Gajser takes full advantage of KTM's horror weekend in Kegums!
Yesterday, Jeffrey Herlings won the qualifying series in Kegums, Latvia. The Dutchman seemed to be close to his first Grand Prix victory of 2019, and only his second MXGP Grand Prix participation of the season. However, it was not to be! Jeffrey Herlings' chances took a big hit in the sighting patch. The Red Bull KTM pilot made a small slide that caused him to fall briefly, Arminas Jasikonis could no longer avoid the Dutchman and drove over the recently injured foot of the 2018 MXGP World Champion with his Husqvarna and his imposing figure!
At that time, the seriousness of the matter did not yet dawn. Full of adrenaline, Jeffrey Herlings rushed back to the start. There he very narrowly took the holeshot. We then saw Antonio Cairoli take over the lead in the race, the Sicilian who is feeling ill and is undoubtedly still feeling the after-effects of his heavy crash in Russia, dropped back after a few laps and made way for Arnaud Tonus who followed in his footsteps with Jeffrey Herlings brought along. Years later, both fighters, who were already pushing each other in the MX2 class, now also found each other in the MXGP class. With a few minutes left in the game, Jeffrey Herlings managed to make an ultimate attack and the Dutchman drove to his first series victory of the season! This for Arnaud Tonus and Antonio Cairoli.
No one thought about the crash that Jeffrey Herlings had experienced, until the Dutchman himself announced on Instagram that he had finished the first heat with a broken ankle and withdrew from the race. Again, injuries for the world champion, who had a true horror year in 2019.
View this post on InstagramA message shared by Jeffrey herlings (@jeffrey_herlings84) on
The second round started without Jeffrey Herlings, the winner of the first round. In this second moto we saw Jeremy Seewer take the holeshot. The Yamaha Rinaldi pilot initially held off Arnaud Tonus and in the second instance he was also able to repel Tim Gajser. But the HRC HSF Honda pilot was hungry for a lot of points. Not only did he want revenge for his poor sixth place in the first series, he also wanted to take full advantage of Antonio Cairoli's retirement! Antonio Cairoli crashed on the first lap, with the Italian multiple world champion disappearing into the ambulance while supporting his arm. Something that was quickly passed on to Tim Gajser's pit board. The HRC HSF Honda pilot knew what he had to do, pass Jeremy Seewer and he succeeded with one third race to go. Tim Gajser then had no more problems and rode to victory in this second round. Behind the leader in the MXGP world championship, we saw Romain Febvre move up to second place. The Frenchman set some fast times in the final laps, first passing Arnaud Tonus and then eventually passing Jeremy Seewer.
On the podium we found three pilots with 40 points. However, Tim Gajser took home the biggest trophy, as he managed to win the decisive second series. Romain Febvre was second on the podium and Arnaud Tonus third. In the world championship, Tim Gajser is currently 33 points ahead of Antonio Cairoli.
How did the lowlanders outside Jeffrey Herlings do on the sandy track of Kegums?! Only Jeremy Van Horebeek could really impress, the MotoBlouz SR Honda pilot finished seventh and fifth and thus collected 30 points, good for fifth place in the Grand Prix results. Glenn Coldenhoff, in turn, alternated twelfth place with eighth, good for an eighth place in the Grand Prix result. Julien Lieber did not finish in the first moto, in the second moto the Monster Energy Factory Kawasaki pilot finished ninth, which means we find him in sixteenth place overall. Julien Lieber thus performed one place better than Brian Bogers, who finished eighteenth and twelfth in the heats. Sven van der Mierden and Micha-Boy de Waal both scored five points, which puts them twenty-first and twenty-second overall! Kevin Strijbos did not immediately have his happiest weekend and comes home with only two minor points and Jeffrey Dewulf scored no points due to a “DNF” in the first heat and a twenty-first place in heat two.
MXGP Kegums (Latvia) – Grand Prix Race 1
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:02.925; 2. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:01.599; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:12.059; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:14.205; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:15.980; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:17.943; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Honda), +0:24.661; 8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:26.842; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, KTM), +0:27.942; 10. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), +0:34.864; 11. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:46.802; 12. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:47.516; 13. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:51.610; 14. Tanel Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +1:17.354; 15. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), +1:19.403; 16. Micha-Boy De Waal (NED, Yamaha), +1:20.884; 17. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Husqvarna), +1:23.358; 18. Brian Bogers (NED, Honda), +1:29.178; 19. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Yamaha), +1:37.322; 20. Sven Van der Mierden (NED, Yamaha), +1:39.694; 21. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Yamaha), +1:43.699; 22. Karel Kutsar (EST, KTM), +1:46.982; 23. Gert Krestinov (EST, Kawasaki), +1:48.884; 24. Harri Kullas (EST, Honda), -1 lap(s); 25. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Husqvarna), -6 lap(s); 26. Clamps Gercar (SLO, Husqvarna), -9 lap(s); 27. Anton Gole (SWE, Yamaha), -12 lap(s); 28. Jonathan Bengtsson (SWE, KTM), -12 lap(s); 29. Volodymyr Tarasov (UKR, KTM), -14 lap(s); 30. Jeffrey Dewulf (BEL, KTM), -15 lap(s); 31. Julien Lieber (BEL, Kawasaki), -15 lap(s);
MXGP Kegums (Latvia) – Grand Prix Race 2
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 35:56.037; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:02.189; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:02.738; 4. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:15.871; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Honda), +0:22.078; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Husqvarna), +0:26.723; 7. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Husqvarna), +0:30.127; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:32.947; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:39.120; 10. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), +0:46.611; 11. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:56.344; 12. Brian Bogers (NED, Honda), +1:05.661; 13. Max Anstie (GBR, KTM), +1:11.212; 14. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:15.126; 15. Tanel Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +1:42.753; 16. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Yamaha), +1:44.861; 17. Sven Van der Mierden (NED, Yamaha), +1:53.304; 18. Gert Krestinov (EST, Kawasaki), +1:57.826; 19. Anton Gole (SWE, Yamaha), +2:00.154; 20. Harri Kullas (EST, Honda), -1 lap(s); 21. Jeffrey Dewulf (BEL, KTM), -1 lap(s); 22. Jonathan Bengtsson (SWE, KTM), -1 lap(s); 23. Volodymyr Tarasov (UKR, KTM), -1 lap(s); 24. Micha-Boy De Waal (NED, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 25. Clamps Gercar (SLO, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 26. Karel Kutsar (EST, KTM), -8 lap(s); 27. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Yamaha), -17 lap(s); 28. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), -18 lap(s); 29. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), -18 lap(s); 30. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), -19 lap(s);
MXGP Kegums (Latvia) – Grand Prix result
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 40 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 40 p.; 3. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 40 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BELL, HON), 30 p.; 6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 25 p.; 7. Gautier Pauline (FRA, YAM), 23 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 22 p.; 9. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, KTM), 20 p.; 11. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 20 p.; 12. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 19 p.; 13. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 15 p.; 14. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 14 p.; 15. Tunnel Leok (EST, HUS), 13 p.; 16. Julien Lieber (BELL, COWS), 12 p.; 17. Brian Bogers (NED, HON), 12 p.; 18. Tommy Searle (GBR, CAW), 10 p.; 19. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), 6 p.; 20. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, YAM), 5 p.; 21. Sven Van der Mierden (DOWN, YAM), 5 p.; 22. Micha-Boy De Wall (NED, YAM), 5 p.; 23. Gert Kristinov (EST, CAW), 3 p.; 24. Anton Gole (SWE, YAM), 2 p.; 25. Kevin Strijbos (BELL, YAM), 2 p.; 26. Harry Kullas (EAST, HON), 1 p.; 27. Jeffrey DeWolf (BEL, KTM), 0 p.; 28. Jonathan Bengtsson (SWE, KTM), 0 p.; 29. Volodymyr Tarasov (UKR, KTM), 0 p.; 30. Clemen Gercar (SLO, HUS), 0 p.; 31. Karel Kutsar (EST, KTM), 0 p.;
MXGP – World Championship standings
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 391 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 358 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 256 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 254 p.; 5. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 246 p.; 6. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 226 p.; 7. Clement Desalle (BELL, COWS), 208 p.; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 200 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 190 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 186 p.; 11. Julien Lieber (BELL, COWS), 184 p.; 12. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 157 p.; 13. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 129 p.; 14. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), 122 p.; 15. Max Anstie (GBR, KTM), 111 p.; 16. Alessandro Lupine (NOW, CAW), 103 p.; 17. Tommy Searle (GBR, CAW), 96 p.; 18. Brian Bogers (NED, HON), 82 p.; 19. Leok Tunnel (EST, HUS), 82 p.; 20. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 71 p.; 21. Benoit Paturel (FRA, CAW), 65 p.; 22. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 57 p.; 23. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, YAM), 43 p.; 24. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, YAM), 38 p.; 25. Petar Petrov (BUL, KTM), 24 p.; 26. Harry Kullas (EST, HON), 19 p.; 27. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 16 p.; 28. Anton Gole (SWE, YAM), 16 p.; 29. Samuel Bernardini (ITA, YAM), 14 p.; 30. Sven Van der Mierden (DOWN, YAM), 13 p.; 31. Dean Ferris (AUS, YAM), 6 p.; 32. Micha-Boy De Waal (NED, YAM), 5 p.; 33. Gert Kristinov (EST, CAW), 3 p.; 34. Joaquin Poly (ARG, HON), 3 p.; 35. Pascal Rauchenecker (AUT, KTM), 2 p.; 36. John Paul Luzzardi (ARG, KTM), 1 p.; 37. Jethro Salazar (PER, HON), 1 p.;
Text: Matthias Van Eeckhoven – Photo: HRC Honda Media
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