The lone MXGP trip to France went down yesterday from Lacapelle Marival. After an eventful round in Germany, Jorge Prado was back after his incident with Jeffery Herlings. Elsewhere in the KTM camp, Tom Vialle, in the midst of a monster run, has been rewarded with a four-year contract extension by Red Bull KTM. Entering his home GP, he would have been on a streak of four straight GP wins, although he got docked points from Germany. As a result, Maxime Renaux, the series points leader, is now the winner from a week ago in the MX2 class.
With the battle for the MXGP class points title heating up between Tim Gajser, Herlings, and Romain Febvre, the baton now resides with the Slovenian Honda rider. Just six rounds remain on the year now, five of which are in Italy, everything matters that much more now.
MX2 Class
Moto 1
Vialle opened things up in his home country with an opening Moto holeshot. Kay De Wolf would get too low in the first corner and fall with traffic incoming. Luckily the Dutchman was steered clear of. The story of this moto would be the other Frenchman on the gate, Renaux. After a so-so start put him well in the back of the top 10, the Yamaha rider tried to make up as much ground as possible. After some strong passed on the likes of Jago Geerts, Thibault Benistant, and Rene Hofer, Renaux managed to get up to fourth. Vialle ended up taking the holeshot en route to a wire-to-wire Moto win, however. A dominant start on home soil with a five-second win over Mattia Guadagnini.
Moto 2
Vialle and Guadagnini would pick up right where they left off in Moto 1. Vialle picked up his 11th holeshot of the year, his eighth in a row, and ninth in the last 10 motos. A little ways back, there was a case of Australian on Australian crime, with Jed Beaton putting Wilson Todd on the deck for fifth. Renaux once again would be the man to watch, making passes left and right on route to a second in the Moto for third Overall. A first-place would elude the points leader, as Vialle now has won five of the last six MX2 Grand Prix’s. The good news for Renaux is that his points gap back to second place Geerts is nearing 100 points. He now has a real shot to clinch the championship multiple rounds early if he keeps up this pace.
Top 10 Overall in MX2 Class
No. 28 Tom Vialle 1-1
No. 111 Mattia Guadagnini 2-3
No. 959 Maxime Renaux 4-2
No. 14 Jed Beaton 3-6
No. 93 Jago Geerts 5-4
No. 711 Rene Hoffer 7-5
No. 198 Thibault Benistant 6-7
No. 39 Roan Van De Moosdijk 9-9
No. 11 Mikkel Haarup 12-8
No. 118 Stephen Rubini 10-13
MXGP Class
Moto 1
Herlings, Febvre, and Jeremy Seewer would lead the gate to the holeshot line. The Frenchman Febvre made some moves on Seewer and Herlings in the same corner to move up to the point. Both passes saw the 2015 World Champion get some of the biggest cheers of the entire season. Herlings however did not go down without a fight, staying right on Febvre until the end, but the No. 3 still picked up the Moto win.
If you are wondering where Gajser was here, an early incident put him back in 10th around three laps in. From there the reigning champion had to grind through the field, but could only manage to get to sixth. Prado meanwhile never looked great on Sunday, finishing 16th in this Moto.
Moto 2
Antonio Cairoli picked up what was his first holeshot of the year in the seventh to last round of the season. Not often to where he leads the field out of the first corner so this was most certainly a surprise. His lead would be shortlived, unfortunately, as the Sicilian bogged down in an uphill turn section. Losing first and second in the process to Herlings and Febvre. Around lap eight, a bobble by Herlings would put Febvre back on the point, with a chance to go 1-1 on home soil just like Vialle.
With four to go there would be a pair of key passes. Firstly, Gajser, who was all over Cairoli for close to the whole Moto, managed to finally get by. In addition to Herlings making his way by Febvre for the lead and win in both the Moto and Grand Prix. Even better is that Herlings is now back in the points lead, six up on Febvre, 10 up on Gajser with now six rounds to go.
Top 10 Overall in MXGP Class
No. 84 Jeffery Herlings 2-1
No. 3 Romain Febvre 1-2
No. 243 Tim Gajser 6-3
No. 91 Jeremy Seewer 3-6
No. 222 Antonio Cairoli 5-4
No. 41 Pauls Jonass 4-5
No. 19 Thomas Kjer Olson 8-10
No. 259 Glenn Coldenhoff 13-8
No. 303 Alberto Forato 10-11
No. 77 Alessandro Lupino 9-13
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Main Image Credit: Embed from Getty Images
