MXGP: Herlings Wins out in Intense Four-Way Battle

The MXGP World Championship was back in action at Faenza for the MXGP of Italy, and after qualifying it was Jeffrey Herlings who was fastest, and took the first gate pick. 

It was Jorge Prado, though, who took the early lead, although the Spaniard was passed before the first lap was done by Ivo Monticelli. 

Prado kept up the pressure on the Italian, though, and passed for the lead at the start of the first full lap. Once he had lost the lead, the floodgates opened on Monticelli, and he was soon back to eighth. 

The first to pass after Prado was Herlings, and the Dutchman set on after his teammate. But Prado’s pace was strong, as was Antonio Cairoli’s behind the #84 once he passed Clement Desalle for third place to make it an all-Red Bull KTM top three early in the moto.

The racing inside the top 10 was intense, with both factory Honda riders, all three Red Bull KTMs, two of the three factory Yamahas and both factory Kawasakis fighting, theoretically, for the top three in the opening stages. Eventually it thinned out, slightly, with Prado stretching away at the front from Herlings, who was clear of Cairoli and Seewer. 

At half-distance, there were two distinct battles inside the top four, with Herlings chasing Prado for the lead and Cairoli defending from Seewer for third. It seemed that the pressure Seewer was applying to Cairoli pushed the #222 on, and the top four closed up into a single battle for the win. 

Herlings sensed the danger approaching from behind and made his move on Prado with just a few minutes left on the clock. The rookie then had to defend from his companion in the De Carli side of the Red Bull KTM awning, Cairoli, who in turn had to consider the proximity of Seewer. 

For a while it looked as though Cairoli had the opportunity to pass Prado and perhaps even make a late charge at Herlings, however a mistake three laps from the end in the corner before the uphill waves section allowed Seewer to make his move in the left-hander at the top of the hill. This clearly frustrated Cairoli, who was only allowed back into the top three of the moto by a mistake from Prado, who crashed on the final lap. 

Out front, though, it was a controlled performance from Herlings, who took his second consecutive moto win and extended his lead at the top of the championship. When Prado was stretching away in the first 10 minutes of the race, Herlings did not panic, and instead closed back in on his teammate. Once the pressure was arriving from Cairoli, the #84 took the lead, pulled out one second and held station from there. It certainly seems that we have a more complete Jeffrey Herlings in 2020. 

The crash of Prado on the final lap promoted Seewer to second place, equalling his best moto finish in the top class. The Swiss was perhaps the standout rider, the only one to be even close to the factory KTMs on the #91 Monster Energy Yamaha.

Cairoli’s frustration at being passed so late on was not relieved too much by his re-entry to the top three courtesy of Prado’s fall, but certainly it puts him in a more promising position with respect to the overall result compared to the fourth place he was facing temporarily. Third place was also enough for Cairoli to move up into second in the championship, jumping Arminas Jasikonis and Tim Gajser who both finished outside the top five. 

Jorge Prado’s race was one of the best he has done in the MXGP class. The speed was there in Latvia but there were still some endurance issues. They seem to have largely gone away in Italy for the Spaniard, who was able to maintain the pace of the leaders throughout the race. The #61 was also able to hold onto fourth place despite his last lap crash, so is not out of the frame for an overall podium. 

Fifth place went to Gautier Paulin who was not too distant from the lead battle, but nonetheless fairly anonymous despite the striking red gear the factory Yamaha riders are sporting this weekend. Behind Paulin was Gajser, who suffered radiator damage in a crash mid-race, for most of the race. The crash itself did not cost Gajser positions, but the damage proved costly and the #243 dropped to eighth by the end of the race, being passed by Romain Febvre and Glenn Coldenhoff by the end of the race, the #3 and the #259 finishing sixth and seventh, respectively. Rounding out the top 10 were Mitch Evans and the aforementioned Jasikonis. 

Clement Desalle was inside the top three early on in the race, but finished down in 11th. The Belgian finished ahead of Jordi Tixier, Michele Cervellin, Calvin Vlaanderen and Dylan Walsh who completed the top 15. Arnaud Tonus was 16th, ahead of Nicholas Lapucci, Pascal Rauchenecker, Ivo Monticelli – whose race evidently fell apart after leading on the opening lap – and Alessandro Lupino who completed the top 20.