MXGP will roll onto an American finale and a dramatic closing chapter after Tony Cairoli denied Honda’s Tim Gajser a date with destiny at Assen today and the Grand Prix of the Netherlands. Taking the spotlight for the first time this season at the sixteenth outing of eighteen for the series was Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Clement Desalle who was the best performer on the slippy sand and savoured his maiden victory on the works KX450F and the twentieth of his career in the premier class since 2009.
The TT Circuit Assen may well be one of the most famous racing tracks in the world but it is not renowned for reliable weather. Immense thunderstorms on Saturday night created a sodden terrain that was in danger of flooding on Sunday morning with further torrential downpours. The poor climate cleared completely for the start of the MX2/MXGP race programme but the course forced the riders to exercise caution and consideration rather than being able to tackle the sandy lumps at full-gas. In the afternoon a breeze and sunshine – plus some positive repair work by the track crew – created a variation on the conditions and permitted a faster and more technical challenge.
Gajser came to the final European appointment on the schedule needing to out-score multi world champion Cairoli by just one point and before the series heads transatlantic with a double salvo in North Carolina and California. Cairoli was immense on Saturday to convincingly own pole position as the Slovenian tasted Dutch sand on two occasions and seemed slightly adrift of his sole remaining rival for the MXGP crown. On Sunday the weather levelled the playing field slightly but Gajser – vying to become the second rookie world champion to be crowned at Assen in succession – crashed twice and could only come back to twelfth. In the second moto he was throttling hard for the top three when he again left the Dutch course and contact with a fence caused a broken front brake and gas cable and prompted his first ‘DNF’ of an otherwise remarkable year.
As Cairoli finished as runner-up the upshot of Gajser’s darkest day of the season is a reduction in his lead in the standings from 99 to 65 points and with 100 left on the table.
Frustration in the Honda camp was outweighed by smiles at Kawasaki as Desalle rode without error and thanks to two bright starts to post a 2-2 scorecard. The Belgian chased Shaun Simpson in the first moto and Cairoli in the second but his consistency was the foundation for the team’s first success of ’16 and maiden champagne shower for the all-new KX.
“Finally back on top of the box and this is a special moment,” the 27 year old said. “I have been working a long time for this: to get back to first place and I’m enjoying it a lot. I’m happy to do it in the sand; I know I can ride it well…even if some people don’t believe it too much. This is a good thing for me and for the team today.”
Elsewhere Monster Energy Yamaha’s Jeremy Van Horebeek was fifth overall and lucky to escape a big ‘moment’ in the second moto that threw the Belgian over the bars. Teammate, and still defending World Champion, Romain Febvre made a mistake in the goo of the first moto that caused him to drop into the distant regions of the pack; the Frenchman ended a hard weekend in eighth.
Jeffrey Herlings re-entered the MX2 realm and in front of rapturous home public to grind out his thirteenth victory of the year and elongate his margin at the top of the championship standings to 76 points; practically applying fingerprints on his third world title. The Dutchman was always a firm favourite in the sand but the ooze of Sunday was still a tricky prospect. He beat countryman Brian Bogers and Spanish rookie sensation Jorge Prado.
Kemea Yamaha duo Brent Van Doninck (the Belgian competing at the scene of this first career podium the previous year) and Benoit Paturel and both crashed in the first moto and had an eventful day to finally reach ninth and tenth respectively. Benoit at least defends a very decent third position in the MX2 championship standings.
The final round of the FIM Women’s World Championship – WMX – was owned by Courtney Duncan. The New Zealander was quick in the dry on Saturday to win the first moto and then a mistake while leading in the sludge of Sunday morning dropped the Yamaha rider to second place behind Nancy Van De Ven but was still good enough for overall victory. The distinction allowed the Kiwi to end her first Grand Prix campaign in the way she started with a memorable debut success at Losail in Qatar. A mid-season injury meant that ‘151’ had to watch Livia Lancelot lift her second world title and outgoing No.1 Kiara Fontanesi ended a frustrating term by becoming stuck on one of the rutted jump take-offs on the first lap and reached the chequered flag well down the field and out of the points.
The MXGP paddock continued to be a hive of activity Sunday evening. Race bikes were being cleaned, stripped and crated for imminent departure for the United States and the very first Grand Prix of Americas at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina that will see some of the cream of AMA motocross also on the MXGP entry list.