The scenic Arco di Trento track was the testing and slippery stage for the fourth MXGP of the season. In front of 25.000 spectators Clément Desalle headed an all-Belgium podium. 24MX Honda Racing’s Xa-vier Boog recorded another double-top ten to finish 8th overall. Swedish wildcard rider Filip Thuresson, filling in for Jens Getteman enjoyed his first GP experience in two years and scored five points.
The compact, twisty lay-out and treacherous, bumpy soil of Arco placed even more emphasis on the start. In both motos Xavier Boog didn’t get the launch needed to run with the front runners from the go. Circulating 18th after the start it took a while for Xavier to get into the groove but once he got going the Frenchman was one of the few riders, together with world champion Antonio Cairoli, to climb the rostrum significantly. In the end he crossed the line tenth, three seconds behind home rider Davide Guarneri. Thuresson suffered a terrible start as well, however he succeeded to climb up to 19th just after half race distance. After a strong final push from Germany’s Dennis Ullrich the 22-year old from Uddevalla had to settle for 20th.
The second moto followed a very similar script for Xavier. Again Boog started in the second half of the pack. Although he made headway faster, claiming 12th after 10 minutes of racing, Xavier lost some positions as well. He regrouped admirably, started putting in a string of fast laps and finished a strong 10th ahead of Guarneri, Potisek and Gonçalves. Thuresson is no stranger to explosive starts, unfortunately it was not to be this weekend. From the back of the back Filip mounted the challenge and kept former world champion Tyla Rattray in his sight for most of the race. Thuresson closed the gap and with three laps to go he made his move with a well executed low jump and a better drive into the pitlane straight. The multiple Swedish champion kept cool under the pressure from David Philippaerts to add another 4 points to his day’s tally.
Boog is currently 11th in provisional MXGP standings and trails 8th placed Evgeny Bobryshev by only 10 points. For the fifth round of the FIM MXGP World Championship the 24MX Honda team heads to Sevlievo for the Grand Prix of Bulgaria next weekend.
Xavier Boog: “Last year I liked the track, but this year the soil was very different. I left Arco eighth overall, my best result of the season so far, still I’m pretty annoyed. My start was not good in the first moto but I had some good lines and came back strong. Already during qualifying on Saturday I was able to find some different lines, so I was confident about that. The story of my race was similar in the second moto but Alessandro Lupino and David Phillippaerts re-passed me after I made a mistake. I had some slower laps after that, bounced back with a better speed towards the end yet I was absolutely not happy. To get better into my rhythm I need to get away with the faster guys, while now I always need to put in all the hard work to come back. We will focus on the positive side and keep on pushing in Bulgaria.”
Filip thuresson: “The weekend started off a bit strange because I missed my flight on Friday, we drove all the way down to Arco from Belgium so I had very little sleep before the first day! But every time I was out on the bike I was getting more and more comfortable. The 24MX Honda CRF450 is quite an amazing package. Especially the Showa factory suspension was such a joy to ride. When Ullrich came behind me in the first moto I tried to speed up but that caused me to suffer arm pump and there was not much I could do. My riding was more relaxed in the second moto and it was really cool to get 17th. My objective before the weekend was to get some points on the board and I’m happy to have achieved that. First of all because the field in MXGP is more stacked than ever, and secondly because I have very little race rhythm so far and both the bike and the track were new to me. Working with the 24MX Honda team, my mechanic Dennis and the people from Dunlop made my GP experience even more fun. I have to thank everybody for their support and it would be nice to build on this base in another GP!”
MXGP moto 1
1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 35:15.959; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:02.310; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:04.616; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), +0:08.139; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:09.826; 6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:13.420; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:26.871; 8. Joel Roelants (BEL, Honda), +0:51.761; 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), +0:53.405; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, 24MX Honda Racing), +0:56.941; 11. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:03.247; 12. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:09.634; 13. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), +1:09.989; 14. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +1:13.509; 15. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +1:23.404; 16. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Husqvarna), +1:26.570; 17. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +1:27.253; 18. Rui Goncalves (POR, Yamaha), +1:38.747; 19. Dennis Ullrich (GER, KTM), +1:41.257; 20. Filip Thuresson (SWE, 24MX Honda Racing), +1:50.372; 21. Milko Potisek (FRA, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 22. Herjan Brakke (NED, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 23. Augusts Justs (LAT, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 24. Klemen Gercar (SLO, Honda), -1 lap(s); 25. Simone Zecchina (ITA, KTM), -1 lap(s); 26. Santtu Tiainen (FIN, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 27. Alessandro Albertoni (ITA, CRM), -8 lap(s); 28. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), -8 lap(s); 29. Samuel Zeni (ITA, Kawasaki), -17 lap(s); 30. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), -20 lap(s);
MXGP moto 2
1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 33:49.752; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:00.801; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:01.603; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:11.113; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Honda), +0:34.395; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:48.437; 7. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:49.173; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:50.297; 9. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:53.200; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, 24MX Honda Racing), +0:59.055; 11. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), +1:06.762; 12. Milko Potisek (FRA, Yamaha), +1:10.763; 13. Rui Goncalves (POR, Yamaha), +1:14.410; 14. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), +1:16.907; 15. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +1:17.497; 16. Herjan Brakke (NED, Kawasaki), +1:40.932; 17. Filip Thuresson (SWE, 24MX Honda Racing), +1:57.198; 18. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 19. Joel Roelants (BEL, Honda), -1 lap(s); 20. Klemen Gercar (SLO, Honda), -1 lap(s); 21. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 22. Santtu Tiainen (FIN, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 23. Samuel Zeni (ITA, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 24. Simone Zecchina (ITA, KTM), -1 lap(s); 25. Alessandro Albertoni (ITA, CRM), -1 lap(s); 26. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), -14 lap(s); 27. Augusts Justs (LAT, Husqvarna), -14 lap(s); 28. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), -15 lap(s); 29. Dennis Ullrich (GER, KTM), -18 lap(s);
MXGP of Trentino classification
1. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 47 points; 2. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 42 p.; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 36 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HON), 34 p.; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 33 p.; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, KAW), 25 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 24 p.; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, 24MX HONDA), 22 p.; 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), 22 p.; 10. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 21 p.; 11. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 18 p.; 12. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, KAW), 17 p.; 13. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), 15 p.; 14. Joel Roelants (BEL, HON), 15 p.; 15. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 14 p.; 16. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 13 p.; 17. Rui Goncalves (POR, YAM), 11 p.; 18. Milko Potisek (FRA, YAM), 9 p.; 19. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), 6 p.; 20. Herjan Brakke (NED, KAW), 5 p.; 21. Filip Thuresson (SWE, 24MX HON), 5 p.; 22. Tyla Rattray (RSA, HUS), 5 p.; 23. Dennis Ullrich (GER, KTM), 2 p.; 24. Klemen Gercar (SLO, HON), 1 p.; 25. Santtu Tiainen (FIN, HUS), 0 p.; 26. Samuel Zeni (ITA, KAW), 0 p.; 27. Simone Zecchina (ITA, KTM), 0 p.; 28. Alessandro Albertoni (ITA, CRM), 0 p.; 29. Augusts Justs (LAT, HUS), 0 p.; 30. Steven Frossard (FRA, KAW), 0 p.;
FIM MXGP standings after 4 rounds
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 175 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, SUZ), 158 p.; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 154 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HON), 144 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, KAW), 137 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, SUZ), 109 p.; 7. Todd Waters (AUS, HUS), 89 p.; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 81 p.; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, HON), 76 p.; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 72 p.; 11. Xavier Boog (FRA, 24MX HONDA), 71 p.; 12. Steven Frossard (FRA, KAW), 68 p.; 13. Davide Guarneri (ITA, TM), 67 p.; 14. Rui Goncalves (POR, YAM), 64 p.; 15. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 50 p.; 16. David Philippaerts (ITA, YAM), 49 p.; 17. Matiss Karro (LAT, KTM), 43 p.; 18. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), 36 p.; 19. Tommy Searle (GBR, KAW), 29 p.; 20. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, KAW), 17 p.; 21. Pascal Rauchenecker (AUT, KTM), 14 p.; 22. Augusts Justs (LAT, HUS), 10 p.; 23. Klemen Gercar (SLO, HON), 10 p.; 24. Milko Potisek (FRA, YAM), 9 p.; 25. Herjan Brakke (NED, KAW), 8 p.; 26. Jens Getteman (BEL, 24MX HONDA), 8 p.; 27. Tyla Rattray (RSA, HUS), 5 p.; 28. Filip Thuresson (SWE, 24MX HONDA), 5 p.; 29. Antonio Balbi (BRA, KAW), 4 p.; 30. Dennis Ullrich (GER, KTM), 2 p.; 31. Arnon Theplib (THA, HON), 2 p.; 32. Amirezza Sabetifar (IRI, YAM), 2 p