Red Bull KTM's Tony Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings shared moto victories at the MXGP of Germany with the Italian grasping his third overall victory of the season.
Cairoli’s fight back to the top of MXGP is one he is winning, scoring his 80th victory of his career, Cairoli extended his championship lead to 44 points.
To start both races Cairoli took the FOX Holeshot but in the first half of race one he lost the lead after struggling to find the fast lines and he finished second.
Cairoli knew coming into race 2 if he could win the race than the overall was his and that is exactly what he did finishing nearly 6 seconds ahead of 2nd place.
Cairoli in the press conference said, “I got really good starts today and this is what we have been working on. I’m really happy with the GP win and also extending the points lead this is very good. It’s a very special track for me I’m very happy to race here in Germany and Teutschenthal is one of my favourite hard pack tracks, it is similar soil to the track I train on… I’m already looking forward to the next GP in France there is always so many fans and it’s a nice track.”
The “Bullet”, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings, came out with a bang in race 1 as he passed Cairoli early and led through to the checkered flag. Herlings’ season is starting to come around but one thing that plagued him early this year was his starts and in race 2 a start outside the top 5 hindered him once again. Making his way forward and into second took much longer in race 2 and Herlings was unable to close the gap Cairoli had built.
Herlings in the post-race press conference said, “In the first race I was in second pretty quick but in the second one I was around 10th on the first turn and had to work my up to second, I burned too much energy. He (Cairoli) is the eight-time champ for a reason, he’s a great rider and I just couldn’t close the gap.”
Team HRC rider Tim Gajser showed some serious determination and toughness fighting through pain today. The 20- year-old Slovenian’s qualifying crash aggravated his already sore body. Gajser after the race said, “This has been a tough weekend. Thinking about it, it has probably been one of the toughest weekends I have ever had.” With the championship in min, Gajser pushed his way to 11th overall with 12-10 finishes.
MXGP Race 1 Top Ten:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:19.364;
2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:01.872;
3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:23.634;
4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:25.211;
5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:29.976;
6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:34.390;
7. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:39.939;
8. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:46.754;
9. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:47.075;
10. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:57.503.
MXGP Race 2 Top Ten:
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 35:28.768;
2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:05.978;
3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:09.350;
4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:14.689;
5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:21.857;
6. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:26.104;
7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:38.006;
8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:42.990;
9. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Suzuki), +1:04.821;
10. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +1:10.288.
MXGP Overall Top Ten:
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 47 points;
2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 47 p.;
3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 40 p.;
4. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 36 p.;
5. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 30 p.;
6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 29 p.;
7. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 28 p.;
8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 24 p.;
9. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, SUZ), 22 p.;
10. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 22 p.
MXGP Championship Top Ten:
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 305 points;
2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 261 p.;
3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 260 p.;
4. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 246 p.;
5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 226 p.;
6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 221 p.;
7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 214 p.;
8. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 177 p.;
9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 163 p.;
10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 153 p