Round number ten of the FIM Motocross World Championship took place at the Kegums circuit in Latvia. Kegums is one of the best tracks on the circuit and is usually loved by fans and riders alike, but this year, the riders would be brutalized by the 1.6 km of whooped out racing circuit. On top of the rough track, it was the third stop of three straight weekends of racing, and the effects of a tough travel schedule combined with the brutally rough track showed on some of the riders.

In the MX2, one man showed no ill effects from the travel or the track. Teka/Red Bull/KTM’s Ken Roczen–while one of the youngest kids in the class–looked like a man amongst boys again in Kegums. In moto one, Ken would get out front early and go on to a wire-to-wire victory. Behind the German was where all the racing took place. Early on, Frenchman Nicolas Aubin would hold down second on the KTM before being pursued and passed by Bike-it/Cosworth Yamaha rider Arnaud Tonus. Tonus would only hold down second position for two laps before the Englishman Tommy Searle, on the CLS/Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki, would take over the spot. From there, it was all Ken Roczen at the front with Searle crossing the line in second.

Jeffrey Herings - GP Of latvia - Kegums - mx2 - 2011
Kegums has always produced beautiful MX pics as Herlings displays here. Photo by R. Archer

The man second in the points coming into Kegums, Jeffrey Herlings, got off to a horrible start in moto one, but after crossing the line in fourteenth on lap one, would pick his way through the field for 40 minutes. By the end of the long moto, Jeffrey had worked his way up to third and had actually almost gotten around Searle for second. In the end, though, Searle was able to hold off the charging Herlings, and Herlings crossed the line in third. Arnaud Tonus hung on to a solid fourth in moto one with Searle’s CLS Kawasaki teammate, Max Anstie, finishing a very inspired fifth. Max Anstie has been struggling in the middle half of the Championship to get the number ninety-nine to the front, but looked to find some speed at Kegums. Max is one of the nicest kids in the paddock, and it’s nice seeing him finish well.

In moto two, the story at the front was much different, but the ending would look very much the same. Roczen, once again, pulled one of his patented holeshots, but this time, Herlings came out of turn one in third behind Roczen and Valentin Teillet, a far cry from the twenty-fifth place start he had in moto one. Herlings quickly disposed of Teillet and went after his teammate Roczen with a full head of steam. On lap three, Herlings made the pass for the lead on Roczen stick and set off to put a gap on the red plate holder. Instead, Roczen kept the “Flying Dutchman” in sight and, by lap seven, was back into the lead spot. Herlings, from there, was keeping Ken honest, but a late-race tip-over by Herlings would seal his fate. Ken would go on to win moto two, grab another overall GP win and extend his points-lead heading into the week break. Herlings, after getting up from the crash, held on to second and, with a 3-2 score, left with second overall in the GP.

Tommy Searle - 2011 - mx2 - Grand prix of Latvia - FIM Motocross World Championship
Tommy had another solid day in Latvia, but still lacked the speed it takes to close the gap on the KTM boys up front. Photo by Youthstream

Behind the two KTM teammates were the two CLS Kawasaki teammates. Searle, after a fifth place start, made his way up to third, but was never able to get anywhere close to the two teenagers up front. Instead, his teammate Anstie pursued him from the rear. Max got an eighth place start, but was able to get all the way to Searle’s rear wheel to battle for a moto podium. He was not able to make the pass, but leaving Kegums with a 5-4 sore for fourth overall was a great step towards getting to the podium at the next stop. With a 2-3 on the day, Searle was the third man on the podium.

Finishing fifth overall on the day was American Zach Osborne. The Bike-it Cosworth/Yamaha rider has been digging deep after being diagnosed with Epstein-Barr, and a 7-5 for fifth overall shows that. One man we surprisingly haven’t mentioned is Monster Energy/Yamaha rider Gautier Paulin. The very consistent Frenchman and winner of moto two at the last stop in Teutschenthal had a very rough weekend. In moto one, he crashed early in the race and was run over while on the ground. By the end of moto one, he had finished in thirteenth, but you could see the number twenty-one was in some pain. In moto two, Paulin finished slightly better in eleventh, but for the man on a six-race podium streak, you can bet an eighth overall left him disappointed. Luckily, with a week off Gautier will have some time to recover.

Tommy Searle - Ken Roczen - Jeffrey Herlings - 2011 - mx2 - Grand prix of Latvia - FIM Motocross World Championship
MX2 Grand Prix of Latvia Podium - Ken Roczen (Center) Jeffrey Herlings (Left) Tommy Searle (Right). Photo by R. Archer

MX2 Overall Results – GP of Latvia – Kegums – For full results click here.

For updated points click here.

1 94 Ken Roczen 1-1
2 84 Jeffrey Herlings 3-2
3 100 Tommy Searle 2-3
4 99 Max Anstie 5-4
5 338 Zach Osborne 7-5

The MX1 class has produced some incredible races, and the first moto in Latvia was another one for the ages. The man taking the first moto holeshot was German Max Nagl, but his teammate Antonio Cairoli would make quick work of Max and take over the lead early in lap one. The Italian was followed through by last week’s surprise winner, Honda World’s Evgeny Bobryshev. At the end of lap one, the running order was Cairoli leading with Bobryshev, Nagl, Clement Desalle and Steven Frossard all very close behind the number 222. The running order would stay the same until a mistake by Desalle on lap five would send the Belgian back to sixth allowing Monster Energy/Yamaha’s David Philippaerts to jump up to fifth. Desalle ended up fading back to a disappointing eighth that no doubt hurts his Championship hopes.

Antonio Cairoli - Steven Frossard - GP Of Latvia - Kegums - mx1 - 2011
Cairoli and Frossard started both motos at the front of the pack. Photo by R. Archer

From that point until lap seventeen, the race would pretty much resemble a game of follow the leader, but on lap seventeen, Frossard decided to go. With two laps to go, Frossard made his way around the big Russian and, with only a second up to Cairoli, went after the red plate holder with everything he had. On the last lap, there were moments where many thought the Frenchman could get the job done, but in the end, he would finish 000.347 behind Cairoli. Bobryshev rode a great race back in third, but looked physically spent at the end of the race. Max Nagl tried to get around the Russian, but had to settle for a forth in moto one. The top four at the end of the race were only separated by a mere four seconds. David Philippaerts finished a distant fifth, twenty-five seconds back.

Moto two started out just like moto one ended, with the Italian and the Frenchman fighting for the lead tooth and nail. Antonio Cairoli grabbed the holeshot, but Steven Frossard–wanting to make up for falling just shy of the win in moto one–quickly passed for the lead. Cairoli must not have liked looking at Frossard from behind because he quickly passed Frossard back. Behind the battle at the front, was Rockstar Suzuki rider Clement Desalle in third hoping to move forward, but Bobryshev and Steve Ramon–in fourth and fifth–had different ideas. Bobryshev and Ramon would both go by Desalle on lap four, and Desalle had no answer. Once again, Desalle would spend most of the race going backwards and ended up finishing eighth.

Clement Desalle - GP Of Latvia - Kegums - mx1 - 2011 - FIM World Championship Motocross
Clement Desalle was obviously still struggling this weekend with his injuries. The former points leader left Kegums forty-two points behind Cairoli in the Championship. Photo by Youthstream

Up front in moto two–unlike in moto one–there was never really a battle for the lead. Cairoli spent the entire moto gradually gapping Frossard, and Frossard was doing the same to Bobryshev. The three riders would cross the line fiirst, second and third–the same order they finished in moto one, leaving the overall podium quite simple to figure out. Behind the dominant threesome was Honda World rider Rui Gonclaves, David Philippaerts and Rockstar Suzuki’s Steve Ramon. Rui has been steadily improving on the Honda 450 and, with a 7-4 on the day,  finished fourth overall, while Philippaerts’ 5-5 was good enough for fifth overall on the day.

MX1 Overall Results – GP Of Latvia – Kegums – For full results click here

For updated points click here.

1 222 Antonio Cairoli 1-1
2 183 Steven Frossard 2-2
3 777 Evgeny Bobryshev 3-3
4 Rui Goncalves 7-4
5 19 David Philippaerts 5-5
Antonio Cairoli - Steven Frossard - Evgeny Bobryshev - GP Of Latvia - Kegums - mx1 - 2011 - FIM World Championship Motocross
MX2 Grand Prix of Latvia podium. Antonio Cairoli (Center) Steven Frossard (Right) Evgeny Bobryshev (Right)
Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.