Clement Desalle in MX1 and Ken Roczen MX2 won the GP of Czech Republic in Loket.
Clement Desalle and Ken Roczen were the MX1 and MX2 overall winners of the Casino Bonver GP of the Czech Republic this weekend in Loket. The rain was present during the first races, which made the track more muddy and technical, but in the second heats the sun came up and dried up all the mud.Antonio Cairoli won the first race, but he missed the overall victory due to a bad start in the second one. The third step of the podium was for Rui Goncalves, whose last podium was back in 2009 when he was still riding in the MX2 class. Steven Frossard did not have a good weekend and finished eighth overall.In the MX2 class, Jeffrey Herlings was second and Tommy Searle completed the rostrum. Gautier Paulin got a DNF in the first race due to a mechanical problem, but the fifth position in the second heat gave him the overall 13th position.
MX1
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1′s Desalle obtained his fourth GP win of the season, his first overall win after he injured his shoulder in the Belgian Championship and his finger later on during a GP. The Belgian has the same GP victories as Cairoli, but he is 48 points behind the Italian leader.Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX1′s Cairoli obtained the Lovemytime Holeshot Award in the first heat and managed to dominate it until the chequered flag. In the second one, he did not have that good start and had to push really hard from an initial sixth position. By the end of the second heat, Cairoli overtook Pourcel and Nagl and finished fourth, which gave him the final second overall position.After missing the podium in Lommel due to a mechanical problem in the last lap, Honda World Motocross’ Goncalves obtained his maiden MX1 podium of his career, finishing third ahead of Leok and Nagl. Goncalves finished third in both heats and he admitted that he is ready to be back on the podium in the upcoming GP.TM Racing Factory’s Leok, who was third last year in Loket, finished 12th in the first heat, but he took the holeshot in the second one and led the race during the first ten laps. Desalle overtook the Estonian when there were 13 minutes to go, but Leok kept the second position until the end and finished fourth overall.Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX1′s Nagl, winner of yesterday’s MX1 qualifying race, could not repeat his victory today and had to settle down with an overall fifth position. After obtaining a seventh place in the first heat, Nagl managed to ride fourth most of the second race, but with two laps to go, the German was overtaken by Cairoli and Pourcel and ended seventh.Strijbos got consistent weekend on his first ride for the Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1, obtaining a final sixth position, thanks to his 6-8 result. The seventh overall place was for Boog, who got a really good start in the second race, but could not keep his initial fourth position and ended seventh.Frossard finished fifth in the first heat, but in the second one Cairoli landed on him during the opening lap and he was down to the 25th position. Frossard did all his best and managed to cross the finish line 12th, which gave him a final eighth position.Ninth was Pourcel, who was able to battle again against Cairoli during the second heat, finishing fifth behind the Italian. Barragan completed the top ten.For Evgeny Bobryshev it was a weekend to forget; after a fourth position in the first race, he got a DNF in the second one, as he had to pull out after crashing at the start and also later on during the second lap.Clement Desalle: “My shoulder is getting better and better but this track was really difficult, especially for passing. You had to fight really hard and be a bit aggressive. It was not so cool but you had to show that you were there to make a pass. It wasn’t fun out there and if there were more lines then that would have helped. For the Championship…we can only look to the front and everything can still happen. I had to ride hurt and this is a part of motocross that I don’t like! But the team has helped me deal with this situation and I have learned a lot.”Tony Cairoli: “The first race was good. I got the holeshot and made some good laps. I had very good speed and I could pull away and make a good gap. In the second I got a good jump out of the gate but I went a bit too wide in the first corner and one of the inside riders clipped my wheel. I didn’t want to crash so quite a few riders got past me and I was back at around 10 or 11. Then another rider made a mistake going over one of the jumps and he crashed in front of me when I was on the jump and I was again back in 7 or 8th place. It was difficult to pass but at the end of the race I managed to get up to Max who was riding well in third and passed him. By then it was too late to go for the win.”Rui Goncalves: “I am really happy to be on the podium, especially after last weekend. I felt that I proved it is where I deserve to be as I had good speed all weekend and consistency. I was top-three in every heat this weekend. I would like to thanks the team for everything they have done for me and for preparing a great race bike.”
MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40:32.283; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:05.506; 3. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:06.272; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:07.172; 5. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), +0:08.098; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:11.839; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:13.689; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:30.589; 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:35.142; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Honda), +0:56.943;MX1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 40:06.261; 2. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +0:03.847; 3. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:05.500; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:07.409; 5. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:08.391; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:10.341; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:19.581; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:21.471; 9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:48.590; 10. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:54.398;MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 47 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 43 p.; 3. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 40 p.; 4. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), 31 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 29 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 28 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 27 p.; 8. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 9. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 24 p.; 10. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), 21 p.;MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 509 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 461 p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 428 p.; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 387 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 378 p.; 6. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 349 p.; 7. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 308 p.; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 268 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 262 p.; 10. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), 254 p.;
MX2
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Roczen obtained his seventh GP win of the season this weekend in Loket thanks to another double victory. Roczen imposed an incredible rhythm in the first race, but in the second one he made a mistake preparing his helmet and all the sweat was getting into his goggles already in the first laps of the heat. The German thought that he was not going to be able to make it, but he crossed the finish line first just one second ahead of Herlings.The second position was for Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Herlings, who obtained two consistent second positions. Herlings rode really well this weekend, especially during the second heat, but even being faster than his teammate Roczen, he did not find the way to overtake him.CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Searle was back on the third step of podium in Loket after his 6-3 result. The British rider keeps on struggling with his starts and has to make all his way up to the top positions, as he did this weekend in both races.His teammate Anstie missed once more the podium, this time for just two points. The CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit rider did a great first race finishing fourth after a really bad start, but in the second one he could only end sixth.Bike-it Cosworth Wild Wolf Yamaha’s Tonus achieved the MX2 Qualifying race victory yesterday, but today he could only finish fifth. The Swiss did not have a good start in the first heat and finished ninth, whereas in the second race he was riding third, when he made a mistake and had to settle down with the fourth position.Teillet could not repeat his yesterday’s superb performance, but he obtained a well-deserved sixth place. Roelants and Nicholls, who had their own race in heat one when fighting for the fourth position, finished seventh and eighth respectively, being tight in 26 points.Aubin ended third in the first race, even having some problems with the engine of his KTM, but he crashed during the second one and had to pull out.Van Horebeek, who finished third in Lommel, had a tough weekend in Loket obtaining an overall tenth position. In the first race, he had a really bad start and had to come into the pit lane as he had a problem with the gear pedal. However, he managed to finish 15th and in the second heat he ended eighth.Ken Roczen: “It rained in the first race so there was way more grip, it was not so dry and rocky and slick. I got the holeshot and from then on I never looked back and won the race. I had a problem in the second race because all the sweat was running down inside my goggles and I couldn’t see too well so it was bad conditions for me for sure and not easy to win the race.”Jeffrey Herlings: “I’m no big fan of the mud so I struggled a bit in the first moto. I had a good start but I couldn’t stay with Ken even if I was able to close in on him at the end of the race. In the second I managed to stay with him throughout moto but in the end I didn’t have anything left to beat him. Overall it was a good weekend, much better than last year!”Tommy Searle: “I had bad luck with the starts and on this track that is half the race; overall I’m on the podium but that’s not enough; I want to win races for myself, for the team and for Kawasaki. In the first race I got a good jump out of the gate, but after all of the rain the start straight was a lottery and I ended up hitting a soft patch and I had to come back from 16th on lap one. Then in the second race the rider inside me didn’t shut off for the first turn and I again lost time. It just makes it hard work having to come back from far behind; that’s not what I want to do every week. I feel I can ride as fast as anyone, but it takes me a little time to get to my rhythm and I have to work on it; you can’t give those kids in front a start like that and expect to catch them up. The track here was like a road race on Saturday; there was only one line and nowhere to pass, but it wasn’t so bad on Sunday after the rain. Now I’m looking to Matterley Basin; I have nothing to lose in the championship and I’m really looking forward to this race. I will go there to win the British GP, I just want to do it for my home crowd and my team.”MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), 39:40.474; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:10.443; 3. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, KTM), +0:38.509; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:41.139; 5. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:41.996; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:42.381; 7. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:44.094; 8. Valentin Teillet (FRA, Suzuki), +0:48.268; 9. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:51.496; 10. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:31.482;MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), 40:00.102; ; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:01.227; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:35.893; 4. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:42.843; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:44.495; 6. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:46.132; 7. Valentin Teillet (FRA, Suzuki), +1:04.377; 8. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +1:10.637; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +1:25.258; 10. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), +1:33.758;MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 35 p.; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), 33 p.; 5. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), 30 p.; 6. Valentin Teillet (FRA, Suzuki), 27 p.; 7. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 26 p.; 8. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 26 p.; 9. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, KTM), 20 p.; 10. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 19 p.;MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), 540 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 513 p.; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 435 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), 389 p.; 5. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), 325 p.; 6. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), 318 p.; 7. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 295 p.; 8. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 268 p.; 9. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, KTM), 227 p.; 10. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 206 p.;
