After the huge success of last year’s MXGP Festival, Matterley Basin is ready to host once again the biggest MX Show of the year. Starting already on Thursday, up to eleven different categories – one more than in 2012 – will race the emblematic track of Matterley Basin, where Antonio Cairoli might claim what it would be his seventh FIM Motocross World Title and all the European Titles might be decided.
The 2013 MXGP Festival will break all the records having up to 524 riders entered in the event divided in the following championships: FIM MX1, MX2, MX3 and WMX World Championships, FIM VMX World Cup, EMX65, 85, 125, 150 and 250 European Championships and the Amateur Race. On Sunday morning all of the riders will take part in the Riders Parade and they will cover the Matterley Basin race track with their bikes.
Click here in order to obtain the entry lists of the MXGP Festival and here to download the timetable for the event.
MX1
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli was second overall in Bastogne, Belgium, last weekend and he missed the opportunity to be crowned MX1 World Champion because Clement Desalle finished on the top of the podium. However, the Italian travels to Matterley Basin with 90 points advantage and there are only 100 points left to win in the championship, so it is very likely that Cairoli wins his seventh World Title after the first race on Sunday.
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Clement Desalle experienced one of the best weekends of his career last weekend in Bastogne, where he was able to hand an overall victory to his home crowd and he stopped Cairoli to be crowned World Champion on his home soil. However, Desalle is aware that this upcoming weekend the Italian has everything in favour to obtain the 2013 FIM MX1 World Title, but the Belgian will race again for another GP victory.
The third position in the MX1 points standings is currently for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Ken De Dycker, who gave his best in Bastogne but he was only able to finish sixth overall and ended up with an injured ankle. The Belgian struggled quite a lot during his home Grand Prix, but he hopes to feel better this upcoming weekend to finish on the podium again.
Kawasaki Racing Team’s Gautier Paulin was back racing last weekend in Bastogne and he obtained an impressive third position in the first race. By the middle of the second heat he almost crashed and he decided to go back to the pits in order not to take any unnecessary risks, but in general the French rider proved to be almost fully fit from the concussion he suffered in Germany. This weekend Paulin will race in Matterley Basin where last year finished third overall.
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Kevin Strijbos is getting closer to the fourth position of the championship, as he is now sixteen points behind Paulin. The Belgian rider struggled in the first heat in Bastogne, but he was able to finish fourth overall, so this weekend he will give it all again to finish on the podium.
This weekend all the eyes will be on the best British rider of the moment, Tommy Searle, who is currently sixth in the MX1 point standings and he is still fighting to obtain his maiden MX1 podium. Searle has repeated several times that Matterley Basin is a special track for him, not only because it is near his place, but also because it was where he obtained his maiden podium, it was the track where he participated in his first ever MXoN and where he won the MX2 Grand Prix last year from the likes of Jeffrey Herlings. This weekend Searle will not only race to finish on the podium, but he will give it all to win again in front of his home crowd.
Jeremy Van Horebeek, who is another rider looking forward to his first MX1 podium, is seventh in the MX1 standings, followed by Max Nagl and Evgeny Bobryshev. While the German is still recuperating from the Epstein-Barr virus, his Russian teammate has finished on the podium in the last two Grand Prix. David Philippaerts is obtaining really good results lately and he is completing the top ten of the MX1 classification.
2012 MX1 Podium
1. Antonio Cairoli
2. Max Nagl
3. Gautier Paulin
2012 MX1 POLEMAN: Antonio Cairoli
MX2
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings will miss the British Grand Prix and provably the rest of the season due to a broken shoulder blade. The Dutch rider crashed during the qualifying race in Bastogne and what at first seemed to be a dislocated left shoulder has finally been diagnosed as a broken shoulder blade.
His teammate Jordi Tixier will give his best this weekend to place his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine on the top of the podium and obtain his maiden Grand Prix victory. Last weekend all the bets were on him, but the French rider had problems with his goggles in both heats and he was only able to finish second overall.
Another rider that will race for the overall victory at Matterley Basin is José Butrón who keeps on holding the third position of the MX2 standings with a 31-points advantage over Christophe Charlier. The KTM Silver Action rider did not cope well with the pressure last weekend in Bastogne and he finished out of the podium, but this weekend he is determined to start at the front in both heats and fight for the overall win.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Christophe Charlier also missed the podium in Belgium, but this weekend he will be racing once again not only to win the Grand Prix, but also to move up to the third positions of the championship. The French rider has proved to be very strong physically, but he lacks the consistency to be riding with the front group in both heats.
Standing Construct KTM’s Glenn Coldenhoff finished again on the top of the podium last weekend and he keeps holding the fifth position of the standings. However, Australian Dean Ferris is just three points behind the Dutch rider. Coldenhoff will race again to finish on the podium and to keep the fifth position in the MX2 championship.
Dean Ferris is travelling to Matterley Basin after having obtained his maiden Grand Prix victory in Bastogne. The Australian rider made an excellent performance last weekend and he dominated both heats with great authority. The British Grand Prix is a special one for the Australian, as his team is based in the UK and his team manager, Steve Dixon, is also the organizer of the event, so Ferris will give his best to hand his team and the British crowd another overall victory this weekend.
Home rider Jake Nicholls, seventh in the standings, has not had the season he expected, but this weekend he will give his best in front of his crowd in order to finish on the podium as he did in Valkenswaard in the beginning of the season. British rider Max Anstie, who is ninth in the MX2 standings behind Alessandro Lupino and ahead of Petar Petrov, will also race on home turf this weekend.
2012 MX2 Podium
1. Tommy Searle
2. Jeffrey Herlings
3. Zach Osborne
2012 MX2 POLEMAN: Jeffrey Herlings
MX3
The FIM MX3 World Championship will celebrate the seventh out of nine rounds this weekend in Matterley Basin, where Slovenian Klemen Gercar will try to defend the red plate from the likes of Martin Michek and Mathias Walkner, second and third in the championship. However, Gert Krestinov, who is 36 points behind Gercar, will aslo race for the victory even if he knows that the Title is a little bit difficult to achieve. Czech rider Frantisek Smola moved up to the fifth position of the standings after the Ukrainian round, where he won the first heat and he obtained an overall third position.
WMX
During the MXGP Festival the women will also line up at Matterley Basin to take part in the fifth round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship. Up to now, Chiara Fontanesi has dominated all the races and she is the clear favourite to win the British round at Matterley Basin, track where she obtained his maiden World Title last year. Megan Rutledge from Australian has proved to be in really good shape and she will give his best to fight for the overall victory, as well as Natalie Kane who is holding the third position of the standings, just one point behind Rutledge and thirty-three points behind Fontanesi. Another rider to look at this weekend is former FIM WMX World Champion Stephanie Laier, who is one point behind Kane. Completing the top five is Nancy Van de Ven.
All the photos of the MXGP Festival will be available here
TIMETABLE
Thursday: VMX Free Practice 8:00; WMX Free Practice 8:40; MX3 Free Practice 9:20; Amateur Free/Time Practice 10:00; VMX Qualifying Practice 11:10; WMX Qualifying Practice 11:55; MX3 Qualifying Practice 14:30; Amateur Race 15:40; WMX Race 1 17:00; VMX Race 1 17:50.
Friday: EMX65 Free Practice 7:45; EMX85 Free Practice 8:10; EMX125 Free&Time Practice 8:40; EMX250 Free&Time Practice 9:20; EMX150 Free&Time Practice 10:00; EMX65 Time Practice 10:55; EMX85 Time Practice 11:20; EMX125 Semi Final Group 1 12:05; EMX250 Semi Final Group 1 12:50; EMX150 Qualifying Race 13:35; EMX65 Qualifying Race 14:15; EMX85 Qualifying Race 14:55; Amateur Super Final Warm Up 15:20; EMX125 Semi Final Group 2 16:05; EMX250 Semi Final Group 2 16:55; EMX150 Race 17:40; Amateur Super Final 18.25.
Saturday: EMX65 Warm up 7:30; EMX85 Warm up 7:50; WMX Warm up 8:15; VMX Warm Up 8:40; MX2 Free Practice 9:25; MX1 Free Practice 10:05; MX3 Warm up 10.45; EMX65 Race 1 11:35; EMX85 Race 1 12.10; MX2 Pre-Qualifying Practice 12:50; MX1-Pre Qualifying Practice 13:55; MX3 Race 1 14:30; MX2 Qualifying Race 15:25; MX1 Qualifying Race 16:10; WMX Race 2 17:00; VMX Race 2 17:45; MX3 Race 2 18:30.
Sunday: EMX65 Warm up 7:30; EMX85 Warm up 7:50; EMX125 Warm up 8:10; EMX250 Warm up 8:30; MX2 Warm up 8:55; MX1 Warm up 9:20; EMX65 Race 2 10:15; EMX85 Race 2 10:45; EMX125 Final 11:25; MX2 Grand Prix Race 1 12:10; MX1 Grand Prix Race 1 13:10; EMX250 Final 14:10; MX2 Grand Prix Race 2 15:01; MX1 Grand Prix race 2 16:07.