Fifth world title for Jeffrey Herlings!
Jeffrey Herlings' 99th GP victory was one with flying colours. Ultimately, the Dutch superstar settled the matter with his rival Romain Febvre with brio. Thanks to two resounding series victories in Mantova, 'the Bullet' successfully concluded a very eventful season.
Romain Febvre did everything he could today, but nothing could have been done against a very strong Jeffrey Herlings. The former MXGP world champion himself completed an impressive season. Unfortunately it was just not enough. With this he immediately completed his last GP for MX Esca of Thierry Chizat Suzzoni.
In race 1, Jorge Prado lived up to his title as MXGP holeshot king and Febvre outpaced Herlings in the jump to the first corner. Jeremy Seewer and Tony Cairoli also had a good start.
Seewer made a mistake on the third lap, allowing “the Bullet” to easily move up to P3. The hard-to-pass Prado led for three laps as Febvre desperately searched for an opening. The Kawasaki rider was surprised on the fourth lap by Herlings who quickly took the lead!
The opener was soon over for the retiring Tony Cairoli. TC222 attacked Seewer too rashly, causing both riders to fall. The Swiss was able to continue his match, but Cairoli had to abandon the fight due to a broken gear lever. Although World Championship leader Febvre passed Prado one lap later at the same place, Gajser, Cairoli and Seewer had joined in the meantime. The three remaining title candidates thus occupied the first three places for half the match!
However, this time there was no explosive denouement. Herlings had built up enough of a lead to hold off Febvre - despite pumped up arms. The French Kawasaki leader in turn had to do everything he could to stay ahead of Tim Gajser. However, the reigning world champion ultimately had to settle for P3.
Well behind the three leaders - who crossed the line less than 3 seconds apart - Seewer was best of the rest ahead of Prado, Thomas Kjer Olsen and a fine Matthys Boisrame. The decisive second MXGP race starts at 15:10 PM. Then we will know whether Jeffrey Herlings will still win his fifth world title or whether Romain Febvre will be able to show off the world title again six years after his first title. If Tim Gajser, the third dog in the game of bowling, would still come out on top, it would be very punishing!!!
Febvre makes the mistake, Herlings checks
The holeshot in the second moto once again went to Jorge Prado ahead of Romain Febvre, Jeffrey Herlings and Tim Gajser. GasGas factory driver Brian Bogers was also in a good position straight away.
Once the Elsdendorper took the lead, he immediately pulled ahead. The pressure was now on Febvre and to make matters worse, he made a spectacular mistake! Coming out of the right for the finish jump, the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider lost control. He pulled the bike back, crashed and lost at least 10 seconds.
MXGP Race 1
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:20.709; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.465; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:02.824; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:48.484; 5. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), +0:56.162; 6. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:57.371; 7. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:58.107; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:58.590; 9. Ben Watson (GBR, Yamaha), +1:00.075; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, GASGAS), +1:02.615; 11. Henry Jacobi (GER, Honda), +1:08.218; 12. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +1:09.352; 13. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Beta), +1:14.347; 14. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Husqvarna), +1:18.547; 15. Dylan Wright (CAN, Honda), +1:23.846; 16. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:26.792; 17. Brent Vandoninck (BEL, Yamaha), +1:31.348; 18. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), +1:33.102; 19. Vsevolod Brylyakov (MFR, Honda), +1:37.117; 20. Valentine Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +2:00.747; 21. Hardi Roosiorg (EST, KTM), -1 lap(s); 22. Ander Valentine (ESP, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 23. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, KTM), -2 lap(s); 24. Andrea La Scala (STONE, GASGAS), -2 lap(s); 25. Timothy Hoarau (FRA, Kawasaki), -2 lap(s); 26. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Yamaha), -4 lap(s); 27. Denis Polas (SVK, KTM), -8 lap(s); 28. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), -12 lap(s); 29. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, Honda), -16 lap(s); 30. Anton Nordström Graaf (SWE, Yamaha), -17 lap(s);
MXGP Race 2
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:29.493; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:01.497; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:41.814; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:43.028; 5. Brian Bogers (NED, GASGAS), +0:45.510; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:47.004; 7. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), +0:50.991; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:58.563; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Beta), +1:00.963; 10. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +1:04.187; 11. Dylan Wright (CAN, Honda), +1:07.051; 12. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, KTM), +1:08.493; 13. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, House), +1:09.141; 14. Ben Watson (GBR, Yamaha), +1:09.634; 15. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, Husqvarna), +1:27.690; 16. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), +1:32.238; 17. Brent Vandoninck (BEL, Yamaha), +1:35.746; 18. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:37.300; 19. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +2:02.454; 20. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 21. Hardi Roosiorg (EST, KTM), -1 lap(s); 22. Denis Polas (SVK, KTM), -2 lap(s); 23. Andrea La Scala (STONE, GASGAS), -2 lap(s); 24. Timothy Hoarau (FRA, Kawasaki), -2 lap(s); 25. Vsevolod Brylyakov (MFR, Honda), -4 lap(s); 26. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, Kawasaki), -5 lap(s); 27. Ander Valentine (ESP, Husqvarna), -8 lap(s); 28. Henry Jacobi (GER, Honda), -13 lap(s);
Final score MXGP Mantova II
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 42 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, COW), 42 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 30 p.; 6. Brian Bogers (NED, GAS), 27 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 26 p.; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 24 p.; 9. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 23 p.; 10. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, BET), 20 p.; 11. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 19 p.; 12. Dylan Wright (CAN, HON), 16 p.; 13. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, CAW), 14 p.; 14. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 13 p.; 15. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 11 p.; 16. Henry Jacobi (GER, HON), 10 p.; 17. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, KTM), 9 p.; 18. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), 8 p.; 19. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 8 p.; 20. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 8 p.; 21. Valentine Guillod (SUI, YAM), 3 p.; 22. Vsevolod Brylyakov (MFR, HON), 2 p.; 23. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, YAM), 1 p.; 24. Hardy Roosiorg (EST, KTM), 0 p.; 25. Dennis Poles (SVK, KTM), 0 p.; 26. Andrea La Scala (ITA, GAS), 0 p.; 27. Timothy Hoarau (FRA, KAW), 0 p.; 28. Ander Valentine (ESP, HUS), 0 p.; 29. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, HON), 0 p.; 30. Anton Nordström Graf (SWE, YAM), 0 p.;
Final MXGP World Championship 2021
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 708 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, COW), 703 p.; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 688 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 566 p.; 5. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 562 p.; 6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 545 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 442 p.; 8. Pauls Jonass (LAT, GAS), 391 p.; 9. Thomas Kjer Olsen (THE, HOUSE), 332 p.; 10. Alessandro Lupin (ITA, KTM), 319 p.; 11. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 300 p.; 12. Brian Bogers (NED, GAS), 290 p.; 13. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, BET), 232 p.; 14. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 203 p.; 15. Henry Jacobi (GER, HON), 188 p.; 16. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 152 p.; 17. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 126 p.; 18. Alberto Forato (STONE, GAS), 119 p.; 19. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 119 p.; 20. Benoit Paturel (FRA, HON), 110 p.; 21. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, YAM), 106 p.; 22. Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 103 p.; 23. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), 76 p.; 24. Dylan Wright (CAN, HON), 75 p.; 25. Mathys Islam (FRA, CAW), 62 p.; 26. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 56 p.; 27. Ivo Monticelli (NOW, COW), 54 p.; 28. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 50 p.; 29. Valentine Guillod (SUI, YAM), 49 p.; 30. Lawrence Locurcio (VEN, KTM), 47 p
Photos: MXGP, MXGP TV
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