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 |
Comments are closed.