After a week off and an unfathomable amount of travel miles and expenses, MXGP touched ground in Indonesia this weekend. This flyaway trip marks the second of two of such MXGP rounds, and the lone trip to Asia this year. While Indonesia is not new to the schedule, this is the first trip there in a few years. This trip was all business for riders like Tim Gajser, Tom Vialle, and Jago Geerts, who are all comfortably in championship mode with only seven rounds left after today. Gajser entered this weekend with a massive points lead over Jorge Prado in the ‘GP class. Meanwhile, Geerts had momentum in the MX2 class after Vialle missed a Moto in Germany. Could the Belgian capitalize earlier today?
Be sure to keep up with all of our Motocross coverage.
Lets Fly Lets Fly Away
A fascinating part of flyaway rounds in most international motorsports is the logistics of flyaway rounds. Not much of a surprise, getting these teams and riders situated in Indonesia wasn’t cheap. That was a huge reason why attendance wasn’t anywhere near perfect this weekend. Just around 16 series regulars lined up on the gate in the MXGP class, and just 10 in the MX2 class. Not particularly great, but in fairness, there was a feel-good story in that some local riders were lining up. Four riders from Indonesia and one from nearby Malaysia ended up running both motos in the MX2 class.
As for those wondering what a Motocross track in Indonesia may be like, you may be surprised to see the finished product. A legitimate world-class facility with everything you are looking for in a Motocross track. The crowds also looked relatively packed as well which is also nice. That isn’t always the case with some of these flyaway rounds in non-traditional moto markets.
MX2 Class Recap
Moto 1
Tom Vialle led the shortened MX2 field down into the downwards banked turn one for his ninth holeshot of the year. Behind him was Kay De Wolf, who entered this weekend sick, and ended up going down not far into this one. The Dutchman ended up not running in Moto 2 after finishing eighth in Moto 1. Capitalizing on the mistake were Geerts and Simon Laengenfelder who moved into podium spots, but this was yet again another wire-to-wire win for Vialle.
Moto 2
Laengenfelder broke up another double holeshot day for Vialle, for him being his sixth of the season here. Around three corners in, Kevin Horgmo went down and took a few others with him, including Geerts. This ended up being a rather strange Moto if there ever was one. Vialle got the lead from Laengenfelder but lost it by going off track on accident. Then got it back after Laengenfelder went down on his own around midway. Geerts meanwhile went down again after the tangle-up with Horgmo, and only made it up to fifth by the end. For Vialle, he retakes the points lead with a perfect weekend, a 1-1 on Sunday after a qualifying race win on Saturday.
MX2 Class Top 10 Results
1st No. 28 Tom Vialle 1-1
2nd No. 516 Simon Laengenfelder 3-2
3rd No. 198 Thibault Benistant 4-3
4th No. 93 Jago Geerts 2-5
5th No. 80 Andrea Adamo 7-4
6th No. 24 Kevin Horgmo 5-7
7th No. 38 Stephen Rubini 6-8
8th No. 33 Kay Karssemakers 9-6
9th No. 325 Delvintor Alfarizi 10-9
10th No. 216 Ananda rigi Aditya 13-10
MX2 Class Point Standings After Indonesia
1st No. 28 Tom Vialle 502 Points
2nd No. 93 Jago Geerts 498 Points (-4)
3rd No. 516 Simon Laengenfelder 395 Points (-107)
4th No. 24 Kevin Horgmo 356 Points (-146)
5th No. 11 Mikkel Haarup 332 Points (-170)
MXGP Class Recap
Moto 1
After Ben Watson got caught going early and hit the gate, Gajser beat Prado, Romain Febvre, and others to secure the first ‘GP class holeshot. Once the field got to the line for the first time, there was only one pass for a top-five spot the entire Moto. That ended up being Febvre getting by Pauls Jonass after the latter fell coming out of a corner in the opening three laps. The Husqvarna rider ended up in seventh after a promising start. Gajser won his second Moto in his last three tries, with Prado in second, with Ruben Fernandez rounding out the podium.
Moto 2
Febvre missed out on a holeshot due to a hard-charging Prado to his outside, which was the Spaniard’s 12th of the season. On the uphill roller section, Gajser nearly went from fourth to second but didn’t have the drive to get Febvre. The 243 however got by last year’s Championship runner-up the next lap, then Prado a lap later. Once again, Jonass threw away a top-five Moto result after going down on his own. The Latvian ended up with a 7-7 for seventh overall on the day. With the pack steady behind him, Gajser did exactly what Vialle did, pulling off a 1-1 day along with a qualifying race win for the weekend. With just seven rounds left, the Slovenian is up 125 points over Prado.
MXGP Class Top 10 Results
1st No. 243 Tim Gajser 1-1
2nd No. 61 Jorge Prado 2-2
3rd No. 70 Ruben Fernandez 3-4
4th No. 3 Romain Febvre 5-3
5th No. 259 Glenn Coldenhoff 4-7
6th No. 43 Mitch Evans 6-5
7th No. 41 Pauls Jonass 7-7
8th No. 101 Mattia Guadagnini 8-8
9th No. 91 Jeremy Seewer 12-9
10th No. 911 Jordi Tixier 9-12
MXGP Class Point Standings After Indonesia
1st No. 243 Tim Gajser 535 Points
2nd No. 61 Jorge Prado 410 Points (-125)
3rd No. 91 Jeremy Seewer 405 Points (-130)
4th No. 959 Maxime Renaux 365 Points (-170)
5th No. 259 Glenn Coldenhoff 363 Points (-172)
Check us out on our socials:
Twitter: @PTSTNews and @TalkPrimeTime
Facebook Page: Prime Time Sports Talk
Join our Facebook Group: Prime Time Sports Talk
Instagram: @primetimesportstalk
Follow Jack Gaffney on Twitter @JackGaffneyPTST
Main Image Credit: Embed from Getty Images
