Tony Cairoli back on top of the box

The 8th of May is officially the Easter of motocross with the rebirth of the eight-time FIM Motocross World Champion Antonio Cairoli who won his first grand prix since the MXGP of Great Britain, which took place on the 24th of May 2015. “I’ve been searching for this win for some time now” He said, “I’ve been missing some speed but I started to feel good already in Latvia. Now I hope to be here on the podium and fighting for the win every weekend.” The popular Italian has the best track record here in Teutschenthal and has now won four grand prix’ on this soil.

Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser is arguably the most exciting rider to watch on the track. The Slovenian is just on the edge at all times. He doesn’t care, he’s strong and he’s confident and he will pin it to the checkers in every race. In race one, he threw everything but the kitchen sink at Tony Cairoli, but couldn’t make a pass stick and in race two he bounced back to fourth after clipping fellow Honda rider Evegeny Bobryshev in a battle for second. His results for the day were enough for second overall, his seventh consecutive podium and, more importantly, the championship lead.

Team HRC’s Evegeny Bobryshev nursed his injured shoulder to an impressive third overall this weekend. The Russian said “I had no time on the bike during the week because of my shoulder. The track was really tough today with all of the ruts and the square edge bumps so to be third on the podium, I am really pumped because if you knew what I have and the pain I was riding through, man it’s just really amazing.”

Chainsaws and air horns were going full blast for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl who charged to a third in race one and sixth in race two, after he binned it while in third. The German actually tied with Bobby for third overall but the silverware goes to the person who places best in the final race and that was Bobryshev, who finished second.

There’s nothing like a bit of controversy to spice things up, especially between teammates. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek and Romain Febvre had a discussion on the start line before race one regarding gate pick. Coincidently or not, Van Horebeek and Febvre came together on the opening lap of that moto and Febvre hit the deck. Febvre struggled to come back in that race and only finished tenth. In race two, he put in a solid ride for third, which left him in fifth overall and has seen him relinquish the red plate.

MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 35:21.882; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:04.991; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:12.252; 4. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:16.655; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:26.742; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:28.779; 7. Ben Townley (NZL, Suzuki), +0:42.598; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:49.103; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:51.085; 10. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +1:01.916.

MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 33:52.905; 2. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:02.783; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:03.349; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:19.696; 5. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:22.314; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:25.657; 7. Ben Townley (NZL, Suzuki), +0:29.384; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:31.077; 9. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:33.268; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:44.820.

MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 40 p.; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 35 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 35 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 31 p.; 6. Ben Townley (NZL, SUZ), 28 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 27 p.; 8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, HUS), 26 p.; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 25 p.; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 23 p.

MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 299 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 291 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 263 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 238 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 232 p.; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 215 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 169 p.; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 168 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 139 p.; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 136 p.

MXGP Manufacturer: 1. Honda, 305 points; 2. Yamaha, 298 p.; 3. KTM, 270 p.; 4. Husqvarna, 249 p.; 5. Suzuki, 192 p.; 6. Kawasaki, 154 p.

Images by MXGP