Press Release

KTM racing GP of Portugal Report

CAIROLI FINISHES SECOND IN THE MX1 GP OF PORTUGAL

KTM
factory rider Tony Cairoli rode two strong motos to finish second on
the podium for the MX1 GP of Portugal in the first of two outings for
the Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Team in the Iberian Peninsular.

In
the first moto Cairoli found himself back at around seventh at the
start of the Agueda circuit, a location where he has always performed
well. He worked his way through the pack in the first half of the race
to sit comfortably behind the two leaders with a handful of laps to go.
In typical wily Cairoli style he carefully plotted out the best place on
the track to make a move on second placed Steven Frossard then made his
move with three laps to go. Cairoli then turned up the throttle and
went after Clement Desalle, edging wheel to wheel close to him over the
nail biter last two laps. But he ran out of time and eventually had to
settle for second place.

Cairoli’s
start was much better in the second moto and he was well in the running
for the top place as he was several times within a wheel’s distance
from the leader Desalle but again would have needed another lap to
settle the moto for him. His two second places still yielded 44
championship points and kept him in the running to retain his title.
After the race he said he was gaining in physical fitness after having
to cut back on training to recover from injury and was still feeling
confident about the remainder of the season.  Cairoli has had a lot of
past success on the track at Agueda and said: “I like this track a lot. I
have won four GPs and 11 motos here during my career, so actually tis
one of my favorite GPs. But today it was pretty hard. It hasn’t rained
here for a long time and there were a lot of strange bumps on the track
where you can make a lot of mistakes.

While
the GP turned out to be positive for Cairoli, his teammate Max Nagl was
not so fortunate. In the first moto he had an uncharacteristic bad
start and then spent a lot of time trying to overtake Rui Goncalves. The
second was shaping up to be much better for the German rider but then
he had a huge off on the downhill slope. The bike slid down and struck
him and it was also damaged in the crash to the extent that he was
unable to remount and continue the race. Max also hurt his thumb, which
was badly swollen after the race. He was returning to Belgium on Monday
to have it checked out by his doctor.

 

MX1 Results
1, Clement Desalle, Belgium, Suzuki, 25 – 25 - 50
2, Tony Cairoli, Italy, KTM, 22 – 22 - 44
3, Evgeny Bobryshev, Russian, Honda, 18 – 18 - 36
4, Rui Goncalves, Portugal, Honda, 14 – 20 - 34
5, Steven Frossard, France, Yamaha, 20 – 14 - 34

 

MX1 Standings
1, Clement Desalle, Belgium, Suzuki, 249
2, Tony Cairoli, Italy, KTM, 237
3, Steven Frossard, France, Yamaha, 213
4, Max Nagl, Germany, KTM, 192
5, Evgeny Bobryshev, Russian, Honda, 177

 
 

HERLINGS TAKES GP OF PORTUGAL; TAKES COMMAND OF RED PLATE

Dutch
teenager and Red Bull Teka KTM factory rider Jeffrey Herlings came away
from the MX2 GP in Agueda with 44 points, the overall GP victory and
for the first time in his young career, the coveted red plate as
championship leader.

But
despite the continued success of the 16-year-old Dutch teenager, the
day was less memorable for his teammate ken Roczen of Germany who after
dominating the opening moto, came unstuck in the second, crashed hard
and had to retire.

The
first moto saw Roczen uncharacteristically missed the start from his
pole position, while Herlings shot out of the gate like a bullet and
surged ahead to put around seven seconds between him and the rest of the
pack. Two thirds of the way through the race it looked like being a one
man show, but in the end it just turned into a 1-2 KTM show. Roczen hit
the gas, turned up the adrenalin and went after riders like a man
possessed. One by one he brushed them aside as he carved away at the
time advantage to his teammate. Then he tucked in behind him in the
final three laps and the race was on to see which one of the two young
KTM factory riders would be the first to the flag. Herlings defended
well almost up to the final lap but in the end it was Roczen who
prevailed. The dominance of the two KTM riders was again obvious as they
rocketed across the finish 25 seconds ahead of third placed Zach
Osborne.

In
the second moto, it was Roczen who hit the front in the early stages
and it looked as though he was again going to dominate the race. Then a
mistake on the bumpy track proved costly as he was pitched over the
handlebars and landed hard on the dirt track, taking a blow to the chest
and head. The German rider who has been attracting attention on both
sides of the Atlantic then had no other option but to return to the
pits, leaving the way open for Herlings to take control of the race.
Jeffrey hung onto the lead until the final third of the race but came
under strong attack by Tommy Searle, the only other rider who has won a
GP so far this season. Searle had something to prove after registering a
DNF in the first moto when his bike picked up a swathe of the green
netting that marks the track. In the end Herlings took the cautious
approach and settled for a comfortable second place, knowing both the GP
victory and the red plate was safely in his hands.

Jeffrey
Herlings: “I’m six points ahead of Kenny now and I have to keep it like
that. It’s going to be really hard because Ken is in very good shape
and he’s really fast, but all in all it was a good weekend for me. I’ll
try to be cool, that’s the main thing I have to do to hold onto the red
plate. It will be hard but I’m looking forward to the races next weekend
and I hope to keep it.”

Ken
Roczen on the other hand was in a lot of pain after his big crash. He
was taken to the hospital by team officials for a full medical check but
now has the all clear to stay on with the team as they remain on the
Iberian peninsular to prepare for the GP of Spain next weekend.

 

MX2 Results
1, Jeffrey Herlings, Netherlands, KTM, 22 – 22 - 44

2, Gautier Paulin, France, Yamaha, 16 – 20 - 36
3, Zachary Osborne, USA, Yamaha, 20 – 16 - 36
4, Max Anstie, UK, Kawasaki, 18 – 14 - 32
5, Arnaud Tonus, Switzerland, Yamaha, 10 – 18 - 28
Other KTM
8, Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM, 25 – 0 - 25
9, Joel Roelants, Belgium, KTM, 15 – 9 - 24
11, Jose Butron, Spain, KTM, 12 – 11 - 23
13, Nicolas Aubin, France, KTM, 5 – 13 – 18
14, Jake Nicholls, UK, KTM, 8 – 10 - 18
15, Nick Triest, Belgium, KTM, 7 – 8 – 15

 

MX2 Standings
1, Jeffrey Herlings, Netherlands, KTM, 257
2, Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM, 251

3. Tommy Seerle, UK, Kawasaki, 224
4, Zachary Osborne, USA, Yamaha, 198
5, Gautier Paulin, France, Yamaha, 196
Other KTM
9, Joel Roelants, Belgium, KTM, 138
11, Nicolas Aubin, France, KTM, 122
12, Jordi Tixier, France, KTM, 71
15, Jose Butron, Spain, KTM, 52
16, Pascal Rauchenecker, Austria, KTM, 52         

 

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