David Philippaerts took his first overall victory of the season in Indaiatuba, Brazil, while Jeffrey Herlings beat his team-mate Ken Roczen and got his second GP win of the season. Both riders took the overall win after tying on points but getting the nod for a better race two result.
Philippaerts was joined on the podium by Antonio Cairoli and red plate holder Clement Desalle while Herlings was flanked by Roczen and Frenchman Gautier Paulin.
MX1
Monster Energy Yamaha’s former champ Philippaerts was extremely happy after his overall victory and the valuable points that leave him fourth ahead of team-mate Steven Frossard. Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX1’s defending champ Antonio Cairoli also left Brazil with a smile on his face after closing the gap on championship leader Desalle.
For the MX Panda it could have been so much better. Starting at the back of the pack in race one, Desalle fought through to second in the closing laps and was chasing down Cairoli when he overshot a left-hander at the bottom of a hill and had to go round the back of the startgate to rejoin the track, dropping himself back to fourth. Second time out he led but over-cooked it in a rutted corner and ejected himself off the side of the Suzuki and could only recover to another fourth.
Fourth overall was Monster Energy Yamaha’s Frossard with Steve Ramon from Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1 completing the top five.
MX2
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Jeffrey Herlings got an important overall victory in Idaiatuba. The Dutchman took advantage of a mistake Roczen made when leading the second heat to take the race win and the overall – although he admitted afterwards he needs to work hard once back in Europe to close the gap between himself and Roczen.
Team-mate Roczen won the first race easily but he crashed twice in the second race and lost the overall victory. However, Roczen is still the leader of the series with a 14-point advantage over Herlings.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Gautier Paulin got his first podium of the season after finishing third in both heats. The French rider confessed he was very happy to be back on the podium.
Brit Tommy Searle of the CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit team ended the day fourth overall, even after starting from the very outside due to his disqualification in Saturday’s qualifying race for outside assistance. Searle is still third in the championship but he is now 35 points behind Roczen.
Reigning British MX2 champ Zach Osborne completed the top five with two solid fifth results. Osborne starred in a couple of battles in both heats – first with Paulin and then with Searle – but his injured wrist did not let him push harder
Searle’s British team-mate Max Anstie went 6-7 and afterwards admitted to feeling less that 100 per cent.
Series standings
MX1
1 Clement Desalle (BEL Suzuki) 164
2 Maximilian Nagl (GER KTM) 153
3 Antonio Cairoli (ITA KTM) 151
4 David Philippaerts (ITA Yamaha) 138
5 Steven Frossard (FRA Yamaha) 132
6 Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS Honda) 110
7 Rui Goncalves (POR Honda) 108
8 Jonathan Barragan (ESP Kawa) 94
9 Kevin Strijbos (BEL Suzuki) 92
10 Steve Ramon (BEL Suzuki) 90
MX2
1 Ken Roczen (GER KTM) 191
2 Jeffrey Herlings (NED KTM) 177
3 Tommy Searle (GBR Kawa) 156
4 Zach Osborne (USA Yamaha) 122
5 Gautier Paulin (FRA Yamaha) 120
6 Max Anstie (GBR Kawasaki) 116
7 Arnaud Tonus (SUI Yamaha) 108
8 Harri Kullas (FIN Yamaha) 96
9 Joel Roelants (BEL KTM) 90
10 Christophe Charlier (FRA Yam) 89
