Throttle control was the key to the race at the second round of the FIM Motocross World Championship in Suphan Buri, Thailand, as the seemingly perfectly prepared track baked rock hard in the direct sunlight and became treacherous with deep ruts and patches of blue groove clay.
It was a test of the best that saw Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings win both motos in their respective classes.
With two rounds in the bag and a MXGP class full of youth as well as experience, it’s the young-guns who are turning heads. Both of last year’s world champions, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre and Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser have taken ownership of the top two steps of the podium for the second time in succession.
While it was Gajser who posted a perfect score at the season opener in Qatar last weekend, this time the tables were turned as Romain Febvre upped the intensity and used his smoothness and precision to win both races for the his first overall win of the season and will now head to round three as the championship points leader.
In contrast to Febvre’s smoothness and meticulous approach to such an unforgiving track, Gajser used his incredible strength to control his flamboyant style as he battled the edginess of the clay. Despite a few heart-stopping moments, the young rookie took it all in his stride as he banked a third and a fourth for second overall.
A podium in Thailand back in 2014 started a dream season for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek who managed to nail 11 podiums on the bounce thereafter.
After a rough year in 2015, things already appear to be looking up for the Belgian who was fourth at round one and has already gone one better with a podium performance in Thailand.
Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev laid low most of the day and avoided conflict enough to wrap up the day in fourth overall.
In race one he started fifth and inherited fourth when the pole man, Team Suzuki World MXGP’s Ben Townley crashed out of fourth on lap nine. Meanwhile in race two, it was a similar story when he started eighth and came home in an eventual seventh.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tony Cairoli looked sharp this weekend but he ended up dethroning himself of a chance to be on the box when he stalled the bike while up front in race two and dropped outside of the top 20.
The Italian star did manage to fight back to 12th, which in combination with his second place finish in the opening race was good enough for fifth overall.
MXGP Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), 34:04.313; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:02.775; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:05.871; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:18.040; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:21.958; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:33.137; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:36.125; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:47.200; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:51.008; 10. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:59.191.
MXGP Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), 34:41.154; 2. Ben Townley (NZL, Suzuki), +0:06.038; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:07.876; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:10.723; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:20.508; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:23.325; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:32.355; 8. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:36.229; 9. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:38.176; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:41.132.
MXGP Overall Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 50 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 36 p.; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 34 p.; 4. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 32 p.; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 27 p.; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HON), 26 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 23 p.; 9. Ben Townley (NZL, SUZ), 22 p.; 10. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 22 p.
MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 92 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 86 p.; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 74 p.; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 68 p.; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 64 p.; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 57 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 48 p.; 8. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 47 p.; 9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 44 p.; 10. Ben Townley (NZL, SUZ), 42 p.
MXGP Manufacturer: 1. Yamaha, 92 points; 2. Honda, 86 p.; 3. KTM, 71 p.; 4. Suzuki, 60 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 55 p.; 6. Kawasaki, 47 p.
