Australia’s Dean Ferris finishes 2nd overall at the opener.
The first Grand Prix of the 2013 FIM Motocross World Championship took place over the weekend under the floodlights of Losail’s Motocross Track and Antonio Cairoli won the Super Final, where the MX1 and MX2 classed raced together. Clement Desalle was second and Gautier Paulin completed the top three. Desalle was the rider who obtained most points in the MX1 class, ahead of Antonio Cairoli and Gautier Paulin. Jeffrey Herlings was the first MX2 rider in the Super Final by finishing in seventh place and he went away with the red plate as he had won the first MX2 race.
MX2 Race 1
The first ones to race today were the MX2 riders and it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings who won the heat with more than thirty seconds difference over the second classified Glenn Coldenhoff. The Dutch rider managed to overtake Glenn Coldenhoff in the second lap and he pulled away from the rest of the pack until the finish line.
Standing Construct KTM’s Glenn Coldenhoff had an excellent start and obtained the Get Athena Holeshot Award and he dominated the first two laps of the race. His compatriot Jeffrey Herlings was coming much faster from behind, so Coldenhoff focused on keeping the second position from Christophe Charlier and Romain Febvre.
The third classified was Monster Energy Yamaha’s Christophe Charlier, who exchanged the fourth position several times with Febvre in the beginning of the race, when Coldenhoff, Herlings and Teillet were racing at the front. The French rider, who had won the qualifying race the previous day, made a small mistake in the first lap and he had to enter the pitlane to have his bike repaired. In the end, Teillet could not finish the race.
Wilvo Nestaan JM Racing KTM’s Romain Febvre had a really good start and he managed to move from fifth to third in the first half of the race. However, he made a mistake by the area before the pitlane and he lost many seconds on Coldenhoff. The French young rider ended fourth in the race.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Dean Ferris was fifth after the start, but Febvre overtook him easily in the beginning of the race. Ferris kept on giving it all, but he was not able to catch the front group and had to settle down with the fifth position. As soon as the race finished, the Australian and his team made several important changes on the bike in order to try to ride for the top positions in the following heat.
Arnaud Tonus, as well as Valentin Teillet, had to pull out from the race due to a mechanical problem, while Max Anstie crashed while he was riding fifth and he had to call it a day.
MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:51.449; 2. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:31.544; 3. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:32.888; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), +0:44.961; 5. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), +0:59.726; 6. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +1:03.051; 7. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:11.094; 8. Julien Lieber (BEL, Suzuki), +1:12.485; 9. Mel Pocock (GBR, Yamaha), +1:17.280; 10. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:28.001; 11.
MX1 Race 1
Rockstar Energy Suzuki MX1’s Clement Desalle started the race in the fourth position and he gave chase to all the ones that were in front of him since the very beginning. By lap fourteen, the Belgian rider was already leading the heat. Desalle admitted that he had to push a lot to overtake all the riders, but at the same time he said that he felt really good on his bike.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Ken De Dycker started third, but he succeeded in overtaking Bobryshev and Strijbos who were at the front, and he led the following seven laps. His compatriot Desalle was coming really fast from behind, and even if De Dycker gave his best, he had to settle down for the second position.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli had a good reaction when the gate dropped, but he hit something with the bike, he lost a little bit of power and he lost some speed. Besides, Nagl almost touched him, so the Italian closed the gas and he dropped down to the last position. However, after a few corners Cairoli was already among the top twenty, and by the middle of the race the Italian was fourth. The Red Bull KTM Factory rider admitted that he got really tired by the end of the race, as he was able to see the leading group and he did not want to finish fourth. In the end, Cairoli finished third of the MX1 race 1.
Kawasaki Racing Team’s Gautier Paulin admitted that he had really good feelings on his bike during race one, and although he crashed while he was fifth, he was able to recuperate himself really quickly and crossed the finish line fourth. Paulin was very surprised with his crash, as it had been a long time since he did not have a crash like that and he was not expecting crashing in such a way.
Honda World Motocross did an excellent start and he rode second behind Strijbos during the first part of the race. The Russian rode a consistent moto, but by the end of it, he lost two positions with Cairoli and Paulin.
Kevin Strijbos, winner of the Get Athena Holeshot Award, could not keep the lead, and after making several mistakes, he had to settle down with the sixth position, ahead of Tommy Searle and Shaun Simpson.
MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 40:02.285; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:08.309; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:09.774; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:11.672; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:13.348; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:19.233; 7. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:45.330; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, TM), +0:48.315; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:49.098; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +0:56.834;
Super Final
The MX1 and MX2 lined-up for the Super Final and it was Clement Desalle who took the holeshot of this final heat. The Belgian was leading the race, but Cairoli was coming really fast from behind, and the Italian did not think twice and he used the first opportunity to overtake Desalle. The Belgian rode a consistent race and he finished second in front of Paulin, who admitted that he did not have a perfect start, but he managed to move from sixth to third. The French rider said that he really enjoyed racing the Grand Prix of Qatar, as most of the MXGP riders did.
The fourth position of the Super Final went for Honda World Motocross’ Evgeny Bobryshev, who once again rode a very solid moto. The Russian rode third most of the race, but having four laps to go, he was overtaken by Paulin. In the end, Bobryshev crossed the finish line fourth.
CLS MX2 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Tommy Searle did not have a really good start in the Super Final, but he managed to move from eighth to fifth, crossing the finish line ahead of Strijbos, who had had a good start but he could not hold his initial third position.
Seventh was Herlings, the best MX2 rider in the Super Final, ahead of De Dycker, Frossard and Philippaerts. The second best MX2 rider was Dean Ferris in thirteenth and the third one was Romain Febvre in sixteenth.
Jeremy Van Horebeek crashed in the beginning of the Super Final and his bike was too damaged to keep on racing. Maxime Desprey and Jason Dougan did not finish the Super Final either due to some mechanical problems.
Super Final top 10: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:55.020; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:07.472; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:09.834; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:11.515; 5. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:11.809; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:16.592; 7. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:25.914; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:39.408; 9. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), +0:44.527; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), +0:53.888;
MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 47 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 38 p.; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 34 p.; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 30 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 30 p.; 8. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 23 p.; 9. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 22 p.; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, TM), 20 p.;
MX1 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 47 points; 2. Suzuki, 47 p.; 3. Kawasaki, 38 p.; 4. Honda, 34 p.; 5. Yamaha, 22 p.; 6. TM, 20 p.;
MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 38 pts 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 33 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 26 p.; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, Suzuki), 24 p.; 10. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 21 p.;
MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 50 points; 2. Yamaha, 42 p.; 3. Kawasaki, 25 p.; 4. Suzuki, 25 p.; 5. Honda, 12 p.; 6. TM, 2 p.;
MXGP QATAR – QUICK FACTS
Circuit length: 1595
Type of ground: hard pack
Temperature: 24° C
Weather conditions: sunny
Crowd attendance: 5000
