Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings is back to his wicked ways. The Bullet finally returned to the top of the box in his traditional double race victory style. Herlings said: “It wasn’t easy today. These tracks are not my favorite. I am from Holland, so you know it is sand and flat,” he laughed, “and then here it’s hills and really hard and rocky. So it was tough but I did it.”
Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser wrapped up second overall. The Slovenian said he just wanted to stay on the bike this weekend after having a few crashes in recent times. This approach was evidently the best way to tackle the demanding, slick and edgy circuit as it still caught a lot of people out.
It was a pretty epic day for the fastest Frenchman in MX2 Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jordi Tixier who took two consistent thirds for third overall. Tixier smiled, “I don’t know about you guys, but for me this was definitely the best crowd we have had. When I took the lead in race one I couldn’t hear anything, just the people, it was amazing!” Meanwhile it was another smooth and consistent day for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass who has been feeling under the weather lately. Jonass got off to a couple of good starts and rode smart for fourth.
Rounding out the top five was the next big thing in MX2, Standing Construct Yamaha Racing Yamalube’s Valentin Guillod. Guillod’s result doesn’t reflect the way he rode this weekend. The super Swiss kept the crowd raging in race one when he rode the wheels off of his Yamaha YZ250F to take a close second behind Herlings’. Unfortunately in race two, VG92 and Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Damon Graulus whipped into each other and went down hard. Despite bending his bike in about five directions, he knuckled down and managed to get back to an impressive thirteenth.
MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 33:57.744; 2. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:01.656; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:11.411; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:39.499; 5. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:51.998; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:55.459; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +1:00.416; 8. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +1:10.927; 9. Roberts Justs (LAT, KTM), +1:14.420; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +1:15.450.
MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:02.442; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:05.221; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:26.294; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:32.167; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:33.357; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:41.292; 7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:46.956; 8. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:52.817; 9. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +1:02.015; 10. Jorge Zaragoza (ESP, Honda), +1:05.226.
MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 40 p.; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 40 p.; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 32 p.; 5. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 30 p.; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 29 p.; 7. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 29 p.; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 26 p.; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 25 p.; 10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, HON), 20 p.
MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 380 points; 2. Kawasaki, 329 p.; 3. Yamaha, 282 p.; 4. Honda, 242 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 221 p.; 6. Suzuki, 208 p.
MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 358 points; 2. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 246 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 245 p.; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 229 p.; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 218 p.; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 209 p.; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 208 p.; 8. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 205 p.; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 184 p.; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 183 p.