There were dramatic scenes during the MXGP Qualifying Race at the 2017 FIAT Professional MXGP of France as Jeffrey Herlings’ start gate failed to drop.
Herlings was left behind as the rest of the MXGP pack ripped out of the gate at Ernee. A big discussion between officials followed as the riders completed the first lap.
The qualifying moto was stopped after two laps for a restart.
At the second time of asking Herlings didn’t take any chances and went for a different gate pick. And although he didn’t get a perfect start at least the gate dropped for him.
Herlings kept his cool and worked his way through to finish third. Clement Desalle took pole, followed by former MXGP world champion Romain Febvre, much to the delight of the home fans.
Glenn Coldenhoff, Max Nagl, Tony Cairoli, Gautier Paulin, Jeremy Van Horebeek, Jose Butron and Alessandro Lupino completed the top 10 with Britain’s Max Anstie just outside in 11th.
