Gasjer, Herlings Dominant in MXGP of Spain

Tim Gasjer and Jeffrey Herlings build on points leads with 1-1 sweeps at the MXGP of Spain.

Tim Gasjer and Jeffrey Herlings build on points leads with 1-1 sweeps at the MXGP of Spain.

Tim Gasjer soared to two moto wins to claim his fifth MXGP overall of the season at the MXGP of Spain. PHOTO: MXGP.COM
Tim Gasjer soared to two moto wins to claim his fifth MXGP overall of the season at the MXGP of Spain. PHOTO: MXGP.COM

Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings extended their points leads in their respective classes by carding wins at the MXGP of Spain in Talavera De La Reina, Spain, today.

Rain the night before complemented excellent track prep to produce ideal conditions for the FIM Motocross World Championship contingent, and Gasjer and Herlings took full advantage of them, with Gasjer winning the MX1 class and Herlings continuing his reign of terror in the MX2 class. Both men scored 1-1 sweeps in their divisions.

The 19-year-old Gasjer was the man of the weekend, qualifying first on Saturday and then blitzing leader Max Nagl of Germany three laps into Moto 1 before going on to the win. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna-mounted Nagl would hold second place ahead of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Clement Desalle of Belgium. While Gasjer pulled clear to win the race by over 7 seconds, his main title rivals, Red Bull KTM’s Antonio Cairoli and Monster Energy Yamaha’s Romain Febvre struggled to make their way to the front, ending up fifth and ninth respectively and thus yielding more championship points to Gasjer than might have been anticipated.

Nagl again pulled the holeshot in Moto 2, with Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin and Gasjer slotting in right behind him. Gasjer, however, was not to be denied as he passed Paulin within the first few corners to chase after Nagl. Gasjer only needed two laps to pass Nagl this time, and he did it in the exact same spot on the track as he did in Moto 1. From there, Gasjer went on to pull out to a 3.6-second margin of victory over Nagl with Paulin hanging on for third. Paulin’s finish was good enough to land him third overall, marking his first overall podium appearance since August of 2015.

Gasjer’s performance gave him a 24-point lead over defending champion Febvre, who had a tough weekend after a crash on Saturday left him with a very sore shoulder. Febvre finished sixth overall via 9-4 moto finishes. Despite being the fastest man on the track at times, Cairoli crashed in both motos and could only muster seventh overall after carding 5-9 moto finishes.

Jeffrey Herlings continued his crushing of the MX2 class by storming to 1-1 moto wins for his ninth consecutive overall win. That's nine wins in nine rounds. PHOTO COURTESY OF KTM IMAGES.
Jeffrey Herlings continued his crushing of the MX2 class by storming to 1-1 moto wins for his ninth consecutive overall win. That’s nine wins in nine rounds. PHOTO COURTESY OF KTM IMAGES.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Herlings was once again stellar as he scored a clean sweep of both motos to claim his ninth consecutive overall win—nobody has bested the Dutchman in the overall results. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dylan Ferrandis led Moto 1 early, but Herlings quickly moved up from third place an began to challenge Ferrandis, taking the lead on lap five and winning the moto—in typical Herlings fashion—by over 20 seconds. Kemea Yamaha Official MX Team’s Benoit Paturel finished second, and Herlings’ Red Bull KTM teammate Pauls Jonass finished third.

Paturel led the first couple of laps in Moto 2, but Herlings was off to another good start in the moto, running third behind Jonass but quickly dispatching his teammate to challenge Paturel for the lead. Team Suzuki World MX2’s Jeremy Seewer would also pass Jonass for third. Once Herlings moved into the lead before the end of lap two, he disappeared into the sunset yet again, winning by 7.2 seconds over Paturel, who had a good day to finish second again and land second overall. Jonass found his way back past Seewer to finish third again and secure third overall.

Herlings is dominating the MX2 World Championship standings. He now leads the points with an almost-sickening 122-point lead over Seewer, 447-325.

2016 FIM Motocross World Championship
MXGP of Spain
Talavera De La Reina, Spain
Results: May 29, 2016 (Round 9 of 18)

MXGP
Moto 1

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:19.713
2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:07.344
3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:11.598
4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:13.207
5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:15.021
6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:16.983
7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:18.001
8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:18.012
9. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:38.268
10. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:40.756

Moto Two
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:15.981
2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:03.607
3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:06.614
4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:12.734
5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:18.755
6. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:32.631
7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:39.036
8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:45.513
9. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:51.895
10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:53.494

MXGP Overall
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 50 points
2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 44
3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 38
4. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 35
5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 31
6. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 30
7. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 28
8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 27
9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 27
10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 21

2016 FIM MXGP World Championship Series Points Standings (after 9 of 18 rounds)
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 385 points/5 wins;
2. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 361/2 wins
3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 338/2 win
4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 317
5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 295
6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 274
7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 210
8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 204
9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 180
10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 156

MX2
Moto 1

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:15.998
2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:20.611
3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:23.309
4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:24.732
5. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:27.811
6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:32.183
7. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Honda), +0:51.412
8. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:55.124
9. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Kawasaki), +0:58.111
10. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +1:00.907

Moto Two
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:54.462
2. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:07.249
3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:19.128
4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:26.815
5. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:33.608
6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:35.751
7. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +0:37.504
8. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:38.404
9. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), +0:41.551
10. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Honda), +0:43.558

MX2 Overall

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points
2. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 40
3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 40
4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 38
5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 30
6. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 29
7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 28
8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 25
9. Michele Cervellin (ITA, HON), 25
10. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 22

FIM MX2 World Championship Series Points Standings (after 9 of 18 rounds)
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 447/9 wins
2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 325
3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 300
4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 251
5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 240
6. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 210
7. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 205
8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 204
9. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 200
10. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 197

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