Barragan top Honda rider in Mexican Grand Prix

Guadalajara,
14 May 2012 – LS Honda Racing’s Jonathan Barragan finished
eighth overall at the inaugural Grand Prix of Mexico in Guadalajara.
With a hard fought 7-9 scorecard the CRF450R mounted Spaniard capped
off a hot and testing weekend with positive results. ‘JB7’ has
now moved up four positions in the FIM MX1 World Motocross
Championship standings

Prior
to race day the start of the GP weekend was surrounded with confusion
as all regular MX1 GP contenders deemed the dusty state of the track
not safe enough to race in the qualifying moto. Based on his 12th
place finish in pre-qualifying this meant Jonathan would start from
22nd behind the gate in both races. After a superb job from the local
organizers during the night (try to fight the dust in blazing
sunshine!) it was business as usual on Sunday. A fine 7th place in
warm-up confirmed Barragan’s speed..

Starting
just inside the top-15 the Dunlop-shod Honda rider managed to make
headway quickly. Barragan was already 10th after the opening lap.
Posting some respectable lap times comparable to the top five allowed
him to climb up to ninth right behind Strijbos when a mistake dropped
the Spanish MX1 champion back to 11th. However Barragan bounced back
again to claim 7th at the finish line.

Although
the track took a heavy beating lap times dropped further in the
second moto when the soil had dried out completely. Jonathan enjoyed
a better start and circulated in ninth in the early stages of the
race. While he lost two places early on Barragan came back to ninth.
Only marginal differences separated him from Goncalves, Leok and
three other riders ahead of him, but unfortunately further progress
was no longer on the cards. The elevation and the heat started to
take their toll and Jonathan consolidated for ninth.

Jonathan
Barragan: “I’m quite happy with my
race in Mexico. Today I had a good rhythm and the results came. In
the second moto I felt a bit disappointed because there were five
rider just ahead of me and I couldn’t quite do enough to get in
among them. Anyway this is my best race of the year so far. I have to
thank my team manager Steven and the team for their support. The
track was pretty bad. Many kickers on the jumps, big pools of water
and riders crossing lines and crashing. Conditions were pretty
dangerous.”

MX1
Race 1 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40:53.481; ; 2. Clement Desalle
(BEL, Suzuki), +0:07.664; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:30.519; 4.
Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:43.925; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL,
KTM), +0:48.259; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:53.089; 7. Jonathan
Barragan (ESP, LS Honda Racing), +1:07.005; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA,
Kawasaki), +1:14.736; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +1:19.620; 10.
David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:34.840; 11. Matiss Karro (LAT,
KTM), +1:36.467; 12. Dean Ferris (AUS, Kawasaki), +1:46.947; 13.
Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +2:05.926; 14. Santtu Tiainen
(FIN, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 15. Martin Garcia (MEX, KTM), -2 lap(s);
16. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), -2 lap(s); 17. Rodolfo
Fernandez (USA, Yamaha), -2 lap(s); 18. Mario Farfan (MEX, Honda), -4
lap(s); 19. Giuzepe Vazquez (MEX, Yamaha), -4 lap(s); 20. Raynear
Mejia (DOM, Kawasaki), -4 lap(s);

MX1
Race 2 1. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha),
40:15.650; ; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:01.323; 3. Antonio
Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:05.451; 4. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki),
+0:11.445; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:14.190; 6. Tanel Leok
(EST, Suzuki), +0:16.658; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:17.784;
8. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:18.654;
9. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, LS Honda Racing), +0:29.974; 10. Kevin
Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:45.232; 11. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM),
+1:01.852; 12. Dean Ferris (AUS, Kawasaki), +1:05.116; 13. Matiss
Karro (LAT, KTM), +1:40.218; 14. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki),
-1 lap(s); 15. Santtu Tiainen (FIN, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 16. Raynear
Mejia (DOM, Kawasaki), -2 lap(s); 17. Samir Rodriguez (MEX, Yamaha),
-2 lap(s); 18. Rodolfo Fernandez (USA, Yamaha), -3 lap(s); 19.
Donovan Garcia (MEX, Honda), -3 lap(s); 20. Jose Luis Guzman (MEX,
Kawasaki), -5 lap(s);

GP
of Mexico classification 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 points;
2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 44 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA,
Yamaha), 36 p.; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Tanel Leok
(EST, Suzuki), 30 p.; 6. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 27 p.;
7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 27 p.; 8. Jonathan
Barragan (ESP, LS Honda Racing), 26 p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR,
Honda), 25 p.; 10. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 23 p.; 11.
Dean Ferris (AUS, Kawasaki), 18 p.; 12. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), 18
p.; 13. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 18 p.; 14. Sebastien
Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 15 p.; 15. Santtu Tiainen (FIN, Kawasaki),
13 p.; 16. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 10 p.; 17. Rodolfo Fernandez
(USA, Yamaha), 7 p.; 18. Raynear Mejia
(DOM, Kawasaki), 6 p.; 19. Martin Garcia (MEX, KTM), 6 p.; 20. Samir
Rodriguez (MEX, Yamaha), 4 p.; 21. Mario Farfan (MEX, Honda), 3 p.;
22. Donovan Garcia (MEX, Honda), 2 p.;

MX1
World standings after 4 rounds 1. Antonio
Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 178 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 149
p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 134 p.; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL,
KTM), 131 p.; 5. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 129 p.; 6. David
Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 105 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 103
p.; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 99 p.; 9. Tanel Leok (EST,
Suzuki), 92 p.; 10. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 79 p.; 11. Evgeny
Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 69 p.; 12. Jonathan
Barragan (ESP, LS Honda Racing), 59 p.; 13. Shaun Simpson (GBR,
Yamaha), 58 p.; 14. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), 53 p.; 15. Davide
Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 46 p.; 16. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 40 p.;
17. Dean Ferris (AUS, Kawasaki), 40 p.; 18. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA,
Kawasaki), 39 p.; 19. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, Honda), 27 p.; 20.
Matteo Bonini (ITA, KTM), 21 p.; 21. Santtu Tiainen (FIN, Kawasaki),
15 p.; 22. Marcus Schiffer (GER, Suzuki), 14 p.; 23. Anthony
Boissiere (FRA, TM), 12 p.; 24. Milko Potisek (FRA, Honda), 12 p.;
25. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Yamaha), 11 p.; 26. Herjan Brakke (NED,
Yamaha), 10 p.; 27. Rodolfo Fernandez (USA, Yamaha), 7 p.; 28. Martin
Garcia (MEX, KTM), 6 p.; 29. Raynear Mejia (DOM, Kawasaki), 6 p.; 30.
Gert Krestinov (EST, Honda), 5 p

Next
weekend the LS Honda Racing team will line up for the Brazilian GP in
Beto Carrero