For second year in a row the British track of Matterley Basin hosted the MXGP Festival with up to 319 riders who took part in a colourful parade lap early in the morning. Unfortunately, the rain came and the track became very demanding for the young European riders, but once the MX1 and MX2 riders went out for their main races the sun started to shine. Antonio Cairoli dominated the first race and was crowned MX1 World Champion, but it was Clement Desalle who took the overall victory.
Antonio Cairoli could not finish the second race due to a mechanical problem, so Clement Desalle was on the first of the podium thanks to his 2-1 result. His teammate Kevin Strijbos was second and Evgeny Bobryshev finished third.
In MX2 Glenn Coldenhoff obtained the overall victory after two difficult races and British rider Jake Nicholls produce two strong rides to finish in second overall, just a single point behind Coldenhoff and José Butrón finished third. Dean Ferris won the first race but he was forced to retire due to a mechanical problem.
MX1
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Clement Desalle finished on the first step of the podium for the third time in a row and he admitted that he was very satisfied for such achievement. The Belgian rider finished second in the first race and he explained that he felt very stiff during the whole moto and he did not ride as comfortable as usual. In the second race he was second behind Cairoli, but when the Italian crashed, Desalle took the lead and he dominated the race until the chequered flag.
His teammate Kevin Strijbos felt really good today and he proved it with two strong races and the second overall position of the Grand Prix. In the first race he started third and he managed to keep such position until the end, but in the final race he had to make a huge effort to move from his initial eleventh position to the final third place, overtaking Bobryshev in the big triple with three laps to go. The Belgian is still fifth in the standings, but just four points behind Gautier Paulin.
Honda World Motocross’ Evgeny Bobryshev did not start the weekend really well with the DNF in the qualifying race, but on Sunday he turned things around and finished on the third step of the podium. The Russian had a very consistent first race in fourth, but he admitted that he struggled a little bit with arm-pump and he could not go fast enough to move up to third. In the second race he rode in third during most of the heat and when he saw Strijbos coming faster from behind, he decided to let him pass in order not to risk the third overall position.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Ken De Dycker had another tough weekend, but he managed to finish fourth overall. The Belgian rider struggled once again with his starts, but he was able to cross the finish line fifth and fourth even if he is still struggling with his injured ankle.
Home rider Tommy Searle was not able to achieve his main goal for the weekend which was finishing on the podium; in the first race he was eighth after the start and the British rider gave it all to move up to the front group, but he had to settle down with a sixth place. In the second race the CLS Kawasaki Monster Energy Pro Circuit rider got stuck in a tangle in the first lap and it took him some time to go back to the race. The British rider was almost in the back of the pack but he was able to cross the finish line seventh, which gave him the fifth overall position.
Gautier Paulin started down in the fourteenth position in the first race, but he managed to put some good laps to finish ninth. In the second race his start was much better, but he was only able to finish fifth in the race and sixth in the Grand Prix.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli obtained his seventh FIM Motocross World Title at Matterley, but he was not able to win the Grand Prix. The Italian had two great starts, but whereas he dominated the first heat with superb authority, in the second one he crashed in the opening lap and his KTM started to fail. In the end, the Italian decided to retire as his bike was stopping constantly. Cairoli finished seventh overall but he went home with his fifth MX1 World Title.
Shaun Simpson had one of his best performances of the season in front of his home crowd, obtaining the eighth overall place thanks to his eighth position in both heats. Tanel Leok was ninth and Jeremy Van Horebeek was tenth. The Belgian rider was very disappointed, because he obtained a very strong second place in the final heat, but a problem with the front brake of his Kawasaki forced him to retire from the first race
MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40:12.219; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:13.729; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:19.596; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:37.345; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:44.925; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:52.268; 7. David Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), +0:57.437; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +1:00.898; 9. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:31.427; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +1:42.077;
MX1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 39:39.867; 2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:09.276; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:16.160; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:28.647; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:39.680; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:50.764; 7. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:03.211; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +1:08.104; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +1:38.004; 10. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), +1:48.876;
MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 47 points; 2. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 40 p.; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 36 p.; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 31 p.; 5. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 29 p.; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 28 p.; 7. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 28 p.; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), 26 p.; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), 23 p.; 10. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 22 p.;
MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 718 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 647 p.; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 573 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 513 p.; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 509 p.; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 460 p.; 7. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 405 p.; 8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 314 p.; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 312 p.; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), 282 p.;
MX2
It was an incredible day for Standing Construct KTM’s Glenn Coldenhoff as he obtained his maiden Grand Prix victory in the FIM MX2 World Championship. The Dutch rider was not feeling really well before the races and was really tired after the first race when he crossed the finish line third. Coldenhoff started down in the tenth position in the second race and even struggled with the rough and demanding track, managed to move up to fourth and win the Grand Prix. The Dutch rider was not aware that he was riding for the win as he couldn’t read the pit board of his mechanics and it was only when he saw the team waiting for him by the skybox that he realized that he was the overall winner of the British Grand Prix.
Home rider Jake Nicholls was also really close to winning the Grand Prix and actually finished just one point behind Coldenhoff. The Wilvo Nestaan JM Racing KTM rider rode a very strong first moto in second, but he had a bad start in the second race and he thought that all his possibilities of finishing on the podium were gone. However, after riding safe the first few laps of the race, he managed to find a good rhythm and he rode behind Coldenhoff most of the race moving from twelfth to sixth. The British rider also could not read the pit board from his mechanics and during the whole moto he thought he was riding for the podium and not for the victory.
KTM Silver Action’s José Butrón was a bit disappointed even if he finished on the third step of the podium. The Spanish rider had two excellent starts but in none of the races could keep the rhythm of the front group. In the first race he finished fifth and in the second one he lost the second position to Romain Febvre in the second half of the race and he lost the opportunity to win the Grand Prix.
Wilvo Nestaan JM Racing KTM’s Romain Febvre did an excellent performance in the second race crossing the finish line second ahead of Butrón, Coldenhoff and Tixier. However, the French young rider missed the podium because he had a bad start in the first race and he was only able to finish ninth. Febvre was fourth overall in the Grand Prix.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Christophe Charlier did not have a good first race, crashing a couple of times and crossing the finish line down in the eighteenth place. However, things went much better for the French rider in the second race and after taking the lead in the second lap from Butrón, he managed to open a comfortable gap at the front and he won the race with nine seconds advantage over the second. Charlier ended fifth overall and he is now thirty-nine points behind Butrón.
Mel Pocock obtained an overall sixth position at his home Grand Prix with a 6-9 result, and Dylan Ferrandis was seventh. The French rider rode a solid first moto in fourth, but a crash in the early stages of the second race made him finish in the fourteenth position.
Dean Ferris was another unlucky rider after dominating the first race, he crashed in the second moto when he was riding third and he was forced to retire because the fuel tank of his bike was damaged.
Home riders Elliott Banks-Browne and Max Anstie completed the top ten of the British Grand Prix.
MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 39:38.386; 2. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:04.749; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:10.070; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:12.303; 5. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:41.303; 6. Mel Pocock (GBR, Yamaha), +0:45.536; 7. Tim Gajser (SLO, KTM), +0:48.624; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:57.100; 9. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), +0:57.767; 10. Elliott Banks-Browne (GBR, KTM), +1:29.337;
MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 40:55.169; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), +0:08.949; 3. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:09.694; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:10.405; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:12.238; 6. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:14.166; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), +0:46.988; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:59.031; 9. Mel Pocock (GBR, Yamaha), +1:00.702; 10. Elliott Banks-Browne (GBR, KTM), +1:01.435;
MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 38 points; 2. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 37 p.; 3. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 36 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), 34 p.; 5. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 28 p.; 6. Mel Pocock (GBR, Yamaha), 27 p.; 7. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 8. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 25 p.; 9. Elliott Banks-Browne (GBR, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), 18 p.;
MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 692 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 569 p.; 3. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 506 p.; 4. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 467 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 450 p.; 6. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 434 p.; 7. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 407 p.; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Suzuki), 320 p.; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), 319 p.; 10. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 287 p.;