Round five of the FIM Motocross World Championship and the first sand race of the year was just as awesome and crazy as predicted, won by Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings around the treacherous circuit of Valkenswaard.

Although we are only five rounds in, it seems like we have been waiting forever to see that same amazing mix of smoothness, style and aggression Gautier Paulin displayed in the latter stages of 2014.

Finally, a lot of the bets his die-hard fans place on him weekend after weekend would have been won with the Team HRC star finally coming out of his shell to dominate every race. As always, the Frenchman’s style was awe-inspiring as he floated around a visibly brutal circuit here in Valkenswaard for his first grand prix victory of the year.

Wrapping up second overall Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl is proving to be the ultimate force to be reckoned with, as he snatches back the championship lead for the second time this year.

The German, who openly admitted he didn’t expect to be on the podium this weekend, put in two incredibly solid and consistent performances for second overall and his fourth podium finish of the year.

Belgium seems to have a habit of producing consistently consistent riders. Last season it was Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek, who sadly couldn’t race this weekend due to a broken foot, while this season it is Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Clement Desalle in third overall on the weekend.

Rounding out a spectacular weekend for Team HRC, Evgeny Bobryshev finally lost that black cloud of bad-luck that follows him and was rewarded with fourth overall. As a rider that has had a string of injuries, it is fantastic to see him start to bounce back and return to that same Bobby we once knew.

Known as a strong sand rider, there’s no surprise Hitachi Construction Machinery Revo KTM’s Shaun Simpson rounded out the top five this weekend. One of the most awesome factors in seeing the friendly Scotsman wrap up a top five result is the fact he is not a factory rider.

As a privateer it’s not the easiest of tasks to go up against the factory bikes, but he has done it once when he won the MXGP of Europe as a privateer back in 2013, so it’s good to see someone prove that it is doable.

As for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli, this weekend turned out to be one of the worst weekends he has had in a while. The defending MXGP champion came into this weekend one point shy of the championship points lead and if statistics were anything to go by, having won the last five grand prix’ held at this circuit, it was almost certain the Italian would stand on the podium.

Just going to show how unpredictable MXGP can be, the Italian had a massive crash in race one, of which he was lucky to come away scot-free, and could only pull off a seventh in race two which left him all the way back in eleventh overall. He is now thirty points down on the series leader Max Nagl, in third.

Husqvarna-mounted Australian duo Dean Ferris (15-13) and Todd Waters (14-14) finished up the weekend tied on points in 12th and 13th overall respectively – Waters overcoming a heavy heat race crash on the Saturday to soldier on for a result.

It will come as no surprise, but Herlings remains unbeaten in Valkenswaard, sweeping the MX2 for his first grand prix win since MXGP of Thailand. Although Herlings is expected to win in the sand as he has a once in a life time talent which you have to see to believe, he did make life a little difficult for himself in race two when he got off to a shocker of a start and later crashed while trying to dice his way through the field.

Meanwhile Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jordi Tixier is starting to pick up some momentum after somewhat of a rough start to the season. Landing on the podium for the second time this season, in second overall, couldn’t be better for the young Frenchman who is trying to regain points after missing MXGP of Patagonia Argentina.

Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Aleksandr Tonkov laid in his best result of the season with a third overall, which is also his first podium performance of the year. The Russian, who has caused a lot of hype recently because he is manning the all-new 2016-based Husqvarna FC 250, is doing a great job of representing the new bike with his two impressive Fox Holeshots vouching for its speed and his podium finish vouching for its overall handling and performance.

2015 MXGP World Championship
Round five – Valkenswaard, Netherlands

MXGP overall results:
1. Gautier Paulin 50
2. Maximilian Nagl 44
3. Clement Desalle 38
4. Evgeny Bobryshev 38
5. Shaun Simpson 31
6. Tyla Rattray 28
7. Romain Febvre 27
8. Ken de Dycker 25
9. Glenn Coldenhoff 25
10. Tommy Searle 19
12. Dean Ferris (AUS) 14
13. Todd Waters (AUS) 14

MXGP championship standings:
1. Maximilian Nagl 214
2. Clement Desalle 209
3. Antonio Cairoli 184
4. Gautier Paulin 178
5. Romain Febvre 156
6. Evgeny Bobryshev 138
7. Ryan Villopoto 124
8. Shaun Simpson 98
9. Todd Waters (AUS) 92
10. Glenn Coldenhoff 86
17. Dean Ferris (AUS) 42

MX2 overall results:
1. Jeffrey Herlings 50
2. Jordi Tixier 40
3. Aleksandr Tonkov 38
4. Brian Bogers 31
5. Valentin Guillod 28
6. Jeremy Seewer 26
7. Dylan Ferrandis 26
8. Brent Van doninck 23
9. Jens Getteman 22
10. Max Anstie 22

MX2 championship standings:
1. Jeffrey Herlings 222
2. Dylan Ferrandis 185
3. Pauls Jonass 148
4. Tim Gajser 137
5. Aleksandr Tonkov 133
6. Valentin Guillod 129
7. Jeremy Seewer 125
8. Julien Lieber 121
9. Jordi Tixier 115
10. Thomas Covington 102

Click here for detailed results