Antonio Cairoli and Ken Roczen make it two overall victories for KTM at La Salgada, Spain, at round seven of the world MX championship. A last lap pass on David Philippaerts means Clement Desalle is still the leader of the MX1 class and Roczen regains the red plate from his team-mate Jeffrey Herlings.
Cairoli has a great weekend in Spain, dominating the qualifying race and going 2-1 in the points-paying motos. Second overall is Philippaerts with Steven Frossard third.
Roczen wins both heats and moves back into first in the points standings with a six-point advantage over Herlings. Tommy Searle goes 2-2 for second overall ahead of Gautier Paulin. Fourth is Herlings and Arnaud Tonus is fifth.
MX1
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Cairoli arrives in Spain with a tweaked thumb but he manages to get the overall victory after finishing second in the first heat and dominating the second race from gate to flag. Cairoli’s also the virtual red plate holder during the last lap but Desalle’s last-gasp pass on Philippaerts ensures the defending champ remains second in the point standings, just one point behind the Belgian.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Philippaerts is very satisfied with his second overall position after struggling in Portugal. Third in the opener, he crosses the line fourth second time out. Team-mate Steven Frossard has an incredible first race and moves up from third to take the win but can only manage ninth second time out.
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1’s Desalle is fourth overall due to his 5-3 results. Desalle makes a mistake at the beginning of the first heat and has to ride without a rear brake during the whole race as some green fence gets stuck in his back wheel. In the second moto Desalle also makes several mistakes but fights back to finish third and keep the red plate on his Suzuki machine.
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Max Nagl finishes fourth overall with a 4-5 card.
Tanel Leok finishes 13th in the first heat but second time out the Estonian grabs a great start and holds second until the chequered flag for sixth overall aboard the factory TM.
MX2
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Roczen dominates both heats and takes his third GP victory of the season. At the end of the first heat Searle turns up the pressure but the German teenage soaks it up to win by three seconds.
CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Searle backs his race one performance up with the holeshot in race two and although Roczen’s quickly into the lead the Brit rides coolly to hold a moto-long second.
Third overall is Monster Energy Yamaha’s Paulin thanks to his 4-3 result. The French rider starts 12th in the first heat and has to fight really hard to finish among the top five. In the second race Gautier starts well and keeps hold of third until the chequered flag.
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Herlings doesn’t look totally comfortable in Spain and he can only take fourth overall from a 3-4 card.
Bike-it Cosworth Wild Wolf Yamaha’s Tonus takes fifth overall and moves up to sixth in the standings, 16 points behind his team-mate Zach Osborne.
Osborne makes several mistakes in the first heat and crashes out but comes back to finish sixth in the second moto. Max Anstie crashes hard during Saturday’s qualifying race and his bike lands on his back. The Brit bravely goes out to race the first heat but the pain is so bad he pulls out.
Series standings
MX1
1 Clement Desalle (BEL Suzuki) 285
2 Antonio Cairoli (ITA KTM) 284
3 Steven Frossard (FRA Yamaha) 250
4 Maximilian Nagl (GER KTM) 225
5 Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS Honda) 204
6 David Philippaerts (ITA Yamaha) 199
7 Rui Goncalves (POR Honda) 192
8 Jonathan Barragan (ESP Kawa) 164
9 Xavier Boog (FRA Kawasaki) 161
10 Steve Ramon (BEL Suzuki) 149
MX2
1 Ken Roczen (GER KTM) 301
2 Jeffrey Herlings (NED KTM) 295
3 Tommy Searle (GBR Kawasaki) 268
4 Gautier Paulin (FRA Yamaha) 234
5 Zachary Osborne (USA Yamaha) 213
6 Arnaud Tonus (SUI Yamaha) 197
7 Max Anstie (GBR Kawasaki) 167
8 Joel Roelants (BEL KTM) 166
9 Harri Kullas (FIN Yamaha) 164
10 Nicolas Aubin (FRA KTM) 151
