click here to obtain the complete results.

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

MXGP ITALY – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1650m

Type of ground: Hard Pack

Temperature: 20°C

Weather conditions: cloudy with some showers

Crowd Attendance: 36,000

MXGP is 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.

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

MXGP of Italy

Due to the weather conditions the Timetable has been changed. 

EMX125 Race 2 has been postponed to 6.00.

Click here to download the updated timetable and Watch it on MXGP-TV. 

Following the press conference here in Maggiora for MXGP of Italy, the jersey that will be proudly worn by the three riders selected to represent Italy at the highly anticipated 2015 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations was presented by Team Italy’s coach Mr. Thomas Traversini and the Italian Motorcycle Federation, FMI, Vice Presidents Mr. Fabio Larceri and Mr. Giovanni Copioli.

Mr. Traversini said a few words about the design of the jersey. “This year we have put the names of every rider who has worn the Team Italy jersey over the last ten years on it, they are in very small but they are all there and it is special to present it here at the Italian grand prix.”

MAGGIORA (Italy), 13 June 2015 - After a grim day of treacherous rain yesterday where the circuit and venue took a hammering from water, it was unbelievable how amazing Maggiora shaped up today to host the qualifying races at round nine of the FIM Motocross World Championship. With surprisingly picture perfect conditions, it was both red plate holders Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings who cleaned up.

In the European Championships EMX300 and EMX125, who also raced their first motos of the weekend, it was Swiss rider Killian Auberson who claimed the twenty-five points in the EMX300 while KTM Factory Juniors Josiah Natzke took his fourth consecutive race win in the EMX125.

The MXGP riders were lucky as the rain that was threatened failed to amount, which left the track dry but still very technically challenging. When the gates dropped it looked as though the two fastest in Timed Practice, Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev and Gautier Paulin, would lead the way around turn one. Instead, the two collided and went down.

Wilvo Forkrent KTM’s Steven Frossard was the one who nabbed the holeshot in this instance followed by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli and Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl. As the trio exited turn three, there was an epic roar from the crowd as the legend Antonio Cairoli took the lead. Uncharacteristically Cairoli failed to complete the first lap because of a crash that forced him out of the race.

With Cairoli out, Nagl took the lead and then it was game over for the rest of MXGP as the red plate holder ran away for his first qualifying heat victory of the season. Meanwhile behind the German, Frossard put in a phenomenal performance before he lost the front around the midway mark and retired. It was Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Jeremy Van Horebeek who capitalized on the mistakes of Cairoli and Frossard and took home a comfortable second ahead Hitachi Construction Machinery Revo KTM’s Shaun Simpson, a guy known more for his sand skills, who came home in third.

The most impressive performance of the day was undoubtedly that of Bobryshev who rallied his way from last all the way up to fourth. Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Glenn Coldenhoff also put in a great performance for fifth with Paulin rounding out the top six.

As for Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Clement Desalle, he went out in free practice but still cannot ride due to a shoulder and a knee injury. So he has withdrawn.

MXGP Qualifying Race Top Ten: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), 24:42.694; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:04.702; 3. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:07.624; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:09.534; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:13.588; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:14.956; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:15.640; 8. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:16.548; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Honda), +0:23.868; 10. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:24.551.

There was no catching the Red Bull KTM Factory bikes out of the gate as Pauls Jonass snatched the holeshot from The Bullet Jeffrey Herlings. Herlings knows the importance of a good start and wasted no time in squirting up the inside of his teammate to take over the lead. Jonass then tried to tuck in behind Herlings but had to switch from attack to defense mode with Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Thomas Covington and Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube’s Valentin Guillod all over him like a rash.

Covington soon made life easier for everyone when he went down in the first few laps while Guillod, hasty in moving forward kept Herlings in his sights. With Jonass dropping back to third, the next challenger for the Latvian was the defending champion Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jordi Tixier who, six laps in, managed to execute a sweet pass by launching the step up for the inside line on the following turn.

Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Max Anstie was the next rider to start reeling Jonass in after passing Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser in the early stages of the race. After a few laps of eating the pebble-like clay roost, both Anstie and Gajser were gifted a position when Jonass went down.

Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Aleksandr Tonkov also took advantage of Jonass’ fault and moved up to sixth which soon became fifth as Anstie suffered another engine malfunction.

At the checkered flag, it was Herlings who rode flawless for the win while Guillod put in a solid performance for second. Tixier was also unchallenged in third followed by Gajser and Tonkov respectively.

MX2 Qualifying Race Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 24:25.689; 2. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:08.939; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:12.877; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:15.712; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:26.263; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:30.379; 7. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:32.629; 8. Damon Graulus (BEL, Yamaha), +0:37.429; 9. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:43.718; 10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Honda), +0:45.052.

Click here to obtain the complete results.

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

MXGP ITALY – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1650m

Type of ground: Hard Pack

Temperature: 24°C

Weather conditions: cloudy with some shower

TIMETABLE

Sunday: EMX300 Warm-up 08:45; EMX125 Warm-up 09:00; EMX300 Race 2 10:30; MX2 Warm up 11:10; MXGP Warm up 11:30; EMX125 Race 2 12:00; 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 Italy

You can WIN some awesome prizes this year by participating in the GET, ATHENA Photo Competition.

What you have to do:

1.     Find any ATHENA or GET Logo

2.     Take a photo of it

3.     Upload it to the Athena Photo Competition app on MXGP’s Facebook page, CLICK HERE.

Logo’s can be found on the rider’s gear, on the bikes, on the team trucks, and around the paddock of MXGP on various other banners and advertising panels.

The most voted picture will win and OGIO backpack and can be go on to the final draw to win:

• Two VIP passes to any 2016 MXGP round of your choice
• Go Pro prize pack
• Ogio Prize

Find an Athena or GET logo, snap a pic and upload it to Facebook.

VOTE for your favourite photo on our Athena GET photo competition:http://mxgpathena.pgtb.me/rdBQ6b

And don’t forget to follow @Athenasocial on Facebook and Twitter and hashtag #MXGP & #AthenaLive

MXGP of Italy marks the midway point of this amazing season of motocross and despite a rather damp start to the weekend with the weather not being 100% onside, there have been some pretty cool things happening out here at the historic venue of Maggiora. Since we are also halfway through the year manufacturers are starting to unveil their 2016 ranges.

Today, Honda with the help of their factory supported riders Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin and Evgeny Bobryshev and Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser and Jorge Zaragoza unveiled the all new 2016 Honda CRF250R and CRF450R motorcycles.

They also launched one of the most inspiring stories in their video of their series “A life behind bars” which reveals the touching story of former MXGP racer Joel Roelants who was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident one year ago. The film will be online tomorrow.

Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Jeremy Van Horebeek and Romain Febvre along with Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube’s Valentin Guillod and Julien Lieber joined some of the folks from Yamaha Motors Europe to reveal the 2016 YZF250 and YZF450 bikes. Yamaha will also be sixty-years-old next year so to celebrate they have released a super trick 60^th anniversary edition which embraces their retro style yellow color scheme.