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Results French MXGP...Desalle Wins

Desalle wins French GP

Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Clement Desalle has won the MXGP Grand Prix of France with a solid days riding. The tough Belgian scored 4-1 results to beat home Antonio Cairoli, who went 2-3, and third was Gautier Paulin with 6-2.

Cairoli extended his lead over Paulin in the championship points to 50 points, as Tim Gajser dropped out of the second place in the championship, after failing to be able to race today due to injury.

Despite being possibly the fastest rider on the track, Jeffrey Herlings also had a mixed day as his starts were not great, and he crashed in the first corner of the second moto, coming back for 5-5 results and seventh overall.

Clement Desalle: I am really happy to win the second moto and overall. I was struggling and couldn’t find my lines in the first moto. It was tough, finally it is paying off a bit. The work we have done, the training and also the work on the bike. The start was good and it would be great to be on the podium at least once this year. I am really happy, waiting a long time. Two times fourth in the last two races. I thought shit, but I am happy with my day here. I was disappointed for the first moto, but happy with the second one.

Antonio Cairoli: I am happy, positivbe weekend, The track was tricky and I struggled with some lines I nthe first moto, I finished second. Second moto I had a good start, but Clement was fast here and I thought about the championship points and what I could gain on Gautier.

Gautier Paulin: I wasn’t feeling good, but we found the best set-up in the end. The first warm-up was tough for the first moto and some days you have to finish second and it gave me a podium for my crowd. It was a strong weekend and we came from a bad situation, so I am happy about this.

MXGP Moto One

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider Max Nagl won the opening moto of the MXGP class after a strong performance by the veteran German. Nagl who had taken the lead early was passed by Antonio Cairoli, but the Italian made a mistake and handed the lead back the Nagl.

In the opening MXGP moto, Nagl led from Cairoli, Van Horebeek, Paulin, then came Despray, Guillod, Coldenhoff, Desalle, Herlings, and Anstie.

Cairoli was quickly into the lead, as Desalle moves into fourth. Nagl gets past Cairoli after the Italian makes a mistake. Van Horbeek also close to Cairoli and Van Horebeek goes past. Herlings up to seventh place. Febvre around 24^th.

Nagl continued to lead, and Cairoli getting a lot of pressure from Desalle, while Herlings all over Coldenhoff. Febvre into 12^th place as he fights for positions.

Not a lot happening up front as Nagl leads Van Horebeek after two laps, then its Cairoli, Desalle, Paulin, Coldenhoff, Herlings, Tonus, Febvre, and Anstie.

Febvre and Anstie all over each other in a nice little battle. Febvre now needs to pass Tonus, as Herlings struggles to get past his countryman Coldenhoff, but does make a pass on the fourth lap.

Nagl is gone, and Van Horebeek also riding a lonely race, as Desalle is all over Cairoli for third place. Herlings onto Paulin and looking for a way past.  Febvre working hard to pass both Tonus and Coldenhoff.

After seven laps it was Nagl with a lead of nearly five seconds, then Van Horebeek, Cairoli, Desalle, Paulin, Herlings, Coldenhoff, Tonus, Febvre and Anstie 10^th.

Nagl got out of shape, but controlled it and kept his lead. Tonus passed Coldenhoff, and Paulin keeps Herlings behind him. Febvre also passed Coldenhoff, and Anstie is right behind the Dutchman.

Desalle made a mistake and Paulin went past, but the Belgian passed him back soon after. Herlings closing in on Paulin and Desalle. Making another charge at the end of the race. Herlings all over Paulin, and Febvre passed Tonus for seventh place.

Herlings goes down, slipping over in a corner, and he wouldn’t seem to be passing Paulin any time soon. Sixth probably his final position. In the late stages though Herlings made a beautiful pass on Paulin, but the Frenchman then pushed his way past. Herlings thought fought back and passed Paulin again.

Everything happening now as Van Horebeek goes down and Cairoli moved into second. Amazingly Desalle is onto Van Horebeek, and Herlings and Paulin are not far behind.

Nagl wins it from Cairoli, Van Horebeek, Desalle, Herlings and Paulin.

MXGP Moto Two

Cairoli led moto two, followed by Desalle, Paulin, Nagl, Coldenhoff, Butron, Tonus, Febvre, Imbert and Guillod. Herlings crashed out in the first corner, down in 23^rd place.

Cairoli continued to lead, with Desalle all over him. Big battle for third as Coldenhoff holds out Paulin and Nagl. Van Horebeek and Febvre all over Nagl, as the frantic action continued in MXGP. Herlings up to 18^th place and charging hard.

Both Yamaha’s went past Nagl, and Desalle all over the leader Cairoli. Herlings up to 15^th position.

Desalle goes past Cairoli to not only lead the race. Herlings up to 12^th place and 19 seconds behind the leader. Herlings passed Guillod and then past Anstie, the Dutchman moved into the top ten.

Paulin goes past Coldenhoff as Coldenhoff made a mistake. Herlings passed Butron and was closing on Tonus and Nagl. Paulin all over Cairoli, as he blocks the move by the Frenchman, and then Paulin moves into second and the GP overall is open for Desalle or Cairoli.

Herlings catching everyone as he burns through the pack and he picks up two seconds in one lap on the leader Desalle. Herlings now just 15 seconds behind Paulin in second place.

After six laps its Desalle, Paulin, Cairoli, Coldenhoff, Van Horebeek, Nagl, Febvre, Herlings, Tonus and Butron. Herlings now 13 seconds behind Paulin, and 16 seconds behind Desalle.

Herlings goes after Febvre, Nagl, Van Horebeek and Coldenhoff and is closing fast.

After seven laps its Desalle, Paulin, Cairoli, Coldenhoff, Van Horebeek, Nagl, Febvre, Herlings, Tonus, and Butron. Herling was now just 12 seconds behind the leader.

Van Horebeek passed Coldenhoff as Nagl and Febvre are all over the Dutchman, and behind them Herlings is looking to pass them all. Febvre passed Nagl. Herlings passed Nagl, and is now onto Febvre and Coldenhoff.

After 10 laps its Desalle by one second over Paulin, then Cairoli, Van Horebeek, Febvre, Coldenhoff, Herlings, Nagl, Tonus and Butron. Herlings past Coldenhoff and nearly past Febvre, this is a brilliant charge by the MX2 world champion.

Van Horebeek, Febvre and Herlings are all closing on Cairoli. Maybe Herlings can out point the Italian after all?

Febvre now on fire as he passed Van Horebeek, and can see Cairoli just ahead of him. Herlings seems to have lost some ground, maybe tired from his own charge.

Febvre is now just 11 seconds behind Desalle, how is fighting off Paulin. Herlings in sixth and 16 seconds back. Nagl slips over and drops back. Herlings onto Van Horebeek.

On lap 12 its Desalle by one second over Paulin, Cairoli a further six seconds back, then Febvre, who was right onto the Italian, Van Horebeek, Herlings, Coldenhoff, Tonus, Nagl, and Butron.

The crowd going crazy as Febvre pulls up on Cairoli. Really a great race this one. Herlings seemingly spent is once again onto Van Horebeek.

After 16 laps the lead is two seconds as Desalle leads from Paulin, Cairoli, Febvre, Van Horebeek, Herlings, Coldenhoff, Tonus, Nagl and Butron. Cairoli and Febvre are now moving in on the two leaders, but it is too late. Herlings all over Van Horebeek.

Desalle win the moto and the Grand Prix. Second in the moto was Paulin and then Cairoli.

MXGP – Overall Classification

1 25 Desalle, Clement BEL FMB KAW 18 25 43
2 222 Cairoli, Antonio ITA FMI KTM 22 20 42
3 21 Paulin, Gautier FRA MCM HUS 15 22 37
4 12 Nagl, Maximilian GER DMSB HUS 25 12 37
5 89 Van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL FMB YAM 20 15 35
6 461 Febvre, Romain FRA FFM YAM 14 18 32
7 84 Herlings, Jeffrey NED KNMV KTM 16 16 32
8 4 Tonus, Arnaud SUI FMS YAM 13 14 27
9 259 Coldenhoff, Glenn NED KNMV KTM 10 13 23
10 99 Anstie, Max GBR ACU HUS 12 10 22

Nicky Hayden Tribute from the Legends of the Road

As the Legends of the Road (David Bailey, Micky Dymond, Jeff Ward, and Doug Henry) prepare for the Race Across America coming up on June 17th, they had a chance to reflect on a few memories they each had with Nicky Hayden. The devastating news of Nicky’s accident and his passing hit the legends hard as they get set to cycle from Oceanside CA to Annapolis MD. While the fear of injury is on their minds, they will not let it hold them back. They are planing on crossing the finish line carrying the memory of Nicky with them.

Rossi Injured Riding Moto

Valentino Rossi injured in motocross accident

 

Italian MotoGP great Valentino Rossi has been taken to hospital in Italy after being involved in a motocross accident on Thursday.

Yamaha said the 38-year-old rider, a nine-time world champion and currently third in the top class, had been diagnosed with "mild thoracic and abdominal trauma" in a hospital check-up after the accident during training in eastern Italy.

"No fractures have been detected in any part of the body and no serious traumatic pathologies were found," the team added.

Rossi's home grand prix at Mugello is the next round of the MotoGP championship on June 4.

Rossi had led the championship until last weekend's French Grand Prix at Le Mans, where he crashed on the last lap while battling for victory with Spanish team mate Maverick Vinales.

Cairoli vs Herlings – Video

Prepare for a Red Bull KTM Factory battle in the coming weeks and months as the two best riders in the world, Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings continue what we all wanted to see for years. The battle of the legends. 11 world titles between them, 142 GP wins. They stand second and third in the all time GP winner list, and could end up being number one and number two in the all time list. Take a look at this cool MXGP.tv video of the two as they battle.

X-Factor Mud & More Mud!

Hunting for Wins – Thad Duvall – X Factor GNCC

In his first year as part of the Rockstar Husqvarna Factory off-road team, Thad Duvall has been a rider on a mission. After convincing wins at the Cajun Classic National Enduro, and Full Gas Three Day ISDE Qualifier, Duvall came into the sixth round of the GNCC series with a new level of confidence and momentum Watch Thad put that confidence to work and slide his way to victory at the X Factor GNCC in rain-soaked Peru, Indiana.

Filmed and edited by Mason Rader.

Crazy Talent

Walker, Gomez, Roman and Young square up for Extreme Lagares

 

      

Photo Credit: Robert Lynn/Future7Media

The stage is set for a cracking 13th edition of the Extreme XL Lagares in Portugal with Jonny Walker, Alfredo Gomez, Mario Roman and Wade Young all ready to make their presence felt.

With pretty much all the stars of hard enduro entered, bar Graham Jarvis, the race action is set to be hot and heavy in Portugal. Staged over two days for 2017, the race gets underway with it’s now infamous city prolgue in downtown Porto before finishing off Saturday with a night time superenduro styled race in Lagares.

Sunday is the feature race where two laps of the surrounding mountains will test both man and machine.

KTM’s Alfredo starts the event as the defending champion and looks to capture his third consecutive Lagares win this weekend. Claiming the hat trick will see him match Jarvis as one of the most successful riders in the history of the race. And after a tough outing in Brazil, Gomez will be hungry for redemption.

But he’s got a fight on his hands with Sherco’s Mario Roman more than capable of giving him a run for it in Portugal. Roman almost won the race in 2016 and having missed the trip to Brazil starts this weekend fresh and raring to go.

 

Photo Credit: Robert Lynn/Future7Media

 

Third overall in 2016, Wade Young won’t want to be out shone by his teammate Roman. Having made his Lagares debut last year, he knows exactly what to expect this time around and should come out swinging.

Ready to kick start his 2017 outdoor season Jonny Walker (KTM) makes his Extreme Lagares debut this weekend. After an injury-hurt 2016 season in hard enduro, Walker is determined to get back to his winning ways and will be on the attack in Portugal.

Looking to make his presence felt, Mani Lettenbichler is a rider easily capable of figuring highly. With Saturday’s format expected to suit the 2016 SuperEnduro Junior champion, the young German may just claim a surprise result.

 

Photo Credit: Robert Lynn/Future7Media

 

Second at Hell’s Gate, South African Travis Teasdale looks to continue his run of good form in Portugal, likewise Lars Enockl, Pol Tarres, Pierre Pallut and Sergi Leon won’t disappoint.

Unfortunately a foot injury for Billy Bolt will see him most likely sit this out out while David Knight is also rumoured to be a non-starter.

Volcano Riding!

Not even an active-looking volcano can hold Graham Jarvis back!

Cairoli Back On Top!

Antonio Cairoli Interview – The Champ is Back!

By Dan Lamb

Red Bull KTM Factory rider Antonio Cairoli is like a fine wine. I remember the Sicilian telling me at the Latvian Grand Prix—during his injury riddled season two years ago—that we hadn’t seen the best of him. I have to be honest, I wasn’t sure if that was the case. With around 75 GP wins to his name at that time and eight world titles, it was hard to see him better what he had already done.

Then came the start of the 2017 season—a win in Qatar, that marvellous performance in Trentino a month ago, and his fighting off the challenge of the next king of MXGP, Jeffrey Herlings, in Germany last weekend. He has been a great champion and with the red plate and a very handy 44 point lead over Tim Gajser in the MXGP points, you could have to think that he is heading for championship number nine.

In Germany last weekend the Italian left smiling, and looking forward to what is coming in the next months. His first moto performance a little less than he hoped for, but a strong performance.

Antonio and his girlfriend, Jill, in Germany.

“I’m really happy,” Cairoli said after his win. “I got three good starts this weekend and this is what we have been working on for a little while. On a track as rough as the one we had today, it was really important to try and ride smoothly and without any mistakes. I enjoy riding here because the soil is similar to that of my home track. In the first moto I got the hole shot, but Jeffrey was real close to me and he was very fast in certain sections. He quickly closed down the gap and managed to pass me. He was the fastest on track during the early part of the race, and I lost contact as I was constantly searching for good lines. After a while I managed to find my rhythm and picked up a good pace, managing to close the gap down. Unfortunately I got caught up with some lapped riders, losing valuable seconds, and couldn’t get close enough to try for the pass.”

His second moto result was typical Cairoli. Let Herlings have that first moto, but in the second, and the all important GP overall winning moto, he showed his class. Riding off into the distance and winning easily.

“Anyway there was still a second moto to try to get the GP win, so I concentrated on getting another good start and then just put my head down and pushed hard for the whole moto, which worked out pretty well for me! I’m really happy with this victory and in extending my points lead, even though it’s not vitally important at this point of the season. I’m already looking forward to the next race in France, where we will have many fans! It’s a nice track and I want to try and have fun and to keep focused on good starts, as in today, because this is crucial. I also want send with my fiancé Jill a special thought to our friend Nicky Hayden and his family, wishing him to win the hardest battle of his life.”

If Antonio wins this title, it will no doubt be his most rewarding.

While he didn’t win Latvia a couple of weeks earlier, he did show his speed was good, and only bad starts slowed his progress.

“I’m was completely satisfied about how my weekend went, from a Championship point of view I’m happy, because my closest rival did worse than me and I’ve got the red plate back. What I’m not happy with, were my starts, that made my races way more difficult than they should have been. In race one I was outside of the top 15 from the start but luckily clawed my way back to 5th, which is not bad but I want to be fighting for the victory every race.”

“In the second moto I was feeling ok, I almost got the hole-shot but went off of the track and down to sixth. Fortunately my speed was good and I made some decent passes back up to third place, just before Gajser had a big crash in front of me. I was a bit shocked because it was a big one but I just keep riding till the end, finishing second and luckily they told me that Tim didn’t suffered any consequences.”

Now onto Ernee in France, another hard pack, another chance to cement his points lead. We all know that at the end of the day in Ernee, he will be consistent, and strong. We are all lucky to be witnessing this legend perform. Just like Stefan Everts a decade before him, the Red Bull KTM factory rider is doing things that very few can achieve, and he does it with modesty and respect for his rivals.

Ray Archer images

MXGP France

Gajser heads to France

Fresh of the back of the German MXGP, the FIM world championship heads straight to Ernée this weekend for the MXGP of France. Gajser has some fond memories of Ernée as this is where he debuted racing the CRF450R, in the 2015 MX of Nations. Following his crash in Germany last weekend, he has been resting up at home this week. The Slovenian will be hoping to come back stronger from his run of bad luck he has experienced over the last two GP’s.

Ernée is a purpose built hard pack motocross track in the small village of Ernée in Northern France. It is famous for its steep drop offs and hill climbs. It is also extremely popular with spectators as they can view the whole track from the opposing hill. It was used in the 2005 and 2015 Motocross of Nations.

The weather is expected to be extremely warm over the weekend, with highs reaching nearly 30 degrees. There is a small chance of rain on the Sunday which could potentially make the race a little more challenging.

The MXGP qualifying race starts at on Saturday 27th May local time.

Tim Gajser: I am resting up at home this week in order to get ready for France so I hope I am not so sore as I want to come back stronger and fight for the championship again. We had the nations over there in 2015 and from what I remember it is a very traditional french track with stones and really tight corners. We get alot of spectators there and It is always nice to go to France.

Roger Harvey: We will obviously be attending this race without Bobryshev whilst he recovers from having his collarbone plated last weekend but Tim will be racing in order to salvage some more points even though with less than a week between these two races, he will still be sore. We haven’t had Ernee on the calendar since the MX of nations in 2015 so it will be good to go back there. It is usually a very good track for spectators and it should suit Tims style of riding so we will see what the weekend brings.