The 17000 people present in Fermo were able to enjoy incredible racing in both MX1 and MX2 classes. Christophe Pourcel obtained his maiden MX1 victory of the season, whereas Jeffrey Herlings obtained his second GP victory this weekend in Fermo.Although Antonio Cairoli was on the second step of the podium, his second heat victory made the crowd go crazy. Third overall was Clement Desalle and Gautier Paulin missed the podium for just one point due to his sixth position in the second heat. Steven Frossard decided to take part in the first heat, but the pain on his knee was so intense that he decided not to take any risks and decided to call it a day.Jeffrey Herlings went 1-1 in Fermo and he is now leading the MX2 championship with 30 points advantage. Michael Leib had a superb weekend and was on the second step of the podium, while Jeremy Van Horebeek completed the top three.The negative part of the day was the two DNF's of Tommy Searle and Joel Roelants in the first heats; Searle was able to take part in the second heat and finished second, but Roelants suffered a heavy concussion in the first heat and was not able to race the second one.
MX1
CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit's Christophe Pourcel obtained his maiden GP victory of the season and he is now third in the point standings 27 points behind Cairoli. In the first heat, Pourcel and Paulin exchanged the lead in several occasions. Pourcel even stalled the bike in the last lap, but he managed to start the bike again quickly, catch Paulin and cross the finish line in the first position. In the second heat, he succeeded in finishing second even being bleeding from his nose during the last laps after a rock had hit his face.Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Cairoli was only third in the first heat, but he took the holeshot in the second one and succeeded in keeping the lead until the chequered flag. After not having the best qualifying race yesterday, Cairoli was determined to do well today and hand a victory to his home crowd that had been cheering for him until the end. Cairoli is still leading the MX1 point standings with 17 points advantage over Paulin.The third step of the podium was for Rockstar Energy Suzuki World's Desalle thanks to his 4-3 result. However, the Belgian admitted that he is not fully satisfied with performance today and he needs to keep on working to try to conquer the first step of the podium in the upcoming Grand Prix.Kawasaki Racing Team's Paulin had an incredible first race and he actually missed the victory because he made a mistake in the last lap and Pourcel overtook him. In the second heat, Paulin crashed in the first corner and had to fight from the back of the pack to end sixth, which made him finish fourth overall.Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's De Dycker obtained another solid result in Fermo and completed the top five of the Italian Grand Prix. De Dycker had a bad start in the first heat and started from an initial twelfth position to finish seventh. However, in the second heat the Belgian started third and rode a consistent moto until the end.Russian Bobryshev is much better from his thumb injury and he succeeded in finishing sixth overall in a track where he does not really feel comfortable. Strijbos, who finished tenth in the first heat after starting from an initial 16th position, was seventh in the second one and obtained a final seventh place.David Philippaerts was ninth and once again he was touched by bad luck; five minutes before the end of the first heat, the Italian made a mistake while he was riding fourth and he went down the floor. He managed to finish ninth but he hit his face heavily and had some vision problems in one of his eyes. In the second moto he finished eighth and obtained an overall eighth position.Boog was ninth and Leok completed the top ten.
Christophe Pourcel: "I was confident already when we arrived here in Italy. We had the bike set up really well from the race last weekend in Bulgaria and I immediately felt comfortable on this track. My Kawasaki got me out of the gate well in both races and I won the first race after an exciting battle with Gautier Paulin. I was sitting comfortably in second place in the second moto and was optimistic that I could win that race too, but a rock hit me on the nose a few laps from the end; blood was streaming down my face so I decided it was wiser to settle for second place as this would secure the overall GP win. We're a young team and it's great to win already at our third GP to confirm the potential we showed in Bulgaria."Tony Cairoli: "I'm happy about the second place in this Italian GP. I wanted to give something back to my supporters with a great race and I made it. I made a few mistakes during the first heat so once I secured the third place, I was satisfied. The first two riders were going really fast so at that point I didn't want to take any risk. Besides that, at the second start I kicked off ahead of the others and I gave it all without mistakes. I can say I'm proud of my victory on that heat."Clement Desalle:
"I'm not so happy because when I ride the bike I like to have fun and I didn't enjoy myself this weekend. I found the track difficult, especially compared to when I won here in 2010; it felt like you were on the edge of making a big mistake all the time. I must keep working because I know what I can do. I will keep positive."MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 40:45.152; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:00.807; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:10.841; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:45.920; 5. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:46.277; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:49.834; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:57.051; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:59.812; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:04.282; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +1:07.930;MX1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:48.505; ; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:09.147; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:15.265; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:20.222; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:31.310; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:42.169; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:54.334; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:02.716; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +1:05.010; 10. Dean Ferris (AUS, Kawasaki), +1:06.052;MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 47 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 38 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 37 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 31 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 25 p.; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 23 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 20 p.;MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 133 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 116 p.; 3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 106 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 105 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 95 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 76 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 72 p.; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 69 p.; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 69 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 62 p.;MX2
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Herlings won both heats but it was not an easy victory for the Dutch rider. In the first heat, he was able to keep the lead from the beginning to the finish line, but by the end of the heat Herlings started feeling that his bike was having some problems. In the second moto, Herlings and Searle's wheels touched and the Dutch lost the front break but he managed to go from eleventh to first.The second overall position was for Monster Energy Yamaha's Leib on his second appearance in the FIM Motocross World Championship this season. The American did an incredible first race moving from 15th to third and in the second moto he led the race until the last three laps, where he was overtaken by Herlings and Searle. Leib is very grateful towards Monster Energy Yamaha for having given him such opportunity and he admitted that his near future is still uncertain at the moment.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Van Horebeek obtained his first podium finish of the season after being second and fourth in today's races. In the first heat, the Belgian was riding comfortably in the second position when he suffered a heavy crash, but he managed to recover himself quickly and finished the race second. Van Horebeek admitted that he struggled a lot in the second moto to finish fourth, as he was suffering a heavy headache caused from the crash in the first moto. The Belgian is now second in the point standings.His teammate Tixier was fifth overall today in Fermo and he has moved up to the sixth position in championship and he is now only two points behind Anstie. Tixier had some difficulties in the first race and he was only able to finish seventh, but in the second one he obtained a solid fifth place.KTM Diga Racing's Butron completed the top five of the Italian Championship thanks to his 9-7 result. The Spanish rider had two really good starts and in the second moto he even led the race during the first meters. Butron has been riding in the front in Sevlievo and this weekend in Fermo during the first laps, but he is missing a little bit of consistency to fight for the podium finish.Charlier obtained a solid overall sixth position in his first appearance in the FIM Motocross World Championship after his foot injury and Ferrandis finished seventh overall. The French young rider, who was the runner up of the 2011 UEM EMX2 championship, had a really good start in the first heat and finished fifth, but in the second one he was involved in a crashed at the start and he could only cross the finish line in the 12th position.Anstie was eighth and Searle and Lupino completed the top ten.It was a disappointing weekend for Searle, especially after having won the qualifying race yesterday and having so high expectations for this weekend. In the first heat he crashed on the opening lap and his bike was so damaged that he had to pull out and in the second one, Searle's and Herlings' bikes touched at the start and he had to fight from almost the last position up to the second final place.Jeffrey Herlings: "I had a little bit of luck in the first moto and I went on to win by 15 seconds from Jeremy so it was a solid result. Then I took the holeshot in the second moto but I got cleaned out by Tommy (Searle). We both went down and came back from pretty much last place. I tried to push as hard as I could, I went into the lead and made it happen. So today I got 28 points on Tommy and that was good."
Michael Leib: "I got the opportunity to come over here for two weeks and ride a good bike and the goal was to do exactly what I accomplished today. It is not everyday you can achieve a highly set aim like that, especially one other people think you cannot reach. I proved myself and it was a very emotional feeling. I've had pretty good success in supercross and I was starting to build myself up. Today was a day where I wanted things to come together and they did. The first moto was one of the best I've had in a professional race and I have to thank Steve Dixon for giving me the chance and the equipment."Jeremy van Horebeek: "I came out of the gate in second in both motos and in the first race I was behind Jeffrey till mid way. We had a big lead and then five minutes before the end I had a crash in the whoops and I hit my head pretty hard. I was dizzy but I still managed to finish second. I didn't feel so good between the motos but I wanted to give the team the podium so I worked hard in the second moto. I was leading for a few laps but my head was hurting and then I had to drop the pace. Now I am second in the championship and I've never been there beforeMX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 40:06.301; 2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:16.652; 3. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), +0:21.834; 4. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:27.065; 5. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:34.091; 6. Harri Kullas (FIN, Suzuki), +0:36.761; 7. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:40.763; 8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:43.712; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:48.831; 10. Nikolaj Larsen (DEN, Suzuki), +1:03.412;MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:49.655; ; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:03.234; 3. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), +0:17.454; 4. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:28.991; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:32.368; 6. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:34.819; 7. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:40.922; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), +0:57.391; 9. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:04.357; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, Suzuki), +1:16.502;MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), 40 p.; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 30 p.; 5. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 26 p.; 6. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 7. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 23 p.; 9. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 22 p.; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), 22 p.;MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 144 points; 2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 114 p.; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 109 p.; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 85 p.; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 80 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 78 p.; 7. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 73 p.; 8. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 69 p.; 9. Harri Kullas (FIN, Suzuki), 65 p.; 10. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), 61 p.;
