The Portuguese MXGP ended with the victory for Clement Desalle, securing the MX1 Grand Prix with two laps to go in moto two. In the MX2 Marvin Musquin instead came back to victory by taking both moto's.
Tony Cairoli took second in the GP to maintain the MX1 red plate as team mate Max Nagl rounded off the podium in third. Xavier Boog and David Philippaerts rounded off the top five.Jeffrey Herlings took second overall in the MX2 class as previous Championship leader Ken Roczen took third but handed the red plate back to Musquin.CLASS MX1
Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1's Clement Desalle made up for the bitter dnf of Valkenswaard -where he dislocated his right shoulder- with his first Grand Prix victory of 2010 here in Portugal. The Belgian went on to take two second places and the overall. In race one Desalle cruised comfortably in second for the whole moto but in heat two he recovered from a crash to take another second place as well as the overall win.The two riders of Team Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Tony Cairoli and Maximilian Nagl completed the podium.Championship leader and defending world champion Tony Cairoli recovered from a bad start in heat one to take fifth. In heat two instead he dominated form the start to the flag but was snatched the overall win by Desalle - after the Belgian's crash Cairoli was the virtual GP winner.Nagl instead won heat one in dominant style but had to recover from a bad start in heat two and took a final fifth place - basically the same as Cairoli in heat one.Kawasaki Racing's Xavier Boog narrowly missed the podium to take fourth overall at the end of a solid Grand Prix. Two great starts and hard fights made it the best Grand Prix of the season for the French MX1 debutant.Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross' David Philippaerts was fifth overall. David took third in heat one despite a crash but a strong pain to his hand slowed him down in the final moto where he was a final eighth.Honda fellow riders Tanel Leok and Evgeny Bobryshev ended sixth and seventh from Sebastien Pourcel, Steve Ramon and Ken De Dycker.US. rider Jimmy Albertson had an eventful and hard weekend. Jimmy crash during the qualification heat that saw his Martin Honda strike him on the back and leave a nasty gash. He was out-of-sorts in Moto1 and retired at mid-distance unable to grasp the demands of the drying course. A more resilient figure in Moto2 was able to complete the race in 17th place.Clement Desalle: "I hadn't ridden since Valkenswaard and came here to get as many points as I could, so to win is a surprise and feels very good. After the first moto I did not have any pain in my shoulder and I saw it was possible to win. When I crashed on the waves in the second moto I thought 'No! This is not possible' but I pushed hard to reach second again and I'm very happy. This is my first win for the team and for Suzuki and even though it came at an unexpected time I am enjoying it a lot! I am still recovering with my shoulder so I must not get carried away."Tony Cairoli: "It was a good weekend for me and I like this track. I've always been on the podium here since I started to race in the world championships. It was a good result. For sure I wanted to win but it was not possible. I had a bad start in the first race and only finished fifth. But I had a good start in the second and could win one moto. I like this track but today it was difficult with the rain and only one line so it was not as nice as in other years."Max Nagl: It's true that this isn't my favourite track. Two years ago it was a mess then I was fifth last year and now third, so it's getting better. I had a good start in the first race and it was really easy for me. I was just cruising and I made the gap bigger every lap. So I expected a lot from the second race but at the start there was a lot more grip and I was sitting too far back. The front wheel lifted and I had to use the clutch twice so I didn't get the holeshot. I lost a lot of places in the first two laps but then I found my rhythm and I came back from tenth to fifth. That cost me a lot of energy and then I wasn't able to fight for a better position at the end."Jimmy Albertson: "It was a rough day, a bad day. I was not riding well and I feel like I cannot say much more. I couldn't get a flow going on the track. I had a pretty bad crash in the qualification heat yesterday and got slammed by the bike in the back. It meant a poor gate-pick and I rode awful in the first moto. I pulled off the track which I don't like doing but at the time I could not get a rhythm and it felt dangerous to me. In the second moto I came around the first lap and it said something like '27' on the pit-board and I kept on riding and moving forward and finally got a flow. I made it to 17th but compared to the rest of the weekend it felt like a top ten result. 17th definitely isn't good but a positive step and we will start over again in Spain."MX1 Race 1: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 40:37.687; ; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:14.633; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:17.055; 4. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:18.870; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:20.685; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), +0:22.020; 7. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:45.869; 8. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:53.096; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +1:04.235; 10. Marc de Reuver (NED, Suzuki), +1:06.660;MX1 Race 2 : 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:57.508; ; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:02.809; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), +0:04.569; 4. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.537; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:09.288; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), +0:12.826; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:23.894; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:28.727; 9. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:51.791; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Honda), +0:52.578;MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 44 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 41 p.; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 41 p.; 4. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 36 p.; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 33 p.; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), 30 p.; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 26 p.; 8. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 9. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 23 p.; 10. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), 20 p.;MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 179 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 161 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 133 p.; 4. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 124 p.; 5. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 123 p.; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), 114 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 106 p.; 8. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), 96 p.; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 79 p.; 10. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 75 p.;MX1 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 197 points; 2. Suzuki, 169 p.; 3. Yamaha, 156 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 118 p.; 5. Honda, 113 p.; 6. Aprilia, 63 p.; 7. TM, 37 p.; 8. CCM, 11 p.;
CLASS MX2
This Portuguese Grand Prix marked the comeback to victory of Marvin Musquin, who also snatched the red plate from rival Ken Roczen.The French of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2 did it in dominant style as he went on to take both heats. Musquin dominated moto two but had a hard time to win heat one as he had to get rid of team mate Jeffrey Herlings, leading until three laps to go.Herlings was second on the podium. The Dutch teenager dropped down to third in heat one due to a crash but a second place in moto two guaranteed the overall podium.After finishing second in moto one, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2's Roczen was again in the runner up position in the second heat but a tangle with a lapped rider saw him crash and drop down to an eventual sixth. In both heats Roczen tried to keep up with Musquin but never managed to find an open door and move past. He finished third on the podium.Bike-it Cosworth Yamaha UK's Zach Osborne set a decent pace across a wet and slick layout in practice and qualification and was not far off the speed marked by the leaders in the motos themselves. Zach chased Shaun Simpson to finish 5th in the first moto and was exercising a degree of caution at the venue where he broke his scaphoid and ended his season twelve Jeffrey Herlings, only losing out to the teenager after some fraught run-ins with backmarkers. With 3rd position Osborne gained his first entry into the top three and lost the podium for only a single point.Kawasaki CLS' Steven Frossard instead had a weekend to forget despite he ended fifth overall. After a dnf in qualifying, the French also crashed at the start of heat one and was forced to recover in both heats.After a solid fourth in moto one, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing' Shaun Simpson crashed and ended 21st in heat two.Marvin Musquin: "This was a great weekend for me and for KTM. It was not easy with Jeffrey and Ken behind me in the first moto and we had some good fights. I had the best start in the second moto. I got the holeshot and it was better to be in the lead. I saw that Roczen was behind me but I was focused and I stayed in front. Then he crashed two laps before the end. Now I am in the lead in the championship and I have the red plate and I am looking forward to the races in Spain next weekend."Jeffrey Herlings: "It was a really good weekend for me. I was second in my heat so I had a good starting grid. I got the holeshot in the first moto and I led until two laps before the end when I got passed by Marvin and Ken and eventually finished third. Then I had some problems with my speed and the lines at the start of the second moto but I got past Zach (Osborne) at the half way mark and in the end Ken made a mistake and I finished second overall, which was amazing."** Ken Roczen:** "Last year was my first GP race here and I did well and I expected to do better this time. I had two good starts and the second moto was cool, especially to race with Marvin. We were both riding smooth and fast and the moto was long. It was a shame about the crash but there was nothing I could do. The backmarker was in front of us from the pit-lane, nearly half a lap, and he did not move despite all the blue flags. I made a small mistake coming to the uphill triple and could not jump it, so I made a double and he landed on top of me and we had a pretty big crash. My footpeg came off, so I just wanted to stay on the bike and get some points. It was not easy to pass here but if you have a good eye then you can normally find somewhere to try."Zach Osborne: "I am a little disappointed that I did not make the podium because it would have been sweet revenge after getting hurt here last year. However a 5th and a 3rd and some good points mean that it has been a good weekend. I think I am catching those guys slowly but surely. My first race was not my best of the year but it was still solid, and in the second I held it out as long as I could up there but ran into some lappers and Herlings passed me. I gained some ground on him a little bit but again got mixed up with slower riders. I enjoyed the rough circuit. It was a GP track; gnarly, rough, hard to predict. It was definitely good. I am so happy with the way things are going with the team. Everyone is pulling together and it is such a joint-effort."MX2 Race 1: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 39:09.201; ; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +0:03.389; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:03.997; 4. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:02.518; 5. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +1:17.802; 6. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:20.932; 7. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), +1:23.221; 8. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +1:24.333; 9. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), +1:47.796; 10. Matiss Karro (LAT, Suzuki), +1:50.706;MX2 Race 2: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 40:09.015; ; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:08.230; 3. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +0:14.284; 4. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:20.032; 5. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:32.628; 6. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +0:50.167; 7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), +0:51.004; 8. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +1:03.928; 9. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +1:05.055; 10. Dennis Verbruggen (BEL, KTM), +1:16.926;MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 37 p.; 4. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 36 p.; 5. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 26 p.; 6. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), 26 p.; 7. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 26 p.; 8. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 22 p.; 9. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 21 p.; 10. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 21 p.;MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 179 points; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 167 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 164 p.; 4. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 133 p.; 5. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), 116 p.; 6. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 114 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 105 p.; 8. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 101 p.; 9. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 83 p.; 10. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 81 p.;
