Agony Anstie!

But the man with the most lead laps at the Losail track before misfortune struck was Max Anstie on Steve Dixon's Bike It Cosworth Yamaha.

 

Twice Mighty Max got up off his sick bed to quickly dispose of holeshotter Jose Butron and dominate for a dozen laps before fate struck, to leave him with just four meagre points instead of the 50 point maximum his efforts so thoroughly deserved.

 

"We've still got 34 motos to catch those points back up, and we share the blame,” said Dixon. 

 

"We haven't opened up the engine yet to see why it stopped in race one, but there does not appear to be have been a mechanical breakage.

 

"And Max has put his hands up that the second moto was pure and simple rider error.”

 

The only rider jumping the big quad at the back of the track, Max was outstanding and Jeffrey Herlings knew that his 32nd career victory had been gifted to him.

 

As Anstie drove up the slope of the finish jumps with four to go in the opener, he had the race in the bag before the engine failed.

 

At the time Herlings was still down in fifth, but with his sights on second. 

 

It was the placing he got, but it was so nearly the win as, recovering from way down the pack, he sneaked around Butron to run down Glenn Coldenhoff but missed Dylan Ferrandis by a matter of feet.

 

The French teenager had already accepted defeat until Anstie went out but could not relax until the chequered flag as Coldenhoff piled on the pressure and Herlings homed in

 

"The stress in those last two laps was insane,” said Ferrandis.

 

Anstie nailed Butron even quicker in race two and the surprise package in his wake was US teenager Thomas Covington, who followed him past the Spaniard and defied even Herlings until four from the end.

 

It was a strange race for Herlings, who was unable to advance for eight long laps.

 

"I just couldn't find the lines to pass and Dylan was riding the perfect line,” he said.

 

And that was for fifth and sixth, which even became fiftth and seventh temporarily as Romain Febvre slammed past the champion. 

 

Again with four to go the leading Yam died in a turn: "My mistake. I was throwing up yesterday and was getting tired by the end of race two,” admitted Anstie. 

 

"I just stalled it, but my initial reaction was to think it had stopped again.” A minute went past before he kicked the Yam back to life, but all that could be salvaged was 17th place.

 

Britain's other MX2 runner Mel Pocock had also ridden his heart out. 

 

After running seventh for half of race one, the HM Plant boy inevitably faded back to 13th at the chequered flag.

 

"I can't believe it myself that I kept it going for so long,” he said.

 

"I was on a drip for dehydration yesterday and the only meal I've had in two days came straight back up again. 

 

"By the end of the race I was empty.” 

 

 1 Jeffrey Herlings (NL - Red Bull Factory KTM) 22 + 25 = 47

 2 Dylan Ferrandis (F - CLS Monster Kawasaki) 25 + 15 = 40

 3 Romain Febvre (F - Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna) 16 + 18 = 34

 4 Arnaud Tonus (CH - CLS Monster Kawasaki) 11 + 22 = 33

 5 Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS - Wilvo Nestaan Husky) 15 + 16 = 31

 6 Jose Butron (E - Silver Action KTM) 18 + 13 = 31

 7 Glenn Coldenhoff (NL - Rockstar Suzuki) 20 +  9 = 29

 8 Jordi Tixier (F - Red Bull Factory KTM) 14 + 14 = 28

 9 Tim Gajser (SLO - Gariboldi Honda) 13 + 11 = 24

10 Christophe Charlier (F - Factory Yamaha)  9 + 12 = 21

11 Thomas Covington (US - Monster KRT Kawasaki) 0+20=20, 12 Valentin Guillod (CH - Standing Construct KTM) 12+7=19, 13 Petar Petrov (BUL - Kemea Yamaha) 5+10=15, 14 Alessandro Lupino (I - CLS Monster Kawasaki) 10+5=15, 15 Maxime Desprey (F - Jtech Honda) 6+6=12, 16 Julien Lieber (B - Rockstar Suzuki) 3+8=11, 17 Jeremy Seewer (CH - Rockstar Suzuki) 7+3=10, 18 Mel POCOCK (GB - HM Plant KTM UK) 8+2=10, 19 Max ANSTIE (GB - BikeIt Cosworth Yamaha) 0+4=4, 20 Roberts Justs (LAT - Latvia Husqvarna) 4+0=4, 21 Magne Klingsheim (N - BikeIt Cosworth Yamaha) 2+0=2, 22 Kei Yamamoto (J - Gariboldi Honda) 0+1=1, 23 Anton Lundgren (S - BikeIt Cosworth Yamaha) 1+0=1.

RACE ONE: 1 Ferrandis, 2 Herlings, 3 Coldenhoff, 4 Butron, 5 Febvre, 6 Tonkov, 7 Tixier, 8 Gajser, 9 Guillod, 10 Tonus, 11 Lupino, 12 Charlier, 13 POCOCK, 14 Seewer, 15 Desprey, 16 Petrov, 17 Justs, 18 Lieber, 19 Klingsheim, 20 Lundgren.

RACE TWO: 1 Herlings, 2 Tonus, 3 Covington, 4 Febvre, 5 Tonkov, 6 Ferrandis, 7 Tixier, 8 Butron, 9 Charlier, 10 Gajser, 11 Petrov, 12 Coldenhoff, 13 Lieber, 14 Guillod, 15 Desprey, 16 Lupino, 17 ANSTIE, 18 Seewer, 19 POCOCK, 20 Yamamoto.

SERIES STANDINGS after 1 (of 18) rounds: 1 Herlings 47 points, 2 Ferrandis 40, 3 Febvre 34, 4 Tonus 33, 5 Butron 31, 6 Tonkov 31, 7 Coldenhoff 29, 8 Tixier 28, 9 Gajser 24, 10 Charlier 21, 11 Covington 20, 12 Guillod 19, 13 Petrov 15, 14 Lupino 15, 15 Desprey 12, 16 Lieber 11, 17 POCOCK 10, 18 Seewer 10, 19 ANSTIE 4, 20 Justs 4,...

NEXT ROUND: March 9 –                              Si Racha, THAILAND.

 

 1 Gautier Paulin (FRA - Monster KRT Kawasaki) 20 + 25 = 45

 2 Maximilian Nagl (D - HRC Team Honda) 25 + 18 = 43

 3 Antonio Cairoli (I - Red Bull Factory KTM) 22 + 20 = 42

 4 Steven Frossard (F - Monster KRT Kawasaki) 18 + 22 = 40

 5 Jeremy Van Horebeek (B - Factory Yamaha) 16 + 16 = 32

 6 Tommy SEARLE (GB - CLS Monster Kaw) 15 + 14 = 29

 7 Clement Desalle (B - Rockstar Suzuki) 12 + 15 = 27

 8 Kevin Strijbos (B - Rockstar Suzuki) 14 + 13 = 27

 9 Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS - HRC Team Honda) 13 + 12 = 25

10 Joel Roelants (B - J-Race Honda) 11 + 11 = 22

11 Todd Waters (AUS - Red Bull Ice1 Husqvarna) 7+10=17, 12 David Philippaerts (I - DP19 Racing Yamaha) 8+9=17, 13 Tanel Leok (EST - Ricci TM) 6+7=13, 14 Jake NICHOLLS (GB - Wilvo Forkrent KTM) 5+5=10, 15 Shaun SIMPSON (GB - HM Plant KTM UK) 10+0=10, 16 Davide Guarneri (I - Ricci TM) 9+0=9, 17 Xavier Boog (F - 24MX KTM) 0+8=8, 18 Rui Goncalves (P - BikeIt Cosworth Yamaha) 4+4=8, 19 Matiss Karro (LAT - Wilvo Forkrent KTM) 0+6=6, 20 Jens Getteman (B - 24MX Honda) 3+3=6, 21 Klemen Gercar (SLO - Jtech Honda) 2+2=4, 22 Amirezza Sabetifar (IRI - Yamaha) 1+1=2.

RACE ONE: 1 Nagl, 2 Cairoli, 3 Paulin, 4 Frossard, 5 Van Horebeek, 6 SEARLE, 7 Strijbos, 8 Bobryshev, 9 Desalle, 10 Roelants, 11 SIMPSON, 12 Guarneri, 13 Philippaerts, 14 Waters, 15 Tanel Leok, 16 NICHOLLS, 17 Goncalves, 18 Getteman, 19 Gercar, 20 Sabetifar.

RACE TWO: 1 Paulin, 2 Frossard, 3 Cairoli, 4 Nagl, 5 Van Horebeek, 6 Desalle, 7 SEARLE, 8 Strijbos, 9 Bobryshev, 10 Roelants, 11 Waters, 12 Philippaerts, 13 Boog, 14 Tanel Leok, 15 Karro, 16 NICHOLLS, 17 Goncalves, 18 Getteman, 19 Gercar, 20 Sabetifar.

SERIES STANDINGS after 1 (of 18) rounds: 1 Paulin 45 points, 2 Nagl 43, 3 Cairoli 42, 4 Frossard 40, 5 Van Horebeek 32, 6 SEARLE 29, 7 Desalle 27, 8 Strijbos 27, 9 Bobryshev 25, 10 Roelants 22, 11 Waters 17, 12 Philippaerts 17, 13 Tanel Leok 13, 14 SIMPSON 10, 15 NICHOLLS 10, 16 Guarneri 9, 17 Boog 8, 18 Goncalves 8, 19 Karro 6, 20 Getteman 6,...

NEXT ROUND: March 9 – Si Racha, THAILAND.

 

1 Meghan Kat Rutledge (AUS - Bud Kawasaki) 20 + 25 = 45

2 Natalie KANE (IRE - HM Plant KTM UK) 25 + 18 = 43

3 Livia Lancelot (F - 124 Kawasaki) 22 + 20 = 42

4 Stephanie Laier (D - Dragon Moto Suzuki) 18 + 22 = 40

5 Nancy Van De Ven (NL - Yamaha) 16 + 16 = 32

6 Chiara Fontanesi (I - Yamaha) 15 + 14 = 29

7 Larissa Picoto (D - 20 Suspension Suzuki) 12+15=27, 8 Francesca Nocera (I - MC Francy Suzuki) 14+13=27, 9 Marianne Veenstra (NL - Husqvarna) 13+12=25, 10 Justine Charroux (F - Yamaha) 11+11=22, 11 Emelie Dahl (S - Yamaha) 7+10=17, 12 Anne Borchers (D - Suzuki) 8+9=17, 13 Sara Pettersson (S - KTM) 6+7=13, 14 Joanna Miller (POL - Suzuki) 5+5=10, 15 Kimberley Braam (NL - Braam 193 Kawasaki) 10+0=10, 16 Virginie Germond (CH - Dragon Moto Suzuki) 9+0=9, 17 Lucie Simonova (CZ - HT Group KTM) 0+8=8, 18 Vage Genette (N - KTM) 4+4=8, 19 Samanta Josta (LAT - Yamaha) 0+6=6, 20 Tereza Hromkova (CZ - HT Group KTM) 3+3=6, 21 Ekaterina Guryeva (RUS - Husqvarna) 2+2=4, 22 Victoria Muller (D - KTM Team West) 1+1=2.

RACE ONE: 1 KANE, 2 Lancelot, 3 Rutledge, 4 Laier, 5 Van De Ven, 6 Fontanesi, 7 Nocera, 8 Veenstra, 9 Picoto, 10 Charroux, 11 Braam, 12 Germond, 13 Borchers, 14 Dahl, 15 Pettersson, 16 Miller, 17 Genette, 18 Hromkova, 19 Guryeva, 20 Muller.

RACE TWO: 1 Rutledge, 2 Laier, 3 Lancelot, 4 KANE, 5 Van De Ven, 6 Picoto, 7 Fontanesi, 8 Nocera, 9 Veenstra, 10 Charroux, 11 Dahl, 12 Borchers, 13 Simonova, 14 Pettersson, 15 Josta, 16 Miller, 17 Genette, 18 Hromkova, 19 Guryeva, 20 Muller.

SERIES STANDINGS after 1 (of 6) rounds: 1 Rutledge 45 points, 2 KANE 43, 3 Lancelot 42, 4 Laier 40, 5 Van De Ven 32, 6 Fontanesi 29, 7 Picoto 27, 8 Nocera 27, 9 Veenstra 25, 10 Charroux 22, 11 Dahl 17, 12 Borchers 17, 13 Pettersson 13, 14 Braam 10, 15 Miller 10, 16 Germond 9, 17 Simonova 8, 18 Genette 8, 19 Josta 6, 20 Hromkova 6,...

NEXT ROUND: April 13 – Arco di Trento, ITALY.