KTM Racing News GPs of Limburg at Lommel

Tony
Cairoli of the Red Bull Teka KTM factory team sealed a double moto
victory to win the MX1 GP of Limburg in the tricky sands of the Lommel
circuit on Sunday and teammate Max Nagl made a great return to the
podium finishing third, even if he is riding with a back injury.

Cairoli,
like many of the leading riders, lives for at least part of the year
near the traditional Belgian circuit and his fans were out in force to
see him win both motos in classic Cairoli style. In both outings in the
deep sand, the Italian world champion was fast out of the start but did
not race without incident. Several small crashes aside and biting back
the pain of a newly twisted knee, he then had the fans on their feet
with excitement as he set out to hunt down the riders who passed him
with the kind of determination that has already rewarded him with
multiple titles.

Cairoli
came from behind to win the first moto by 9 seconds ahead of Clement
Desalle, his closest rival in the championship standings then in the
second he crossed the line 3.5 seconds ahead of teammate Nagl. Max was
fifth in the opening moto.

While
Tony’s season was slow in getting underway while he struggled to
overcome some small injury problems, he now has a substantial 52-point
lead over Desalle in the season’s standings and is now well placed to
defend his MX1 world championship title. His consistency on the podium
and his four GP wins so far this year have also contributed to KTM’s
43-point lead in the Manufacturer’s standings.

Tony Cairoli:
“It’s nice to race here in Lommel, I have always said many times that I
like to race here in the sand. We had the speed to win this weekend but
I made it a bit harder because I made some small mistakes. I got the
two holeshots but a couple of times I lost concentration.”

It was a particularly rewarding for the German rider Max Nagl who
is riding with a back injury and after the next race in Loket in the
Czech Republic will consult with specialist concerning a longer-term
solution to the problem. Despite this, Max was very happy with his
weekend’s ride. “I’ve been really looking forward to this GP because I
know I am good in the sand. Since Latvia I haven’t been able to train at
all because the doctor would not allow it. So I am really happy to be
on the podium today. I got two good starts and I could also see I had
the same speed as the top guys, even if Tony was faster.”

MX1 Results

1, Tony Cairoli, Italy, KTM

2, Clement Desalle, Belgium, Suzuki

3, Max Nagl, Germany, KTM

4, Evgeny Bobryshev, Russia, Honda

5, Steven Frossard, France, Yamaha

MX1 Standings

1, Tony Cairoli, Italy, KTM, 466

2, Clement Desalle, Belgium, Suzuki, 414

3, Steven Frossard, France, Yamaha, 403

4, Evgeny Bobryshev, Russia, 369

5, Max Nagl, Germany, KTM, 349

MX1 Manufacturers’ Standings

1, KTM, 491

2, Yamaha, 448

3, Suzuki, 424

The
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing Team had reason to celebrate on Sunday
when all three MX2 factory riders finished on the podium in the GP of
Limburg. Jeffrey Herlings underlined his domination on the sand. Ken
Roczen was close on his tail pipe and Jeremy van Horebeek, who has been
plagued by injury this season made a great return to the track in third
place.

The
result was a triumph for the factory team and again underlined that
Roczen and Herlings are not only streets ahead of the rest of the field
this season, but also that teammate van Horebeek, now fit again, is a
top performer. The double moto win by the 16-year-old Herlings was proof
that he is outstanding on the sand. He won at Valkenswaard, NL, at the
beginning of the season and has now sealed the second pure sand surface
race on the difficult Lommel circuit. While Jeffrey’s performance was
not without mistakes and even small crashes, he was still able to
dominate the track and attract admiration for his agility and skill in
the deep soft sand.

Both
motos were completely dominated by the three KTM riders. Jeffrey was
the clear winner in the first moto crossing the line 25.8 seconds ahead
of Roczen. But he did win the advantage when his teammate came down hard
in the final lap while in the lead and got hit in the stomach with the
handlebars. Then, just as the fans wondered if Jeffrey had saved
anything for the second moto he wrapped that up 18.1 second ahead of his
teammate. Jeremy van Horebeek was third across the line in both motos
with a commanding gap of 18.87 seconds to the next rider in the first
moto and 14.13 seconds to the fourth placed rider in the second.

Jeffrey Herling’s
mastery of the sand was all the more amazing because he was riding with
badly bruised ribs and it wasn’t even sure on Friday if he would be
able to ride.  Clearly elated with the result he said: “This year I
finally won; last year I was second. My ribs were really painful but I
took very strong pain killers so this was an amazing weekend for me.”

Ken Roczen: I
was disappointed after the first race because I crashed when I was in
the lead on the last lap but actually I didn’t ride that well and I
didn’t get into a good rhythm. When you don’t play with the track and
get into a good rhythm it costs you a lot of energy and time. Jeffrey is
the fastest on sand and it was good for me to see that I can stay with
him a little bit.”

Jeremy van Horebeek said
his result was “…the best present I could give to myself and to my
team. This year I wasn’t able to prove so much because of my injuries
but today I had two perfect starts and the first moto was okay but the
second was very difficult in the last 10 minutes because I don’t have
any race rhythm yet.” He also thanked team boss Stefan Everts for
pushing him during the winter to practice on the sand and for all the
tips he gave him. “Now I am really motivated. I like the track at Loket
and want to go there an ride well and not make any mistakes,” he said.

After this weekend which saw riders contest the 11th round
of the World Championship, the KTM factory team has celebrated 10
victories – six from Roczen and four from Herlings, underlining both the
skills of the riders and the reliability and power of the KTM 250 SX –F
machines they race. Roczen and Herlings are clear leaders in the
standings with Roczen in first place with 490 points and Herlings 21
points behind. KTM also has a stranglehold on the Manufacturer’s
Standings and are in the lead by 93 points.

For a complete change of pace, riders now contest the 12th round
of the championship next weekend at Loket in the Czech Republic, which
will offer them an entirely different surface than the soft sand of
Lommel.

MX2 Results

1, Jeffrey Herlings, Netherlands, KTM

2, Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM

3, Jeremy van Horebeek, Belgium, KTM

4, Max Anstie, UK, Kawasaki

5, Gautier Paulin, France, Yamaha

Other KTM

8, Jake Nicholls, UK, KTM

12, Jordi Tixier, France, KTM

14, Joel Roelants, Belgium, KTM

15, Jose Butron, Spain, KTM

16, Pascal Rauschenecker, Austria, KTM

MX2 Standings

1, Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM 490

2, Jeffrey Herlings, Netherlands, KTM 469

3, Tommy Searle, UK, Kawasaki 400

2, Gautier Paulin, France, Yamaha 373

5, Zachary Osborne, USA, Yamaha 295

Other KTM

9, Nicolas Aubin, France, KTM, 207

10, Joel Roelants, Belgium, KTM, 180

12, Jake Nicholls, UK, KTM, 139

13, Jordi Tixier, France, KTM, 131