Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna rider Max Nagl (MXGP) and Red Bull KTM rider Jeffrey Herlings (MX2) have won their opening motos at the Grand Prix of Qatar. Both MXGP and MX2 saw some drama, although the biggest drama was the terrible luck of American champion Ryan Villopoto who stalled the bike on start gate and then crashed twice in the moto.
MXGP Race 1
Max Nagl took the holeshot ahead of Antonio Cairoli, Shaun Simpson, Clement Desalle, Gautier Paulin, Jeremy Van Horebeek, Glenn Coldenhoff, Dean Ferris, Romain Febvre, and Steven Frossard in 10th place. American Ryan Villopoto held down last spot after a horrible start after getting stuck at the start gate, then soon after also crashed after catching the back-markers.
Ken De Dycker went down hard and then Watson also went down hard in a different incident. Nagl was on fire pulling three seconds ahead of Cairoli, with Desalle a further second back and Paulin six seconds off the leader. On lap two Villopoto has moved into 19th position.
Cairoli and Desalle were in a brilliant battle for second place with Desalle going past as they did a jump. Villopoto was working hard passing Filip Bengtsson, Tommy Searle, Dean Ferris, Todd Waters and Davide Guarneri.
After five laps Desalle has closed somewhat on Nagl with just two seconds separating them, Cairoli was a further four seconds back. Villopoto made a mistake and all his hard work was undone as he dropped back to 19th spot.
Just like yesterday’s MXGP qualification race not a lot happening as riders generally hold their positions. Villopoto has moved into 13th spot, so a top ten is very much a possibility for the American champion. His team-mate Tyla Rattray is into the top 20 in 19th spot.
Desalle has slowly caught up to Nagl and with two laps to go was just a second behind, Cairoli 10 seconds back, but the big news was the charge by Villopoto who was now into 12th spot and looking for a way past Strijbos and Frossard.
Villopoto also passed Frossard and tried the same on Philippaerts, but the former world champion closed the door pretty hard on the current AMA Supercross champ. Villopoto did get through for 9th spot and a handy 12 points.
Nagl got the win from Desalle, Cairoli, Paulin, Van Horebeek, Febvre, Simpson, Bobryshev, Villopoto, and Philippaerts in 10th.
MXGP – Race 1
1 12 Nagl, Maximilian GER DMSB Husqvarna 34:52.985
2 25 Desalle, Clement BEL FMB Suzuki 34:54.206
3 222 Cairoli, Antonio ITA FMI KTM 35:11.535
4 21 Paulin, Gautier FRA MCM Honda 35:17.794
5 89 Van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL FMB Yamaha 35:27.795
6 461 Febvre, Romain FRA FFM Yamaha 35:35.380
7 24 Simpson, Shaun GBR ACU KTM 35:40.280
8 777 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS FSM Honda 35:49.037
9 2 Villopoto, Ryan USA AMA Kawasaki 35:52.594
10 19 Philippaerts, David ITA FMI Yamaha 35:56.164
11 183 Frossard, Steven FRA FFM KTM 36:00.332
12 22 Strijbos, Kevin BEL FMB Suzuki 36:02.099
13 39 Guarneri, Davide ITA FMI TM 36:03.623
14 17 Butron, Jose ESP RFME KTM 36:04.947
15 47 Waters, Todd AUS MA Husqvarna 36:05.840
16 100 Searle, Tommy GBR ACU KTM 36:30.663
17 28 Rattray, Tyla RSA MSA Kawasaki 36:33.053
18 259 Coldenhoff, Glenn NED KNMV Suzuki 36:40.287
19 9 de Dycker, Ken BEL FMB KTM 36:46.045
20 23 Charlier, Christophe FRA FFM Honda 36:49.687
21 999 Goncalves, Rui POR FMP Husqvarna 34:57.950
22 11 Bengtsson, Filip SWE SVEMO Honda 35:08.025
23 111 Ferris, Dean AUS MA Husqvarna 35:58.309
24 731 Shipton, Jake James GBR QMMF KTM 36:04.852
25 77 Lupino, Alessandro ITA FMI Honda 36:18.776
26 400 Yamamoto, Kei JPN MFJ Honda 36:24.493
27 957 Preston, Jake GBR QMMF KTM 36:45.970
28 177 Coates, Paul GBR AMA Yamaha 10:24.114
29 991 Watson, Nathan GBR ACU Husqvarna 1:39.737
MX2 – Race 1
Jeffrey Herlings got a terrible drop from the gate in around 10th place on the first corner, but surprisingly the two Red Bull KTM factory riders Pauls Jonass and Herlings led into the opening lap of the MX2 first moto. Third was Jeremy Seewer, then came Ben Watson, Brian Bogers, Alexandr Tonkov, Dylan Ferrandis, Thomas Covington, Julien Lieber and Mel Pocock. Defending world champion Jordi Tixier was in 12th place with Max Anstie back in 19th.
Jonass continued to lead into lap two, but it was Dylan Ferrandis who was making up time, passing Tonkov, Bogers and Watson to hold down fourth position on lap two. Tixier and Anstie were also on the move, Tixier moved into 8th place and Anstie 16th position.
By lap three Jonass remained in first place a second ahead of Herlings, although Ferrandis has passed Seewer for third and was closing in on both KTM riders. Tim Gajser was also flying as he moved into 6th place and Tixier was up to 7th.
Herlings started putting huge pressure on his teammate and passed him on lap four. Ferrandis also went past Jonass for second and set out after Herlings. Covington the star of Friday’s qualifier was down in 15th place as Anstie moved into 14th.
The battle for first place was intense as Ferrandis seemed faster than Herlings, but the nature of the circuit made sure the Dutchman continued to lead. The pressure from the Frenchman was crazy as he tried to duck up the inside and on lap five he did just that on a sweeping right hand corner.
Anstie moved into the top ten as he passed his countryman Pocock for 10th place. In third place Jonass was really getting a hard time from both Seewer and Lieber as the three battled for that position. Those three also seemed to be making ground on Herlings as his pace slowed a little.
Lieber passed Jonass for third position and Covington worked his way back into 13th spot. The lead by Ferrandis was now three seconds over Herlings, who had picked up his pace and had also moved away from Lieber in third.
Finding his rhythm Herlings began to get closer and closer to Ferrandis as Jonass was losing places fast, first passed by Seewer, and then Gajser. While Herlings had caught back up to Ferrandis, Lieber had caught Herlings and a three way fight for first place took place.
Herlings tried a couple of times to pass Ferrandis, but the one lined circuit didn’t really allow it, this also gave Lieber the chance to close in on the two front guys. Tixier also passed Jonass. Anstie moved into 9th place and Covington 11th.
After three or four corners of Ferrandis and Herlings more or less locking handlebars Herlings blew past in the air and quickly put a second between himself and Ferrandis. Gajser was into fourth place and Lieber was locked onto the back wheel of Ferrandis.
With one lap to go Herlings lead was two seconds, and the real action was going on for 4th, 5th and 6th positions between Gajser, Seewer and Tixier. Jonass continued to fade as he dropped to ninth position, handing Anstie 7th and Guillod 8th.
Herlings won the opening moto by 2.6 seconds, then came Ferrandis, Lieber, Gajser, Seewer, Tixier, Anstie, Guillod, Jonass and Tonkov in 10th spot.
MX2 – Race 1
1 84 Herlings, Jeffrey NED KNMV KTM 33:51.825
2 4 Ferrandis, Dylan FRA FFM Kawasaki 33:54.499
3 33 Lieber, Julien BEL FMB Yamaha 33:55.877
4 243 Gajser, Tim SLO AMZS Honda 34:03.212
5 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS Suzuki 34:04.400
6 1 Tixier, Jordi FRA FFM Kawasaki 34:06.384
7 99 Anstie, Max GBR ACU Kawasaki 34:20.628
8 92 Guillod, Valentin SUI FMS Yamaha 34:21.225
9 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT LAMSF KTM 34:28.648
10 59 Tonkov, Aleksandr RUS MFR Husqvarna 34:32.685
11 64 Covington, Thomas USA FFM Kawasaki 34:37.431
12 119 Pocock, Mel GBR ACU Kawasaki 34:48.479
13 152 Petrov, Petar BUL QMMF KTM 34:50.246
14 128 Monticelli, Ivo ITA FMI KTM 34:52.944
15 51 Getteman, Jens BEL FMB Honda 34:55.448
16 6 Paturel, Benoit FRA FFM Yamaha 34:57.153
17 18 Brylyakov, Vsevolod RUS MFR Honda 35:04.325
18 189 Bogers, Brian NED KNMV KTM 35:17.799
19 274 Lundgren, Anton SWE SVEMO Husqvarna 35:43.151
20 95 Justs, Roberts LAT LAMSF KTM 35:49.507
21 555 Guryev, Artem RUS MFR KTM 34:56.562
22 300 Golovkin, Viacheslav RUS FMI KTM 35:09.847
23 93 Featherstone, Gradie GBR ACU Suzuki 34:44.774
24 71 Valente, Christopher SUI FMS Husqvarna 24:44.676
25 919 Watson, Ben GBR ACU KTM 16:53.616 6
26 7 Graulus, Damon BEL FMB Yamaha 12:48.954
