Queensland’s Todd Waters finished 12th overall in the MXGP of Bulgaria at Sevlievo on Sunday, the weekend topped by world champion Antonio Cairoli (Red Bull KTM).

Waters rode his Red Bull Ice One Racing Husqvarna to 16th in race one, however when the rain came ahead of race two, he stormed to eighth after running as high as sixth during the mud-soaked moto.

It was a standout performance for the Aussie, slicing his way through the field from 15th to sixth, only to suffer a costly crash in the closing stages and wind up eighth. That result secured 12th overall.

“It’s been one heck of a weekend,” Waters commented. “Rain on Saturday left the track with some massive ruts and it was really technical to ride. I was out of my comfort zone a little in race one trying to deal with the ruts, but I gave it my best shot.

“Even though I don’t get a lot of mud in Australia I had a lot of fun in race two. I got up as high as sixth, but then crashed with another rider. Even though my gloves were caked in mud I kept pushing on and finished eighth.”

Cairoli won the overall with 2-1 finishes, from moto one winner Gautier Paulin (Monster Energy Kawasaki) and Jeremy Van Horebeek (Yamaha). Cairoli now holds a 28-point lead in the series, with Waters seventh.

In MX2 it was world champion Jeffrey Herlings (Red Bull KTM) winning the round with a clean-sweep, ahead of series red plate holder Arnaud Tonus (Monster Energy CLS Kawasaki) and Jordi Tixier (Red Bull KTM).

Australian champion Luke Styke (KEMEA Yamaha) was 17th overall with a 15-16 scorecard, now 19th in the world championship standings. Tonus now holds a slim four-point lead in the championship ahead of Herlings.

“Saturday went good for me,” Styke said. “I had a good feeling on the track and finished 12th. On Sunday it was more difficult. The first moto I was in 15th for pretty much the whole race. On a jump I hurt my wrist a little and after that I rode tight and cautious not to hit the wrist again.

“In the second race I was riding tight again to finish 16th. Back to Belgium now and we will continue to work hard for the next race.”

The MXGP World Championship will continue at Valkenswaard in The Netherlands on 3-4 May.

2014 MXGP World Championship
Round five – Sevlievo, Bulgaria

MXGP overall results:
1. Antonio Cairoli 47
2. Gautier Paulin 43
3. Jeremy Van Horebeek 40
4. Clement Desalle 36
5. Kevin Strijbos 36
6. Tyla Rattray 28
7. Xavier Boog 25
8. Shaun Simpson 23
9. Max Nagl 22
10. Rui Goncalves 20
12. Todd Waters (AUS) 18

MXGP championship standings:
1. Antonio Cairoli 222
2. Clement Desalle 194
3. Jeremy Van Horebeek 194
4. Gautier Paulin 180
5. Max Nagl 166
6. Kevin Strijbos 145
7. Todd Waters (AUS) 107
8. Xavier Boog 96
9. Evgeny Bobryshev 95
10. Shaun Simpson 95

MX2 overall results:
1. Jeffrey Herlings 50
2. Arnaud Tonus 44
3. Jordi Tixier 40
4. Dylan Ferrandis 36
5. Romain Febvre 32
6. Petar Petrov 28
7. Glenn Coldenhoff 28
8. Tim Gajser 28
9. Aleksandr Tonkov 23
10. Jeremy Seewer 23
17. Luke Styke (AUS) 11

MX2 championship standings:
1. Arnaud Tonus 198
2. Jeffrey Herlings 194
3. Glenn Coldenhoff 176
4. Romain Febvre 158
5. Dylan Ferrandis 154
6. Jordi Tixier 147
7. Aleksandr Tonkov 130
8. Tim Gajser 121
9. Valentin Guillod 107
10. Jose Butron 105
19. Luke Styke (AUS) 38

Click here for detailed results