Full Report: World Motocross Championship – Rd 11, Ottobiano, Italy
By Alex Hodgkinson on 28th Jun 17
Tony Cairoli is still The Boss s the eight-time champion showed he still has what it takes to see off the kids.
And in the 100 degree heat of Ottobiano, Italy, the 31-year-old sank his lap times by four seconds at will to destroy even Jeffrey Herlings in sand.
In MX2 there was one moto each for Jeremy Seewer and Pauls Jonass but the Swiss pulled back seven points in what is now surely a two-horse race.
There were grins all round for the surviving Brits as Max Anstie scorched to his maiden MXGP podium in the toughest race of the year, Brad Anderson continued his winning ways in EMX300 and Ben Watson showed solid top-10 pace all weekend.
Even an overnight thunderstorm that cooled temperatures on Sunday morning could not save those present from conditions tougher than Thailand.
As the sun came out again at midday, the mercury in the thermometer soared several degrees each hour and humidity neared 100 per cent.
‘The hotter the better', was Cairoli's motto as he faced KTM colleague Jeffrey Herlings in sand. The Dutchman gave everything he had but in the end even The Bullet – as fit as anybody in the paddock – had to accept second best.
Moto one was Cairoli's – but only just. While the Italian had shot in front directly from the start and immediately opened up a cushion, Herlings had been forced to surge through the top 10 after a broken wheel on Saturday had cost him a decent gate.
By lap two The Bullet was second but for half the race the gap remained constant at a couple of seconds.
The Dutchman had clearly learnt his lessons about showing Cairoli his lines and delayed his attack until three laps from the end.
When it came it was with a bang, almost catching even Cairoli unawares. Herlings was alongside before he knew about it but the Italian controlled the line.
First he blocked an outside pass and when Herlings switched inside TC cut him off.Herlings never got a second chance.
Those who suspected Cairoli had something in reserve soon had the confirmation as he pulled three seconds in half-a-lap.
After another lap at that speed Herlings knew it was over and switched to ‘bring it home' mode to fight another day.
The rest were statistics. Gautier Paulin was third throughout to finish 35 seconds back, Tim Gajser ran fourth before he ran out of steam in his first race since Germany and the man of the hour behind the leading two was Max Anstie, who had hit the gate at the start.
Running lap times not far off the leaders, the Brit was ninth with three laps to go and still had something left as he scorched past Gajser, Desalle, Nagl and Coldenhoff to finish fifth.
Cairoli needed a lap to oust Arminas Jasikonis in race two and Herlings followed him through from an initial eighth within half-a-lap.
What followed was a game of cat-and-mouse before Herlings decided to change tactics and pounce early.
At 15 minutes Cairoli faltered entering a turn and Herlings swooped around the outside to immediately open up a four-second cushion. The crowd gasped but they didn't need to worry and 10 minutes later it was Herlings' turn to gasp as Cairoli dropped his lap times by four seconds! Within two laps the race was over...
Jasikonis eventually hit the wall at 20 minutes and Anstie, well clear of the rest, secured his first MXGP podium.
"I got a better start this time,” he said. "But when Jeffrey came past me when I was pushing I knew it was time to just focus on my laps and not crash. I threw away a podium in Russia by crashing but getting the first one here is special, up there alongside Tony and Jeffrey in Italy.”
With Paulin and Desalle mid-pack Cairoli now leads by 67 with eight GPs to run.
"It was nice to win here in Italy again,” he said. "But I don't need to win every week – I'm in this for the long haul.”
MX2 was equally thrilling as the kids banged bars.
Jeremy Seewer had been forced to ride through the pack from last to claim sixth gate pick after getting trapped behind some crashers on the first lap of quali.
And he was content in fourth for the first few laps of race one, secure in the knowledge that Pauls Jonass was behind him for once as chaos reigned on the inside gate picks.
The Latvian was not the only one affected as quali winner Thomas Covington, TKO and Benoit Paturel were also downfield while Ben Watson, a commanding fourth on Saturday, hit the deck halfway to turn one as bars got entangled.
Seewer sat in fourth for two laps before edging forward, finally moving Brian Bogers aside like a man who does not take prisoners.
Once in front the Swiss was gone and he had 16 seconds before Paturel hit second five from the end. Jonass, meanwhile, was in trouble.
"It's the first time all year I didn't get a start and I stressed,” he said.
"I used far too much energy to get to fourth and I was just hanging on for sixth at the end.”
Conrad Mewse had run top six early on but faded to 14th at the finish while Watson, rejoining the race dead last, was up into the points by half-distance as he rode top 10 pace through the pack until another crash ended his race.
With team-mate Prado backing out because he wasn't fit, race two was Jonass all the way as Seewer had to battle.
The Latvian was already six seconds clear before the Swiss moved Covington aside on lap two but a fall by the Suzuki man ended his chances of a double.
Still hoping that Jonass might fade again, he set off after Covington and their next contact nearly saw both go down, the Swiss wobbling to a stop and the American running off the track.
"I'd been passing people there all weekend,” said Seewer, "but I hit neutral and had no engine braking. "Sorry!”
A lap later and he made it stick, even when the American – slightly moody by now – tried to smack him back and missed.
But Jonass was now 13 seconds clear and Seewer, who was feeling the heat after two crashes, was happy to see the chequered flag come out.
Mewse again started well – even passing team-mate TKO on lap one – but faded back to the final point after 35 minutes but Watson kept it on two wheels at leaderboard pace to finish eighth.
Brad Anderson continued his march towards the EMX300 title with his third overall win in three rounds.
The 36-year-old was only headed by fellow Brit James Dunn in race one.
Defending champion Mike Kras was an early leader in the claustrophobic heat on Saturday afternoon but the Dutchman faded in the closing stages as first Ando and then Dunny took command.
Joel Smets' son Greg led the Sunday morning race for 20 minutes before Anderson wore him down while Dunn had to come a long way to secure his podium with third.
And as others were fading, Brad even raced an extra lap.
"I didn't see the chequered flag,” he said. "And I wanted to make sure.”
Rob Holyoake scored twice from 9-11 and Phil Mercer got five points from 19-18.
Anderson now leads the series by 21 points with four motos to race.
The home fans celebrated a 1-2-3 in the EMX250 opener as Morgan Lesiardo led home Nicholas Lapucci and Simone Furlotti. Todd Kellett took 10th with Dylan Walsh 19th.
Lesiardo clinched his first overall since signing for Kawasaki by taking second to Furlotti on Sunday morning.
Christopher Mills had to go to the LCQ in the EMX125 but made it worthwhile with 10th in the Saturday race.
Jack Bintcliffe, ninth in his quali group, found racing tougher and had to be satisfied with 30th and 27th.
Mikkel Haarup won for the first time since Valkenswaard to move to within 17 points of Brian Strubhart Moreau.
