News 18 Apr 2017

Cairoli claims home round MXGP victory in Trentino

First-ever MX2 overall win for Prado makes it a KTM sweep.

Source: Supplied.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli claimed his first overall victory of the 2017 MXGP World Championship season at the Trentino grand prix in Italy.

Scoring the top qualifying spot to kick off the weekend, the eight-time world champion claimed the opening moto victory in front of his home crowd after earning the holeshot and leading every lap of the race.

Moto two was an entirely different story for the factory KTM rider as he found himself in 15th position after the first lap following an error in the second corner.

Cairoli carved his way through the field in an impressive ride to finish the final moto of the day in second position behind defending MXGP champion Tim Gajser locking up the overall win in the process.

Gajser, using a 3-1 moto scorecard, would claim the runner-up spot on the podium followed by Tonus in third after putting together an improved 2-7 moto combination on the day.

Rounding out the top five was Gajser’s Team HRC teammate Evgeny Bobryshev in fourth with a 7-3 score and Gautier Paulin in fifth after logging a fourth in moto one and a sixth in moto two.

Gajser continues to hold the series leading red plate after five rounds of racing as he sits 18 markers ahead of Cairoli in second followed by Clemente Desalle, Bobryshev and Paulin.

In the MX2 category it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado who reigned supreme as he captured his first-ever overall grand prix victory ahead of a strong list of contenders.

The opening moto of the day saw Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass leap out in front and capture the chequered flag ahead of Prado, setting the stage for a moto two battle for the overall win.

Moto two saw the 16-year-old Prado turn the tables on his factory KTM teammate as he claimed the lead and continued to hold off any advances from Jonass throughout the race to claim victory with a 2-1 moto scorecard.

With Jonass settling for the runner-up spot on the podium thanks to his 1-2 moto scores it was Julien Lieber who occupied the final podium position with a 3-5 score followed by Thomas Kjer Olsen and Thomas Covington to round out the top five.

Australia’s Hunter Lawrence finished the weekend in 16th position after logging a 35-11 moto scorecard and 2015 Motul MX Nationals MX2 champion Jay Wilson 38th after finishing 23rd and 37th in his motos.

With his runner-up finish in Trentino, Jonass now regains the red plate from former series leader Jeremy Seewer after the Suzuki World MX2 rider failed to finish inside the top five overall for the weekend.

Australia’s current Motul MX Nationals MX2 champion Jed Beaton made his debut in the EMX250 class in Trentino coming home with a 14-26 moto scorecard for 24th overall on the day.

Australian WMX contender Emma Milesevic finished 18th overall with a 14-35 moto score followed by fellow Aussie Maddie Brown in 26th-place with a 20-31 score for the day.

The 2017 MXGP World Championship will now head to Valkenswaard for round six of the series this weekend on 23 April.

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