Image: Supplied.

Jeffrey Herlings scored an important victory at the MXGP of Lombardia, finishing equal on points with Romain Febvre to remain within striking distance of the red plate as Jago Geerts landed on the top step in MX2.

Kawasaki’s Febvre capitalised on mistakes from his championship rivals Herlings (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Tim Gajser (Team HRC) to take the opening moto victory.

Herlings recovered from a crash to finish second, while Gajser crossed the line third however was demoted to seventh after receiving a penalty for exceeding track limits on the exit of the first corner on the opening lap, deemed to have gained an advantage while doing so.

In moto two, Herlings took a commanding race win to seal the overall from Febvre, Gajser finishing the race third, however, the points lost from the opening moto meaning he was P4 overall behind Tony Cairoli (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who completed the overall podium with a 3-4 scorecard.

An eventful day for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Jeremy Seewer saw the Swiss rider finish fifth overall, having to slice his way through the field in both races to score a pair of fifths.

Febvre’s runner-up result sees him maintain the red plate heading into the final round of the championship, three points ahead of Herlings after he moved to second position. Gajser’s first race penalty proved costly, now third in the standings, 15 points from the red plate.

Image: Supplied.

In MX2, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 duo Jago Geerts and Maxime Renaux finished equal on points, with Geerts also gaining the advantage on countback.

Renaux – the newly crowned MX2 world champion – won the first moto ahead of Geerts and Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in third.

Moto two saw Geerts victorious ahead of his teammate, with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Jed Beaton in third. Vialle’s fourth in moto two was sufficient to see him complete the overall rostrum, as a fifth in moto one for Beaton meant he was fourth overall after his strong showing in the second race.

Completing the top five was Kay De Wolf (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) who notched fourth in moto one before two crashes left him 11th in the second outing.

Looking at other Australians competing at Mantova, Wilson Todd (Bike IT MTX Kawasaki) was 13th overall in MX2, finishing eighth in the first race before a more difficult second moto saw the KX250 rider cross the line 17th.

The MXGP of Mantova will commence on 10 November, marking the second event of the doubleheader at the Italian venue and more critically, the final round of the 2021 MXGP World Championship.

Detailed results