Beaton sixth at mid-week Mantova MXGP | Evans eighth

2020 MXGP

Round 10 – MXGP of Città di Mantova

The MXGP of Città di Mantova has concluded with a series of epic races that kept everyone on the edge of our seats as the MXGP, MX2, EMX250 and WMX classes fought it out.

Romain Febvre celebrated an epic MXGP victory, as the Frenchman took his first race win in over a year and a first overall victory of the season so far, ahead of Jorde Prado and Tim Gajser, with Gajser retaining the red plate. Australian Mitch Evans was eighth overall, collecting 29 championship points.

The standings now see Gajser leading Cairoli by a narrow five-points, with Jeremy Seewer third a further 13-points behind on 334. Mitch Evans sits just outside the top 10 in 11th on 197-points.

Mitch Evans

“A better day today which started off with a 10th in qualifying. I didn’t feel the greatest but I knew it was more down to the starts, than the laptimes and in race one I got out of the blocks well. Unfortunately, it was very hard to pass and everyone was just following the leader the whole race and I came away with sixth, which was okay. In the second race I got caught up in the first two turns and lost a couple of positions and played ‘follow the leader’ once again. I stayed in seventh until the chequered flag which made it a much better day than last Sunday and I’ll hope to keep improving for the third round here this Sunday.”

Meanwhile in MX2 Thomas Kjer Olsen put on an incredible performance to go after a back-to-back Grand Prix win ahead of Tom Vialle and Roan Van De Moosdijk, with Jed Beaton settling for sixth overall, going 6-6 across the two races. Bailey Malkiewicz also put in a strong performance going 19-7 to collect 16 championship points.

Tom Vialle leads the standings by 46-points on 431, to Jago Geerts and Maxime Renaux (329). Jed Beaton is fourth on 316-points, with Malkiewicz moving up to 18th. Nathan Crawford currently retains 15th but did not finish race 1, or compete in race 2.

Jed Beaton

“For sure it wasn’t the day I wanted after winning the second moto last weekend, but I’ll take 6-6 on a bad day. I crashed in both motos which wasn’t really ideal and made a few mistakes in the second race. No complaints, my bike’s great, it just wasn’t my day today, so we’ll look forward to Sunday and hope to get back on the box.”

The mid-week special round concluded its first day, with the fourth round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship. Coming into the second WMX event in Mantova, defending world champion Courtney Duncan of DRT Kawasaki Racing was more keen than ever on claiming back some vital championship points to put herself in a better fighting position for the final round in Pietramurata for the round of Trentino.

Duncan did just that with a fantastic overall victory, which now puts her four points down on the championship leader Nancy Van De Ven.

Courtney Duncan

“It was nice to get the second race win and it was nice to bring the points back. I think overall, I was just so proud of how I was able to re-group and turn things around from Saturday after a pretty nasty crash. Yeah looking forward to the next round so I can continue to fight.”

The sixth round of the EMX250 Championship also concluded in Mantova and saw Mattia Guadagnini make the perfect comeback to take the overall win on home soil.

MXGP Race 1

In race one, Jorge Prado continued to show that he is the king of starts as he grabbed yet another FOX Holeshot. He was closely followed by teammate Antonio Cairoli, Jeremy Seewer and Romain Febvre.

Seewer though wasted no time as he quickly moved past Cairoli to move into second and then focused on Prado for the lead. Team HRC’s Mitch Evans had a good start and was sitting fifth ahead of his teammate and the current championship leader Tim Gajser.

Meanwhile Seewer looked to pick up the pace, setting the fastest lap time of the race as he chased down Prado. Though he needed to be careful as Febvre was also on a mission for the race win, which meant that the Swiss could not afford to make a mistake or relax.

The battle then heated up as the top three riders were all separated by a mere 1.6 seconds with still 19 minutes plus 2 laps to go. And Cairoli then looked to be stepping things up as he started to close in on Febvre, Seewer and Prado. Meanwhile further down the field Glenn Coldenhoff squeezed past Clement Desalle, to move into seventh.

With 11 minutes on the clock, the gap between Prado and Seewer was 2.016 seconds as Gajser started to close in on Cairoli for fourth. The fight for the win then intensified as Prado was getting caught by Seewer who was less than a second behind him.

With just a few laps to go, there was no change in the top five, as Prado was able to keep control under pressure to take the opening MXGP race win, while Seewer finished second and Febvre third. Aussie Mitch Evans finished in sixth.

MXGP Race 2

The second MXGP race saw Febvre perfectly time the start as he entered the first corner in the lead taking the FOX Holeshot. Febvre then led Gajser, Gautier Paulin, Seewer, Coldenhoff and Calvin Vlaanderen.

Gajser then put his focus on Febvre as the two were all over each other, while Seewer charged for Prado who was in 4th just ahead of him. Though he may have pushed too hard, as the Yamaha rider made a mistake which saw him crash out of fifth and things only got worse, as the Swiss had another big moment which saw him drop further down the order, outside the top 10.

Vlaanderen then went out of ninth, loosing several positions and dropping down to 15th.

With 10 minutes left, Febvre continued to control the race with Gajser still second and Paulin third. Paulin then passed Gajser, who immediately responded, but a lap later the Team HRC rider slipped the front and crashed out, allowing Paulin to inherit his position. He was however able to re-join just ahead of Cairoli.

As Paulin, Gajser and Cairoli battled it out, Coldenhoff was also looking to join in, on the mix as he edged closer to the top 4. While further down the field, Seewer was sitting in 11th as he looked to make up some positions in order to salvage some points.

Towards the end of the race, Febvre led by 6.978 seconds with Paulin holding on to second and Gajser third. Seewer then passed Dylan Walsh for 10th.

With just a couple of laps to go Gajser put in a last effort to pass Paulin, though Paulin was able to hold on to the position, while Febvre took his first race win of 2020!

With that second race win, Romain Febvre secured his spot on the top step of the podium, while Jorge Prado finished second and Tim Gajser third. Mitch Evans had another strong race in the top ten, finishing seventh.

Romain Febvre

“First win of the year, especially with the new team, it’s been awesome. In the first race I had a good start, I was fourth and passed Tony [Cairoli] on the first lap but I couldn’t take the rhythm. I made two mistakes, had a gap after 20 minutes and I closed that gap, but it wasn’t good enough to make that pass. In the second race I took a big holeshot and of course that makes life easier because you can choose your lines and ride smooth. Seewer was pushing for the first 20 minutes I think, and then I think he made a mistake, so I had a comfortable gap on Gautier [Paulin] and after I was just by myself. I tried to stay calm to finish the race and win the GP.”

Jorge Prado

“First race was perfect. Second race I had a good jump out of the gate, I thought I made everything right and in the first corner I was almost with Romain [Febvre] but then some riders came on the inside and into the second corner I think I was around ninth, then I was able to make some passes in the next two corners. I was in a good position with 15 minutes to go, for the overall; then I stalled my bike and had to fight back. I was pushing very hard and still felt like I could make a good race because I was charging all the way to the finish.”

Tim Gajser

“It wasn’t a bad day as I was still able to finish on the podium but still, I wasn’t completely happy with my riding today. I didn’t have the best start in race one and in the first lap I made a couple of passes but then I was just following Antonio and it was difficult to make any passes. We were all riding the same speed and I ended up fifth. In the second moto I got a better start, in second place behind Romain and I was pushing hard trying to pass him. I had a couple of spots where I was faster but I couldn’t make a pass and then I made a mistake which dropped me to third. I tried to regain second place but ran out of tear-offs when I was pushing for the pass with a couple of laps left and instead had to settle for third, ending up third overall. Still, I have the red plate and that is important after every round.”

MXGP Results

MX2 Race 1

As the gate dropped for the opening MX2 race, it was Isak Gifting who claimed the first FOX Holeshot of the day. He was followed by Jago Geerts, as Mikkel Haarup slipped into second position.

Geerts then led the way, with Maxime Renaux in second, and Tom Vialle third. A few moments later Geerts crashed out of first, to re-join in seventh behind his teammate Ben Watson.

As Vialle moved into second, he needed to be careful as a hard charging Thomas Kjer Olsen was catching up to the back of him.

Haarup then crashed out of fifth and looked to have re-join the race, before pulling into pitlane and eventually heading back to the paddock. Alvin Ostlund was another rider who retired from the race, as he walked back to the paddock.

Geerts then struggled to pass Watson, as Renaux led the race with Vialle and Olsen pushing on. The top three were only separated by 1.9 seconds and that point, which really made things interesting for the fans.

As the three continued to battle, Geerts was making a comeback as he caught on to Roan Van de Moosdijk. He eventually passed him with 4 minutes plus 2 laps to go. Then after making a mistake, Van de Moosdijk lost another position to Watson and was down in sixth.

For Geerts things only got worse as he crashed once more, to re-join in 8th with not much time left of the race in order to make up vital positions.

Back in the lead, Renaux continued his way onto a race win, while Vialle was coming under fire from Olsen. Olsen then forced the issue, passing Vialle and going after Renaux with just 2 laps to go of the race.

Olsen then put on two good laps to take the lead from Renaux on the final lap, though Renaux was not going to let him get away and the two almost collided. In the end Olsen confirmed his race win, with Renaux second and Vialle third.

Jed Beaton finished in sixth, while fellow Aussie Bailey Malkiewicz was 19th.

MX2 Race 2

In the second MX2 race, it was Vialle, Jed Beaton of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Racing and Van de Moosdijk who were the riders out in front while Renaux and Watson had a disastrous start, with both going down and having to pick themselves up in last.

Van de Moosdijk then passed Beaton for second, as Geerts moved into fourth. Olsen was also making moves as he got around Conrad Mewse for fifth position. Though Beaton was able to fight back, taking the position back from van de Moosdijk not too long after. Van de Moosdijk then lost another position, and that time it was to Geerts, who was keen on making up for lost ground in the opening race.

A mistake from Geerts gave Beaton a bit more breathing room, though it didn’t last long as a little later on, he lost two positions to Geerts and his teammate, Olsen. Beaton then continued to fall down the order as Mewse was able to find a way through. Bailey Malkiewicz of Honda 114 Motorsports was having a great rider in 7th, as he passed Nathan Renkens.

Vialle then led the way by 3.332 seconds with just 2 minutes plus 2 laps to go. Renaux then passed Mathys Boisrame for eighth.

Geerts crashed out once again, though was able to pick himself up in fifth, as Olsen moved into second.

In the end, Vialle took the race win, as Olsen crossed the line in second and Van de Moosdijk finishing third in the race.

Thomas Kjer Olsen confirmed his success here in Mantova, with a back-to-back Grand Prix victory, as Tom Vialle made his return to the podium with 2nd overall and Roan Van de Moosdijk making his comeback to the box, to occupy the 3rd step.

Thomas Kjer Olsen

“For sure, ever since we came here, I have been feeling a lot better and it’s great to have that aggressive riding back. To be back on top of the podium today is just amazing and I would say I really had to battle hard for it, especially in that second race. My fitness seems to be good and it’s really nice to be on top.”

Tom Vialle

“Today was not so bad. In the first race I completely missed my start, I was completely last, and I passed a few riders in the first lap and was close. After two or three laps Jago [Geerts] crashed and I was already second. I didn’t find any good line to pass Maxime and, in the meanwhile, Thomas passed me. In the second race I took a really good start; I led the whole race though Jago was coming fast. Even if didn’t make mistake in the start I needed only to stay focus because there are still a lot of races. I need to be focused because in that track the start is really important, so now I’m really focused on Sunday.”

Roan Van de Moosdijk

“It felt like quite some time since I’ve been on the podium. My qualifying was really good and that’s why I could stay on the inside, I knew if I got a good jump I was safe and in the first race I just closed the gap too early, I didn’t ride like I used to and I got arm pump, but still managed to finish in fifth place. In the second race I had a good jump, I was behind Tom [Vialle] and following him for quite a few laps, but then again I felt a little bit tight, so I dropped back to fifth I think and then I found my rhythm again and came back to third.”

MX2 Results

WMX Race 1

In the opening WMX race it was Van De Ven who claimed the holeshot and was closely followed by Kiara Fontanesi, Duncan and Larissa Papenmeier. Papenmeier then moved herself quickly into second, finding a few gaps in the first couple of corners, with Fontanesi and Duncan just behind her.

As Van De Ven began to pull away, Fontanesi found a way to pass Papenmeier for second. The Italian then set the fastest lap of the race chasing Van De Ven for the win. She better her lap time the following time around, to cut the gap to just 1.397 seconds, as just three seconds separated the top four.

Fontanesi then caught on to the rear wheel of Van De Ven, while Duncan was looking to go through on Papenmeier as the battle for the win heated up. Eventually Duncan was able to move up a position on lap 6.

Van De Ven was doing a great job dealing with the pressure as she could not afford to relax with Fontanesi, Duncan and Papenmeier, all within three seconds.

By the following lap, Fontanesi was the new race leader as Duncan began to push Van De Ven for second in order to claim as many championship points as possible. This battle for second continued until the chequered flag.

Eventually Kiara Fontanesi crossed the line in first, though was penalised for jumping on a waved yellow flag which ultimately gave Nancy Van De Ven the win, with Courtney Duncan being promoted to second and Kiara Fontanesi dropping to third.

WMX Race 2

In the second race, Duncan was the rider to lead the field around the first turn, with Van De Ven second, Papenmeier third and Fontanesi fourth. Though Papenmeier wasn’t able to hold on to third for long as he came under fire from Fontanesi on the opening lap.

Papenmeier then crashed out of fourth dropping down to 12th, which is not where the championship leader wanted to be.

Duncan then went on to set the fastest lap of the race, as she extended her lead to 3.920 seconds. Further down the field Papenmeier was making a comeback as she passed Anne Borchers for 11th and then also picked up 10th not long after.

On lap 3 the top 10 was led by Duncan, followed by Van De Ven, Fontanesi, Sara Andersen, Lynn Valk, Line Dam, Talia Jade O’Hare, Papenmeier and Amandine Verstappen.

Papenmeier moved into ninth, while Duncan continued to lead with a 4.117 second advantage. Though Fontanesi was on a mission, she set the fastest lap of the race as she looked to close in on Van De Ven in second.

As Fontanesi pushed to pass Van De Ven, a small mistake caused her to crash, though as the top 3 had a big gap to the rest of the ladies, she was able to pick herself up without losing any positions.

Duncan then cruised her way to a race win in the second heat, followed by Van De Ven, Fontanesi, Andersen and Valk. In terms of the podium, it was Duncan who made an epic return to the top step, while Van De Ven occupied second and Fontanesi finishing third.

With one round to go, the championship chase is heating up as Van De Ven leads Duncan by just 4 points, with Papenmeier dropping to third and Fontanesi in fourth.

Courtney Duncan

“I’m so stoked with today – the moto win and the overall. Making up the points was great but to be honest with you, the thing I was most proud of was how I was able to forget about what happened on Sunday, regroup and to come out and put a performance like that in. It makes me really proud – for the team and for everyone that supports me, it’s great. Obviously I needed to as well, it was quite bad, I was 14 points down. It was important that I made it up. I think I speak for all of New Zealand in saying that we are ecstatic to see Courtney put in the work and bounce back from her round 3 crash and take the round 4 overall. It really speaks to her determination and character and we will be backing her to become back-to-back champion at the final round. That’s great for me because it gives me more time with the team, more time to test and more time to put some work in with the [Kawasaki KX250] 21. Having some extra weeks is going to be great. I think I can really put a good stint in there and make a lot of improvements. The points are close. It’s going to be whoever wins in Arco [the town hosting the MXGP of Trentino] is champion. It’s going to be a do or die situation and I’m excited for that.”

Nancy Van De Ven

“First of all, I was feeling good here in the last two races because I really enjoy this track. Today I was feeling great actually. The first race was intense as everyone was pushing and changing positions like crazy. And it’s even better to take the red plate home because that’s what we’re working for.”

Kiara Fontanesi

“Important is that I could take a good start, find my rhythm, take the lead and have good speed. The second race went good because I could make another good start, which was our weak point normally and then I was pushing but I had a problem with the bike, I crashed and I couldn’t even find my rhythm again but anyway I finished third which is okay. I’m standing ten points behind Nancy in the championship and I think it’s going to be a great battle in Trentino.”

WMX Results

EMX250 Race 1

In the opening race of the day, it was Thibault Benistant, Tom Guyon and Mattia Guadagnini who got a good start and were running out in front.

Guadagnini wasted no time to past Guyon and get himself into second, before passing Benistant for the lead on the opening lap. He then went on to set the fastest lap time of the race putting himself 1.6 seconds ahead of the championship leader.

Further down the field Kay De Wolf was having a tough start to the race and was down outside the top 20 in the opening few laps.

Hakon Fredriksen was looking to move through the field as he went after Guyon for third, while the pair were 10 seconds down on Benistant and Guadagnini.

Meanwhile De Wolf was making progress to get into 15th place on lap 3 of the race, as Guadagnini stepped it up a gear as he extended the lead over Benistant to 3.130 seconds.

Fredriksen then got Guyon for third, as Benistant made a mistake, losing a tone of time, with the gap between him and the lead going from 3 to 10 seconds in a single lap.

On lap 6 of the race Guadagnini continued to lead Benistant, Fredriksen, Guyon and Oriol Oliver who rounded out the top 5. While Joel Rizzi, didn’t have the best opening race, as he retired from the race following a crash a few laps earlier.

De Wolf continued to make up positions as he challenged Bastian Boegh Damm to move into 12th. Things then didn’t get better for the Dane, who lost a further four positions and was down in 17th.

With three laps to go, Thomas Sileika of Diga WMX Racing dropped out of 10th, which allowed De Wolf to inherit his position. The Latvian eventually crossed the line in 15th.

In the end, Guadagnini clinched the race one victory, with Benistant second and Fredriksen third.

EMX250 Race 2

In race two, it was Guyon who led the way after getting another great start. Though he didn’t hold onto it for long, as Guadagnini moved past Jorgen-Matthias Talviku and Meico Vettik to move into second and started to charge for the race leader.

Meanwhile Benistant was having a much tougher start to the second race and was down in 18th on the opening laps, which meant he’d have to work hard in order to pick up as many points as possible and go after the podium.

As Fredriksen got Guyon for second, Guyon crashed out of third. Meanwhile Benistant crashed out too and picked himself up in 19th, making the race even harder for himself. Though he wasted no time, and was already up in 15th a couple of laps later, and he continued to climb positions throughout the race.

Boegh Damm then lost sixth to Pierre Goupillon, while De Wolf passed Gianluca Facchetti for P9. As Benistant got up to 12th in the race, Vettik lost fourth to Lorenzo Locurcio who was having a great ride in the top five.

De Wolf then had a big crash, though managed to pick himself up pretty quickly to re-join the race in 11th position.

With 2 minutes plus 2 laps on the clock, Benistant then moved himself up into eighth as he pushed for a spot on the podium, though he could only get back up to seventh which was not enough to put him on the box today.

As Guadagnini continued to lead Fredriksen by nine-seconds, Locurcio then went after Talviku and passed him for third place with just two laps to go, which confirmed his spot on the podium.

In the end, Mattia Guadagnini confirmed his epic comeback with a race win, as Fredriksen finished second and Locurcio crossing the line in third.

With two race wins, Mattia Guadagnini occupied the top step of the podium during his home round, while Hakon Fredriksen made a back-to-back podium appearance for second overall and Locurcio finishing third.

In terms of the championship, Thibault Benistant continues to lead Mattia Guadagnini with Kay De Wolf third.

Mattia Guadagnini

“I’m so happy to be back on top and to win in Italy. Last weekend I made a lot of mistakes and I knew that today I really wanted to win so bad. I took two good starts and two race wins and I’m so happy to win here, I want to thank everybody that helps me.”

Hakon Fredriksen

“I feel really good about it. The riding today was strong, I had two okay starts and just worked my way through the races to take another podium so I’m happy for how it turned out.”

Lorenzo Locurcio

“I rode really good and I’ve been working really hard, I have the speed for sure, I just don’t have the starts, so I’ve been coming through the pack a lot, today I got two really bad starts and I’ve been coming through from outside the top twenty so for me to end up on the podium was a bit of a surprise. I know this class is strong and the riders are all getting starts so I just never give up and rode my hardest and it finally paid off.”

Thibault Benistant

“Of course I’m a little bit disappointed about the second race because I lost the podium by one point but it’s not really bad because I fought really hard, I made two mistakes and fought to come back to sixth. The first race was not so bad, I got the holeshot but Mattia’s was better on the first two laps, I tried to take the win but I felt a little bit of pain in my stomach, so I wanted to finished second and I stayed second. I know I have the speed and the feeling so I just need to take two good starts and after I think we will be alright for the next round.”

EMX250 Results