Antonio Cairoli has claimed his fifth FIM World Motocross MX1 crown at the British Grand Prix on a day where Aussie Dean Ferris added another MX2 race victory to his haul.
Antonio Cairoli has claimed his fifth FIM World Motocross MX1 crown at the British Grand Prix on a day where Aussie Dean Ferris added another MX2 race victory to his haul.
Wet weather made for tough going early on but once the premier classes were on track the sun beat down.
Cairoli dominated the opening MX1 race, making a lightning start and quickly moving away from the chase pack to finish ahead of Belgian rider, Rockstar Energy Suzuki’s Clement Desalle.
The first place finish was enough to lock in the title for Cairoli, who crashed after another good start in the second race and retired his KTM for seventh overall.
Desalle came into the event with a slim title chance and did manage to take the overall, however the greater goal of preventing Cairoli from achieving another MX1 crown could not be achieved.
The Belgian rider said he felt uncomfortable in the opening moto where he finished second behind Cairoli, though he was able to take advantage of the Italian rider’s misfortune in the second race, running away with the win.
Teammate Kevin Strijbos made it onto the podium with 3-3 finishes, having to stage a solid fightback in the second moto to secure second overall for the grand prix.
Honda World Motocross rider Evgeny Bobryshev claimed the final MX1 podium placing on the back of two solid motos, despite suffering from arm pump.
Ken De Dycker was fourth despite an injury struggle, with Tommy Searle giving the home crowd something to cheer about in a top five placing.
Dutch rider Glenn Coldenhoff was the winner of the MX2 class, with consistent 3-4 placings awarding him the overall.
The Standing Construct KTM rider achieved his maiden GP win despite feeling unwell, and had not realised he was the overall victor until he was greeted by his team at the podium.
Jake Nicholls secured a second place finish in front of his home crowd, and was just a point shy of a breakthrough victory on his Wilvo Nestaan JM Racing KTM with 2-6 finishes.
Jose Butron finished on the third step of the podium, though disappointed with the effort considering his lightning starts.
Another rider left disappointed was Aussie Dean Ferris. Just seven days after scoring a breakthrough Grand Prix victory Ferris was riding a wave of confidence and dominated the opening race.
Unfortunately a crash in the second moto caused significant damage to his fuel tank, resulting in retirement and an overall eighth place finish.
The FIM Motocross World Championship now has a week break before heading to the sandy Dutch track of Lierop.
2013 FIM Motocross World Championship
Round 16 – Great Britain
MX1 top 10:
1. Clement Desalle 47
2. Kevin Strijbos 40
3. Evgeny Bobryshev 36
4. Ken de Dycker 31
5. Tommy Searle 29
6. Gautier Paulin 28
7. Antonio Cairoli 28
8. Shaun Simpson 26
9. Tanel Leok 23
10. Jeremy van Horebeek 22
MX1 championship standings (after 16 of 17 rounds):
1. Antonio Cairoli 718
2. Clement Desalle 647
3. Ken de Dycker 573
4. Gautier Paulin 513
5. Kevin Strijbos 509
6. Tommy Searle 460
7. Jeremy van Horebeek 405
8. Maximilian Nagl 314
9. Evgeny Bobryshev 312
10. David Philippaerts 282
MX2 top 10:
1. Glenn Coldenhoff 38
2. Jake Nicholls 37
3. Jose Butron 36
4. Romain Febvre 34
5. Christophe Charlier 28
6. Mel Pocock 27
7. Dylan Ferrandis 25
8. Dean Ferris 25 p
9. Elliott Banks-Browne 22
10. Max Anstie 18
MX2 championship standings (after 16 of 17 rounds):
1. Jeffrey Herlings 692
2. Jordi Tixier 569
3. Jose Butron 506
4. Christophe Charlier 467
5. Glenn Coldenhoff 450
6. Dean Ferris 434
7. Jake Nicholls 407
8. Max Anstie 320
9. Alessandro Lupino 319
10. Dylan Ferrandis 287