The 2017 MXGP Motocross World Championship series landed at WW Motocross Park for round 17, and the 2017 MXGP of USA. In the MXGP class, Red Bull / KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings (2-1) took the overall win with Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac (1-3) finishing second and Red Bull / KTM’s Antonio Cairoli (3-2) taking the third spot on the podium.
In the MX2 class, American AMA regular RJ Hampshire took his first-ever professional win with a perfect 1-1 sweep in front of his home state fans in Florida. Joining the GEICO / Honda rider on the podium was Suzuki World MX2 rider Hunter Lawrence (3-2) and Rockstar / Husqvarna’s Thomas Covington (2-4).
Take a look what the riders thought of their weekend at the USGP.
Jeffrey Herlings: I felt really good today. The heat was pretty brutal but I got used to it and after Ottobiano [Grand Prix of Lombardia] where I fell down after the second moto we decided to come over here early so it wouldn’t happen again. I had a great battle first moto although me and Tony had bad starts and by the time we were second Eli had a big gap. Second was good though and left it open for the overall. I changed my line choice for the gate and had a good one. I was behind Tony and was waiting until the last couple of laps. I knew both of us would be tired but I didn’t want to pass him too quick and I was waiting for a mistake. He had a small crash and handed it over to me. I’m happy with the 2-1, some good battles with my teammate and I hope we have plenty more. Now for my home GP next weekend.
RJ Hamshire: It was killer this weekend! Only my second time at the ranch and it was one to remember. I put everything I had into the race and to go 1-1 in front of my home state was special! It may not have been an AMA pro national but sure does feel good.
Antonio Cairoli: I’m always happy to finish on the podium and in a season like this it is important to be consistent and that’s what we have done: one of my best seasons ever. I want to get the title as soon as possible because I have been riding a bit carefully in the last races. I don’t want to crash or break something. I did my best to close it today and I made a mistake but this is part of racing and also my condition is dropping a little bit since the beginning of the season whereas as Jeffrey is the opposite way and is in a good place. I am a fighter and always want to fight back. I hope I will make it in the next GP in Assen, which is a track I really like, and hopefully clinch the title in the first moto, and then after that have some good battles. Together with Jeffrey we have showed that we have some good speed lately and we are ‘there’ most of the time.
Eli Tomac: Yesterday we just weren’t on the pace but the two-day format worked in my favour to have time to feel comfortable with my settings. The sandy base threw us at first, but we found some solutions this morning; warm-up went well and then I knew that with a good start I could run with them. The first moto I got out front early, put in some fast laps and had a good rhythm. I got to third fairly quickly in race two, but those two guys out front were setting a hot pace and I lost contact; there were a couple of sections where they were doing things I just didn’t feel confident with, so third was all I had in me that race.
Thomas Covington: Overall, I had a great weekend. Getting the win in the qualifying race I then got two holeshots in the final motos and earned one more podium result for the season. My speed was good this weekend and I felt I could have gone even higher in the overall but the heat on Sunday was unbearable. I’ve been living in Europe for a while so I wasn’t used to this heat. In moto one I rode a solid race for second. Then in moto two I was following RJ Hampshire in second and decided to make a move to get closer to him but I felt I was running out of energy. I might not have been able to go for the win but my riding was good and I’m happy I got on the podium at my home GP.
Pauls Jonass: I knew it would be tough. It was hot and humid and we’re not used to this and I made it a bit more difficult for myself. I didn’t get good starts today and crashed on the start straight in the first moto; to come back to tenth from dead-last was not too bad. I lost only one point in that race. I had a better start in the second race but it was so hot and it was difficult. The track was also bumpier and I couldn’t find my flow. Still, I managed to finish fifth and now I’m looking forward to the next GPs. It will be hard…but we’ll get there.
Tim Gajser: The feeling overall was better today, I felt a lot more comfortable then I did yesterday but it was very humid today. In the first race, I had a good start, my riding wasn’t so bad but I made many mistakes and ended up finishing fourth overall which I was satisfied with. The second race I didn’t have a good start but I managed to come through the pack in the first lap. Then, I fell in a corner on the second lap which made me lose many places. The last few minutes of the race I saw the riders in front of me which helped me focus and then when I started picking them off, I saw some lines which helped me make some good passes to finish seventh for fourth overall. So overall today the feeling was good, the rhythm was good but I just made a costly early mistake.
Chase Sexton: Placed 6th overall in my first MXGP. Had a lot of fun racing with the Euro’s and being able to experience a new format. 6th wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but there are always positive to take away. Congrats to the teammate RJ Hamshire on getting the win!. My GEICO / Honda is looking good for next season
Evgeny Bobryshev: It was a tough one for me today as it was good and bad. In the first race, I didn’t get a good start as I was around 12th but then I managed to get back through the pack to take eighth place. I was riding good, I had good lines and good rhythm and I wasn’t tired it was just in the last few laps I over heated a bit. The second race I had a much better start and I was in seventh. In the second lap, I collided into Desalle and his clutch went into my bad collarbone which hurt my muscle and then I started dropping back. I enjoyed the track and staying over here so now we head back to Europe to get work done for the next few races.
Jorge Prado: Some bad luck today. I touched with Pauls at the start of the first moto but came back really strongly until tenth with a good rhythm. About four laps from the end I couldn’t continue. I’m a bit down because I think I could have done well here at a circuit that I liked a lot and felt comfortable on the bike. I had some attention in the medical centre so couldn’t go out in the second moto and it was probably the right decision because it wouldn’t have been safe and possibly dangerous for my health. I hope next weekend in Assen we can make a good show.
Glenn Coldenhoff: The results were not that great but I had a tough weekend. Yesterday was quite solid and I was always there with the times but didn’t have the starts. The first one was better than the second. The hot conditions are not the best for me but I suffer well. Overall I’m not too happy although we made the top ten and we’ll do better at the home GP next weekend.
Thomas Kjer-Olsen: I felt good all weekend. In moto one I got a decent start and quickly got myself into fifth place. Despite a few mistakes I kept my fifth position until the end and that was good. I started moto two in fourth place but made a small mistake and hit the ground in the opening lap. Trying to get back up to speed after the crash I felt I was running out of energy. I felt that the heat and humidity got the best of me and my lap times could not improve no matter how hard I tried.
Max Anstie: I rode two solid motos and I’m satisfied with fifth overall. I didn’t have the best of starts to my weekend in the US. In the qualifying race I got hit by a stone and badly bruised my hand. Luckily it was nothing major, just some bruising. My starts were fine, just not that great and I had to make a few passes in both motos. Getting a pair of sixth place results for fifth at the GP is a good result considering how the weekend started. The work continues for me as we head back to Europe for our last two GPs.
Max Nagl: The speed was there this weekend. I had a great qualifying moto where I got a fifth-place result. In moto one I got the holeshot and quickly found myself racing in second behind Eli Tomac. Midway through the race I felt tired so my pace dropped a bit and I finished fifth. Conditions at the track were very rough. It was very hot and really humid and it was hard to keep pushing until the end of each moto. I expected to recover well during the break but then again I felt tired in moto two. I got off to a good start but somebody hit me from the back two corners after the gate dropped. I did my best for 11th in moto two and sixth overall at the GP.
Gautier Paulin: It was an up and down weekend so I’m happy with getting fourth in moto two. I felt good at this track but two crashes in moto one made it really hard for me to secure a good overall result. My first crash came after landing from the big quad jump. The dirt was loose there so I went over the bars. I got back up but somehow I could not focus on the race and ended up crashing again and bending my bars. Luckily, I avoided any injury. In moto two I had a great start and pushed hard for fourth at the finish. It was really the best I could do as I also felt I was running out of energy. I’m looking forward to going back to Europe now. We have two more rounds to go and I want to end the championship on a high.
Clement Desalle: For sure I was expecting a better result, but I didn’t felt comfortable on such a flat track with many jumps and I struggled with the heat and humidity; in the first race I was in fourth position during the first few laps but I couldn’t maintain the rhythm until the end. My second start was even better; I was second in the first long and fast corner but I was on the outside, rode into a soft section and lost four positions. I was sixth for most of the race, not far from Strijbos, but in the last six minutes I struggled with the heat again and lost two positions. I’m still fighting for top three in the series and I’m confident as we go back to Europe for the last two GPs.
Jordi Tixier: It was a very difficult weekend for me; it was not easy to come back to racing after six weeks of recovery in this heat and humidity. I crashed in both motos; all these crashes are frustrating but luckily I’m safe and I will do my best to end the season with some good results.
Jeremy Van Horebeek: Yesterday was not so bad, but today I had two bad starts and ninth and tenth was the maximum I could recover. After every moto I had to throw-up because of the heat and humidity, so it wasn’t nice. I couldn’t give much more today. We just need to focus on the next round in Assen now.
Darian Sanayei: It was a difficult weekend; with the rain during the week the track was really soft and it didn’t go exactly the way I wanted to. I didn’t felt so good in the heat and I was a little bit off the pace all weekend, three or four seconds down on the leaders. In the first moto I got a pretty good start but right away I started to make some mistakes and made my way to thirteenth. In the second moto I was around tenth position when a rider crashed in front of me on the first lap; I hit him and went over the bars, so I had to make my way back from last to fourteenth.
Stephen Rubini: It wasn’t an easy weekend; on Saturday I had a good result in the free practice session but later in the day it was not as good and I qualified in eighteenth position. I had a good warm up and I rode a strong first moto to finish twelfth; I was happy to score a top fifteen result but unfortunately the second race was not so good. I suffered from dizziness after a few laps and had to stop and they took me to the medical unit to recover. I don’t really understand what happened as I pay attention to diet and hydration, but we’re not so used to such extreme humidity and heat.
Michele Cervellin: In the first race, I had a good start, probably one of my better starts this year and I was running well but then my bike had a technical issue so I DNF’d the race which was a bit disappointing. The second race was not so bad for me but I didn’t start so well. It was a difficult race as it was so hot today but I still managed to get 12th.
