Image: Supplied.

Team HRC’s Tim Gajser proved consistency was key as he was able to claim the overall victory at the MXGP of Latvia with a 2-2 scorecard, while MX2 championship leader Maxime Renaux dominated the day to extend his advantage.

Gajser kept his nose clean in both races, as Red Bull KTM duo Jeffrey Herlings and Jorge Prado took the wins in the first and second motos respectively.

While both KTM riders were strong in their winning motos, a fourth in moto one for Prado and a fourth in the second moto for Herlings meant neither rider could eclipse Gajser’s 44 points for the round, with Prado achieving second on countback with 43 points over Herlings in third.

Last round’s winner Romain Febvre (Monster Energy Kawasaki) finished the day fourth overall, crossing the line in fourth in moto one before recovering from a crash in the second moto to finish third.

It wasn’t the easiest round for Tony Cairoli (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in fifth overall, having an aggressive battle with Prado in race one to finish third before falling in the early stages of the rain-hit second moto and recovering to sixth.

At the conclusion of the seventh round, Gajser leads the MXGP World Championship on 270 points, with Febvre, Prado and Cairoli in close proximity on 257, 255 and 252 points apiece. Jeffrey Herlings rounds out the top five on 227 points as he continues to recover ground from missing the MXGP of Czech Republic due to injury.

Image: Supplied.

In MX2, Monster Energy Yamaha’s Renaux took convincing 1-1 results ahead of teammate Jago Geerts, who put on a strong showing with a double podium finish (3-2) to score second courtesy of a countback.

Completing the rostrum was Red Bull KTM’s Mattia Guadagnini with 2-3 results ahead of teammate and defending MX2 champion Tom Vialle (6-4) and Thibault Benistant (Monster Energy Yamaha) was P5.

Of the Australians competing at Kegums, Jed Beaton had a strong start to the opening MX2 moto launching to second and eventually finishing fourth.

The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider was left unable to avoid an early crash in the second moto before crashing again in his charge back through the field, finishing 13th. Wilson Todd (Bike IT MTX Kawasaki) finished the day 15th, after a 19th in moto one and a 12th in moto two.

Bailey Malkiewicz (Hutten Metaal Yamaha) displayed promising progress in the EMX250 category, getting tangled up with another bike early in the opening moto to finish 34th, before scoring a stronger 13th in the second moto.

The MXGP World Championship now has a break before racing resumes at Afyonkarahisar on 5 September for the MXGP of Turkey, marking the eighth stop on the calendar.

Detailed results