Jorge Prado (Red Bull KTM) and his team-mate Pauls Jonass traded wins in today’s two points-paying MX2 motos at the MXGP of Germany at Teutschenthal, round eight of the FIM Motocross World Championship.
With the Latvian winning race one from Prado before the young Spaniard turned the tables in race two, the overall win – his third of the season – went to Prado on a tie-break but he still trails the defending champion by 22 points heading into the MXGP of Great Britain at Matterley Basin at the start of next month.
“It was a great second moto,” said Prado. “I took the holeshot which was really important on this track because it was difficult to pass. The track was rough and with two laps to go I almost crashed but I managed to take the win so I’m super-happy.”
Featuring the only downhill start straight on the championship calendar, the approach to the opening left-hand turn is flat-out fast and Prado holeshot the first 30-minute plus two lap moto from Jonass and Britain’s Ben Watson (Kemea Yamaha) but Jonass was quickly into the lead.
Calvin Vlaanderen (Team HRC) went past both local hero Henry Jacobi (STC Racing Husqvarna) and Watson into third with a mistake costing the German a place as Watson capitalised. He then briefly regained third before being out-dragged along a straight by the South African in an action-packed opening lap.
With passing tough on the stony, hard-pack track the top five was decided on lap one. Dane Thomas Kjer Olsen (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – who sits third in the points – and Jed Beaton (F&H Kawasaki) were scrapping it out for sixth when the pair touched in mid-air on lap four with both crashing hard. The Aussie recovered well for seventh behind Italy’s Michele Cervellin (Martin Honda) but Olsen’s title hopes suffered a serious blow when he trailed home in 15th.
After missing out on the win in race one by just over a second Prado fired out of the gate in the second moto to take his ninth holeshot of the series by a tyre’s width from Jacobi but Jonass again took the lead. This time around Prado wasted little time in regaining the lead and was in no mood to be caught as the leading pair immediately set about dropping Jacobi and the rest of the pack.
At two-thirds distance a big mistake by Jacobi handed third to Vlaanderen and, as Prado raced to his third overall win of the season with a five-second advantage over Jonass, the South African crossed the line a further five seconds in arrears to take his first podium finish in over a year.
Watson came home fourth to secure fourth on the day from Beaton who ended race two in sixth, one place behind Olsen.
With Adam Sterry (F&H Kawasaki) still out injured, Britain’s only other representative was Conrad Mewse (Hitachi ASA KTM UK) but he had a miserable day and failed to score in either race.
In the championship it’s still Jonass from Prado with Olsen a distant third ahead of Watson who reduced the deficit to the tall Dane by 14 points. Mewse’s second pointless round of the year drops him to 13th in the table with his home GP on June 2-3 next up on the calendar.
MXGP Germany MX2 race two
1 61 Prado, Jorge ESP RFME KTM 34:32.231 18 0:00.000 0:00.000 1:49.949 4 50.4
2 1 Jonass, Pauls LAT LAMSF KTM 34:37.248 18 0:05.017 0:05.017 1:50.024 3 50.3
3 10 Vlaanderen, Calvin RSA KNMV Honda 34:42.298 18 0:10.067 0:05.050 1:51.066 5 49.9
4 919 Watson, Ben GBR ACU Yamaha 34:44.181 18 0:11.950 0:01.883 1:51.828 13 49.5
5 19 Olsen, Thomas Kjer DEN DMU Husqvarna 34:57.357 18 0:25.126 0:13.176 1:52.322 9 49.3
6 14 Beaton, Jed AUS MA Kawasaki 34:58.810 18 0:26.579 0:01.453 1:52.084 8 49.4
7 747 Cervellin, Michele ITA FMI Honda 35:05.960 18 0:33.729 0:07.150 1:52.584 18 49.2
8 29 Jacobi, Henry GER DMSB Husqvarna 35:07.751 18 0:35.520 0:01.791 1:50.925 3 49.9
9 46 Pootjes, Davy NED KNMV KTM 35:27.831 18 0:55.600 0:20.080 1:53.573 4 48.8
10 193 Geerts, Jago BEL FMB Yamaha 35:33.119 18 1:00.888 0:05.288 1:53.914 7 48.6
11 95 Furlotti, Simone ITA FMI Yamaha 35:36.782 18 1:04.551 0:03.663 1:54.065 10 48.6
12 172 Van doninck, Brent BEL FMB Husqvarna 35:38.202 18 1:05.971 0:01.420 1:54.265 9 48.5
13 127 Rodriguez, Anthony VEN FMV Yamaha 35:39.201 18 1:06.970 0:00.999 1:54.302 12 48.5
14 56 Weltin, Marshal USA AMA Honda 35:40.659 18 1:08.428 0:01.458 1:54.416 10 48.4
15 53 Walsh, Dylan NZL MNZ Husqvarna 35:49.296 18 1:17.065 0:08.637 1:53.830 2 48.7
16 226 Koch, Tom GER DMSB KTM 35:51.741 18 1:19.510 0:02.445 1:55.245 10 48.1
17 64 Covington, Thomas USA MUL Husqvarna 35:58.074 18 1:25.843 0:06.333 1:54.250 4 48.5
18 66 Larranaga Olano, Iker ESP RFME Husqvarna 36:08.980 18 1:36.749 0:10.906 1:54.165 4 48.5
19 931 Zanotti, Andrea SMR FSM Husqvarna 36:10.182 18 1:37.951 0:01.202 1:55.188 1 48.1
20 43 Bres, Natanael FRA FFM KTM 36:10.933 18 1:38.702 0:00.751 1:55.837 5 47.8
21 75 Roosiorg, Hardi EST EMF KTM 36:14.666 18 1:42.435 0:03.733 1:55.839 11 47.8
22 426 Mewse, Conrad GBR ACU KTM 36:18.170 18 1:45.939 0:03.504 1:55.221 5 48.1
23 44 Lesiardo, Morgan ITA FMI KTM 36:19.781 18 1:47.550 0:01.611 1:56.454 12 47.6
24 199 Zaragoza, Jorge ESP RFME Yamaha 36:48.904 18 2:16.673 0:29.123 1:55.993 7 47.7
25 101 Pichon, Zachary FRA FFM KTM 35:12.510 17 1 lap 1 lap 1:56.696 6 47.5
26 102 Sikyna, Richard SVK SMF KTM 35:15.921 17 1 lap 0:03.411 1:56.604 8 47.5
27 26 Bertuzzi, Nicola ITA FMI KTM 36:03.332 17 1 lap 0:47.411 1:56.613 3 47.5
28 872 Boisrame, Mathys FRA FFM Honda 22:21.637 11 7 laps 6 laps 1:55.331 9 48
29 338 Herbreteau, David FRA FFM KTM 21:07.906 10 8 laps 1 lap 1:56.499 8 47.5
30 34 De Waal, Micha-Boy NED KNMV Honda 16:27.930 8 10 laps 2 laps 1:54.167 6 48.5
31 321 Bernardini, Samuele ITA FMI TM 15:46.118 7 11 laps 1 lap 1:53.573 4 48.8
MXGP Germany MX2 race one
1 1 Jonass, Pauls LAT LAMSF KTM 35:15.756 18 0:00.000 0:00.000 1:54.214 5 48.5
2 61 Prado, Jorge ESP RFME KTM 35:17.177 18 0:01.421 0:01.421 1:53.036 6 49
3 10 Vlaanderen, Calvin RSA KNMV Honda 35:18.818 18 0:03.062 0:01.641 1:54.187 9 48.5
4 919 Watson, Ben GBR ACU Yamaha 35:19.803 18 0:04.047 0:00.985 1:53.784 9 48.7
5 29 Jacobi, Henry GER DMSB Husqvarna 35:46.670 18 0:30.914 0:26.867 1:54.581 5 48.3
6 747 Cervellin, Michele ITA FMI Honda 35:48.508 18 0:32.752 0:01.838 1:55.094 5 48.1
7 14 Beaton, Jed AUS MA Kawasaki 35:49.448 18 0:33.692 0:00.940 1:53.980 15 48.6
8 321 Bernardini, Samuele ITA FMI TM 35:52.176 18 0:36.420 0:02.728 1:55.351 11 48
9 872 Boisrame, Mathys FRA FFM Honda 36:01.939 18 0:46.183 0:09.763 1:55.784 7 47.8
10 66 Larranaga Olano, Iker ESP RFME Husqvarna 36:03.679 18 0:47.923 0:01.740 1:55.901 6 47.8
11 46 Pootjes, Davy NED KNMV KTM 36:06.794 18 0:51.038 0:03.115 1:56.151 15 47.7
12 193 Geerts, Jago BEL FMB Yamaha 36:17.867 18 1:02.111 0:11.073 1:56.018 5 47.7
13 64 Covington, Thomas USA MUL Husqvarna 36:20.005 18 1:04.249 0:02.138 1:55.052 16 48.1
14 172 Van doninck, Brent BEL FMB Husqvarna 36:23.829 18 1:08.073 0:03.824 1:56.357 12 47.6
15 19 Olsen, Thomas Kjer DEN DMU Husqvarna 36:26.700 18 1:10.944 0:02.871 1:55.576 13 47.9
16 127 Rodriguez, Anthony VEN FMV Yamaha 36:30.286 18 1:14.530 0:03.586 1:56.851 17 47.4
17 95 Furlotti, Simone ITA FMI Yamaha 36:32.458 18 1:16.702 0:02.172 1:57.354 17 47.2
18 226 Koch, Tom GER DMSB KTM 36:40.873 18 1:25.117 0:08.415 1:57.986 3 46.9
19 34 De Waal, Micha-Boy NED KNMV Honda 36:51.451 18 1:35.695 0:10.578 1:56.826 9 47.4
20 102 Sikyna, Richard SVK SMF KTM 36:56.673 18 1:40.917 0:05.222 1:58.478 12 46.7
21 43 Bres, Natanael FRA FFM KTM 37:10.549 18 1:54.793 0:13.876 1:58.006 9 46.9
22 338 Herbreteau, David FRA FFM KTM 37:19.591 18 2:03.835 0:09.042 1:59.081 10 46.5
23 426 Mewse, Conrad GBR ACU KTM 35:18.496 17 1 lap 1 lap 1:57.128 6 47.3
24 101 Pichon, Zachary FRA FFM KTM 35:33.616 17 1 lap 0:15.120 1:59.518 5 46.3
25 44 Lesiardo, Morgan ITA FMI KTM 35:58.233 17 1 lap 0:24.617 1:59.180 10 46.5
26 26 Bertuzzi, Nicola ITA FMI KTM 35:21.035 16 2 laps 1 lap 2:02.948 3 45
27 75 Roosiorg, Hardi EST EMF KTM 26:58.571 13 5 laps 3 laps 1:58.438 7 46.8
28 53 Walsh, Dylan NZL MNZ Husqvarna 26:59.110 13 5 laps 0:00.539 1:58.012 6 46.9
29 931 Zanotti, Andrea SMR FSM Husqvarna 23:39.553 11 7 laps 2 laps 2:02.442 6 45.2
30 56 Weltin, Marshal USA AMA Honda 21:27.861 10 8 laps 1 lap 1:58.797 10 46.6
31 199 Zaragoza, Jorge ESP RFME Yamaha 18:14.928 8 10 laps 2 laps 1:58.620 5 46.7