MX2

The gates dropped for round twelve of the FIM Motocross World Championship, the FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia-Italy at Mantova, Italy. Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser set the fastest lap time in MXGP while Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Jeffrey Herlings impressively set the fastest time, even faster than the MXGP class, in MX2.

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

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 FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia - Italy which was held in Mantova on June the 26^th, Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli took the FOX holeshots in Race 1 and Race 2 respectively.

Meanwhile in MX2 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Covington took the FOX holeshot in race 1 while Wilvo Standing Construct Yamaha Official MX2 Team’s Aleksandr Tonkov took the FOX holeshot in race 2.

Watch the FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia - Italy ‘Fox Holeshot’ films here below.

FULLBACK MXGP of of Lombardia - Italy FOX Holeshot MXGP Film

FULLBACK MXGP of of Lombardia - Italy FOX Holeshot MX2 Film

MANTOVA (Lombardia - Italy), 26 June 2016 – Mantova rumbled loud all weekend long as the FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia-Italy delivered more heat and intensity than what was perhaps expected. Temperatures soared well above 30 degrees Celsius as thousands of passion-filled fans packed into the venue to watch the best riders in the world go head to head for glory here at the twelfth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship.

Mantova was a brutal beast to tame as the riders battled both the extreme warmth and the savage condition of the unpredictable sand surface, which was taken in the strides of the current red plate holders, Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings, who both wooed the doting fans with their exceptional performances.

Even though Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser had a 74-point lead heading into this weekend, he’s not the sort of guy that will go out and just race for points. He wants to be the fastest rider on the track each and every time he swings his leg over the machine. “It was one of the toughest races of my career” Gajser said at the end of the day, “Tony rode really good in the second race, it was good to see him ride so fast, but I was happy to pass him at the end of the race a make a slight gap for the finish.” Tim now leads the championship by 92 points

Seasons come and go, both in sport and in weather, which was something we thought of today with the hot weather indicating summer is well and truly here, while the likes of Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Clement Desalle, two riders who haven’t had the most ideal seasons, also made their presence known. After a rough day in the office yesterday, Paulin put in two fierce rides for second overall which is his best overall finish of the season, while Desalle also had his best result of the year with a second place finish in race one and fourth in race two to land on the box, in third, for the first time this season.

There’s a name for days like these with the blistering hot summer sun shining down on a rougher than rough track, they’re called the dog days which was fitting name as the gloves came off between Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli and Tim Gajser with their dog fight brawl for the win in the final race. Cairoli was faster in places while Gajser would inch back the gap in others, there was literally nothing in it from start to finish, giving the thousands of Italian and Slovenian fans that swarmed the venue, exactly what they came for.

TC222 was all heart today as he battled through the soreness of an injured wrist to put on an excellent show for the fans, and finish fourth overall. He has also moved up into second place in the championship standings with a 32 point lead over the defending champion Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre, who has now missed the last two rounds due to a concussion but should return to action at the next round which will take place at the end of July in the Czech Republic. Speaking of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing, Febvre’s teammate Jeremy Van Horebeek rounded out the top five in MXGP this weekend ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff and the poleman, Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev.

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 35:01.739; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:04.460; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:07.423; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:11.147; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:16.639; 6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:25.874; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:33.524; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:38.665; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:44.531; 10. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:48.997.

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 35:17.922; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:09.544; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:17.480; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:25.145; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:33.911; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:37.557; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:38.142; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:54.421; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:59.148; 10. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:02.868.

MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 50 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 42 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 40 p.; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 35 p.; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 30 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 29 p.; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 25 p.; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 23 p.

MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 532 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 440 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 408 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 401 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 396 p.; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 351 p.; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 267 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 230 p.; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 212 p.; 10. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 210 p.

MXGP Manufacturers: 1. Honda, 540 points; 2. Yamaha, 482 p.; 3. KTM, 450 p.; 4. Husqvarna, 416 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 310 p.; 6. Suzuki, 242 p.

The speed and finesse Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings has in the sand is almost indescribable. It’s more of a seeing is believing type of thing, but in effort to try and put his incredible speed into perspective, Jeff’s laptime in Race 1 was 1:53.029 while Tim Gajser’s, in MXGP Race 1, was 1:54.866 and while you could argue that the track is rougher for the MXGP guys, The Bullet went out in Race 2 and nailed a lap of 1:54.455 which is still faster than the best time in MXGP Race 1. Take nothing away from Gajser; Herlings is just from another planet in the sand. The second best time in MX2 Race 2 was 1:58.461, which means The Bullet was a whopping 4 seconds a lap faster than the second fastest MX2 rider, Brian Bogers. “I did what I had to do when I had to do it, 23 out of 24 race wins is pretty good so now I am just looking forward to the Czech Republic.” Jeff said.

Everybody knows that the Belgian and Dutch riders are strong in the sand since they are all basically born in the stuff. HSF Logistics Motorsport’s Brian Bogers proved that it’s not just a stereotype with his impressive performance this weekend. Bogers hit a bunch of milestones with a career best race finish of second place in the opening race, and a third place in race two, which landed him on the second step of the podium. Up until today, Bogers hadn’t even cracked the top five, so it was a mega achievement for the Dutchman who was incredibly emotional at the end of the day when he dedicated his performance to his grandma who recently passed away.

Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Dylan Ferrandis will be full to the brim after the amount of sand he ate this weekend. In race one, he binned it three times in the first eight laps but managed to regroup for third, which was a pretty amazing accomplishment and was proof that his speed was there. Race two wasn’t much cleaner either, but his hard charging never give up attitude saw him finish sixth which landed him on the third step of the podium.

Another rider tapping into the top five for the first time this year was Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Covington who looked the best we’ve seen all season. There’s nothing more powerful than a positive attitude and Covington seemed to be on it today with his fourth and fifth place finishes leaving him in fourth overall.

It was more of a day at a theme park for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass who was on a rollercoaster. The Latvian was on Struggle Street in the first race and only finished tenth but bounced back massively in the second race for an emphatic second place which saw him leapfrog his way into fifth overall.

Last but not least, a shout out has to be given to the young Italian rookie Michele Cervellin who finished ninth overall, while Italy’s early season breakout star TM Racing Factory Team’s Samuele Bernardini only managed to finish seventeenth.

MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:51.899; 2. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:29.676; 3. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:35.149; 4. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +0:37.324; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:48.411; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:48.831; 7. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:55.552; 8. Davy Pootjes (NED, KTM), +1:01.851; 9. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), +1:05.124; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +1:07.501.

MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:08.731; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +1:13.556; 3. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +1:17.594; 4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +1:20.819; 5. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +1:27.830; 6. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:29.220; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +1:29.805; 8. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +1:35.366; 9. Conrad Mewse (GBR, Husqvarna), +1:46.304; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +1:52.560.

MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 35 p.; 4. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 34 p.; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 33 p.; 6. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 32 p.; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 29 p.; 8. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 22 p.; 9. Michele Cervellin (ITA, HON), 19 p.; 10. Conrad Mewse (GBR, HUS), 17 p.

MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 597 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 428 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 403 p.; 4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 325 p.; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 320 p.; 6. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 308 p.; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 274 p.; 8. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 253 p.; 9. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 253 p.; 10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 219 p.

MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 597 points; 2. Kawasaki, 435 p.; 3. Suzuki, 428 p.; 4. Yamaha, 416 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 364 p.; 6. TM, 253 p.; 7. Honda, 227 p.

Click here to obtain the complete result

All the photos of the FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia - Italy will be available HERE

FULLBACK MXGP OF LOMBARDIA, ITALY – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1545m

Type of ground: Hard sand

Temperature: 32°C

Weather conditions: sunny

Weekend Crowd Attendance: 27,000

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 FIM Motocross World Championship will take place in Loket, Czech Republic, on July, the 24^th.

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia, Italy

Watch the highlights from the FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia-Italy here:

After the Qualifying Race Press Conference here at the FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia-Italy, at Mantova, the 2016 ‘Maglia Azzurra' was presented to national and international media. This 2016 racing t-shirt will be used by the Italian riders in national and international competitions from now on, including the Monster Energy MXoN which will take place in Maggiora the next 25 September.

The Vice President of the Italian Federation Fabio Larceri, the Team Italy Coach Thomas Traversini and the eight-time FIM Motocross World Champion Antonio Cairoli were on stage to present it.

‘The Monster Energy MXoN at Maggiora will be a big event as it will be 30 years after the historical edition of 1986’ Traversini said, ‘Unfortunately I don’t have the names of the riders who will form the Italian team but I’m sure whoever will be, they will do their best’.

An amazed Cairoli underlined how it would be cool to ride in Maggiora at the MXoN in front of the huge Italian crowd and he continued, ‘I hope the Italian Team will be strong enough to reach for the Podium as we did in Germany in 2013.’

MANTOVA (Lombardia - Italy), 25 June 2016 – A firmer and choppier Mantova was a curious beast today as it inaugurated the twelfth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship. The strange combination of rolling bumps and rugged choppy sections, on a track that used to be a lot sandier, was the challenge, a challenge Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings were up for as they went pole in their respective classes here at the FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia-Italy.

Meanwhile, the fifth round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship took place with Italy’s sweetheart and defending WMX world champion, MXFontaRacing Syneco’s Kiara Fontanesi, taking her first race win of the season.

The sixth round of the European Championship EMX125 presented by FMF Racing also got underway with KTM Silver Action’s Stephen Rubini claiming his sixth race win of the season, while Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Darian Sanayei continues to chomp away at the EMX250 championship lead of Bodo Schmidt Motorsports Thomas Kjer Olsen, with yet another win here at round eight of their series.

Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl got this one going as they went bar-to-bar into turn one ahead of the red plate holder Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser. Bobryshev nailed it around the outside, while Nagl backed off, went tight, and somehow slung shot out of the turn with enough pace to rail around the outside of Bobby at turn two.

Bobby, who had the first gate pick after he set the fastest lap in Timed Training, knew he couldn’t let Nagl get away and instantly started a brawl with the Husky rider. After throwing a wheel in on Nagl at every opportunity, at least for the first three laps, the German finally succumb to the pressure of the Russian and let him go.

As Bobby inched away, Gajser got the itch and started giving Nagl grief before passing him with a signature scrub. Nagl isn’t a rider who is too fussed about winning qualifying races when third pick of the gate is not that bad, just sat back and let them go.

Meanwhile, Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin spent the best part of the first few laps bashing bars with Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek before fading back to sixth. Van Horebeek rode strong to finish fourth ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff, who is more than worthy of a mention today with fifth place being his best qualifying race result of the season and in addition to that, he blew everyone away when he set the fastest time of the day in Free Practice.

MXGP Qualifying Race Top Ten: 1. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 25:12.128; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:03.172; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:17.077; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:22.980; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:29.564; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:32.885; 7. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:37.108; 8. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:43.967; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:48.245; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:52.092.

Every rider’s worst nightmare is going down at turn one, which is exactly what last years’ MX2 grand prix winner Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Anstie did when he folded the front end in the loam at turn two, causing a massive pile-up.

Both of Anstie’s teammates Conrad Mewse and Thomas Covington were caught in the wreck, as were two riders battling for the spot of vice-world champion, Team Suzuki World MX2’s Jeremy Seewer and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings managed to avoid it but was still affected by the mess, which left him well outside of the top ten.

Escaping the carnage, Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Dylan Ferrandis led the way, at least for a couple of corners, before fellow Frenchman Kemea Yamaha MX Official team’s Benoit Paturel snuck up the inside of him. That wasn’t something that Ferrandis was too happy about, it bought the ‘honey badger’ out in him and he ruthlessly put the squeeze on the Yamaha rider to take back the lead one lap later.

Thanks to the little ‘Bonjour’ from Ferrandis, Paturel went wide and fell back to second before stacking it all on his own right after the finish line jump on lap three.

Temperatures soared well above 30 degree’s Celsius as Herlings and Seewer continued to turn up the heat on their charge through the pack, while Wilvo Standing Construct Yamaha Official MX2 Team’s Aleksandr Tonkov rode cool, calm and collectively in second ahead of the home soil star, TM Factory Racing Team’s Samuele Bernardini and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s rookie Davy Pootjes.

It’s been said before, Jeffrey Herlings is 100% from another planet, especially in the sand, so it wasn’t surprising to see him knocking on the door of the top five before the end of lap three. The Bullet, as he is otherwise known, made light work of his young teammate Pootjes before doing the same thing to Bernardini and Tonkov in the laps that followed.

With 2 minutes plus 2 laps to go, Ferrandis had a comfortable 10 second lead and looked to be on his way to defeating Herlings in the sand, which is something that has not been done in a very, VERY, long time. But as we all know, it’s not over till the checkered flag is waved and Ferrandis robbed himself of the win with a silly mistake.

Herlings inherited the lead with 2 laps to go and ran away for his ninth qualifying heat victory of the season. Ferrandis regrouped for second ahead of Tonkov, Seewer and Pootjes.

MX2 Qualifying Race Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 25:23.996; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.007; 3. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:20.402; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:23.097; 5. Davy Pootjes (NED, KTM), +0:26.732; 6. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:27.470; 7. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Honda), +0:39.878; 8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +0:43.735; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:45.781; 10. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Yamaha), +0:57.651.

Click here to obtain the complete result

All the photos of the FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia - Italy will be available HERE

FULLBACK MXGP OF LOMBARDIA, ITALY – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1545m

Type of ground: Hard sand

Temperature: 36°C

Weather conditions: sunny

TIMETABLE

Sunday: WMX Warm-up 08:20; EMX125 Race 2 09:00; WMX Race 2 09:50; MX2 Warm up 10:25; MXGP Warm up 10:45; EMX250 Race 2 11:30; MX2 Race 1 13:15; MXGP Race 1 14:15; MX2 Race 2 16:10; MXGP Race 2 17:10.

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia, Italy