Gajser wins in Agueda, after mistakes by Cairoli!
After yesterday's qualifying round, we had to wait to see if there was someone who could really make things difficult for Antonio Cairoli... Now that someone seemed to be himself this afternoon. The Sicilian seemed to be the fastest on the beautiful course in Portugal, but Tim Gajser took full advantage of two mistakes, one in each heat, to take the victory!
In the first round we saw Antonio Cairoli make the holeshot, followed by his rival for the title, Tim Gajser. The Slovenian shadowed the Italian multiple world champion, but there was no real attack. The two-time world champion, Tim Gajser could only put pressure, but this was enough for the nine-time world champion to make a tiny mistake. When exiting the bend, the Sicilian did not get away well, missed a gear or something like that? It certainly seemed that way. His competitor on the HSF HRC Honda did not hesitate and quickly passed the KTM pilot, who quickly resumed, but now not in front but behind Tim Gajser! With a few laps to go, Antonio Cairoli frantically tried to pass Tim Gajser, but the Slovenian, who was sometimes very nervous, now remained icy calm and took the victory, with just over one second ahead of the legendary number 222 and Arnaud Tonus who finished third.
The official holeshot award in the second round went to Arnaud Tonus, but the Swiss Wilvo Yamaha pilot lost some of his momentum and Clément Desalle took full advantage of this. The Belgian Monster Energy Kawasaki pilot was in the lead of a race for a long time now, ahead of Antonio Cairoli and Tim Gajser. The Monster Energy pilot was able to keep these top players behind him for more than a third of the race, but then the training deficit caused by his knee injury came to the surface. Antonio Cairoli passed and immediately after that also Tim Gajser. Both fighters again prepared for a duel between the two, until Antonio Cairoli hit the bank of a corner a little too high. This caused him to lose control of his KTM and again Tim Gajser was there to take full advantage of this mistake. The Slovenian took the lead and would not relinquish it. Antonio Cairoli, for his part, had to redo a lot of work. Due to his crash he fell back to fourth place, again he had to pass Clément Desalle and also Arnaud Tonus. Both fought for what they were worth, but in the end the nine-time world champion, not for nothing, still finished second ahead of Arnaud Tonus and Clément Desalle.
Tim Gajser leaves Agueda with the Grand Prix victory and now reduces his gap to Antonio Cairoli in the world championship to 34 points.
Most “lowlanders” had a more than decent MXGP Grand Prix. Clément Desalle had the best Grand Prix of all with a sixth and fourth place, scoring 33 points good for fourth place overall in the Grand Prix settlement. His teammate Julien Lieber also did well with a fifth and ninth place. His results were good for 28 points and seventh place in the overall grand prix result. Who can also look back on a good Grand Prix is Glenn Coldenhoff, the pilot of the Standing Construct KTM team, who twice scored an eighth place for 26 points and a ninth place in the Grand Prix. Jeremy Van Horebeek in turn scored two twelfth places, which means he is not yet at the level he was before his injury, but this only seems to be a matter of time. Brian Bogers goes back to hell from last week in Mantova heaven because he only scored one World Cup point in Agueda. Kevin Strijbos, Micha-Boy De Waal, Jeffrey Dewulf and Sven Van der Mierden did not score any points.
MXGP Agueda – Grand Prix Race 1
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:00.609; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:01.197; 3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:17.885; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:27.240; 5. Julien Lieber (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:28.880; 6. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:29.847; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Husqvarna), +0:35.562; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:51.205; 9. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:52.970; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:53.969; 11. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Husqvarna), +0:54.782; 12. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Honda), +1:00.629; 13. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:02.850; 14. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), +1:03.478; 15. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +1:04.069; 16. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:06.802; 17. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:08.623; 18. Tanel Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +1:10.058; 19. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), +1:18.321; 20. Brian Bogers (NED, Honda), +1:20.079; 21. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Yamaha), +1:23.522; 22. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:38.360; 23. Jeffrey DeWolf (BEL, KTM), +1:42.462; 24. Anton Gole (SWE, Yamaha), +1:54.438; 25. Vsevolod Brylyakov (Russia, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 26. Micha-Boy De Waal (NED, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 27. Sven Van der Mierden (DOWN, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 28. Jorge Zaragoza (ESP, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 29. Artem Guryev (RUS, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 30. Sandro Peixe (POR, Suzuki), -1 lap(s); 31. Max Anstie (GBR, KTM), -9 lap(s); 32. Ander Valentine (ESP, Husqvarna), -13 lap(s);
MXGP Agueda – Grand Prix Race 2
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:47.988; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:10.604; 3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:12.909; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:15.819; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:18.856; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:20.225; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Husqvarna), +0:22.115; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:24.630; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:27.080; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:30.999; 11. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Husqvarna), +0:45.241; 12. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Honda), +0:50.486; 13. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:51.999; 14. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:52.292; 15. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:58.562; 16. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), +1:00.403; 17. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:07.647; 18. Tanel Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +1:08.643; 19. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), +1:16.227; 20. Anton Gole (SWE, Yamaha), +1:19.066; 21. Brian Bogers (NED, Honda), +1:21.537; 22. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:29.047; 23. Jorge Zaragoza (ESP, Yamaha), +1:33.510; 24. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 25. Sandro Peixe (POR, Suzuki), -1 lap(s); 26. Artem Guryev (RUS, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 27. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Yamaha), -4 lap(s); 28. Micha-Boy De Waal (NED, Yamaha), -5 lap(s); 29. Jeffrey Dewulf (BEL, KTM), -14 lap(s); 30. Sven Van Der Mierden (DOWN, Yamaha), -19 lap(s);
MXGP Agueda – Grand Prix Result
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 50 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 40 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BELL, COW), 33 p.; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 29 p.; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 28 p.; 7. Julien Lieber (BELL, COWS), 28 p.; 8. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 27 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 26 p.; 10. Gautier Pauline (FRA, YAM), 22 p.; 11. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 20 p.; 12. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 18 p.; 13. Alessandro Lupin (NOW, CAW), 18 p.; 14. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 16 p.; 15. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), 12 p.; 16. Benoit Paturel (FRA, CAW), 8 p.; 17. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, YAM), 6 p.; 18. Tunnel Leok (EST, HUS), 6 p.; 19. Tommy Searle (GBR, CAW), 5 p.; 20. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), 4 p.; 21. Anton Gole (SWE, YAM), 1 p.; 22. Brian Bogers (NOW, HON), 1 p.; 23. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 0 p.; 24. Jorge Zaragoza (ESP, YAM), 0 p.; 25. Sandro Peixe (BOR, SUZ), 0 p.; 26. Artem Guryev (RUS, HUS), 0 p.; 27. Kevin Strijbos (BELL, YAM), 0 p.; 28. Micha-Boy De Wall (NED, YAM), 0 p.; 29. Jeffrey DeWolf (BEL, KTM), 0 p.; 30. Sven Van der Mierden (DOWN, YAM), 0 p.; 31. Max Anstie (GBR, KTM), 0 p.; 32. Ander Valentine (ESP, HUS), 0 p.;
MXGP – World Championship standings
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 285 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 251 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 197 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BELL, COW), 175 p.; 5. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 166 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 153 p.; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 137 p.; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 136 p.; 9. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 122 p.; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 120 p.; 11. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 116 p.; 12. Julien Lieber (BEL, COWS), 114 p.; 13. Alessandro Lupine (NOW, CAW), 85 p.; 14. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), 78 p.; 15. Max Anstie (GBR, KTM), 74 p.; 16. Tommy Searle (GBR, CAW), 71 p.; 17. Brian Bogers (NED, HON), 56 p.; 18. Tunnel Leok (EST, HUS), 51 p.; 19. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 47 p.; 20. Benoit Paturel (FRA, CAW), 40 p.; 21. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 36 p.; 22. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, YAM), 31 p.; 23. Harry Kullas (EAST, HON), 18 p.; 24. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 16 p.; 25. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, YAM), 15 p.; 26. Samuel Bernardini (ITA, YAM), 14 p.; 27. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), 14 p.; 28. Anton Gole (SWE, YAM), 13 p.; 29. Sven Van Der Mierden (DOWN, YAM), 8 p.; 30. Dean Ferris (AUS, YAM), 6 p.; 31. Joaquin Poly (ARG, HON), 3 p.; 32. Pascal Rauchenecker (AUT, KTM), 2 p.; 33. John Paul Luzzardi (ARG, KTM), 1 p.; 34. Jethro Salazar (PER, HON), 1 p.;
Text: Matthias Van Eeckhoven – Photo: Gino Maes
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