New FIM MX2 Motocross World Champion Jordi Tixier gained a legion of fans for his battling display to first and third positions at the Grand Prix of Leon in Mexico to secure the 2014 title by four points and against the odds.
The 22-year-old also acquired respect and a large amount of good will for the gracious manner of his victory. Tixier won two rounds from the last four rounds and was second and fourth in the other Grands Prix but his success was unexpected after Red Bull KTM team-mate Jeffrey Herlings dominated the large part of the campaign with 12 triumphs including 11 in a row.
During the post-race press conference on Sunday in Mexico Tixier was quick to credit his friend Herlings even if the tension between the two athletes was palpable over the weekend in Leon. “We trained together during the winter and we did a great job,” he said. “I’m sorry that he was injured this year because he was the fastest man in MX2. This is the sport and it can happen to me also.”
Tixier clawed back 167 points from a possible 200 through the four GPs and eight motos to earn his first title in exceptional circumstances. He acknowledged the outgoing champion’s status as the quickest rider in the class and hinted towards a renewed tussle in 2015 when Tixier will leave the KTM set-up for the CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki crew. “See you next year on a different team,” he commented to Herlings alongside him before adding: “For me he is a really good friend.”
Tixier also chatted about the BMX accident suffered by his younger brother Leo that occurred at the same time as the Grand Prix of Goias the previous weekend and left the Frenchman’s sibling temporarily paralysed. “I said to my brother “I am going to win for you” and that’s what I did. Now I am going home to work with him because he has a goal and that is to walk again.”
