The final MXGP round before a month-long break took place in central Latvia in the city of Kegums. The site of the 2014 Motocross Des Nations is one of the top circuits in the world and once again had an eventful GP weekend. With the pair of Turkish GP’s over 20 days away, a ton of momentum was on the line for both the MXGP and MX2 classes on Sunday. Especially with the four-rider breakaway in the GP class.
MX2 Class
Moto 1
With a few riders getting caught on the starting gate behind the pack, Mattia Guadagnini would kick things off with his second holeshot of the year. The Italian manned the point for the opening third of the Moto with a trio of riders behind him battling for second. These were Husqvarna’s Jed Beaton and a pair of Monster Yamaha riders in Jago Geerts and points leader Maxime Renaux. The latter would find his way around Beaton first, with Geerts following suit two laps later.
Renaux would then run down Guadagnini on the way to leading the final 11 laps of the Moto. Geerts however was not able to catch the Italian and settled for a third. Beaton ended up fourth meanwhile, while Thibault Benistant took home fifth. Behind the top five, Kay De Wolf and Tom Vialle, who both scored well outside the top five after lap one, would end up ninth and sixth here respectively.
Moto 2
Guadagnini would sweep the holeshots in the MX2 class in what would be his third total of the year. Just like in Moto 1, Renaux would make what was the winning pass on the Italian on the sixth lap on route to a 1-1 day. Geerts however would make up for his opening performance on the day, and get by Guadagnini for second down the stretch. Beaton followed up a fourth in Moto 1, with a 13th in Moto 2. With his 1-1 day here, Renaux’s points gap over second-place Guadagnini now sits at 37 points. Now having more than a Moto points lead, on top of five consecutive Moto podiums, this certainly feels like the Frenchman’s title to lose.
Top 10 Overall in MX2 Class
No. 959 Maxime Renaux 1-1
No. 93 Jago Geerts 3-2
No. 101 Mattia Guadagnini 2-3
No. 28 Tom Vialle 6-4
No. 198 Thibault Benistant 5-7
No. 711 Rene Hoffer 8-6
No. 11 Mikkel Haarup 7-9
No. 14 Jed Beaton 4-13
No. 74 Kay De Wolf 9-8
No. 516 Simon Laegenfelder 10-11
MXGP Class
Fastest qualifier Jeffery Herlings stole a holeshot away from teammate Jorge Prado to opening things up on the 450 side of things. However, Prado ended up giving Herlings the business a few corners later, taking him very high in a corner to take first. The Flying Dutchman did not take this quietly, however, getting by the young Spaniard in short order. Tim Gajser shortly thereafter got by Prado as well, while the latter began to fall into the clutches of Antonio Cairoli. The two teammates got into a heated mini battle before Cairoli ultimately prevailed. The Sicilian Superman even gave Prado a good ole fashioned one-finger salute to boot.
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Herlings, fractured shoulder blade and all, went on to another Moto win here in Latvia. Gajser would hold firm for a well-earned second, while Cairoli ended up in third. Romain Febvre meanwhile, had a relatively uneventful Moto, en route to a fifth-place finish.
Moto 2
A decent amount of rain hit the area right as this Moto was set to kick off, adding another layer to what was already set to be a huge race. Febvre would take the holeshot away from Herlings, with a few riders going down in the opening corner, most notably Pauls Jonass. He was not the only rider to falter in the less than ideal track conditions either. Cairoli, and soon after Febvre from the found themselves on the deck. Then it was Herlings, who had the days Overall win all but locked up, throwing it away on the final lap from second place. Prado, who led the wide majority of the Moto picked up the win, while a 2-2 was good enough for Gajser to take home the overall win.
Gajser has now answered the bell and has hits points lead back up into the double digits over Febvre in second place. The Frenchman now has Cairoli and Prado all over him, two and five points back respectively. Not a perfect day for the Slovenian, but it was enough to win and he now gets to sit on that for the next month.
Top 10 Overall in MXGP Class
No. 243 Tim Gajser 2-2
No. 61 Jorge Prado 4-1
No. 84 Jeffery Herlings 1-4
No. 3 Romain Febvre 5-3
No. 222 Antonio Cairoli 3-6
No. 189 Brian Bogers 10-5
No. 91 Jeremy Seewer 9-7
No. 77 Alessandro Lupino 8-9
No. 41 Pauls Jonass 6-15
No. 919 Ben Watson 13-8
Now the GP riders get some well-earned rest before a pair of rounds in Turkey just days apart in early September. This is great for Herlings as he continues to heal his shoulder in hopes of getting back to 100 percent. There are now also only three rounds left before this year’s Motocross Des Nations in Italy. With doubt surrounding the availability of title contenders, specifically Gajser and Febvre, it will be most interesting to see how most of the European teams shake out.
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