After a month-long break, the back nine of this year’s MXGP season kicked off on Sunday in Afyonkarahisar, Turkey. As you could imagine, it is not the biggest market the motocross world has to offer. That however did not stop promoters to claim that the nearly two-kilometer circuit as being the best track in the world. In any case, here is a refresher on where things stand around the halfway point.
Defending three-time MXGP Class Champion Tim Gajser has held the series points lead the entire way. Behind him are the Red Bull KTM trio of Jorge Prado, Antonio Cairoli, and Jeffery Herlings. In addition to Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Romain Febvre being sandwiched in as well. In the unexpectedly wide-open MX2 division, the current head of the table is the young Frenchman Maxime Renaux. 34 points back is Italian Mattia Guadagnini of Red Bull KTM, who held the points lead earlier in the year. With there being (unofficially) 10 rounds remaining in the season, there is plenty of time for riders to make up ground, or crumble under pressure.
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MX2 Class
Moto 1
Tom Vialle, who entered this year as the heavy favorite in the MX2 class, pulled off the opening holeshot of the day. His initial lead would only last a few corners here, as his Dutch teammate Rene Hoffer got by in the early goings. The two KTM teammates would again swap for the lead after another pair of laps with Vialle regaining the lead. Behind this battle for the lead was the third man for the orange brigade in Guadagnini. After being scored fifth on lap one, he made a charge up to second by lap 13. In that span, he passed the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna duo of Kay De Wolf and Jed Beaton, then later Hoffer. Vialle however dominated the large majority of this Moto en route to the win. His third of the year and first since he went 1-1 at the opener in Russia.
Moto 2
Renaux, who finished fourth in Moto 1, would secure the holeshot in the latter affair of the day. Behind him, the Australian Beaton held on to second for the opening four laps before surrendering the spot to Vialle on a split corner. His teammate De Wolf a ways back ended up avoiding a major disaster. Cross rutting up the face of double, but luckily landed down off to the side without incident and ended up finishing ninth.
Nearing the end of the race, Vialle had managed to get all the way up to Renaux but tipped over in the second corner of the final lap. That ended up being the bad news for Vialle, the good news was that despite costing himself a 1-1, his 1-2 day was good for his second Grand Prix win of the year. While injuries almost certainly have taken him out of title contention, getting a win here has to be huge for the young Frenchmen. Especially considering that he is slated to make his Motocross Des Nations debut for France shortly.
Top 10 Overall in MX2 Class
No. 28 Tom Vialle 1-2
No. 959 Maxime Renaux 4-1
No. 14 Jed Beaton 3-3
No. 101 Mattia Guadagnini 2-4
No. 711 Rene Hoffer 5-5
No. 93 Jago Geerts 9-6
No. 74 Kay De Wolf 7-9
No. 12 Wilson Todd 11-7
No. 198 Thibault Benistant 10-8
No, 517 Isak Gifting 11-13
MXGP Class
Moto 1
Prado, who just might be the best starter in the world today, picked up his sixth holeshot of the season over Glenn Coldenhoff. Unfortunately for the Dutchman, he fell down the standings in short order, dropping from second to finish eighth. His Des Nations teammate Herlings however was moving in the opposite direction, going on a mad dash to the front. From lap six to the second to final lap, every single one of Herlings’ lap times was in the 1:49 range. While some riders like Febvre and Pauls Jonass dipped into the 1:48’s occasionally, no one was putting down laps consistently like Herlings was.
Prado eventually surrendered the lead to Herlings with five laps remaining, and both Red Bull KTM riders would stick in those spots. Meanwhile back in third, Febvre threw away the final podium spot to Standing Construct GasGas’ Jonass with just three laps to go. A four-point swing in the wrong direction is not what Febvre needed here when he is in legitimate title contention. For Herlings, this was his fourth Moto win of the year, and his fifth in his last nine attempts, excluding the second Moto at Oss.
Moto 2
Prado again nailed the start from the inside to pick up holeshot number seven on the year. Up to this point, he has taken holeshot in nearly 44 percent of all Motos this year. Gajser, who was not much of a factor in the first Moto, was in the mix early here. Getting by title rival Febvre to settle into second place early on. Jonass, who had a superb Moto 1 would not carry his luck over into Moto 2. The Latvian rider took one of the wilder rides in recent memory. He crashed straight through an Alpinestars banner in turn two. All why trying to fend off Cairoli for fourth around the 10-minute mark. this incident would end what was shaping up to be a great day for the former MX2 Champion.
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Gajser would eventually get to Prado on lap eight and would set sail on the Spaniard and the rest of the field. Prado was far from done though, as his teammate Cairoli would get to him and the pair would trade some paint. This is not the first time these two have had an incident either this year, something worth keeping in mind moving forward.
Cairoli would wreck out of third in the heat of this battle, due to a pair of tuff blocks being inexplicably left out by the track staff. Not a great look on the part of the track staff in Turkey at all. This could have been easily prevented and almost certainly cost Cairoli a shot at the Overall podium. While Gajser would take the moto win, Herlings would nab second over Prado on the final lap to secure the Overall with a 1-2. Do not look now, but despite missing three Motos, the Flying Dutchman is still very much in the championship picture.
Top 10 Overall in MXGP Class
No. 84 Jeffery Herlings 1-2
No. 61 Jorge Prado 2-3
No. 243 Tim Gajser 6-1
No. 3 Romain Febvre 4-4
No. 222 Antonio Cairoli 5-5
No. 91 Jeremy Seewer 7-7
No. 77 Alessandro Lupino 13-6
No. 259 Glenn Coldenhoff 8-11
No. 41 Pauls Jonass 3-DNF
No. 189 Brian Bogers 11-12
A short turnaround is in order, as the second round in Turkey is set for this Wednesday. Afterward, there is a 10-day layoff before the second Italian Grand Prix, then Motocross Des Nations a week later.
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Main Image Credit: Embed from Getty Images
