GLEN HELEN USGP

A variety of different dramas played out this weekend at Glen Helen Raceway. It was the return of the USGP, but it could have gone by many other names. The MX2 World Championship was decided, it was a season saver for Josh Grant, it showed that Americans really do care about what happens in Europe, and it was vindication for Glen Helen President Bud Feldkamp, who had been licking his financial wounds since the last USGP, four years ago. The crowd this time was big, energetic and enthralled. As for the main question that is supposed to be answered any time American and European riders meet, the results were inconclusive. There were  American and Euro winners at the end of the weekend.

The two biggest winners were the newly crowned world champions. Romain Febvre clinched the MXGP title two weeks ago and then put an exclamation on the achievement by taking the overall win at Glen Helen. And Tim Gajser took the MX2 points chase down to the wire, wrapping up his new title in the last moto of the last race of the year. Gajser was fourth in the second moto at Glen Helen, three places ahead of his main rival, Pauls Jonass.

As for the Americans, they won three out of four motos, took the MX2 overall and were the fastest qualifiers in both classes. In the MXGP class, Josh Grant, who is motivated to find a new ride after the demise of TwoTwo racing, was unquestionably the fastest man. He won the qualifying race and the last moto, but a twisted ankle and a third place finish in moto one put him in second overall behind the determined Febvre. Cooper Webb was fast as well in his first 450 Pro race, pulled two holeshots to eventually finishing third overall. Troy  Lee Racing’s Jessy Nelson led almost every lap of the MX2 class after letting his teammate Shane McElrath win the qualifying race on Saturday. Behind him, the Gajser versus Jonass battle played out rather anticlimactically. Jonass found himself buried in the pack in both motos and never really challenged Gajser, who finished fourth overall and took his crown.  Nelson, Chris Alldredge and McElrath made the first MX2 podium an all American affair, while Nelson and McElrath were followed by Swiss rider Valaentin Guillod in moto two.

The question of whether or not America’s finest riders were in attendance is debateable. Our 2015 champions weren’t there, but no one can say that we had slackers. Cooper Webb and Jason Anderson had proven themselves to be the the best of America’s best in the closing races of the 2015 season. And there were great expectations from Davi Millsaps and the AMA riders who weren’t American, namely Dean Wilson and Marvin Musquin.

In the end, the rider who gained the most credibility was Grant. He was fast, tough and gutsy. No one expected him to go that fast, but they should have. It was, after all, his track, and he’s done this before.

MX2

Pos	Nr	Rider	Nat.	Fed.	Bike	Race 1	Race 2	Total
1	79	Nelson, Jessy	USA	AMA	KTM	25	25	50
2	70	McElrath, Shane	USA	AMA	KTM	20	22	42
3	92	Guillod, Valentin	SUI	FMS	YAM	16	20	36
4	243	Gajser, Tim	SLO	AMZS	HON	15	18	33
5	99	Anstie, Max	GBR	ACU	KAW	18	13	31
6	65	Alldredge, Chris	USA	AMA	KAW	22	8	30
7	91	Seewer, Jeremy	SUI	FMS	SUZ	13	16	29
8	151	Kullas, Harri	FIN	SML	HUS	14	14	28
9	41	Jonass, Pauls	LAT	LAMSF	KTM	11	15	26
10	6	Paturel, Benoit	FRA	FFM	YAM	8	12	20
11	152	Petrov, Petar	BUL	QMMF	KAW	10	10	20
12	128	Monticelli, Ivo	ITA	FMI	KTM	2	11	13
13	64	Covington, Thomas	USA	FFM	KAW	9	4	13
14	189	Bogers, Brian	NED	KNMV	KTM	5	7	12
15	33	Lieber, Julien	BEL	FMB	YAM	12	0	12
16	98	Vaessen, Bas	NED	KNMV	SUZ	6	5	11
17	10	Vlaanderen, Calvin	NED	KNMV	KTM	1	9	10
18	321	Bernardini, Samuele	ITA	FMI	TM	3	6	9
19	388	Leith, Brandan	USA	AMA	KAW	4	3	7
20	172	Van doninck, Brent	BEL	FMB	YAM	7	0	7

MXGP

Pos	Nr	Rider	Nat.	Fed.	Bike	Race 1	Race 2	Total
1	461	Febvre, Romain	FRA	FFM	YAM	25	22	47
2	35	Grant, Josh	USA	AMA	KAW	20	25	45
3	175	Webb, Cooper	USA	AMA	YAM	22	20	42
4	215	Wilson, Dean	GBR	AMA	KTM	14	18	32
5	259	Coldenhoff, Glenn	NED	KNMV	SUZ	15	15	30
6	777	Bobryshev, Evgeny	RUS	FSM	HON	12	16	28
7	21	Paulin, Gautier	FRA	MCM	HON	13	13	26
8	89	Van Horebeek, Jeremy	BEL	FMB	YAM	9	14	23
9	100	Searle, Tommy	GBR	ACU	KTM	8	12	20
10	312	Anderson, Jason	USA	AMA	HUS	18	0	18
11	118	Millsaps, Davi	USA	AMA	KTM	5	11	16
12	17	Butron, Jose	ESP	RFME	KTM	6	10	16
13	222	Cairoli, Antonio	ITA	FMI	KTM	16	0	16
14	28	Rattray, Tyla	RSA	MSA	KAW	4	9	13
15	39	Guarneri, Davide	ITA	FMI	TM	7	6	13
16	125	Musquin, Marvin	FRA	AMA	KTM	11	0	11
17	47	Waters, Todd	AUS	MA	HUS	2	8	10
18	111	Ferris, Dean	AUS	MA	HUS	3	7	10
19	101	Townley, Ben	NZL	MNZ	HON	10	0	10
20	56	Gibbs, Kirk	AUS	MA	KTM	0	5	5