2018 MXGP GERMANY MXGP RESULTS
The FIM Motocross World Championship’s 8th round in Teutschenthal Germany, was all Jeffrey Herlings again, the Red Bull KTM Factory rider won both motos taking the overall. Team HRC’s Tim Gajser was 2nd in both races, with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Gautier Paulin taking 3rd.
MXGP Overall Top Ten:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 1-1
2. Tim Gajser (HON) 2-2
3. Gautier Paulin (HUS) 3-3
4. Clement Desalle (KAW) 5-4
5. Romain Febvre (YAM) 4-7
6. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 6-5
7. Glenn Coldenhoff (KTM) 9-6
8. Evgeny Bobryshev (SUZ) 10-9
9. Maximilian Nagl (TM) 12-8
10. Jeremy Seewer (YAM) 11-10
RACE REPORT
A reworked track and sunshine led to perfect conditions in front of thousands of German motocross fans and created an amazing atmosphere for racing. The hills of Teutschenthal were filled with the some of the loudest and most energetic fans seen so far this season who would witness some of the most interesting racing to match.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings continued to add to his winning resume this weekend with double race wins and both were by substantial margin over Team HRC’s Tim Gajser and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Gautier Paulin.
Race 1 started with a season first Fox Holeshot from Paulin but Herlings was right alongside the Frenchman and took the position almost immediately. In third behind the pair was Gajser and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Romain Febvre.
On the first lap Febvre’s Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP teammate, Jeremy Van Horebeek, ran in 6th just behind Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Clement Desalle. However only a lap later the #89 of Van Horebeek was moved back by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli.
Cairoli proceeded to the back wheel of Desalle for several laps before he lost control in a rutted turn and dropped his KTM. The mistake cost Cairoli but only in the way of time as he remounted in the same position in which he fell.
Meanwhile Herlings again pulled away from the field leaving Paulin and Gajser to battle over second. On the 14th lap of 18 Gajser made a pass on Paulin and then pulled away from the Husqvarna rider. Across the finish Herlings won by just over 16 seconds with Gajser 2nd, Paulin 3rd, while Cairoli took 6th behind Desalle and Febvre.
Race 2’s start was remarkably similar as Paulin took the Fox Holeshot but Herlings took the lead before the second corner. A mistake from Paulin on the opening lap allowed Gajser into second but Paulin quickly rejoined the race just ahead of his fellow Frenchman, Febvre.
Behind Febvre was Van Horebeek on lap 1 with Desalle and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff behind the pair of YZ450s. On the second lap Van Horebeek made a mistake which put him off the side of the bike and into the path of Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Julien Lieber. Lieber was able to remount his Kawasaki in 15th but Van Horebeek would not resume the race.
The incident helped Cairoli to move forward in the running order from 9th to 6th once again finding himself behind Desalle. In the following 15 laps the top 8 riders remained in the same position before Febvre dropped 3 positions in lap 16 and BOS GP’s Evgeny Bobryshev lost a 8th position to TM Racing Factory Team’s Max Nagl.
Nagl, racing at his home GP, had an impressive comeback to the 8th spot after starting in 16th, all with the help of the vocal support from his fans. Across the finish line Herlings beat out Gajser by over 28 seconds with Paulin, Desalle, and Cairoli rounding out the top five. In the overall result the math was easy for the consistent 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers, Herlings, Gajser, and Paulin. Cairoli would end up outside the top 5 in 6th with Desalle 4th and Febvre 5th.
Jeffrey Herlings: “Both races the riding was really good, I couldn’t wish for anything else, I led every single lap both today and this weekend, so I’m very pleased…it was a dream come true kind of weekend.”
Tim Gajser who took his second podium of the 2018 season: “I’m feeling good, I’m happy with the weekend actually, I was quite consistent and also I like the track here so I was looking forward to this race. It was actually the first race I was feeling comfortable this year…so hopefully we can continue to work hard.”
Gautier Paulin: “The racing went consistent, of course I want to be more up front, I got the Fox Holeshot in both races but then Jeffrey passed me directly after. But it was good, I’ve tried to improve myself but the bike was working awesome and finally we’ve improved our start so it was good.”
MXGP Championship Top Ten:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED,KTM), 386 points
2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 338 points
3. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 278 points
4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 258 points
5. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 255 points
6. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 221 points
7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 207 points
8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 193 points
9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 176 points
10. Julien Lieber (BEL, KAW), 149 points
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