Race report: 2013 MXGP Rd 4 Arco di Trento – Italy

The fourth Grand Prix of the FIM Motocross World Championship took place Sunday at Arco di Trento, Italy in front of 23,000 fans. The crowd were treated to a 1-1 result from their home rider Tony Cairoli and the talent of Jeffrey Herlings continues to impress on his Red Bull KTM factory ride.

MX1

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tony Cairoli did not have a good day (by his standards) on Saturday, but on race day he was fully focused on his starts, which would be the key to win his home Grand Prix.

The Italian took the holey in both motos, and he controlled – no – dominated each race from gate drop to the chequered flag.

Cairoli congratulated the organisers for the great job done, especially with the track. He was also very pleased with the large crowd that travelled to Arco di Trento to support him. This was Cairoli’s 57th Grand Prix victory and he now has the same number of GP victories as Smets, leaving only the great Stefan Everts ahead of him with 101 GP wins.

Cairoli’s teammate, Ken de Dycker did not have a good start in the first moto and he found it difficult to catch the leaders, but in the end he managed to finish fourth.

In the second race de Dycker had a good start and he rode comfortably in second from the start until the checkers – finishing second overall. Ken de Dycker is second in the Championship, six points ahead of Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Clement Desalle.

The third overall position was taken by Kawasaki Racing Team’s Gautier Paulin after finishing second and fourth. In the first race Paulin was fifth in the first corner, but he quickly moved up to third and after five laps he passed Tommy Searle. The French rider tried to close the gap with race leader Cairoli, but he made several mistakes and he finally had to settle for second.

Paulin admitted that his start was not that good in the second moto and that he almost crashed, but he pushed hard and moved up from his initial 18th position to finish fourth, giving him the third overall. Paulin is now just 1 Championship point behind third placed Desalle.

Clement Desalle had a very good first moto, where he finished third behind Paulin after having started down in sixth. The Belgian rider was pushing to pass Paulin through most of the race, but in the end he had to settle for third.

In the second moto Desalle crashed in the second corner with Tommy Searle and David Philippaerts and he had to restart his race from the last position but did well to finish eighth – giving Desalle fourth overall. But he now slips to third in Championship standings, six points behind Ken de Dycker.

Desalle’s teammate, Kevin Strijbos finished fifth overall just two points behind Desalle. In both motos Strijbos did not have a good start and whereas in the first race he started ninth in the second one he was 14th. However, the Rockstar Energy Suzuki World rider managed to find the pace and he finished sixth and fifth respectively.

After a poor race weekend in Valkenswaard, Tommy Searle was much more like the quality rider we know he is. Searle had great starts in both motos but the British rider could not keep his initial position. In the first moto he rode second behind Cairoli during the first laps, but he could not keep up the pace of the defending World Champion and he dropped down to fifth.

In the second race Searle started at the front again, but in the second corner he was involved in a crash with Desalle and Philippaerts and had to fight from the back of the pack. After that off, Searle rode a fast and smooth race – recovering to finish sixth, which gave him sixth overall.

Max Nagl was seventh overall this weekend and he is getting his confidence back race after race. In the first moto he was only able to finish eleventh, but he rode well in the second race, finishing third ahead of Paulin and Strijbos. Xavier Boog finished eighth overall and Jeremy Van Horebeek and Jonathan Barragan completed the top ten.

Factory TM Ricci Racing’s Shaun Simpson rode a smooth and steady race in the first moto and finished in ninth but Simo could only take 14th in the second moto.

Home riders David Philippaerts and Davide Guarneri finished 14th and 15th respectively. Both riders were hit by bad luck this weekend – Philippaerts crashed at the start of the second race and Guarneri had to pull out from the second race due to a mechanical problem.

MX2

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings said that it seems that he is becoming his own worst enemy, as he had to fight once again from the back of the pack to win both races and win the fourth Grand Prix of the year.

In the first moto Herlings did not have a good jump out of the gate but by the middle of the race he had caught race leader and teammate, Jordi Tixier – with five laps to go Herlings took and held the lead.

Another poor start for Herlings in the second race, as he hit the start gate. Herlings would once again have to win the moto the hard way.

KTM Silver Action’s Jose Butron obtained his second podium of the season after finishing sixth and second. In the first moto the Spanish rider had a great start and held second in the first lap but a mechanical problem dropped him down to the sixth.

In the second moto Butron yanked the holey and led the first sixth laps until Herlings rocketed past him. At that point Dean Ferris was behind the Spanish rider and he put a lot on pressure on Butron, but he held on to finish second and grab third overall.

Christophe Charlier had a really good start in the first moto, holding second for most of the race until Tixier passed him – Charlier would finish third. In the second race he did not have such a good start and was only able to cross the finish line in fifth. The Monster Energy Yamaha pilot missed the podium by just one point but all-in-all the French rider was very satisfied with his performance this weekend.

Standing Construct KTM’s Glenn Coldenhoff finished fifth overall after finishing fifth and sixth. In the first race Lupino and Ferris crashed after the start right in front of Goldenhoff – putting the Dutch rider back in the 17th position in the first lap. In the second moto Coldenhoff started eighth and he managed to move up to the fifth position, but in the last half of the race Charlier overtook him.

Dylan Ferrandis had a good weekend at Arco di Trento finishing eighth in both motos and took overall sixth. Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Max Anstie was able to hone his overtaking skills as mediocre starts on the slight uphill drag meant the Briton had to plug his way through the meat of the pack.

The deficit around the opening turns practically discounted a first podium finish but Mad Max was quietly content to bag a healthy quantity of points with finishes of seventh and ninth. That made him the best placed Brit with seventh overall.

Eighth was Dean Ferris who rode second in the first laps of the second race to finish third behind Butron. However, in the first race Ferris crashed at the start with Lupino and he was forced to pull out from the race.

Jeremy Seewer obtained a solid ninth position while home rider Alessandro Lupino rounded the top ten. The Italian rider crashed at the start of the first race with Dean Ferris and he fractured his fourth rib. Lupino managed to finish 16th and seventh.

Monster Energy Yamaha’s Mel Pocock got in the top ten in the first moto but his 13th placed finish in moto two meant he was just locked-out of the top ten overall.

Jake Nicholls (Wilvo Nestaan JM Racing KTM Team) finished in a strong fourth position in the first moto, keeping his chances of an overall podium open.

In the second moto Nicholls got a good start and was fighting with Dean Ferris for second position. In a corner Ferris almost lost control and dropped some speed. Jake couldn’t avoid him and crashed, which gave both Coldenhoff and Charlier an opportunity to reel him in.

The British rider was riding in fifth position after the crash but unfortunately a serious mechanical problem caused by the crash forced him to retire from the race.

Jake later said on Twitter: “Bike was seconds away from blowing up so pulled her in. Gutted! I was there”.

In his first MXGP, American James Decotis needed his mechanic’s assistance to start the bike in the first race, leaving himself a poor gate pick. Decotis was almost last in the first lap and he was only able to move up to the 21st by the checkers.

In the second race Decotis DNF’d, after feeling unwell he pulled out from the race. Not the best start to his GP career – the Yank probably just needs more time to adjust to a new bike, time zone and lifestyle.

MX GP Trentino – Italy Results 2013

Detailed results here

MX1 Overall

MX1 Standings

MX2 Overall

MX2 Standings