Courtesy of a thrilling victory Jonathan Barragan became the first ever Spaniard to win a Motocross GP at home in Spain since 1962, the year of the first ever Spanish GP.
A final lap dogfight in the second MX2 heat handed the first ever overall win to a surprised Jeremy van Horebeek. The MX1 podium was completed by David Philippaerts and Antonio Cairoli while an all KTM MX2 podium saw Goncalves second and Boissiere third.
Cairoli keeps leading the MX1 standings ahead of Barragan while Musquin became the new MX2 red plate holder ahead of round seven to be held at Mallory Park, Great Britain, in two weeks.
Despite not being 100% fit due to a recent left shoulder injury KTM Silver Action's Barragan made it a great day for his home fans by winning his second season's GP at home in Spain. Since the first ever Motocross GP held in Spain took place in 1962 at Rota-Malaga, no Spanish riders had won an overall on home soil as Barragan wrote his name on the history books today.
Winning heat one with a dominant performance, Barragan was on route for another start to flag victory in the second heat. Though a crash in the opening laps saw the Madrid born rider recover to an eventual fourth and wrap up the overall.
Despite a broken left index from Agueda a gutsy Philippaerts showed an incredible willpower by taking his best season's overall finish courtesy of a second place. The reigning Champion has now entered the top five in the standings as he fought tooth and nail to get third both in heat one and two.
Yamaha Red Bull De Carli's Cairoli rounded off the podium and limited the damages to his series lead after what was a difficult opening moto. Chasing Barragan for victory, Cairoli bumped into second placed Mackenzie as both went down. Once Cairoli was back in the race he managed to recover to fifth but another crash while he tried to move past Joshua Coppins saw the Italian drop down the field again. He ended in eighth place which he made up for by winning the final heat after closing an almost ten second gap from previous leader KTM 's Max Nagl in just four laps though the German gave Cairoli a hand by crashing in the final stages of the Moto.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Nagl was fourth overall ahead of LS Motors Honda's Clement Desalle who completed the top five. Despite two good starts Billy Mackenzie, who led nine laps in Moto two, took eighth overall.
Ken De Dycker was hampered by a couple of crashes in heat one he DNF eventually as he took sixth in heat two despite a sore wrist.
MX1 Moto 1: 1. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 40:38.899; ; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), +0:10.982; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:11.453; 4. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:16.273; 5. David Vuillemin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:17.446; 6. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:18.617; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:19.177; 8. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), +0:51.165; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), +0:54.074; 10. Aigar Leok (EST, TM), +1:05.652;
MX1 Moto 2: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 39:22.225; ; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:01.314; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:13.691; 4. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +0:18.063; 5. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Honda), +0:20.186; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), +0:23.058; 7. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), +0:23.655; 8. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:23.983; 9. David Vuillemin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:33.488; 10. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:39.470;
MX1 Championship: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 231 points; 2. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 195 p.; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 183 p.; 4. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 175 p.; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 174 p.; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), 162 p.; 7. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 162 p.; 8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 155 p.; 9. David Vuillemin (FRA, Kawasaki), 101 p.; 10. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 100 p.;
Jonathan Barragan:
"I did have a crash in the second race and some guys passed me but by then my shoulder was starting to give me some problems. It was also very hot today, but that didn't really bother me because I am quite used to this kind of weather."
David Philippaerts,:
"I did not expect this because my thumb gave me a lot of problems yesterday, but today I could ride well and quite easily and I am really happy for the result; it is a bit of a surprise. I did not do any training since Portugal, only treatment, so I felt a bit tired towards the end of the second Moto but obviously I am really pleased with two third positions. My doctor believes that I should be almost back to normal for the next Grand Prix."
Antonio Cairoli,:
"In the first Moto I made two mistakes and when I crashed with Josh it was my fault because I was going for his line and just caught his back wheel. With Mackenzie the first time I think it was a normal pass but he cut the line and we both went down. My fuel tank was actually damaged after that so I was going easy on the gas because I did not want to run out before the end of the race. I still could make the best lap-time and the moment with Josh was a shame, it also hurt some of my ribs although the pain was not so bad by the start of the second race. I lost some time at the beginning of the second Moto but I found the right lines and even copied a few from Jonathan when he overtook me for a while! I felt really good, and when I saw Nagl make a mistake I pushed hard for the win."