Pirelli Dominates FIM Motocross World Championship at the Grand Prix of Portugal

Pirelli Dominates FIM Motocross World Championship at the Grand Prix of Portugal

Cairoli and Herlings Split Victories in MXGP with the Italian Winning the Tie Breaker, While Seewer Triumphs Again in MX2

AGUEDA, Portugal  (July 4, 2017) – Following a three-year absence, the Grand Prix of Portugal at Agueda returned to the FIM Motocros World Championship calendar for what was the 12th round of the season. To tackle the medium-hard bumpy soil of the track, Pirelli’s riders were armed with the SCORPION™ MX32™ Mid Soft front and rear tires to dominate both, MXGP and MX2 classes.    Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings both won a race, but the overall victory belonged to the eight-time world champion Cairoli who won the tiebreaker with the better second moto result. Cairoli captured his 82nd career win and increased his lead in the championship, which now sits at 91-points. Jeffrey Herlings, winner of race one, had to settle for second place. Arminas Jasikonis performed superbly and, thanks to third place, gave Suzuki their first podium result in 2017. Romain Febvre had a good day with fourth and Max Nagl was fifth, just ahead of the reigning MXGP champion Tim Gajser.

 In the MX2 class, Jeremy Seewer and Pauls Jonass also finished the two races with the same points tally by splitting wins, but the Swiss rider was superior in the second moto. Seewer, despite suffering from poor starts, made a great comeback for his second overall win in a row, while Pauls Jonass was runner-up and kept the Red Plate with an unchanged points advantage over Seewer. Thomas Covington confirmed his current strong riding with the third step of the podium and a repeat podium from Ottobiano last week. Thomas Kjer Olsen rode well for fourth overall and remains third in the championship.

 Pirelli also shined in the seventh round of the European EMX250 thanks to Simone Furlotti's second place: the Italian is back on the top spot of the championship standings.

The riders will return to action on July 22-23 at Loket for the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic.   

Race results:     

MXGP race 1  

1. HERLINGS Jeffrey (NED)  2. CAIROLI Antonio (ITA)  3. JASIKONIS Arminas (LTU)  4. NAGL Maximilian (GER)  5. FEBVRE Romain (FRA)     

MXGP race 2  

1. CAIROLI Antonio (ITA)  2. HERLINGS Jeffrey (NED)  3. JASIKONIS Arminas (LTU)  4. FEBVRE Romain (FRA)  5. NAGL Maximilian (GER)     

MX2 race 1  

1. JONASS Pauls (LAT)  2. SEEWER Jeremy (SUI)  3. COVINGTON Thomas (USA)  4. OLSEN Thomas Kjer (DEN)  5. LIEBER Julien (BEL))   

MX2 race 2  

1. SEEWER Jeremy (SUI)  2. JONASS Pauls (LAT)  3. COVINGTON Thomas (USA)  4. PATUREL Benoit (FRA) 5. OLSEN Thomas Kjer (DEN)        

GP Overall:     

MXGP  

1. CAIROLI Antonio (ITA)  2. HERLINGS Jeffrey (NED)  3. JASIKONIS Arminas (LTU)  4. FEBVRE Romain (FRA)  5. NAGL Maximilian (GER)     

MX2  1. SEEWER Jeremy (SUI)  2. JONASS Pauls (LAT)  3. COVINGTON Thomas (USA)  4. OLSEN Thomas Kjer (DEN)  5. PATUREL Benoit (FRA)     

Championship overall:     

MXGP  

1. CAIROLI Antonio (ITA) p.478  2. DESALLE Clement (BEL) p.387 3. PAULIN Gautier (FRA) p.383  4. HERLINGS Jeffrey (NED) p.382  5. GAJSER Tim (SLO) p.310  6. FEBVRE Romain (FRA) p.309     

MX2  

1. JONASS Pauls (LAT) p.501  2. SEEWER Jeremy (SUI) p.463  3. KJER OLSEN Thomas (DEN) p.377  4. PATUREL Benoit (FRA) p.363 5. LIEBER JULIEN (BEL) p.355  6. COVINGTON Thomas (USA) p.303

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Founded in 1872, Pirelli is among the largest global tire makers, and focuses its business on the high end, premium product segment where it is a world leader. Present in over 160 countries, Pirelli has 22 manufacturing sites and employs approximately 38,000 people around the world. Successfully competing in motorsports since 1907, Pirelli is currently the exclusive supplier of the Formula 1 championship, the Superbike world championship, and many other championships around the world.

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For Additional Information Please Contact:

Scott Roegner

Pirelli Moto Communications and Media Relations

NAFTA Region

Tel: 949-365-5750

Mail: motopress.nafta@pirelli.com  

Emily Grannis

Marketing Director, Moto BU

NAFTA Region

Tel: 706-331-1585

Mail: emily.grannis@pirelli.com