Tommy Searle mops up at a super sh*tty Swedish GP to edge closer to Herlings in the MX2 title chase…
Uddevalla will always be a happy place for Tommy Searle as it’s the venue where he won his first ever GP moto back in 2007. Okay, the year after wasn’t so good as he got wiped out by Cairoli in moto one then got a good bollocking from the FIM following moto two when his mechanic held out a pit board with ‘clean him out’ written on it. Last year wasn’t so great either and a DNF-4 scorecard did very little to help his chances in that series but this time around things are back to that 2007 vibe – even if it ain’t nearly so sunny.
Heavy rain ruins the Swedish circuit and for moto one the surface is soaked to say the least. Fast starting Dylan Ferrandis jumps out into an early lead but Tommy soon blasts past. And from there he extends his lead until with time ticking down his goggles steam up and he struggles for vision. With series leader Jeffrey Herlings closing fast, Tommy pulls into the pits for new goggles and hands Herlings the lead. Coming out with clear vision the task of reeling in the Dutchman begins and when Tommy’s got the gap down to more or less nothing entering the final lap it looks like it could go either way. Unfortunately for Tommy a loss of grip on one of the polished up corners gives Jeffery enough gap to nail down the victory. Tommy’s second, team-mate Roelants third, Ferrandis fourth and Zach Osborne fifth on his GP comeback.
The track’s much drier for moto two but it’s that man Ferrandis who yanks another holey. Herlings is buried in the pack this time around and crashes on lap one to make things even worse for himself. Once more Searle finds his way past the Frenchman and from there pulls away to an easy win. Jeremy Van Horebeek also powers past the young Frenchie who holds on for third to finish ahead of Jake Nicholls, Osborne and Christophe Charlier – the two Monster Energy Yamaha riders doing well to remount for top six places after taking each other out.
Overall it’s Tommy who takes the win by eight points over Herlings who battles back to seventh second time out. Ferrandis stands on the podium for the first time thanks to his third overall. Nicholls is fourth in the day’s classification while Osborne’s fifth.
Results
MX1 series standings
1 Jeffery Herlings Red Bull KTM 403
2 Tommy Searle Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki 387
3 Jeremy van Horebeek Red Bull KTM 330
4 Joel Roelants Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki 263
5 Jordi Tixier Red Bull KTM 243
6 Jake Nicholls JM Nestaan KTM 237
7 Max Anstie Gariboldi Honda199
8 Dylan FerrandisBUD Racing Kawasaki 177
9 Jose Butron Diga KTM 168
10 Alessandro Lupino Husqvarna 163
