Italian defending world MX1 champion Antonio Cairoli secured his 60th Grand Prix victory at the weekend’s Swedish GP and young Dutchman Jeffrey Herlings won for the first time in Uddevalla.

In the MX1 class, Ken De Dycker and Clement Desalle completed the top three while, in MX2, Christophe Charlier was on the second step of the rostrum and Jordi Tixier was third.

Uddevalla also hosted the third round of the EMX250 European Championship and Valentin Guillod dominated once again the Final race and obtained his third victory in a row. Second was Damon Graulus and Jeremy Seewer made an incredible recovery from tenth to third.

 

MX1 CLASS

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli won both races in Sweden and admitted that it was a special victory because he managed to obtain his 60th GP win in the track where he experienced his worst Grand Prix of his career last year with two DNFs.

The Italian explained that he did not have any problem with the knee he twisted in Maggiora and he is looking forward to training hard for Latvia, as he could not do much before travelling to Sweden.

The second overall position was for his team-mate Ken De Dycker thanks to his 4-2 result. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider did not have a good start in the first race but he managed to move from an initial tenth position to an eventual fourth place overtaking Jeremy Van Horebeek with two laps to go. In the second moto De Dycker started behind Cairoli and he succeeded to follow his teammate rhythm; by the middle of the race the Italian took a wrong line and De Dycker took the opportunity to pass him. The Belgian admitted that he was not feeling really comfortable riding in front of his team-mate and he actually lost the lead when there were only three laps to go.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Clement Desalle was a little bit disappointed with his third overall position, as he was expecting to obtain a better result in Sweden. In the first race the Belgian struggled to find a good rhythm and when he was able to push harder, the front group had already opened a big gap with him and he was only able to finish third.

In the second race Desalle made a mistake in the first corner but he managed to come back fourth and rode behind Tommy Searle during the whole race. In the end Desalle obtained the third position because Searle was penalized for not respecting a waved yellow flag but his overall result did not change, as he was tight in 40 points with De Dycker.

Honda’s Max Nagl had a bittersweet feeling at the end of the day because he was extremely happy to finish second in the first race, but he was very disappointed for being only able to finish tenth in the final heat.

Nagl had a fantastic start in race one and he rode a consistent moto in second, but he touched with Jeremy Van Horebeek in the start of the second moto and it made him reach the first corner down in the thirteenth place. The German did his best to recover but several mistakes during the race made him finish tenth and he obtained an overall fourth place.

Kawasaki’s Gautier Paulin missed the podium this weekend and he admitted that he made a lot of mistakes in both races which stopped him to fight for the top three places. The French rider was happy with his starts taking into account his gate position, but even if he pushed as much as possible to catch the front group, he was only able to cross the finish line seventh and fourth to finish fifth of the Grand Prix.

His team-mate, Jeremy Van Horebeek, had an excellent start in the first race and he rode fourth almost until the end of the heat, but the Belgian was overtaken by De Dycker by the end of the race and he ended fifth. In the second race Nagl touched him at the start and he was down in the tenth position; Van Horebeek gave it all and he moved up to the fifth place which gave him the overall sixth position in the Grand Prix.

Kevin Strijbos struggled once again with his starts but he managed to finish ninth and sixth and he obtained an overall seventh place ahead of Xavier Boog and Davide Guarneri.

Tommy Searle finished sixth in the first race and he crossed the finish line third in the second one, but he was penalized with ten positions as he did not respect a waved yellow flag. The British rider was down in the thirteenth place, so he obtained an overall tenth position.

Steven Frossard, who won the qualifying race on Saturday, finished eighth in the first race and he was forced to retire in the second one because he cut his left arm in a crash while he was riding seventh. All in all the French rider is satisfied with his performance this weekend and he is already looking forward to racing in Latvia next weekend in order to try to finish among the top five riders.

Evgeny Bobryshev was really confident for this weekend but in the first race he was also forced to enter the pit lane as he twisted his injured ankle and he could not stand the pain. The exams on his ankle showed that there was nothing broken, so the Russian decided to take part in the second race, but he felt that there was a problem on the bike and he decided to stop.

MX2 CLASS

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings did not have an easy weekend in Uddevalla, but he achieved his goal once again and he obtained another overall win, the first one in Sweden.

The red plate holder crashed in the first corner of race one and he had to push all the way through the last position to finish third. In the second moto Herlings took the lead from José Butrón after two laps and he dominated the race until the chequered flag, but his overall victory depended on his team-mate’s result. In the end Jordi Tixier finished second ahead of Christophe Charlier, who had won the first race, and Herlings was once again on the first step of the podium.

Monster Energy Yamaha’s Christophe Charlier was about to win the Swedish Grand Prix after dominating the first moto and finishing third in the second one. The French rider obtained the Get Athena Holeshot in the first race and he crossed the finish line almost eight seconds ahead of Jake Nicholls, who finished second.

In the second moto Charlier started sixth but in the first lap he managed to move up two positions and by lap seven he was already third behind Jordi Tixier. However, the Monster Energy Yamaha rider found it really difficult to overtake his compatriot and he had to settle down with the third position which gave him the final second place in the Grand Prix. At the end of the day Charlier was very satisfied with his result, especially because today he obtained his first ever victory in the FIM MX2 World Championship.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jordi Tixier was back on the podium this weekend thanks to his 4-2 result. In the first race his KTM stopped in the first corner but he managed to restart it very quickly and he was fifth in the first lap. The French rider succeeded to move up to the third position but in the last lap Herlings overtook him.

In the second moto he knew that he had to finish second to help his team-mate finish on the top of the podium and it was actually such motivation which helped him give his best and he crossed the finish line behind Herlings and Tixier obtained an overall third place.

KTM’s Jake Nicholls finished fourth overall this weekend and he was only two points away to finish on the podium. In the first race he started third behind José Butrón but after four laps he managed to pass him and he cross the finish line second.

In the final race he was sixth after the start and he managed to move up to fourth, but Alessandro Lupino was coming really fast from behind and Nicholls had to settle down with the fifth place.

Kawasaki’s Alessandro Lupino was fifth overall in Sweden and he was not really satisfied with his result as he was expecting to finish on the podium because his speed was one of the best ones in the MX2 class.

The Italian did not have good starts today and whereas in the first moto he was down in the fourteenth place, in the second one he was ninth. Lupino made two incredible recoveries and he crossed the finish line sixth and fourth to finish fifth overall.

Australian Dean Ferris had a really good start in the first heat and he managed to ride third by the middle of the race, but he could not keep the rhythm and he crossed the finish line fifth. In the second race Ferris was tenth after the start but thanks to his good speed he was able to move up to sixth which gave him also the sixth overall place in the Grand Prix.

Alexander Tonkov was not able to start at the front in today’s races and he finished seventh overall with a 7-8 result. José Butrón, who rode second during the first four laps of race one and led the first two laps of the second race, did not feel comfortable in the Swedish track and he was only able to cross the finish line ninth and seventh. The Spanish rider ended eighth overall ahead of Glenn Coldenhoff and Mel Pocock.

 

Results from Uddevalla:

MX1 Race 1 top ten:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:17.944; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), +0:06.363; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:12.605; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:14.381; 5. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:16.738; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:26.765; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:28.030; 8. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), +0:34.768; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:48.040; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +0:57.531.

 

MX1 Race 2 top ten:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:42.231; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:01.399; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:03.749; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:19.796; 5. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:26.109; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:35.125; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, KTM), +0:38.596; 8. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +0:41.299; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), +0:54.992; 10. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), +1:00.509.

 

MX1 Overall top ten:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 40 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 33 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 32 p.; 6. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 32 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 27 p.; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 24 p.; 10. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 23 p.

 

MX1 Championship top ten:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 467 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 398 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 374 p.; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 359 p.; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 298 p.; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 289 p.; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 253 p.; 8. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 237 p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 180 p.; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 169 p.

 

MX2 Race 1 top ten:

1. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 39:24.898; 2. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:07.546; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:10.583; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:11.189; 5. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), +0:27.543; 6. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:32.873; 7. Alexander Tonkov (RUS, Honda), +0:35.005; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:40.106; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:49.967; 10. Mel Pocock (GBR, Yamaha), +0:58.803.

 

MX2 Race 2 top ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:28.573; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:12.981; 3. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:16.220; 4. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:19.437; 5. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:31.339; 6. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), +0:36.060; 7. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:37.260; 8. Alexander Tonkov (RUS, Honda), +0:37.853; 9. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), +0:47.572; 10. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:48.908.

 

MX2 Overall top ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 45 points; 2. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 45 p.; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 38 p.; 5. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), 33 p.; 6. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 31 p.; 7. Alexander Tonkov (RUS, Honda), 27 p.; 8. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 26 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Mel Pocock (GBR, Yamaha), 21 p.

 

MX2 Championship top ten:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 492 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 363 p.; 3. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 311 p.; 4. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 306 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 282 p.; 6. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 256 p.; 7. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 252 p.; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), 232 p.; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), 215 p.; 10. Mel Pocock (GBR, Yamaha), 179 p.

Photo courtesy Ray Archer