Bright conditions at Riola Sardo, Sardinia greeted the opening competitive fixture of the three-round 2015 Internazionali de’Italia and represented the first taste of racing for at least four of the factory teams in the FIM Motocross World Championship.
There was little surprise in the results with HRC’s Gautier Paulin and Red Bull KTM’s Tony Cairoli running out winners in both the MX1 and Elite (a mesh of MX1 and MX2) motos. The sandy meeting was notable for Paulin’s maiden chequered flag on the works CRF450RW and also for the pace of DP19 Yamaha Racing’s David Philippaerts who led a healthy part of the MX1 moto until suffering an exhaust problem and being forced to pit.
Perhaps the biggest eye-brow raiser to emerge from the island was the speed and performance of Red Bull KTM rookie Pauls Jonass who dominated the MX2 class and beat the likes of Suzuki’s Jeremy Seewer, HRC’s Tim Gajser and Husqvarna’s Alex Tonkov. The 18 year old Latvian is embarking on his first year as a works KTM rider and as team-mate to Jeffrey Herlings. The Dutchman is still in a recovery phase from complications to his broken left femur and has yet to start training on the 2016 250SX-F.
It was curious to see Britain’s Tommy Searle in Pole Position after the morning timed practice sessions. The former MX2 world championship runner-up has been fast in the sand in previous Grands Prix but has never really excelled on the surface. He crashed in the Elite moto but was encouraged after a positive fight-back to third place.
Jeremy Van Horebeek gave Yamaha their best finish on the day with third place in the MX1 moto while new team-mate Romain Febvre was fifth. The pair were split by Max Nagl on the Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna.
Also in the MX1 moto Evgeny Bobryshev (17th) Rui Gonclaves (12th), Todd Waters (15th), Davide Guarneri (16th), Nathan Watson (10th) were competing while Dean Ferris made his first appearance back from a broken leg by taking 14th on the FC350 Husky. A result of note was scored by Marchetti KTM’s Jose Butron on the 350SX-F. The Spaniard, about to enter the MXGP class for 2015, grabbed an eighth and a fourth to look in decent shape ahead of his rookie term in the premier category.
There is only so much that can be read into a race used purposely to ‘blow away the cobwebs’ for the Grand Prix stars and to bring to an end several weeks of riding and testing in Sardinia for a great many of those who lined up in the gate in Riola.
Round two of the Italian Championship takes place this weekend at former GP venue Castiglione Del Lago and on hard-pack for a different prospect altogether. The Hawkstone Park International in the UK will also see more teams and riders begin their activities for ’15 with the likes of Suzuki and Kawasaki venturing into the dark English sand.
Results 2015 Internazionali de’Italia – Riola Sardo
Elite
|
Pos |
Num |
Rider |
Team |
Machine |
|
1 |
222 |
CAIROLI Antonio |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM |
|
2 |
21 |
PAULIN Gautier |
Team HRC |
Honda |
|
3 |
100 |
SEARLE Tommy |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM |
|
4 |
17 |
BUTRON OLIVA Jose’ Antonio |
– |
KTM |
|
5 |
461 |
FEBVRE Romain |
Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube |
Yamaha |
|
6 |
12 |
NAGL Max |
Red Bull Iceone Husqvarna Factory |
Husqvarna |
|
7 |
41 |
JONASS Pauls |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM |
|
8 |
111 |
FERRIS Dean |
– |
Husqvarna |
|
9 |
59 |
TONKOV Aleksandr |
– |
Husqvarna |
|
10 |
151 |
GETTEMAN Jens |
Jtech Honda |
Honda |
|
11 |
991 |
WATSON Nathan |
Red Bull Iceone Husqvarna Factory |
Husqvarna |
|
12 |
9 |
DE DYCKER Ken |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM |
|
13 |
227 |
WHATLEY Kristian |
Buildbase Honda |
Honda |
|
14 |
89 |
VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy |
Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube |
Yamaha |
|
15 |
39 |
GUARNERI Davide |
TM Racing Factory Team |
TM |
|
16 |
47 |
WATERS Todd |
Red Bull Iceone Husqvarna Factory |
Husqvarna |
|
17 |
37 |
KRESTINOV Gert |
– |
Honda |
|
18 |
91 |
SEEWER Jeremy |
– |
Suzuki |
|
19 |
777 |
BOBRYSHEV Evgeny |
Team HRC |
Honda |
|
20 |
999 |
GONCALVES Rui |
– |
Husqvarna |
MX1
|
Pos |
Num |
Rider |
Team |
Machine |
|
1 |
21 |
PAULIN Gautier |
Team HRC |
Honda |
|
2 |
222 |
CAIROLI Antonio |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM |
|
3 |
89 |
VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy |
Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube |
Yamaha |
|
4 |
12 |
NAGL Max |
Red Bull Iceone Husqvarna Factory |
Husqvarna |
|
5 |
461 |
FEBVRE Romain |
Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube |
Yamaha |
|
6 |
9 |
DE DYCKER Ken |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM |
|
7 |
100 |
SEARLE Tommy |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM |
|
8 |
17 |
BUTRON OLIVA Jose’ Antonio |
– |
KTM |
|
9 |
37 |
KRESTINOV Gert |
– |
Honda |
|
10 |
991 |
WATSON Nathan |
Red Bull Iceone Husqvarna Factory |
Husqvarna |
|
11 |
19 |
PHILIPPAERTS David |
– |
Yamaha |
|
12 |
999 |
GONCALVES Rui |
– |
Husqvarna |
|
13 |
227 |
WHATLEY Kristian |
Buildbase Honda |
Honda |
|
14 |
111 |
FERRIS Dean |
– |
Husqvarna |
|
15 |
47 |
WATERS Todd |
Red Bull Iceone Husqvarna Factory |
Husqvarna |
|
16 |
39 |
GUARNERI Davide |
TM Racing Factory Team |
TM |
|
17 |
777 |
BOBRYSHEV Evgeny |
Team HRC |
Honda |
|
18 |
62 |
GERCAR Klemen |
– |
Husqvarna |
|
19 |
73 |
BERTUZZO Pier Filippo |
– |
Yamaha |
|
20 |
153 |
MADDII Marco |
– |
KTM |
MX2
|
Pos |
Num |
Rider |
Team |
Machine |
|
1 |
41 |
JONASS Pauls |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM |
|
2 |
91 |
SEEWER Jeremy |
– |
Suzuki |
|
3 |
18 |
BRYLYAKOV Vsevolod |
Jtech Honda |
Honda |
|
4 |
243 |
GAJSER Tim |
Honda Gariboldi |
Honda |
|
5 |
59 |
TONKOV Aleksandr |
– |
Husqvarna |
|
6 |
85 |
POOTJES Davy |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM |
|
7 |
372 |
BARANOV Ivan |
– |
KTM |
|
8 |
151 |
GETTEMAN Jens |
Jtech HondaHonda |
|
|
9 |
71 |
FURBETTA Joakin |
KTM De Carli Racing Junior Team |
KTM |
|
10 |
43 |
D’ANGELO Alessandro |
– |
KTM |
|
11 |
644 |
KOUWENBERG Nick |
Jtech Honda |
Honda |
|
12 |
70 |
ZECCHINA Simone |
– |
Kawasaki |
|
13 |
95 |
FURLOTTI Simone |
Motocross Marketing KTM Silver Act |
KTM |
|
14 |
44 |
PAGANINI Marco |
Team Massignani |
Honda |
|
15 |
128 |
MONTICELLI Ivo |
– |
KTM |
|
16 |
316 |
BERTUCCELLI Giovanni |
– |
Honda |
|
17 |
435 |
KORNELIUSSEN Sam |
– |
TM |
|
18 |
622 |
RAVERA Lorenzo |
– |
Yamaha |
|
19 |
15 |
BONINI Davide |
– |
Husqvarna |
|
20 |
313 |
ISDRAELE ROMANO Tommaso |
– |
KTM |
