News 6 Mar 2017

Simpson tops rain-hit Indonesian MXGP affair

MX2 overall goes to Seewer as mud causes early ending.

Source: Supplied.

Wilvo Yamaha MXGP’s Shaun Simpson overcame the demanding Pangkal Pinang conditions to claim victory in the second round of the 2017 MXGP World Championship in Indonesia.

Dealing with extreme racing conditions due to heavy rain in the area, the MXGP overall was decided on just the opening moto results after event management made the decision to cancel moto two.

Simpson crossed the line over seven seconds ahead of runner-up finisher Glenn Coldenhoff topped Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Clement Desalle in third position on the day.

Rounding out the top five was round one winner Antonio Cairoli in fourth place followed by Husqvarna 8Biano Racing’s Rui Goncalves rounding out the top five.

Cairoli continues to lead the MXGP rankings aboard his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing entry eight points ahead of Desalle in second place, defending champion Gajser in third, Evgeny Bobryshev in fourth and Jeremy Van Horebeek in fifth.

In the MX2 category it was Suzuki World MX2’s Jeremy Seewer who topped the board to claim a career-first grand prix victory in the challenging conditions.

Seewer kicked off his Pangkal Pinang assault winning the opening moto ahead of Davy Pootjes, Julien Lieber, Brent Van Doninck and Benoit Paturel. Australia’s Caleb Ward was strong in the opening race claiming an impressive seventh place finish.

A shortened moto two saw TM Factory Racing’s Samuele Bernardini claim his first MX2 moto win ahead of moto one winner Seewer in second position. Behind Bernardini and Seewer it was Brian Bogers in third followed by Lieber and Thomas Kjer Olsen to round out the top five.

Standing atop of the MX2 podium with a consistent 1-2 moto scorecard it was Bernardini who took the runner-up spot ahead of Lieber in third place to round out the podium.

Australia’s Ward was an improved 12th overall following an unfortunate DNF in moto two ranking him as the highest placing Aussie in the MX2 field.

Hunter Lawrence was 23rd overall with 24-16 moto finishes followed by Jay Wilson in 27th with a 29-20 score. Wildcard entry Aaron Tanti finished his debut in 28th with 20-22 moto scores followed by fellow wildcard entrant Kyle Webster further down the leaderboard with 32-29 scores.

It was quite a large championship points shift in the MX2 category with season-opening round winner Pauls Jonass finishing way down the rankings in 21st over the weekend.

Lieber now holds the points lead after round two ahead of Seewer in second, Paturel in third, Kjer Olsen in fourth and Jonass back in fifth position.

In the WMX category it was New Zealand’s Courtney Duncan who claimed the overall victory aboard her Altherm JCR Yamaha YZ250F entry to claim the series leading red plate.

Using a 5-1 moto scorecard, Duncan captured the overall victory ahead of Nicky Van Wordragen, Shana van der Vlist, Anne Borchers and Kiara Fontanesi to round out the top five.

The 2017 MXGP World Championship now head to Neuqen for the MXGP of Patagonia Argentina for the third round of the series on 19 March.

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