Tony Cairoli came back to victory in MX1 where he dominated both motos and consolidated his Championship lead. Though a contact between Cairoli and defending Champion David Philippaerts during a partially wet second moto saw the latter pull out with a broken left index-Philippaerts will be present next weekend at Bellpuig anyways.
MX1 CLASS
Tony Cairoli impressed in this fifth round of fifteen of the FIM Motocross World Championship as he took his second season's win to become the only rider in the category to have won twice so far. Yamaha Red Bull De Carli's Cairoli won both moto's. In heat one he was handed the second spot by Philippaerts -who crashed- then moved past Ken De Dycker to pull away with the lead. In heat two a bad start saw the Italian enter the top four later. In a close fight in between Clement Desalle, Cairoli and Philippaerts the Italians tangled up with each other and Philippaerts pulled out with a broken left index.
Teka Suzuki WMX1's Ken De Dycker, who started from pole, settled for two second places as the overall result of second saw the Belgian move up to the runner up spot in the MX1 Championship standings. De Dycker led 16 laps throughout the moto's then was passed by Cairoli.
Clement Desalle of LS Motors Honda rounded off the rostrum courtesy of two third places in the heats. The Belgian experienced the thrills of leading a GP moto for the first time ever in his career as he held the top spot for two laps.
Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross' Joshua Coppins finished in fourth ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Max Nagl.
An injured Barragan soldiered on throughout the weekend to take tenth overall. The Spaniard lost the runner up spot in the Championship and dropped down to third.
Antonio Cairoli:
"This is a lucky and special track for me because I have won nine of the last ten motos here and this year it was unbelievable. In the second moto I did not expect to be able to catch everyone, especially Ken (De Dycker) , like that and win the GP. My first lap was really bad but then I could find some good passing places. I am sorry about the contact with David (Philippaerts). I did not expect him to be there and it was not my intention to touch. These things happen and they are not nice. After that I could overtake Desalle and was able to focus on catching De Dycker for the lead. I am really happy with this win. I thought before the season that I might be able to be in the top five by this stage but to be leading the championship is something very special. I am enjoying my riding and this is the important thing."
Ken De Dycker:
"I am happy with second because the last GP did not go as I hoped it would. This was an improvement even if I was not strong enough to keep the lead from Antonio (Cairoli) in both races. To be honest I did not expect him to be so good. In the second moto I tried really hard to pull away and make a big gap but it was very rough and slippery out there. I was making a few mistakes but my riding was still OK because we had reverted back to some of the suspension settings we had last year and it worked out well. Anyway the result here is still good and I hope we can get stronger next week and for the GPs to come."
Clement Desalle:
"I took my first podium at Faenza but that was in crazy weather conditions so this one feels a bit better. I had to work hard for this but I am very happy with the result. I tried my best and I think for Honda it is good because there has been some bad luck with the other riders. I had a problem with my throttle cable at the start of the second moto but it was nothing major and I could continue."
MX1 Moto 1: 1. Antonio Cairoli 2. Ken de Dycker 3. Clement Desalle 4. Maximilian Nagl 5. David Philippaerts 6. Tanel Leok 7. Joshua Coppins 8. Jonathan Barragan 9. Gregory Aranda 10. Gareth Swanepoel.
MX1 Moto 2: 1. Antonio Cairoli 2. Ken de Dycker 3. Clement Desalle 4. Joshua Coppins 5. Tanel Leok 6. David Vuillemin 7. Maximilian Nagl 8. Gareth Swanepoel 9. Gregory Aranda 10. Jonathan Barragan.
MX1 Championship: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 193 points; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 168 p.; 3. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 152 p.; 4. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 144 p.; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), 142 p.; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 134 p.; 7. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 126 p.; 8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 119 p.; 9. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 100 p.; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Honda), 82 p.;