2013 MXGP World Championship Round 3; Valkenswaard

Freezing conditions greeted motocross fans at the weekend as the premier riders in the world went to do battle on the tough sand of Valkenswaard.

It was no surprise to see KTM Red Bull riders Jeffrey Herlings in MX2 and Tony Cairoli in MX1 set the pace for the weekend, but it was their co-riders Jordi Tixier and Ken De Dycker that really showed improvement.

The qualifying heats saw Cairoli sprint away to a comfortable victory in MX1 while Raptor Titanium sponsored rider Glen Coldenhoff who managed to hold off a late charge from Jake Nicholls and Romain Febvre of JM Nestaan KTM took the first gate pick in MX2 on race day.


MX2

The MX2 class was set to be a classic after Herlings was disqualified for outside assistance after he crashed during the qualifying heat race. This meant he was 40th and last on the gate for both races, but this didn't stop the masterful Dutchman as he came around the first corner in 8th place in the first moto and it didn't take him long to secure victory after that.

The second MX2 race was a thriller as Herlings got a bad start and rounded the opening corner among the bottom ten riders so he had a lot of work to do, but as he has shown over the past few years he is absolutely streets ahead of the competition in the sand and he soon managed to work his way through the entire field, putting in laps consistently 2 seconds faster than anyone else on the track. He cruised past Tixier for the lead and won the second moto by over 6 seconds to take his fourth Valkenswaard GP overall win in a row and a place in the history books. He remains undefeated in the MX2 class in 2013.

MX1

Continuing from the qualifying day it was still dominant performances from Red Bull KTM riders Ken De Dycker and Antonio Cairoli who had some thrilling dices throughout the weekend.

In MX1 race 1 it was Evgeny Bobryshev of the Honda Factory Team who rounded the first corner but was soon chased down by the KTM Red Bull riders. De Dycker led for most of the race but a problem meant he had to temporarily stop and rejoined in third where he would finish behind Cairoli in first and Bobryshev in second.

The second race was another convincing display from KTM Red Bull as Bobryshev got away first again but couldn't live with the speed of De Dycker and Cairoli through the rough sand. De Dycker went on to sprint away to a comfortable victory ahead of Cairoli who took his 56th overall GP win.


It was a quiet day for our sponsored riders who couldn't match the pace of the faster factory riders.

Kawasaki Racing Team and Raptor Titanium sponsored riders Gautier Paulin and Jeremy Van Horebeek put in a consistent weekend with a 5th and 7th place for Paulin.

Tommy Searle of Pro Circuit CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki on Raptor Titanium footpegs put in a solid 10th and 9th place to keep him in the points.

An excellent 4th place in MX1 for MVR-d Route 77 Honda's Tanel Leok was a great boost, putting in the most successful non-factory performance of the weekend on Raptor Titanium footpegs.