GP Bits: MXGP of Riga | Round 4 - Motocross Feature

All photos by Juan Pablo Acevedo

Here we are back at the same track as Sunday for round four of the 2020 MXGP series. We'll also stay in Latvia at the same track for the next round, this Sunday.

Practicing social distancing with the boom mic, it was super cool for Cairoli to take the overall with 1-4 moto scores.

His P1 in moto one gave him his 177th moto win in his career. Cairoli is a legend.

Mrs. Cairoli with the Covid-chic look.

Your typical healthy portion of carbon fiber... Tank, subframe, air box, skidplate, and fan mount.

Along with front fender side extensions we saw last year, Monster Energy Kawasaki KX450s have shroud top extenders as well.

Man those PC headers have beautiful welds.

Check out the gold heat shield on the carbon airbox. Perhaps in the sand, everything gets so hot that the air passing through the airbox and intake gets too hot. Cold air is powerful air.

The Swiss Monster Energy Yamaha rider Jeremy Seewer had a great weekend going 4-2 for second overall... but not on that bike.

First spray of the bubbly in a while for #91

Teammate Gautier Paulin's butt patch is... interesting.

Henry Jacobi aged up to the MXGP class this year. The stylish German rider is now in a bigger pond with bigger fish. He finished 25th overall.

Again, heat is hard to control in the sand. Gold wrapped coolant hoses and a thermometer strip on the cases.

Jacobi is running a hydraulic clutch like so many 450s nowadays.

Jacobi has FaBa Wheels which is a Germain wheel company.

You can also see a ti axle, and a little caliper guard in the left photo.

So much talent represented by these stands... and such a variety of styles as well.

Red Bull KTM rider Jeffrey Herlings was the most consistent rider, as far as the results are concerned, a 3-3 moto score for third overall.

But what 3rd places don't show is a massive charge from almost last in the first moto and him leading nearly all of moto 2 until a tip-over two laps to go.

$We guess Rene Hofer is a fan of the buffets? Unfortunately, Rene had a gnarly crash, fractured his shoulder and is out for the rest of the season.$

Two red plates under the same tent. Pretty solid team, we'd say.

Everyone's board is talking about each other!

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Aminas Jasikonis was on fire this race. He was the fastest qualifier and put down the fastest lap time in moto one while climbing through the pack from a first turn crash to 8th.

Jasikonis then went on to get his first ever moto win in moto 2, for fourth overall.

The super trick Husky pits are working out great for social distancing.

The double-decker pits always make any track feel like an MXGP.

Seems like their starting gate has much lower to fall than ours.

Everyone has there starting gate rituals... Apparently Febvre likes to sneak up on his handlebars.

Romain was 5th overall with 2-11 moto scores.

Honda HRC's Tim Gajser had a bad race day. Mistakes and a crash in moto one lead to Tim DNFing because of a bent-up bike. Moto two he got another bad start but managed to get back to 5th.

Let's take another look at the all new 2021 Honda CRF450R. This time it is Tim's teammate's Mitchell Evan's machine.

That Yosh header is a lot longer than stock and, man, Mitchell runs his forks super flush with the clamps.

Comparing to stock photos of the '21 CRF450R (since we haven't seen one in person) it looks like much of the left side of the motor is pretty stock, on the outside at least. The ignition cover, hydro clutch, cylinder and head look just like Honda's catalog.

Why do CNC'd master cylinders look so cool? Evans also runs his lever in pretty far.

For having such a strong showing last weekend and at previous races, this Wednesday race was tough for Standing Construct GASGAS Glen Coldenhoff. He was 15th overall with a 7-DNF moto score.

Yamaha's Jago Geerts is an emerging force to be reckoned with. A decisive 1-1 has him quickly running down the red plate of Tom Vialle.

Jago Geerts: “Overall it was a really good day for me. I got my first holeshot of the year in the second heat so I was really happy with that. I felt good on my bike and on the track, so from here I look forward to racing here again on Sunday and getting closer to leading the championship.”

F&H Crone Kawasaki Mathys Boisrame put in a hard charge for 3-3 moto scores for third overall. Here is a look at his machine. Based on the parts and even the custom engine hanger, these bikes are very Pro Circuit-esque.

PC Ti-6 pipe and a fully open air box. On the stock 2020 KX250 the right side is blocked off for sound. Also for all of you losing your minds that Kawasaki dropped the "F" from the name of the model, for this team at least, it looks like they kept it. Look above the air box opening.

Boisrame runs solid bar mounts and, with the deep sandy track, it makes sense for the forks to be nearly flush with his Xtrig ROCS clamps.

They don't want sandy dirt to pack between the rear brake pedal and the bike. One major deviation from the PC KX250s is the use of Rekluse for their clutches.