Moto News Wrap for May 12, 2015 by Darren Smart
Proudly brought to you by Dunlop Geomax
Australasian News
The AJS Motorcyle Club at Wanneroo hosted round 2 of the Make Smoking History WAMX Senior State Motocross Championship last weekend and it was Kyle Webster who secured the MX1 round win and set about defending his championship with a perfect scorecard (1-1-1) with Dean Porter second (2-2-2) and Stevie Heilers picking up third for the day. KTM’s Jayden Rykers scored an emphatic round victory (1-1-1) in the MX2 class from Jake Fewster (2-2-2) and Connor Tierney (3-3-3).
Kilcoy hosted round three of the Sunshine State Shell Series and it was veteran Robbie Marshall who won the Pro-Open class from Joel Evans and Darcy Jones while Jay Wilson won the Pro-Lites class after a day long battle with Nathan Crawford. Zak Small managed to grab the final podium spot ahead of Nick Sutherland.
The ‘all-in’ Feature Race was won by Jay Wilson over Wade Hunter, Nick Sutherland, Nathan Crawford Brendan Swaffield, Jesse Madden, Julien Craeye, Joel Evans, Jye Zimmerrmann and Bailey Coxon.
Hunter Lawrence continues to stamp his authority on the 2015 Sunshine State Shell series with dominant racing at each and every round. He again showed his class with a near perfect days racing winning all three races in both the 15 years 250cc and the 13-15 years 125cc classes.
Round 2 of the MVMX Series was held at Monza Park in Ballarat last weekend the Pro-Lites class was a cracker with a heap of national riders on hand but it was Jed Beaton who got the overall ahead of Joel Milesevic and Jack Simpson.
There is nothing official on MyLaps yet but I can only assume that Lawson Bopping won the Pro-Open class at Ballarat. As a point of interest, multi National Motocross and Supercross Champion Troy Dorron won the over 40 class.
Motorcycling Australia in conjunction with the 2015 Australian Supercross Championship rights promoters have confirmed that $120,000.00 will be on offer for the SX1, SX2 and SXD classes across the six-round series.
2015 Australian Supercross Championship
- 10 October 2015 – NSW – Bathurst – FTSM
- 17 October 2015 – QLD – Jimboomba – Scott Bannan
- 31 October 2015 – SA – Wayville – Mark Gilbert
- 21 November 2015 – QLD – Sunshine Coast – Scott Bannan
- 28 November 2015 – NSW – Homebush – AME
- 5 December 2015 – VIC – Knights Stadium – FTSM
On the other hand, the promoters of the Australian Enduro-X Nationals have confirmed that the series will not go ahead in 2016. Dave and Colin Robbins had this to say in a press release. “Our costs of running the events far outweighed the return we were getting. We have supported the series out of our own funds with the hope that the series would grow and become self-supporting. This was not the case, and a simple business decision proved to be the final deciding factor in ceasing to plan for the events for 2016.”
Motorcycling Australia have announced the 2015 Trial des Nations (TdN) team to represent Australia in Tarragona, Spain from 19-20 September.
- Men’s Team: Christopher Bayles – Tim Coleman – Kyle Middleton – Colin Zarczynski
- Women’s Team: Kaitlyn Cummins – Ina Halls – Kristie McKinnon
- Manager: Phil Whittle
- Team Minders: Jono Chellas – Zachary Mularczyk
Yamaha Motor Australia have again secured the naming rights to the 2015 Australian Four Day Enduro (A4DE), to be held in Wynyard, Tasmania from October 19-25.
On a personal note I spent last Saturday at the Fort Lytton MX facility having a ride on two of the YCF fun bikes. On a freshly prepared track, I was able to rip out laps on the semi-auto F125 before getting serious on the trick looking Pilot 150 (pictured). These bikes are seriously great to ride and I can see why Justin Barcia, Jordi Tixier and many other pro riders have a YCF to play on.
A big thanks to the YCF importers, Lowry Australia for giving me the opportunity to give the YCFs a run and also to Ken and Jodie from Fort Lytton MX for letting me rip-up their well groomed track.
American News
By the time you are reading next week’s Moto News Wrap the opening round of the 12 round Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will have been run and won. The GoPro Hangtown Motocross Classic is on this Saturday, May 16 and if I was a betting man I would put my money on another KTM sweep with Marvin Musquin and Ryan Dungey continuing their Supercross form with overall wins the 250cc and 450cc classes respectively. I am thinking heel clickers all over the place….
Musquin will have to beat defending champ Jeremy Martin, the red hot Cooper Webb and a plethora of other superfast 250F pilots for my prediction to be correct while Dungey’s biggest threat comes from Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen who are fit and ready to take on their more fancied rival. I can’t wait to bring you all of the latest for Hangtown this time next week.
CycleTrader/Rock River Yamaha has signed Colorado privateer Killy Rusk to contest the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. Rusk will replace the injury prone Josh Hill who is still recovering from injuries sustained at Daytona Supercross.
Josh Strang scored a disappointing tenth place at the 6th round of the GNCC held in Odessa, New York last weekend but there was a good reason – here is what Josh wrote on his FB page post race: ‘Yesterday needs some explaining I guess. Last weekend I separated my shoulder in a practice crash, I should have been resting but the racer in me tried to line up yesterday and race to try and salvage some points and maybe tough it out. I wish I could have ran up front all day! I will heal up and be back soon! Thanks for all the support!’
Daniel Milner is obviously still struggling with his health as the Aussie Yamaha rider could only manage 12th place at the GNCC in New York.
Euro News
Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Ryan Villopoto missed the Grand Prix of Spain after suffering from the coccyx injury sustained at the GP of Trentino. “My goal is to be back racing as soon as possible, but to have a chance to fight for MXGP wins you must be 100% fit. Together with the Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team we did our best for a prompt recovery, but unfortunately we have to wait a few more days before we’ll be back racing.”
Antonio Cairoli caused a stir by turning up to the Grand Prix of Spain on the KTM450SX-F instead of his usual 350 version. It served the Italian well and he scored his first GP win of the year.
I was interested to read that the MX2 GP winner Valentin Guillod is trained by the flamboyant French rider and former 125cc, 250cc and 500cc GP winner, MXoN winner and MX3 World Champion Yves Demaria. Demaria competed in the World Motocross Championships from1990 to 2004 and when you see Guillod ride you can see the influence that Demaria has had on the young Swiss rider, he truly has a style of his own and his ‘scrubs’ make Bubba look ordinary.
Todd Waters finished a strong ninth in the opening moto but failed to finish the second moto after damaging his clutch lever in an early crash with Gautier Paulin. Waters remains ninth in the championship standings with 104 points.
“Race two put a dampener on what should have been a better day. I rode well in race one after getting a great start. The pace was hot and heavy up front but I gave it my all and placed ninth. It went a bit pear shaped in race two when I crashed at the start and broke my clutch lever. I got going again but it was hard on those hills with no clutch. It cost me a much better result.”
Dean Ferris claimed a top three start in MXGP race 1 but was later hindered by arm pump and dropped back to 14th. The lap chart on the MXGP web site has Ferris in 10th during the early part of race two before a crash saw him drop back to 18th but the plucky Aussie managed to pass four riders by the end of the race to finish in 14th again. Ferris site 18th in the championship on 55 points.
“I got a great start in race one and held third early on. But I think I sort of tensed up a bit and my arms turned to lead. I could barely hang on with arm pump. I was a bit gutted because I’d finally got the start I needed. Fourteenth and 16th aren’t the results I want but now that I’ve got my starts figured out hopefully I can begin racing at the sharper end of the field.”
Spain hosted the Enduro World Championships last weekend and three Aussies were in action. Jessica Gardner scored second place both days at round 1 of the Women’s championships while fellow Aussie Jemma Wilson managed a pair of fourths.
Matt Phillips was pipped on the line for the win on day 1 of competition in the E3 class but the Aussie had troubles on day 2 and finished back in 5th place. After the 2nd round of the seven round series Phillips is sitting third in the championships and 52 points back from championship leader Mathias Bellino.
Race Reports and Results from last Weekend
- – GNCC – Round 6 – Odessa, NY
- – FIM Maxxis Enduro World Championship – Round 2 – Jerez, Spain
- – FIM World Motocross Championships – Round 6 – Talavera, Spain
MXGP Report: It was a well overdue MXGP round victory for Antonio Cairoli and an emotional one at that. The last time the Italian eight-times FIM Motocross World Champion won a grand prix was back in August last year at the MXGP of Belgium. This victory marked the seventy-third overall win of his career and is one that he dedicates to his father, the late Benedetto Cairoli. “My father was here last year and after that I didn’t see him anymore so I dedicate this win to him,” Cairoli said.
Speaking about his decision to race the KTM 450 SX-F, Cairoli said: “Yeah, I think it is the time to make some changes and get some new motivation. We test a lot with the new 450 and I like it a lot. I was sure I should ride with it from the first race (of the season) but I was not so fit. I still had some injury problems from the Nations (MXoN). The ‘350’ (KTM 350 SX-F) was our ‘baby’ and we brought it to the top. I won a lot of races and championships with the bike, but it’s time for new challenges.”
Max Nagl added one more ‘holeshot and race win’ statistic to the books with his performance in race one where he blitzed everyone after taking his sixth holeshot of the season. Nagl said after coming home third in race two for second overall.
Max Nagl: “It’s been another fantastic weekend. Ok, winning would have been perfect but we tied on points for the victory, so that’s close enough. I know I say it a lot but I can’t thank my team enough for their tireless efforts. They worked so hard on Saturday to make the bike perfect for race day. Taking the holeshot helped so much and I felt like I had good control of the race. In race two I made a small wheelie out of the gate and wasn’t able to get the holeshot. Then a rock broke the roll-off system on my goggles so I had to be careful with my vision. Antonio had the pace in that race and I couldn’t match him and Romain was riding great too, so I’m happy with third. Although I didn’t win the GP, I still extended my point’s lead, so everything is working in the right direction. I’m looking forward to the next round in Matterley Basin.”
It was always just a matter of time for Romain Febvre, who has been beyond impressive in his rookie year, to finish on the podium. Now just six rounds in, the Frenchman was able to uncork his first bottle of bubbles. “It was such an amazing feeling for me, it was a little bit the same as last year when I won my first MX2 grand prix. It is such a good feeling,” Febvre said.
A gnarly crash in race two put a damper on Clement Desalle and an end to his podium streak. Despite the craziness of his crash, the Belgian managed to salvage fifth in that race and combined with his second place in race two finished fourth overall.
It wasn’t the easiest day in the office for Evgeny Bobryshev who had to come from behind in both races. Nevertheless, Russian Bob is not a quitter and he made that evident with his solid fight forwards in both races for fourth and fifth place results which landed him in fifth overall here at MXGP of Spain in Talavera de la Reina.
Similar to his teammate, Gautier Paulin also had two bad starts. In race one GP21 managed to finish fifth while his most impressive performance was in race two after he went down in the first corner with Todd Waters and managed to go from last to seventh.
As for the Spaniard’s, José Butron managed to wrap up his home round in fourteenth.
MX2 Race Report: Valentin Guillod was unreal this weekend. The super stylish Swiss already snatched up a ton of attention for the epicness of his scrubs, but what really got people talking was his flat-out speed. Without losing his fun and playful style, the Swissman put in the ride of his life to win the second race for his first ever MX2 grand prix victory.
Valentin Guillod – “It is such a great feeling but I really have to thank the Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube team, my team manager Tim, my trainer Yves Demaria, mechanic, my family and everybody next to me. We worked really hard these last few weeks because things were not going how we wanted but finally we found the right set-up and it was great out there. When I came over the finish line I did not know I had won the GP. I knew I had the race… but when they said the GP then that was awesome. I was riding next to Dylan and I tried to pass him but couldn’t. I tried to find a solution and finally could make it happen. I came here wanting to get top fives but to win the GP is ‘sick’!”
Even in defeat Jeffrey Herlings is still a hero. The two-times FIM MX2 World Champion demonstrated maturity beyond his years in the first race as he held his composure despite the pressure he received from Max Anstie which saw him take the victory. But, what was most extraordinary was his performance in race two after he had a very ugly crash which left his bars bent out of shape. Nevertheless, The Bullet soldiered on and managed to charge from twenty-first back to seventh for second overall.
Jeffrey Herlings: “I definitely had a good start in the first moto, won it and stayed out of trouble. I didn’t have such a good start in the second and was around tenth. I worked my way up to sixth and then I had a big crash. But I came back from the back of the field and almost won the overall. There’s some work to do, but I still got some good points for the championship.”
Jordi Tixier was pretty solid in taking home third and fourth place finishes for his third consecutive podium finish this season.
Jordi Tixier: “It’s always nice to be on the podium, even if everyone knows that I’m not at my best when it’s so hot. I did a good qualifying race yesterday despite a crash on the last lap, and today I had pretty good starts in both races. I was not feeling so good during the first ten minutes of the opening race, but then I found a good rhythm. In the second moto everything was OK during the first ten minutes, but then I started to get stomach cramps and couldn’t hold the pace. That’s it, we’ll continue to work to be stronger in the next rounds.”
After sitting on the heels of Herlings for the entire duration of MX2 race one, it looked to be the turn in results that Max Anstie was looking for. Although he put in an amazing performance in that particular moto, the Brit made his life extremely difficult when he started well outside of the top ten in moto two. After missioning it forward on an extremely challenging circuit, Anstie managed to wrap up eighth which left him walking away from the grand prix of Spain with fourth overall.
Rounding out the top five, Tim Gajser rebound from his average result in race one which came about because of a crash to finish second in race two for fifth while his Jorge Zaragoza finished twentieth on his MX2 debut.
Grand Prix of Spain – Results
MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), 35:12.010; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:04.430; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:22.570; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:31.852; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:34.525; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:49.887; 7. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:54.543; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:58.608; 9. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +1:00.581; 10. Steven Frossard (FRA, KTM), +1:04.644
MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 35:46.317; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:07.304; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:13.313; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:19.515; 5. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:21.618; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:24.478; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:45.093; 8. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:55.322; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Honda), +0:59.077; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:04.925
MXGP Overall : 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 45 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 40 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 38 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 33 p.; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 30 p.; 7. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KAW), 27 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 23 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, KAW), 20 p.; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, HON), 17 p. 15. Dean Ferris (AUS, HUS) 12 points 16. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS) 12 points
MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 259 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 247 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 229 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 208 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 196 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 171 p.; 7. Ryan Villopoto (USA, KAW), 124 p.; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 114 p.; 9. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 104 p.; 10. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KAW), 95 p. 18. Dean Ferris (AUS, HUS), 55 p
MX2 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:17.908; 2. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:05.881; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:15.416; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:19.547; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:23.827; 6. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:26.871; 7. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:34.683; 8. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:54.741; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:57.055; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:57.866
MX2 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), 34:33.751; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:01.325; 3. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.706; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:15.296; 5. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:23.992; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:31.913; 7. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:36.142; 8. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:36.861; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:38.351; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:48.732;
MX2 Overall Top Ten: 1. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 40 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39 p.; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 38 p.; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 34 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 32 p.; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 29 p.; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 28 p.; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 26 p.; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 21 p.
MX2 Championship Top Ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 261 points; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 205 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 177 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 169 p.; 5. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 169 p.; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 162 p.; 7. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 153 p.; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 151 p.; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 149 p.; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 123 p.
GNCC – Round 6 – Odessa, NY
The 2015 AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Series presented by Maxxis, an AMA National Championship made its way north for an all-new GNCC venue with the Tomahawk GNCC in Odessa, New York.
After a hard fought day of racing, coming from as far behind as sixth place on the opening lap, JCR Honda’s Chris Bach would emerge with his first ever-career GNCC overall win.
“I just kept telling myself to relax and not let it get to me,” said Bach “I’ve never led one of these for very long much less half the race.”
XC1 Race Report: As the green flag dropped, it was Tyler Medaglia who shot off the start to claim the $250 All Balls Racing Holeshot Award. However, Medaglia’s day would end early due to an ankle injury. Thad DuVall soon found himself in the number one spot with Ryan Sipes and Kailub Russell in tow.
DuVall would run into brake troubles not once, but twice. After pitting and taking some time to fix the troubles, DuVall’s day would ultimately be cut short after suffering from brake failure once again, which resulted in a hard crash. Russell would reclaim the lead on lap two, but would soon be faced with pressure from both Bach and Sipes. Russell would come in second place, ending his season win-streak. Sipes would round of the podium with a third place.
“It was definitely a man’s track; it was rough out there,” said Russell “I’m pretty disappointed, it’s not the end of the world though I got second.”
Grant Baylor put in an impressive ride battling up front and even leading portions of the race. Baylor would finish fourth while Andrew DeLong finished fifth and Takeshi Koikeda finished sixth.
Chris Douglas had his best finish of the season finishing seventh place in XC1 while Adam Bonneur also had his best finish of the season with an eighth place finish.
Josh Strang got off to an excellent start, challenging Tyler Medaglia for the holeshot. However, Strang would quickly fade through the pack, ultimately only completing three laps of the six-lap race.
XC2 Race Report: In the XC2 Pro Lites class, Sam Evans claimed the $100 Hot Cams Holeshot Award. Jason Thomas would move his way into the lead, but soon face what seemed to be mechanical issues. Thomas manoeuvred his way through the remaining laps to hold on and take the XC2 Pro Lites class victory at the Tomahawk GNCC.
Husqvarna’s Support Rider Craig DeLong would hold the early lead, but after being seen coming through on lap two with both his front and rear fender bent upwards, it was apparent Delong had suffered a hard fall which would cost him time.
Tegan Temple would have his best finish of the season at the inaugural Tomahawk GNCC. Temple held a consistent second place from lap one until the checkers flew. Layne Michael would make a last lap charge to claim the XC2 Pro Lites third place ahead of Ricky Russell and Trevor Bollinger rounding out the top five.
XC1 Event Results: 1. Chris Bach (HON). 2. Kailub Russell (KTM). 3. Ryan Sipes (HSQ). 4. Grant Baylor (YAM). 5. Andrew DeLong (HSQ). 6. Takeshi Koikeda (HON). 7. Chris Douglas (KTM). 8. Adam Bonneur (KTM). 9. Thad DuVall (HSQ). 10. Josh Strang (HSQ). 12. Daniel Milner (YAM).
Overall National Championship Standings: 1. Kailub Russell (175). 2. Josh Strang (118). 3. Grant Baylor (108). 4. Chris Bach (99). 5. Thad DuVall (81). 6. Ryan Sipes (72). 7. Jason Thomas (65). 8. Jordan Ashburn (60). 9. Craig DeLong (54). 10. Layne Michael (52)
XC2 Event Results: 1. Jason Thomas (KTM). 2. Tegan Temple (KTM). 3. Layne Michael (HON). 4. Ricky Russell (YAM). 5. Trevor Bollinger (KTM). 6. Cory Buttrick (BET). 7. Craig DeLong (HSQ). 8. Austin Lee (YAM). 9. Michael Witkowski (KTM). 10. Callan May (YAM).
XC2 Series Standings: 1. Jason Thomas (149). 2. Layne Michael (112). 3. Craig DeLong (109). 4. Trevor Bollinger (99). 5. Ricky Russell (94). 6. Cory Buttrick (84). 7. Tegan Temple (69). 8. Austin Lee (64). 9. Nick Davis (57). 10. Callan May (57).
FIM Maxxis Enduro World Championship – Round 2 – Jerez, Spain
E2 Day 1: The fight for top honours in the Enduro 2 class was extremely close between both Antoine MEO (F-KTM) and Pela RENET (F-Husqvarna). With unfinished business from Chile, RENET was determined to not let MEO get the better of him and held a tiny six tenths of a second lead with two tests to go. But a crash on the final cross test from the Husqvarna rider was all it took for MEO to sneak into the lead and claim his third win on the bounce.
“The battle between Pela and myself was incredible. It was so close and was anybody’s race to win,” told MEO. “Unfortunately for Pela he made a mistake and crashed but we were riding on the very limit.” Behind the leading duo, Alex SALVINI (I-Honda) held station in third. Although matching the pace of the leaders, the Honda rider just wasn’t able to close their advantage and ended his day 14 seconds behind RENET in third. Keeping the pressure firmly on SALVINI, France’s Johnny AUBERT (Beta) hoped to capitalise on a mistake from the Italian rider. But with SALVINI holding his ground AUBERT had to settle for fourth. Delivering an impressive ride on home turf, Spain’s Jaume BETRIU (Husqvarna) cracked the top five with fifth.
E2 Day 2: On day two there was no change at the head of the Enduro 2 class. Claiming his fourth win of the season, KTM’s Antoine Meo continues to establish himself as the rider to beat. “It’s been another fantastic weekend for me,” told Meo. “I didn’t have a great feeling with the terrain. I won some tests and lost a few too but overall I was able to keep my times quite consistent and I think that was the most important thing. Hopefully I can keep this form going next weekend in Portugal.” Delivering his best result of the 2015 series to date, Alex Salvini (Honda) chased Meo home for second. With a strong set of times on the final lap, the Italian managed to keep a hard charging Pela Renet (Husqvarna) four seconds behind him. With Renet forced to settle for third, it was Beta’s Johnny Aubert who completed the top four – 15 seconds adrift of Renet. Showing great promise on day two, France’s Loic Larrieu placed fifth on his Sherco ensuring five different manufactures occupied the top five positions.
Pela Renet: “Of course I am always looking to try and win, but I can’t be too unhappy with a second and third place result. It’s good championship points. I feel like I am getting stronger, but I’m still not able to push to my maximum. Day one started really well and I was leading, like I was in Chile. Antoine was pushing hard and I made some small mistakes, which I don’t normally do. When I need to be strong I am not yet able to give 100 per cent. It was close on day two but again I wasn’t able to push like I wanted during the second half of the day. It’s like that at the moment so my focus is securing strong championship points.”
E2 Standings after Round 2: 1, Meo, 80. 2, Renet, 66. 3, Salvini, 62. 4, Aubert, 52. 5, Larrieu, 40.
E3 Day 1: Similar to E2, the Enduro 3 class featured a head-to-head battle for victory. Defending champion Matt PHILLIPS (AUS-KTM) was back on form and fighting for the win with Husqvarna’s Mathias BELLINO (F). Constantly swapping and changing position throughout the day, it was a costly mistake from PHILLIPS that finally offered BELLINO enough breathing room to secure the win.
“The racing was so close all day,” remarked BELLINO. “Matt was hungry to win but so was I and I wasn’t going to give up without a fight. Each lap the positions were changing and then on the final lap I knew I had to give it my all. Luckily he made a slight mistake and the win was mine. I’m happy with today.” Ensuring three different manufactures featured on the podium, Italy’s Manuel MONNI ended his day third for TM. Behind Monni, Finland’s Matti SEISTOLA (Sherco) had a mixed day of racing and placed fourth while Aigar LEOK (EST) added to TM’s success on day one by finishing fifth.
E3 Day 2: As Enduro 3 continues to prove itself as one of the most competitive classes of the championship, Husqvarna’s Mathias Bellino is showing himself as the main rider to beat. Fighting his way from fourth into the lead, Bellino managed to hold off a late charge from Sherco’s Matti Seistola to take a small but very important one-second margin of victory.
“That was one very close race for the victory, but it was great,” remarked Bellino. “On the last lap I had the lead but the gap was nothing and any mistake could have pushed me back to fifth. Winning both days is an incredible feeling.”
With the top six riders separated by just 17 seconds, Matti Seistola was next to Bellino. Coming an agonising one-second shy of winning, the Finn was nevertheless pleased with his day. Turning up the speed for day two, Spain’s Jonathan Barragan delivered Gas Gas a home GP podium result in third.
Only one second behind Barragan, Italy’s Manuel Monni (TM) missed out on a top three result and was fourth. Australia’s Matt Phillips (KTM) rounded out the top five with Thomas Oldrati (Husqvarna) two seconds back in sixth.
Mathias Bellino: “It’s been a crazy GP for me and the other riders fighting for the win in the Enduro 3 class. From the start of day one it was clear that there were several riders that had the speed to win. I was battling with Matt Phillips most of the day and things were tight. I got the win, so that was great for me. Day two was good, but a crash in the third test put me back to fourth. I knew I had some work to do then, and things went well. I had a big fight with Matti Seistola then for the rest of the day. I pushed as much as I could. There were many riders waiting for us to make mistakes. It’s great to win a day like this. It’s been a great race for me.”
E3 Standings after Round 2: 1, Bellino, 73. 2, Seistola, 67. 3, Phillips, 51. 4, Leok, 47. 5, Monni, 45.
E1 Day 1: In the Enduro 1 class there was absolutely no stopping Christophe NAMBOTIN (F-KTM). The Frenchman was simply unbeatable and managed to set the fastest time in all of the E1 special tests. Securing a near one-minute margin of victory, NAMBOTIN also unofficially ended his day as the fastest outright.
“It’s been a perfect day – I can’t fault it,” confirmed NAMBOTIN. “I managed to win all 11 special tests – I don’t think I’ve done that before in E1 – it’s been great.” With NAMBOTIN running away with proceedings, TM’s Eero REMES (FIN) and Spain’s Cristobal GUERRERO (Yamaha) took the remainder of the podium positions. Securing his first top three result with Yamaha, GUERRERO proved that he’s firmly settled in with his new team. Pushing hard in the hot and dusty conditions, Sherco’s Lorenzo SANTOLINO delivered a strong ride at his home race for fourth. Yamaha’s Marc BOURGEOIS (F) completed the top five.
E1 Day 2: Once again there was no stopping KTM’s Christophe Nambotin in Enduro 1. At home in the hot, dry and dusty conditions, the Frenchman delivered a carbon copy result of his previous day’s ride. Winning all special tests, Nambotin was also unofficially the fastest outright rider.
“It’s been a brilliant weekend, really good,” smiled Nambotin. “Winning both days is exactly what I hoped for and also getting the outright too is a nice. I was disappointed with the way I rode in Chile on day two and I really wanted to make up for it. It’s great to win.”
While Nambotin cleared off to win, Eero Remes (TM) was again second to the KTM rider. Delivering another podium result on home soil, Yamaha’s Cristobal Guerrero has put himself firmly back in the championship fight following a difficult opening round in Chile. Improving two positions over day one, Husqvarna’s Daniel McCanney (GB) held off a last lap battle with Kawasaki’s Simone Albergoni (I) to take fourth.
Danny McCanney: “It’s been an ok race for me, but after my podium results in Chile I would have liked things to have gone a little better. It took me too long to really get to grips with the enduro test. On one lap I dropped into a deep rut that knocked my bike into neutral. Before I knew it I was back at the bottom of the hill. I was playing catch up from that point onwards. I crashed in the enduro test at the start of day two, which was exactly what I didn’t need. I was down in seventh so to work back to fourth is great.”
E1 Standings after Round 2: 1, Nambotin, 77. 2, Remes, 67. 3, D. McCanney, 53. 4, Guerrero, 52. 5, Bourgeois, 51.
