Searle rounds out the year and his MX2 career with a double moto win and the overall in Germany with birthday boy Cairoli sealing a near perfect year with another GP victory.
The big Brit news behind Searle in MX2 was Jake Nicholls and Elliot Banks-Browne. Nicholls rounded a solid and professional season with a thoroughly professional final GP of the year. Moto one was the professional part where he knew following championship rival Jordi Tixier home would be enough, which he did in fourth. Moto two though was the perfect time to pull a holeshot out the bag and make hay while Tixier was languishing and then tipping off behind him in the early laps.
For EBB it was yet another mechanical DNF that robbed the HM Plant KTM UK rider from a ‘what could have been’ kinda result. Luck? We’re not sure it’s playing a part by this stage after so many mechanicals for the KTM UK team. But strong qualifying was followed by a possible podium in moto one on Sunday before it all ended in a cloud of blue smoke. Although he faded in moto two to finish 9th after running fourth early on, it certainly showed the talent has been somewhat wasted this year.
MX2 world champion Jeffrey Herlings had a rare DNF in moto one before pulling in behind Searle in moto two.
In MX1 it was another dominant Antonio Cairoli performance aboard his factory 350 KTM SX-F who took his seventh GP win in a row and 21st moto win this season, this on his 27th birthday. The battle of the Germans was won by Ken Roczen ahead of Max Nagl, who was running his last GP for KTM before switching to Honda next year. Roczen was putting in a guest appearance since his season in AMA outdoors has finished and ahead of the MX of Nations in two weeks. Championship runner-up Clement Desalle showed exactly why he walks away from 2012 with the ‘next best’ tag mixing it up with the German KTM riders and bagging third overall.
Gautier Paulin quietly as ever went about his business grabbing third overall in the championship in what we shouldn’t forget was his first season in MX1. If Searle can match that in 2013 he’d surely be snatching your hand off right now.
MX1 Brit watch was on Shaun Simpson but the Scot had a crash right at the start of moto one and a mid-pack result in moto two while his top ten championship rival Evgeny Bobryshev was inside the top ten in both motos and robbing him of overall championship placing.
STR Racing KTM rider (and DBR columnist) Bryan Mackenzie scored more solid GP points and made a strong case for a full season in GPs in 2013 as he just robbed his team-mate Jamie Law of 34th overall in the championship.
MX1 Overall
Tony Cairoli
Clement Desalle
Gautier Paulin
Christophe Pourcel
Ken de Dycker
MX2 Overall
Jeffrey Herlings
Tommy Searle
Jeremy van Horebeek
Jake Nicholls
Jordi Tixier
