It was all Red Bull KTM at the first of three MXGP Rounds in Maggiora, Italy. Jeffrey Herlings was able to pick up his first win of the year in the GP Class. While home country hero Mattia Guadagnini was able to secure his first-ever MX2 Overall win. Both classes have now also seen three different riders win overalls in the opening three rounds of the season. While it is still very early, both title hunts appear to look more contested than expected. Recap from MXGP Round 3 right here.
MX2 Class
Moto 1
The reigning champion of the MX2 class Tom Vialle made his return to the track after missing last weekend in Great Britain. However, the young Frenchman’s return would end up going anything but according to plan. Vialle would pull off track early in Moto 1 and would subsequently be done for the rest of the day. Now that he has gone back-to-back rounds getting zero out of a possible 50 points, the MX2 Class just got really interesting.
One rider who looked to make an opportunity for himself at this moment would be Thibault Benistant. The Yamaha rider would lead for the duration of the Moto to get a career first win. Second place would be Guadagnini, and third would go to points leader Ruben Fernandez.
Moto 2
Two members of the Moto 1 podium would not find the fortune that they did earlier in the day. Benistant ended up getting tangled in a wreck just past the holeshot line. Joining him would be Fernandez, who coming down the track’s 45-degree sweeper, got tangled with another bike. Fernandez would end up rallying to a 12th place finish, while Benistant would end up two spots back in 14th.
Benistant’s Monster Yamaha teammate Jago Geerts would secure the holeshot, before surrendering the lead to Guadanini shortly after. The young Italian would then cruise to the moto win, as well as the overall win in the first of three rounds in his home country. Guadanini ended up winning the overall by a healthy 10 points over Maxime Reneaux, and 13 over Geerts. The good news for Guadanini does not stop there, as he also took over the MX2 points lead due to Fernandez’s bad Moto 2.
MX2 Top 10 Overall
No. 101 Mattia Guadagnini 2-1
No. 959 Maxime Renaux 6-2
No. 93 Jago Geerts 4-5
No. 39 Roan Van De Moosdijk 9-3
No. 198 Thibault Benistant 1-14
No. 172 Mathys Boisrame 8-4
No. 14 Jed Beaton 5-7
No. 70 Ruben Fernandez 3-12
No. 74 Kay de Wolf 7-9
No. 711 Rene Hofer 11-6
MXGP
Moto 1
The first Moto in the GP Class would be identical at the front as the MX2 Moto 1. Playing the role of Beninstant would be fellow Frenchman Romain Febvre of Monster Energy Kawasaki, who would lead wire to wire with Red Bull KTM Riders Jorge Prado and Antonio Cairoli behind him. The shocker here would be both Herlings and Tim Gajser both missing out on the podium.
Gajser would end up sticking in fifth place for the duration of the race, but Herlings ended up having an issue that caused his sub-top-five result. Early one he would stall his KTM, forcing home to fall from sixth to tenth. Luckily he was able to gain the positions he lost but also lost out on a potential podium in the process here.
Moto 2
Febvre now had a major opportunity in this second Moto. Another performance like he had earlier could have earned him the World Championship Points lead. Unfortunately, this would not be the case for the former World Champion. With rain/mud playing a factor in this moto, Febvre would fall multiple times and ended up finishing in 12th here. Squandering a massive opportunity for himself.
Out in front would be Des Nations legend for the Dutch, Glenn Coldenhoff. While he hasn’t had the start with Yamaha that he had hoped, things seemed to turn around on Sunday. He holeshot this Moto and proceeded to lead a wide majority of the race. Eventually, Herlings would end up getting to his fellow countryman, and took the lead, and Moto win. In a very rare occurrence, the top three riders in the overall standings, Herlings, Coldenhoff, and Cairoli, were all tied at 40 points. The quick tiebreaker is Moto 2 results, giving Herlings the win, but it is not often there is a three-way tie for first.
Despite a relatively decent day for Gasjer, his points lead is now under threat from multiple riders within striking distance. Herlings sits eight points back, Febvre 17 back, and Cairoli 19 back. Not to mention Prado lurking in the weeds 27 out of first. This is shaping up to be a fun title fight in the early goings.
MXGP Top 10 Overall
No. 84 Jeffrey Herlings 6-1
No. 259 Glenn Coldenhoff 4-2
No. 222 Antonio Cairoli 3-3
No. 61 Jorge Prado 2-7
No. 3 Romain Febvre 1-12
No. 41 Pauls Jonass 7-4
No. 243 Tim Gajser 5-6
No. 91 Jeremy Seewer 8-8
No. 919 Ben Watson 9-11
No. 89 Jeremy Van Horebeek 11-10
The GP paddock now is set for Oss Circuit in the Netherlands after a one-week break. It is a home race for a decent chunk of riders, notably Herlings and Coldenhoff.
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Main Image Credit: Embed from Getty Images
