After a second place in the Ukrainian MX3 GP last weekend Klemen Gercar (22) continued his MX1 apprenticeship at the scorchingly hot Lausitzring in Germany. Gercar finished 20th in the opening moto, and crossed the finish line 19th in the the second moto to give him 3 championship points. Young Briton Mitchell Lewis wrote history winning the inaugural Honda 150 European Championship ahead of Michael Jørgensen (Den) and Eric Englund (Swe).
The 13th round of the FIM MX1 World Championship entered unknown territory. The Eurospeedway at the Lausitzring, about 50 kilometers north east of Dresden, indeed marked the very first motocross Grand Prix ever at the state-of-the-art motorsport facility. While the new fast and spectacular man-made track made for a great show it was also extremely challenging. Treacherous ruts, fast wave sections and mixed to soft soil were not exactly what riders had in mind when thinking about what German motocross courses are traditionally made of! Temperatures over 32° C on both days added to the tough conditions on the track.
Klemen took his 24MX Honda CRF450R to 19th in the 20 minute qualifying sprint on Saturday. More similar to Hyvinkää than anyone had expected Gercar was able to build on his first MX1 experience a fortnight ago.
In the first moto on Sunday the 22-year old Slovenian suffered a very bad start. However the MX3 red plate holder responded with more consistent lap times a couple of minutes into the race. From 23rd Klemen progressed to 20th to score his first MX1 world championship point. Gercar had a good jump from the gate in the second moto to exit the first left-hand turn just outside the top ten. The 24MX Honda Racing wildcard rider fought hard to make the best of his strong early position but lost ground gradually. From 14th Klemen dropped back to 17th. The heat and tricky conditions demanded every ounce of concentration but Gercar breathed a sigh of relief when he made a big mistake landing next to the finish jump, luckily he was able to keep it on two wheels. This left him in 21st place but eventually he moved up to 19th to snatch another two points.
Klemen Gercar: “It was great to break the ice and score my first MX1 GP points although the track was so different from what I had expected. The soil was much softer and sandier. Also the type of layout was not something I get to ride very often. Normally it’s okay for me to race in hot temperatures, but today was pretty extreme! On top of that I need to improve my sand skills to be effective here. And especially when it’s hot like today you don’t want to spend too much energy. My start in the second race was a lot better, however I couldn’t keep my position around 15th place. Of course I didn’t want too push too far either because I have the MX3 world title to think about. Anyway I feel this has been a good step and I’m really looking forward to Loket next week. (smiling) Finally I will be able to fight in MX1 on hard-pack!”
MX1 Moto 1 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 39:51.482; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:24.303; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:49.505; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:53.674; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +1:03.417; 6. Joel Roelants (BEL, Yamaha), +1:08.995; 7. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +1:15.077; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), +1:17.307; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +1:22.140; 10. Milko Potisek (FRA, Yamaha), +1:24.246; 11. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +1:26.374; 12. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), +1:33.560; 13. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +1:38.130; 14. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), -1 lap(s); 15. Herjan Brakke (NED, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 16. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), -1 lap(s); 17. Kevin Wouts (BEL, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 18. Augusts Justs (LAT, Honda), -1 lap(s); 19. Dennis Ullrich (GER, KTM), -1 lap(s); 20. Klemen Gercar (SLO, 24MX Honda Racing), -1 lap(s); 21. Christian Brockel (GER, KTM), -1 lap(s); 22. Mikola Paschynskyi (UKR, KTM), -2 lap(s); 23. Lauri Lehtla (EST, KTM), -2 lap(s); 24. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), -8 lap(s); 25. Vytautas Bucas (LTU, Honda), -9 lap(s); 26. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), -18 lap(s); 27. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), -23 lap(s);
MX1 Moto 2 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:23.445; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:18.991; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:36.843; 4. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:41.582; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:44.381; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), +1:06.379; 7. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), +1:16.462; 8. Herjan Brakke (NED, Yamaha), +1:19.671; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, Yamaha), +1:19.830; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +1:27.620; 11. Milko Potisek (FRA, Yamaha), +1:31.083; 12. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), +1:41.764; 13. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 14. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), -1 lap(s); 15. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), -1 lap(s); 16. Augusts Justs (LAT, Honda), -1 lap(s); 17. Dennis Ullrich (GER, KTM), -1 lap(s); 18. Kevin Wouts (BEL, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 19. Klemen Gercar (SLO, 24MX Honda Racing), -1 lap(s); 20. Vytautas Bucas (LTU, Honda), -2 lap(s); 21. Mikola Paschynskyi (UKR, KTM), -2 lap(s); 22. Lauri Lehtla (EST, KTM), -8 lap(s); 23. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), -9 lap(s); 24. Christian Brockel (GER, KTM), -13 lap(s)
GP of Germany MX1 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 47 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 47 p.; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 38 p.; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 32 p.; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), 28 p.; 7. Joel Roelants (BEL, Yamaha), 27 p.; 8. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 22 p.; 9. Milko Potisek (FRA, Yamaha), 21 p.; 10. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), 19 p.; 11. Herjan Brakke (NED, Yamaha), 19 p.; 12. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), 19 p.; 13. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 19 p.; 14. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 18 p.; 15. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), 13 p.; 16. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 10 p.; 17. Augusts Justs (LAT, Honda), 8 p.; 18. Kevin Wouts (BEL, Kawasaki), 7 p.; 19. Dennis Ullrich (GER, KTM), 6 p.; 20. Klemen Gercar (SLO, 24MX Honda Racing), 3 p.; 21. Vytautas Bucas (LTU, Honda), 1 p.; 22. Mikola Paschynskyi (UKR, KTM), 0 p.; 23. Lauri Lehtla (EST, KTM), 0 p.; 24. Christian Brockel (GER, KTM), 0 p.; 25. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 0 p.; 26. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 0 p.; 27. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 0 p.
MX1 World Standings after 13 rounds 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 611 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 503 p.; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 479 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 465 p.; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 397 p.; 6. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 375 p.; 7. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 327 p.; 8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), 314 p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 230 p.; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, Honda), 219 p.; 11. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 202 p.; 12. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), 197 p.; 13. Joel Roelants (BEL, Yamaha), 196 p.; 14. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), 195 p.; 15. Xavier Boog (FRA, KTM), 173 p.; 16. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), 152 p.; 17. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 126 p.; 18. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), 120 p.; 19. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 60 p.; 20. Augusts Justs (LAT, Honda), 59 p.; 21. Milko Potisek (FRA, Yamaha), 40 p.; 22. Herjan Brakke (NED, Yamaha), 36 p.; 23. Dennis Ullrich (GER, KTM), 30 p.; 24. Jason Dougan (GBR, Honda), 19 p.; 25. Kasper Lynggaard (DEN, Yamaha), 17 p.; 26. Nikolaj Larsen (DEN, Honda), 17 p.; 27. Santtu Tiainen (FIN, 24MX Honda Racing) 12 p.; 28. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Yamaha), 12 p.; 29. Adam Chatfield (GBR, Honda), 12 p.; 30. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), 12 p.; 31. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Honda), , 12 p.; 32. Lauri Lehtla (EST, KTM), 12 p.; 33. Davis Ivanovs (LAT, Kawasaki), 11 p.; 34. Antonio Balbi (BRA, Kawasaki), 9 p.; 35. Mikola Paschynskyi (UKR, KTM), 9 p.; 36. Juss Laansoo (EST, KTM), 8 p.; 37. Kevin Wouts (BEL, Kawasaki), 7 p.; 38. Stefano Dami (ITA, Yamaha), 7 p.; 39. Jens Getteman (BEL, 24MX Honda Racing) 6 p.; 40. Nathan Watson (GBR, KTM), 6 p.; 41. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, Honda), 6 p.;, 42. Kenny Van Dueren (BEL, KTM), 6 p.; 43. Fabien Izoird (FRA, Suzuki), 5 p.; 44. Jamie Law (GBR, KTM), 4 p.; 45. Loic Leonce (FRA, Yamaha), 4 p.; 46. Klemen Gercar (SLO, 24MX Honda Racing), 3 p.; 47. Filip Bengtsson (SWE, KTM), 3 p.; 48. Hugo Santos (POR, KTM), 3 p.; 49. Ludvig Söderberg (FIN, Honda), 3 p.; 50. Jean Carlo Ramos (BRA, Kawasaki), 3 p.; 51. Vytautas Bucas (LTU, Honda), 3 p.; 52. Marc de Reuver (NED, KTM), 2 p.; 53. Masanori Ito (JPN, Yamaha), 2 p.; 54. Ivo Steinbergs (LAT, KTM), 2 p.; 55. Fabio Ferrari (ITA, Honda), 1 p.; 56. Kim Lindström (SWE, KTM), 1 p.; 57. Mateus Basso (BRA, Kawasaki), 1 p.