MXGP

The latest issue of the FREE e-magazine Motocoss Illustrated is online and once again with some great stories. Jeffrey Herlings talks about his possible move to the MXGP class, or maybe his desire to break records in the MX2 class. Also stories with Arnaud Tonus, and the MXGP series. Legends talk about Legends, a piece where some of the greats of the sport let you know what they think of each other.

Check it out by clicking here

Standing Construct KTM team owner Tim Mathys sat down and talked about his feelings about the current situation with the age rule in the MX2 class, and also his happiness about the form of his current rider Valentin Guillod, who won last weekend’s MX2 qualification race and is really showing amazing speed in 2014.

Q: Signing a rider like Valentin Guillod must have been a nice step after losing Glenn Coldenhoff in the winter. He had shown great form in the 2013 MXoN, and was expected to have a good future. So it was a nice signing.

Mathys: We were looking for a rider with the same possibilities as Glenn results wise, and we talked to Valentin (Guillod). He told me he wanted to ride for only two teams, that was the Red Bull KTM Factory team or my team, so it didn’t take long to make a deal with him.

Q: It must give you a big buzz to see riders improve at the rate Valentin has this year, similar to what Glenn did in 2013 or not?

Mathys: I think with Valentin we are doing the same thing we did with Glenn. Maybe not as many people believed in Glenn or Valentin, but we gave them the chance and let them do their thing in the winter as far as preparing for the season, and you can see now that Valentin has really stepped it up, just like Glenn did in 2013.

Q: My guess is that it gives you a lot of motivation to continue when you can find young riders like this?

Mathys: For sure, that is my motivation. I created this team to give young kids with talent, riders who might not normally get these opportunities. There was no interest in Glenn when we signed him, and the problem was when we signed him he had never ridden on hard-pack and we sent him to Spain where he rode the whole winter and you saw the improvement in him in 2013. With Valentin we gave him the material he wanted, the suspension he wanted, and now he is making the results.

Q: Tim, can you give me your opinion on the age rule for the MX2 class, I understand you support the rule?

Mathys: For sure I am positive about the rule and why do I support this rule, it is because they push the best riders to the MXGP class. We should see the MX2 class as a step-up class and the best riders move up to the MXGP class. That is in fact the reason why I created our team to give young riders the chance in the MX2 class. I don’t see us as an MXGP team, we want to give guys with talent the chance and help them improve.

Q: We will see a lot of riders moving to the MXGP class from the MX2 class in 2015. What is your opinion of this?

Mathys: I also think the MXGP class needs fresh blood, there are riders in the MXGP class that are maybe not cruising around, but are not fast enough anymore. They are riding in the MXGP and they know there are no better riders to replace them, but now with a lot of riders coming from the MX2 class for the 2015 season these riders need to maybe move aside and make room for the younger riders.

Q: Obviously with the younger, less experienced riders you also get riders who are less expensive. That is a positive for the MX2 teams, or not?

Mathys: For sure that is a positive thing for the MX2 teams. I don’t think many people know, but the cost of an MX2 team is more expensive than an MXGP team. Our bikes, the 250’s cost more to make go fast than a 450, and having riders who ask less money is an advantage for our teams due to the heavy costs of the bikes.

Q: Losing Glenn to the Factory Suzuki team was obviously difficult having seen him improve a lot in the 2013 season.

Mathys: Firstly the fact we lost Glenn was one of the worst experiences I have ever had in Motocross. Glenn is a good guy and his mechanic Franky was a friend, we worked together for more than two years and we had more contact with each other than I had with my girlfriend. So it was tough seeing them go.

Q: Do you still have good contact with Glenn and enjoy seeing him ride well (before his injury)?

Mathys: I still talk to Glenn, and I like to see his results improve and I still regret we lost him. When I saw him doing well in Qatar at the start of the season, I was really happy. There was some bad talk in the winter both about Glenn and myself because of our split-up, but both Glenn and I stayed correct, and that is why we are still friends. For sure when I see Glenn doing well it makes me happy.

KTM Racing announces that it has welcomed the move by the International Motorcycle Federation (FIM) to officially control and verify the engine size of the bike used by the current leader in the MXGP-class World Championship, KTM Factory Rider Antonio Cairoli. 

FIM made the control on the racing bike engine used by Cairoli in Sunday’s MXGP of Spain at Talavera de la Reina. 

Following the day’s racing activities, officials from FIM made a thorough control and officially verified that Cairoli’s machine, which successfully competes against the bigger 450cc bikes in the MXGP World Championship, is, as it is correctly branded, a 350cc-displacement racing bike.



Speaking of the control, Pit Beirer, Head of KTM Motorsports said: “We very much welcome this move by the FIM officials because it is important for our company image, and for our international reputation that Tony’s factory bike not only complies with FIM rules, but also that it is verified as a 350 cc.” Beirer said customers, rivals and most important, the sport’s governing body should have the official assurance that the bike in question conforms to the size as stated on the machine’s official specifications and is completely in line with FIM regulations. 



Pit Beirer: “We also want our customers to know that for KTM it is it naturally vital that with the 350cc SX-F, what they see is what they get. The fact that Tony (Cairoli) has competed so successfully on the 350 SX-F since he joined our factory team in 2010 is a tribute to his exceptional riding skills. It goes without saying that also underlines KTM’s ongoing commitment to R&D and the deployment of technical expertise that is second to none.”



Cairoli, of Italy secured his seventh world title in 2013 and leads the points in the 2014 edition of the MXGP World Championship. He has won four consecutive world titles in the big bike category on the KTM 350 SX-F since joining the official KTM factory team and KTM Racing wishes him all the very best for the remainder of the 2014 Season.

MXGP-TV’s 26mn Magazine is a filmed production that covers all the action, both on the track and off, with highlights from racing in MXGP and MX2, an on-board lap of the track as well as the inside scoop from the pits at each round of the FIM Motocross World Championship.

Take to the Bullfighting ring with KTM Silver Action's Jose Butrón before catching up on MXGP of Spain's racing highlights. Share some traditional Spanish Tapas with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli. Get some inside information from the paddocks suspension experts over the evolution of factory spec motocross forks and spend 99.9 seconds with BikeIT Yamaha Cosworth’s Rui Conçalves.

Click here to watch now.

FUNCHAL (Portugal), 13 May 2014 – Youthstream announces that the event in Belgium, scheduled on 3 August, will be held in Lommel and the event originally scheduled on 17 August is cancelled and will not be replaced.

The updated calendar is the following: 

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

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 MXGP of Spain 24MX Honda’s Xavier Boog claimed his first FOX Holeshot of the season in race one while Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Kevin Strijbos claimed it in race two. Meanwhile in the MX2 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings claimed the FOX Holeshot with his stellar start in race one, while the holeshot master and local legend KTM Silver Actions Jose Butrón took back the FOX Holeshot award lead with his fourth of the season in race two.

After MXGP’s round of Spain, both Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli and KTM Silver Actions Jose Butrón lead their respective classes by four.

Watch MXGP of Spain ‘Fox Holeshot’ slow mo’s in the videos below.

MXGP: 24MX Honda’s Xavier Boog and Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Kevin Strijbos

MX2: Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings and  KTM Silver Actions Jose Butrón 

PHOTO Below: 24MX Honda’s Xavier Boog and Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Kevin Strijbos

TALAVERA DE LA REINA (Spain), 11 May 2014 - To attack or respect, the riders in round seven of the FIM Motocross World Championship were forced to decide as the sun baked clay sculpted their stage here in Talavera de la Reina, dictating line selection and demanding a combination of both mental and physical strength.

Both proving to have returned to their expected form, Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Clement Desalle and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings dominated their respective races to claim victory here at the MXGP of Spain in perfect score style.

MXGP

The real Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Clement Desalle took a stand today proving he’s still a real player in this game. The Belgian looked more aggressive than he has of late, getting off to two great starts and going on to lead every lap from start to finish for his first ever FIM Motocross World Championship win in Spain, as well as his first perfect score of the season.

The podium almost wouldn’t look right without Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek as he makes himself the most consistent podium placer in the MXGP class this season. “Today I had an awesome feeling, but my starts were not that good and that is where I lost it, but overall I am really happy, second on the podium to make it six times in a row, and I am really happy.”

Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Kevin Strijbos fought hard from an average start in race one to take a hard fought fourth when he passed both Cairoli and Bobryshev with two-laps to go. After making a change to his bike to help with the start in race two, the Belgian got the FOX Holeshot and rode solid to make the podium a complete Belgian domination for the second time this year. “I think the track was good, it was a little bit like old school and overall the track was nice to ride.”

The saying goes ‘Championships are not won on your good days, but on your bad days’, which can be said for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli as he looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable out on the roasted clay today, but with fourth place being the result of a bad day, the Italian still has a lot to smile about as he continues to lead the championship by twenty-four points.

After having some big falls already this year like the one at Arco di Trento and then again two weeks ago in Valkenswaard, Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Steven Frossard is happy to have kept his KXF450 on two wheels this weekend to bring home a solid fifth.

MXGP Race 1 top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 34:16.039; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:05.376; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:11.106; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:18.572; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:20.806; 6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:26.363; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Honda), +0:30.702; 8. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Husqvarna), +0:33.979; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, Honda), +0:35.869; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:51.498.

MXGP Race 2 top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 33:58.407; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:01.732; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:03.845; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:15.603; 5. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:23.521; 6. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:43.618; 7. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:50.876; 8. Rui Goncalves (POR, Yamaha), +0:52.007; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Honda), +1:06.104; 10. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Husqvarna), +1:12.517

MXGP Overall top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 50 points; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 40 p.; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 38 p.; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 37 p.; 5. Steven Frossard (FRA, KAW), 36 p.; 6. Xavier Boog (FRA, HON), 26 p.; 7. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 24 p.; 8. Tyla Rattray (RSA, HUS), 24 p.; 9. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Joel Roelants (BEL, HON), 22 p

MXGP World Championship Classification Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 304 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 280 p.; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 276 p.; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 220 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, KAW), 205 p.; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HON), 166 p.; 7. Steven Frossard (FRA, KAW), 142 p.; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 136 p.; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, HON), 134 p.; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, HON), 134 p.

MXGP Manufacturer: 1. KTM, 304 points; 2. Suzuki, 290 p.; 3. Yamaha, 276 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 269 p.; 5. Honda, 230 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 169 p.; 7. TM, 124 p.

MX2

For the majority of this season Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings has been claiming he’s lacking on-the-bike training and therefore is not as dominant as he has been in the past. After today’s performance on a surface which is the complete opposite end of the spectrum to the sand of Valkenswaard, it is almost safe to say “The Bullet” has been training hard and now he is back, and he means business.

CLS Kawasaki Monster Energy’s young Frenchman Dylan Ferrandis put his hard pack knowledge to good use this weekend utilizing a smooth and solid riding style to bring home two consistent third place finishes for second overall for the second time this year. “Today in the race we had some nice battles, it was really close for first to eight, but I am very happy to be back on the podium, three and three is good for me”

Meanwhile his CLS Kawasaki Monster Energy teammate Arnaud Tonus did exactly what he needed to do here in race one, riding his own pace to take second. In race two the creativity of the Swiss was put to the ultimate test as he was forced to make new line combinations in order to make passes stick. After his plausible efforts in race two, where he scrapped his way into second only to lose it after going into a berm a little too hot and catching an edge which tipped him off his bike, he still managed to come home for fifth which landed him on the podium for the fourth time this year.

Persistent is one word that sums up Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre. The young French star on the rise fought tooth and nail this weekend, which left him face first in the dirt a couple of times. Nevertheless the youngsters never give up attitude kept him moving forward which rewarded him with fourth overall for the Grand Prix of Spain.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jordi Tixier can’t get the monkey off his back this year. While the Frenchman had moments of greatness where he looked at home and on the move around the hilly circuit here in Talavera, a few costly mistakes forced him backwards in both races leaving him in fifth overall.

It was heartbreak for KTM Silver Actions local kid Jose Butrón after he caused a thirty-five minute fence line fiesta when he snapped up the FOX Holeshot and led the best part of race two. After throwing his heart on the table to bring a podium home for his frenzy of screaming fans, the Spaniard appeared to have second place already in his pocket when he made an error over the back of the track and dropped back to sixth with a gut wrenching quarter of a lap to go.

Also making his MX2 Grand Prix comeback, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Christophe Charlier, who qualified an outstanding third place yesterday, crashed twice in race one and only managed to salvage twelfth, but bounced back strong in race two to come home in eighth. Although the return from injury could have been better, Charlier is satisfied with his results and progress from today, and is now looking forward to the next round of MXGP in two weeks time.

MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:08.693; 2. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:32.142; 3. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:41.915; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:44.578; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:52.004; 6. Julien Lieber (BEL, Suzuki), +1:06.023; 7. Damon Graulus (BEL, KTM), +1:10.108; 8. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:12.316; 9. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), +1:13.364; 10. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +1:14.768.

MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:48.430; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:05.468; 3. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:05.958; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:07.510; 5. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:08.977; 6. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:14.974; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), +0:17.417; 8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:20.364; 9. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:23.987; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), +0:37.601.

MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 40 p.; 3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KAW), 38 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 34 p.; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 30 p.; 6. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 28 p.; 7. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 26 p.; 8. Julien Lieber (BEL, SUZ), 25 p.; 9. Petar Petrov (BUL, YAM), 23 p.; 10. Christophe Charlier (FRA, YAM), 22 p.

MX2 World Championship Classification Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 294 points; 2. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KAW), 267 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, HUS), 232 p.; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 225 p.; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 215 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, SUZ), 176 p.; 7. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 171 p.; 8. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 170 p.; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 159 p.; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 153 p.

MX2 Manufacturer: 1. KTM, 324 points; 2. Kawasaki, 293 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 238 p.; 4. Suzuki, 229 p.; 5. Yamaha, 188 p.; 6. Honda, 181 p.; 7. TM, 6 p.

Click here to obtain the complete results.

All the photos of the MXGP of Spain are available here

MXGP was available across the board in high definition, and is also globally available to view live and in HD on www.MXGP-TV.com. Click here for the complete list of countries and cooperating MXGP broadcasting networks, viewing times can be viewed by clicking on the logo of your chosen broadcasting network.

MXGP SPAIN – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1620

Type of ground: Hard Pack

Temperature: 32°

Weather conditions: Sunny

Crowd attendance: 16.000

NEXT MXGP

The next round of MXGP will take place in two weeks time on the weekend of May 25 in Matterley Basin, Winchester, Great Britain.

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

MXGP of Spain