MXGP: Cairoli Seals First Race Win in Over One Year as Gajser Crashes Out

The MXGP of Riga would be the first time the Motocross World Championship had raced on a Wednesday, and the first moto provided one of the most action-packed races we have seen in a while. 

The beginning of the race saw the usual carnage at turn one in Kegums, the layout of the corner just asks for it. Caught up in it were Jeffrey Herlings, pole setter Arminas Jasikonis and Gautier Paulin, to name a few. 

With Herlings leading the championship, his difficulties in turn one presented opportunities for his rivals, such as Tim Gajser. The #243 had not made a fantastic start, but was anyway in eighth place and still had the possibility of finishing in the top positions in the race. 

But there was ground for Gajser to make up, and in the process he went down and dropped from eighth to 14th. Another crash later on in the moto resulted in the end Gajser’s race and no points for the reigning champion, proving again that the #243’s weakness is finishing races and this one could prove costly. 

At the front, things were also not running smoothly for the leader, Jorge Prado, who took the holeshot and led the opening couple of laps. Antonio Cairoli had started second, and was closing in on the Spaniard when the #61 hit a rock with the front wheel that broke the spokes. Prado required a pit stop to change the wheel and that dropped him out of contention. 

Prado’s misfortune worked out well for Cairoli, however, as the Italian inherited the lead the Spaniard surrendered and it was one that Cairoli would keep until the end, taking his 177th moto win as a professional and his first since he won in Mantova last year. 

Things were much less straightforward behind Cairoli, however. There was a monumental battle in the middle of the top 10 between Ivo Monticelli, Clement Desalle, Benoit Paturel, Romain Febvre, Jeremy Seewer, Jeffrey Herlings and Glenn Coldenhoff. 

The fight was fierce, especially when Herlings passed Coldenhoff, the #259 reacted very strongly, and spent two or three laps riding seemingly way over the limit to try to re-pass his compatriot before a mistake reset his temperament and calmed him down for a few laps. 

Then Paturel started to be shuffled back in the group, first by Herlings and then by Seewer who demoted the Frenchman to 10th. 

The factory Kawasaki duo of Desalle and Febvre then started to pressure sixth-placed Monticelli and, though the Italian’s defence was strong, the #128 did not have enough to keep the KX450s at bay. After Desalle and Febvre had made their way past Monticelli, the GASGAS rider was quickly overcome by Herlings and Seewer and within the space of half a lap, Monticelli had dropped four positions. 

Whilst Monticelli had been slipping back, his teammate, Coldenhoff, had made it past Paturel and was now closing back in on the battle with Herlings and Seewer. The #259 was able to pass his teammate quite quickly, and was then almost immediately upon those in front of him. 

The quintet of Desalle, Febvre, Herlings, Seewer and Coldenhoff was then soon upon the #189 of Brian Bogers who had been running quietly in fourth until that point.

Febvre was the first to find his way through, and was able to do so and break away from the group. 

Then came Desalle to pass Bogers, the Belgian taking the inside line in the left-hander before the waves. Bogers went outside, and their lines converged, making Bogers check up and allowing Herlings through on his compatriot. Desalle then missed the triple in the middle of the waves, which cost him momentum, meaning that in the space of about 15 seconds Herlings had climbed from seventh to fifth. Seewer and Coldenhoff were then able to find their respective ways through on Bogers afterwards. 

Seewer was then able to pass Desalle one lap after Herlings, before setting on after the Dutchman once again, as the #84 himself was chasing Febvre. In turn, Febvre was catching Jeremy van Horebeek who had run most of the race to that point in second. In quick succession, the trio of Febvre, Herlings and Seewer were able to pass van Horebeek.

Next up for them was Arnaud Tonus, who had passed van Horebeek just before the trio had arrived, and the Swiss made it quite easy for them as he fell in the left-hander before the waves. 

That fall from Tonus promoted Febvre into second place, where he remained until the flag, putting the Frenchman well in the mix to take the overall in his second race with Kawasaki. 

Behind was Herlings, who completed a magnificent comeback from the floor in turn one to third over the finish jump. 

Jeremy Seewer completed a strong ride in fourth place having tailed Herlings very closely for the majority of the moto. The Swiss was ahead of van Horebeek who finished fifth and Clement Desalle in sixth – a much better showing from the Belgian after a 12-10 scorecard last weekend. 

Glenn Coldenhoff’s charge stopped at P7, the Dutchman finishing just ahead of a hard-charging Arminas Jasikonis who went from the floor in turn one to eighth over the line. Arnaud Tonus dropped to ninth after his late crash, whilst Brian Bogers completed the top 10. 

Ivo Monticelli ended up 11th, probably suffering with the injury he picked up in the first moto last weekend The Italian was ahead of Jordi Tixier, Gautier Paulin, Michele Cervellin and Calvin Vlaanderen who completed the top 15. Karlis Sabulis was 16th, in front of Benoit Paturel who dropped significantly in the second half of the moto; then came Adam Sterry, Petar Petrov and Anton Gole who completed the top 20.