News 11 Jun 2012

Desalle and Herlings take GP victories in Portugal

Rockstar Energy Suzuki's Clemente Desalle and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Jeffrey Herlings have reigned supreme at the seventh round of the FIM World Motocross Championships in Portugal.

Clemente Desalle earned his first victory of the season in Portugal.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki’s Clemente Desalle and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings have reigned supreme at the seventh round of the FIM World Motocross Championship in Portugal.

After early rain made for difficult conditions in the first motos of the day, the sun came out and the fast drying circuit proved to provide some interesting racing for the crowd at Agueda.

In the MX1 Class it was Desalle, who has won the last three events in Portugal, taking 1-3 moto scores to obtain his first overall victory of the 2012 season.

However, the Belgian rider admitted he was disappointed with his performance in moto two, saying he used too much energy in the early stages of the race.

Kawasaki Racing Team’s Gautier Paulin was satisfied with his result after overcoming a mechanical issue in moto one and taking victory in moto two. The French rider earned second overall on the day in the MX1 Class with a 4-1 moto score. Behind Paulin in third overall was current MX1 points leader Antonio Cairoli on his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing ride.

Taking his fifth MX2 Grand Prix victory of the year in Portugal was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings. With 1-2 moto finishes the Dutch rider took out the overall win and built on his championship lead over Tommy Searle.

Searle placed second behind Herlings in the overall standings after suffering clutch issues in moto one, and then bouncing back to redeem himself in moto two with a win.

Rounding out the top three on the podium was Herlings’ Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Jeremy Van Horebeek. Van Horebeek was able to ride through the pain of a twisted ankle to score a solid 2-6 result.

In the MX1 Class Cairoli still leads the standings over Desalle who sits just 37 points behind, while Paulin rounds out the top three. Herlings holds the MX2 overall lead, sitting 24 points infront of Searle while Van Horebeek sits in third.

Belgium will play host to the eighth round of the FIM World Motocross Championships as the series heads to Bastogne on 17 June.

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