Herlings Goes 1-1, Cairoli 2-1

MX Grand Prix of France

maddix park mx

www.mxlarge.com  NEWS Sunday 09th June 2013 By Geoff Meyer

Click here for race highlights.

After his crash yesterday World MX2 Champion struggled to take victory at the Grand Prix of France. Herlings (above image Ray Archer)didn't look his dominant self as he fought hard to get two moto victories and the GP win. Young Frenchman Dylan Ferrandis finished second overall and third was Christophe Charlier.

In the MX1 class it was Italian hero Antonio Cairoli who scored 2-1 results for another GP win as he extended his series points lead. Second was Clement Desalle and third overall Gautier Paulin.

MX2 Moto one

In front of a massive crowd and under overcast skies and with threats of rain showers, the first moto of the day as Dean Ferris leads the first lap, although a red flag was brought out as many riders were caught in the gate.

After a short wait the MX2 moto once again began and this time it was Jeffrey Herlings who led from the 27th gate pick, amazing. Butron was second, followed by Ferrandis. Elliot Banks Browne went down early.

Ferrandis passed Butron for second, followed by Coldenhoff, Nicholls, Tixier, Ferris and Pocock. Coldenhoff was putting a lot of pressure on Butron as the Spanish rider struggled a little.

Sure enough Coldenhoff went by as did Nicholls. Tixier and Ferris also started to close in on Butron as Herlings was getting some hurry up from Ferrandis, Herlings obviously feeling the effects from his crash yesterday.

Making up ground looked difficult as the circuit looks fast, so many guys on the same speed. Ferris was pushing hard to get onto Tixier and behind the Aussie another Monster Energy Yamaha rider in Pocock is working hard to keep with the lead riders.

The massive French crowd were going crazy as the young French riders closed in on Herlings. Obviously driven on by the sight of Herlings Ferrandis was riding the race of his life. Tixer passed Butron and Ferris was also looking for a way past.

Coldenhoff was also gaining on the top two and this was starting to look like a major surprise in the MX2 Championship. Anstie moved up to ninth, but Pocock dropped back to 29th place. Nicholls like the top three started getting in on the act as he looked like he was closing on Coldenhoff.

Ferrandis was suddenly on the back wheel of Herlings, and riding beautifully. Herlings now began to look over his shoulder. As the French fans do this place was going wild as their home rider began to put pressure on Herlings. Pocock returned to the pits.

One has to wonder what would have happened with Herlings had he not taken the holeshot, because this isn't the same Jeffrey Herlings as usual. Full marks to Ferrandis though, what a talent this kid is.

The race continues to throw out problems as Ferris is out of the race with mechanical problems, and at the same time Tixer is pushing Nicholls hard for fourth place. Febvre is also out in his return to the GP series after injury.

Anstie is up to 7th place, Banks Brown 18th place. Coldenhoff made a small charge and was closing in on Ferrandis who has lost a little ground to Herlings. Tixier passed Nicholls and riders are changing positions all over the circuit.

Herlings still get too too far away holding a three second lead over Ferrandis who held a two second lead over Coldenhoff as the race ended. 

MX2 Moto two 

The second MX2 moto and again Ferris took the holeshot as Herlings was pushed wide, Tixier went down early and after a few corners it was Nicholls who led from Ferrandis was pushing hard to move into the lead, another great battled was in place.

Coldenhoff had to pit stop and was miles back and Herlings was working his way through the pack in fourth place. Further back were Pocock in seventh, Tixier in 15th, Anstie 17th, Banks Browne 24th and Coldenhoff last.

Nicholls was doing a great job keeping Ferrandis out although the young Frenchman looked like he was the faster of the two. Ferris was doing his best to keep Herlings from passing and trying to cling onto the fight for the lead and Butron was also in the mix.

Herlings was on the move, passing Ferrandis who made a mistake and went down, this also gave both Ferris and Charlier the chance to pull up the the Frenchmans back wheel. Nicholls lead was also looking in danger as Herlings began to reel in the British rider.

Ferris made a mistake slipping around and out of shape on an up-hill and both Charlier and Tonkov went past. Pocock remained in 7th, Anstie was in 15th place and Coldenhoff was making a charge from last and up to 23rd place.

Herlings took the lead on lap nine and Tixier continued his climb through the pack to move into 12 place. Coldenhoff was up to 21st and looking to move inside the top 20. Lupino passed Pocock to relagate the Brit to 8th place.

Butron soon after found his way past Pocock, Clermont then did the same as the young Brit lost ground on the top ten guys. Ferrandis was making a move on Nicholls for second place, and Tixier passed Petrov for 11th place, his next step Pocock.

Position changes everywhere as Ferrandis made a mistake trying to pass Nicholls and Charlier went past. Ferrandis continued to give the French crowd something to scream about as he swept past both Charlier and Nicholls to take second place in the moto and in the GP.

Tixier was up to ninth, Pocock back to 13th, Anstie remained in 15th and Coldenhoff climbed up to 19th place. Herlings crossed the line for the win, just a couple of seconds ahead of Ferrandis and Charlier. So another GP win for Herlings, although under difficult conditions it was once again 1-1 results.

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 1 - Classification

1st  Herlings, 2nd Ferrandis, 3rd Coldenhoff, 4th Tixier, 5th Butron, 6th Nicholls, 7th Anstie, 8th Tonkov, 9th Charlier, 10th Petrov

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 2 - Classification

1st  Herlings, 2nd Ferrandis, 3rd Charlier, 4th Tonkov, 5th Nicholls, 6th Ferris, 7th Lupino, 8th Butron, 9th Tixier, 10th Clermont.

MX2 - GP Classification

1 84 Herlings, Jeffrey NED  KNMV KTM 25 25 50 
2 122 Ferrandis, Dylan FRA  FFM Kawasaki 22 22 44 
3 23 Charlier, Christophe FRA  FFM Yamaha 12 20 32 
4 59 Tonkov, Alexander RUS  MFR Honda 13 18 31 
5 45 Nicholls, Jake GBR  ACU KTM 15 16 31 
6 911 Tixier, Jordi FRA  FFM KTM 18 12 30 
7 17 Butron, Jose ESP  RFME KTM 16 13 29 
8 259 Coldenhoff, Glenn NED  KNMV KTM 20 3 23 
9 152 Petrov, Petar BUL  BMF Yamaha 11 10 21 
10 14 Anstie, Max GBR  AMA Suzuki 14 7 21 

MX2 Championship points 

1 84 Herlings, J. NED  397

2 911 Tixier, Jordi FRA  287

3 17 Butron, Jose ESP  247

4 259 Coldenhoff, G. NED  237

5 23 Charlier, C. FRA  230

6 111 Ferris, Dean AUS  197

7 14 Anstie, Max GBR  193

8 45 Nicholls, Jake GBR  181

9 300 Lupino, A. ITA  162

10 122 Ferrandis, D. FRA  149 0

11 119 Pocock, Mel GBR  140

12 152 Petrov, Petar BUL  135

MX1 Moto one 

MX2 - World Championship Classification

As he always does Cairoli took the early lead, followed by Van Horebeek, Paulin and Desalle. Further back came De Dycker, Guarneri, Philippaerts, Goncalves. Desalle and Paulin quickly made their way past Van Horebeek, and headed out after Cairoli.

Tommy Searle was back in 11th place, and once again struggling, while the other British rider Shaun Simpson was in 15th place. Unlike the MX2 moto this race was looking rather boring as the three lead riders spread out and rode their own races.

Mid pack action was fierce though as Nagl, Roelants, Simpson, and Boog battled hard for top 15 positions. Belgians Desalle, De Dycker and Van Horebeek held third, fourth and fifth positions and De Dycker was putting massive pressure on Van Horebeek as he passed for fourth position.

Suddenly Paulin made his charge as he pushed up on the back wheel of Cairoli and begin to bring the crowd alive. Paulin was riding beautifully as he has done in recent weeks. Desalle was a further five seconds back with De Dycker another five seconds off the pace of Desalle.

Cairoli seemed to turn it up a little and burst away from Paulin, possibly a small mistake by the Italian saw the Frenchman make up the ground in the first place. Searle began to make a bit of a charge, passing Nagl for ninth place and setting out after Goncalves and Guarneri who were just ahead.

In a moment of mistakes Cairoli slowed and seemed to lose control as he tried to get grip going up one of the up-hill sections, giving the lead to Paulin. Despite the overcast skies the massive crowd were going crazy.

Paulin still riding on his huge boost of confidence from his two GP wins a month ago was looking super smooth as Cairoli tried to keep with the local rider. You can never count out Cairoli though as he kept his eye on the leader. Searle continued to lead Nagl, although the German rider wasn't giving up as he kept challenging for the ninth position.

Really great race up front between Paulin and Cairoli, this is real Grand Prix Motocross. Coming into lapped traffic and Paulin makes a bit of a break on Cairoli, although the Italian isn't about to give up and continues to make his late race charge.

De Dycker and Van Horebeek continue to fight for fourth position as Van Horebeek looks for a way to pass his fellow Belgian.

Amazing fight for the moto win as Paulin takes the victory by just a bike length over Cairoli. The two celebrate their race together in front of the hillside crowd. Grand Prix racing is alive and well.

MX1 Moto two

The last moto of the day and the MX1 boys blasted into the first corner with Cairoli easily in front, followed Xavier Boog, Desalle, Strijbos, De Dycker and Paulin. A crash in the first corner took out Nagl, Bobryshev, Goncalves and Barragan.

Searle was placed well in 6th position, while Paulin dropped to 8th place after a mistake. De Dycker made a great pass on Strijbos for fourth position, while Cairoli moved away from the rest.

Boog continued to hold second place from Desalle, but the Belgian was looking dangerous. Simpson, Barragan and Philippaerts were out of the race. Boog couldn't contain the top guys for long as Desalle and De Dycker moved past, Paulin moved up to seventh, and Goncalves was making a nice charge after being involved in the first lap crash, he was now in 15th place.

Searle was on fire, passing Strijbos to move into fifth palce and then passed Boog to get into fourth, just behind De Dycker. Bobryshev was also charging hard moving past Aubin for 11th place in the race.

Strijbos was struggling, dropped back to seventh place, while Searle passed De Dycker and Bobryshev passed Aranda. Nagl and Goncalves were doing well, Nagl into 14th place after his first corner crash and Goncalves in 15th place.

Paulin passed Boog for fifth place and gave himself a chance of a podium finish. Up front though Cairol had moved to 14 seconds ahead of Desalle, with Searle just two seconds off the Belgian and looking for a runner-up place in the moto.

Bobryshev passed Guarneri for 9th place and Paulin was looking for a way past De Dycker, eventually passing on lap 11. Desalle moved away from Searle to hold a four second lead, but was 14 seconds behind Cairoli.

Van Horebeek was able to pass his fellow Belgian Strijbos for seventh place as the American vacation for Strijbos began to tell on his body. Nagl moved into 11th place and set his sights on 10th placed Guarneri, with the distance between the two just a handful of seconds.

Van Horebeek was also putting pressure on Boog for sixth position. Strijbos dropped back another couple of places as he went from 7th to 8th as Boog passed him. Cairoli was just cruising in front, now with a 12 second lead over Desalle and 16 seconds over Searle. Goncalves passed Nagl for 12th place.

It was Cairoli who got the moto win though, and the GP victory. Nothing seems to change for the Italian legend.  

MX1 - Grand Prix Race 1 - Classification

1st  Paulin, 2nd Cairoli, 3rd Desalle, 4th van Horebeek, 5th de Dycker, 6th Philippaerts, 7th Searle, 8th Nagl, 9th Guarneri, 10th Goncalves

MX1 Grand Prix Race 2 - Classification

1st  Cairoli, 2nd Desalle, 3rd Searle, 4th Paulin, 5th de Dycker, 6th van Horebeek, 7th Boog, 8th Strijbos, 9th Bobryshev, 10th Guarneri.

MX1 - GP Classification

1 222 Cairoli, Antonio ITA  FMI KTM 22 25 47 
2 21 Paulin, Gautier FRA  MCM Kawasaki 25 18 43 
3 25 Desalle, Clement BEL  FMB Suzuki 20 22 42 
4 100 Searle, Tommy GBR  ACU Kawasaki 14 20 34 
5 89 van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL  FMB Kawasaki 18 15 33 
6 9 de Dycker, Ken BEL  FMB KTM 16 16 32 
7 22 Strijbos, Kevin BEL  FMB Suzuki 10 13 23 
8 39 Guarneri, Davide ITA  FMI KTM 12 11 23 
9 121 Boog, Xavier FRA  FFM KTM 7 14 21 
10 777 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS  MFR Honda 9 12 21 
11 12 Nagl, Maximilian GER  DMSB Honda 13 8 21 

MX1 - World Championship Classification

1 222 Cairoli, A. ITA  377

2 21 Paulin, G. FRA  321

3 25 Desalle, C. BEL  309 

4 9 de Dycker, Ken BEL  277

5 22 Strijbos, K. BEL  243

6 100 Searle, Tommy GBR  239

7 12 Nagl, M. GER  190

8 89 van Horebeek, J. BEL  171

9 999 Goncalves, Rui POR  168

10 19 Philippaerts, D. ITA  145

11 777 Bobryshev, E. RUS  127

12 34 Roelants, Joel BEL  124

 
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