The heat and dust of Guadalajara made for very tough conditions indeed at the weekend as the FIM World MX GP Championship rolled into Mexico for Round 4.
MX2
The first race in the MX2 class started with the two Factory KTM's of Jeremy Van Horebeek, who took the hole-shot and an early lead, ahead of the championship leader Jeff Herlings who needed several laps to overtake his Belgian team-mate before easing out a sizeable lead. Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Tommy Searle of Floride Pro Circuit Monster Energy Kawasaki took a little longer to get into stride and left it until very late in the race to make it up to second position, however the flying Dutchman Jeff Herlings was out of sight by then and took the victory in the opening race. Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Dylan Ferrandis of Bud Racing Kawasaki finished a very well-deserved fourth place, and Tommy Searle's team-mate and fellow Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Joel Roelants charged up to sixth place, taking it right to the wire with the Factory KTM Red Bull rider Jordi Tixier who held off the Belgian to take fifth.
The second moto was a very similar story with the two Factory KTM's of Van Horebeek and Herlings sprinting out into the lead, however Herlings took a lot less time to pass his team-mate in this race and was soon uncatchable from then on, taking the second race win and overall victory with maximum points. Tommy Searle was bogged down in traffic through much of the race after a fall early on, but eventually managed to take second place to keep the damage from Herling's overall victory to a minimum. Van Horebeek took another third to gain third overall in the GP and moves up to second place in the championship points standings, one point ahead of Tommy Searle, who now trails Herlings by 41 points. Searle will be keen to gain back lost ground after bad luck in the previous round at Fermo going bar to bar with Herlings and getting taken out in the first corner, and will be looking for more GP victories going into the next round at Brazil. Joel Roelants took a better fourth place in race 2 to keep himself in fourth place in the overall points standings. Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Alessandro Lupinoof the Factory Husqvarna team rounded out the top ten.
MX2 Results
1. J Herlings 1/1 KTM
2. T Searle 2/2 KAW
3. J v Horebeek 3/3 KTM
4. J Roelants 6/4 KAW
5. C Charlier YAM
6. J Tixier KTM
7. J Nicholls KTM
8. M Anstie HON
9. G Coldenhoff KTM
10. Alessandro Lupino HUS
MX2 Points
Jeffrey Herlings 194
J v Horebeek 154
Tommy Searle 153
Joel Roelants 118
Jordi Tixier 107
Max Anstie 105
Jake Nicholls 95
D Ferrandis 91
Alessandro Lupino 80
Harri Kullas 76
MX1
The heat and altitude made the MX1 class an even harder proposition at Guadalajara at the weekend (if that were possible!) and the riders struggled to get to grips with the rough, loose and dusty track conditions. Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Christophe Pourcel of Floride Pro Circuit Monster Energy Kawasaki got a good start with the holeshot in the first race, but could not make the lead stick and was soon dicing with Belgian ace Clement Desalle of Rockstar Energy Suzuki and Antonio Cairoli of the Factory KTM Red Bull team. A costly mistake towards the end of the race meant he only finished 16th in the first race, losing him valuable points in the championship standings. Kawasaki Racing Team and Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Gautier Paulin kept his cool and finished fourth in the opening moto, and HM Plant KTM UK's Kevin Strijbos had a stormer with a fifth place finish on his Raptor Titanium footpegs. Raptor Titanium rider Shaun Simpson from Cosworth Monster Energy Yamaha had a tangle with the Factory Yamaha rider David Philipaerts early in the first race and was sidelined with a dislocated shoulder, moments before their MX2 man of the moment and second place finisher at Fermo, Michael Leib, had crashed out of the opening MX2 race with two broken fingers and continuing the run of terrible bad luck the team has suffered in the past few weeks.
Race 2 got even more exciting as Raptor Titanium sponsored rider and Kawasaki Racing Team man Xavier Boog got an excellent start out of the gate, pressuring Christophe Pourcel from the beginning. Cairoli soon found his stride though after a bad start and began to make progress through the field. The big story in moto 2 was Factory Yamaha man and 2008 MX1 World Champion David Philipaerts passing the likes of Ken De Dycker and Clement Desalle to take victory in the second GP of the day, capitalizing on a mistake from Desalle to secure an overall third for him on the day. No Raptor Titanium sponsored riders on the overall podium this time around as Gautier Paulin had a DNF in race 2 due to mechanical issues before the race began, and Christophe Pourcel getting a fourth in the second race not being enough to get on the box after his 16th in the opening race. Raptor Titanium riders Kevin Strijbos and Jonathan Barragan both had fantastic days as they got 7th and 8th overall respectively. Cairoli extends his championship lead after his overall victory in Mexico, however it's all to play for as they go to Brazil next weekend.
MX1 Overall Results
1. T Cairoli 1/3 KTM
2. C Desalle 2/2 SUZ
3. D Philippaerts 10/1 YAM
4. K d Dycker 3/5 KTM
5. T Leok SUZ
6. X Boog KAW
7. K Strijbos KTM
8. J Barragan HON
9. R Goncalves HON
10. C Pourcel KAW
MX1 Points
Tony Cairoli 178
Clement Desalle 149
Gautier Paulin 134
Ken de Dycker 131
Christophe Pourcel 129
D Philippaerts 105
Kevin Strijbos 103
Xavier Boog 99
Tanel Leok 92
Rui Goncalves 79
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