ANOTHER WIN FOR CLS KAWASAKI AS TOMMY SEARLE BEATS WORLD CHAMPION IN PENULTIMATE ROUND IN MX2 CLASS IN GERMANY

MX2

Tommy Searle of Kawasaki Team CLS raced to an emphatic victory in the penultimate round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship to ensure third place in the series.

The English rider was in superb form as he recorded the fastest lap in both Saturday's qualifier and both of Sunday's points-scoring races of the European GP at Gaildorf in southern Germany. Sadly his starts let him down as he had to chase through the pack, but his dominance was clear in the second race as he dropped his lap times by almost two seconds to pull back the leaders at will for a clearcut victory over the two riders who were involved in a final showdown for the world title itself. Earlier in the day he had fought his way from outside the top ten to cross the line in second place after passing all of his major rivals bar Ken Roczen and he was catching the German when time ran out. After one of his best starts of the year Searle was able to pass the champion elect and his rival Jeffrey Herlings at will to secure the overall victory and ensure third place in the series.

Teammate Max Anstie had to charge from even further back after earning a relatively poor gate when he crashed during Saturday qualification, but the teenager persevered to finish tenth before a much better start in race two enabled him to move quickly into the top five where he engaged in a long duel with the Swiss Arnaud Tonus, his rival for the fifth placed ranking in the series. Anstie was rewarded for his tenacity with fifth place in the GP.
The European GP also hosted the final round of the European MX2 championship in which French youngster Dylan Ferrandis of Kawasaki Bud Racing raced to his third double win of the season. Despite missing several rounds of the series through injuries his efforts brought him second place in the championship, just three points away from the title.


In other Raptor news, it was a solid overall fourth for as the Swiss-man Arnaud Tonus lost out by a whisker to Jeff Herlings for the 3rd place the podium spot.

Brit Shaun Simpson got a hard-earned overall 10th after another hole-shot reminiscent of his performance at the British GP in the first race.