Steve Cox | June 18, 2018
2018 MX GP of Lombardia Results: Just as the 2018 MX GP World Championship was looking like it was essentially over, with Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings dominating moto after moto, and event after event, leading to a 62-point lead over rival and KTM teammate Antonio Cairoli, news hit that Herlings went down while practicing and broke his collarbone a few days before the MX GP of Lombardia.
The result was somewhat predictable, with Herlings missing the event, Cairoli went 1-1 and clawed 50 points back on Herlings, who remarkably still leads the championship by 12 points despite missing the entire event.
2018 MX GP of Lombardia Results
Nine-time World MX Champ Antonio Cairoli took major advantage of the absence of title rival Jeffrey Herlings at the MX GP of Lombardia, going 1-1 and gaining 50 points on Herlings who missed the event due to a broken clavicle. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF YOUTHSTREAM
Cairoli got the holeshot in the first moto – which he’s been doing a lot of this year – and predictably he ran away with it while Monster Energy Yamaha’s Romain Febvre, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Clement Desalle, and the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna duo of Gautier Paulin and Max Anstie fought over second place. Desalle eventually secured the position and finished over 11 seconds behind Cairoli, just in front of Anstie, Paulin and Febvre, who crashed out of second in the early part of the moto.
In the second moto, it was Standing Construct KTM’s Kevin Strijbos who got the holeshot over Desalle, but Cairoli went by them both in the first few turns to take the lead. While it looked as if Cairoli would run away again, he made a costly error and fell on the second lap, remounting fourth. He went back to work, then passed one rider per lap until retaking the lead from Honda’s Tim Gajser on lap five, then held that lead to the finish.
2018 MX GP of Lombardia Results
Gautier Paulin was second overall in the MX GP class, with a 4-3 moto score. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF YOUTHSTREAM
Cairoli won the moto by three and a half seconds over Gajser, who was followed home by Paulin, Anstie, Monster Energy Yamaha’s Jeremy Seewer, his teammate Febvre, and Strijbos.
Overall, Cairoli’s 1-1 gave him the win over the 4-3 of Paulin, the 3-4 of Anstie, the 6-2 of Gajser, and the 5-6 of Febvre. Opening-moto runner-up Desalle went down hard in the early going and had to pull into the pits to get his motorcycle repaired, eventually re-entering the race and grabbing 1 point for 20th place.
Cairoli now trails Herlings by only 12 points, but with two weekends – three weeks – off between the MX GP of Lombardia and the next two rounds in Indonesia on July 1st and 8th, it’s possible – even probable – that Herlings will be there to at least attempt to race, as collarbones when plated have a minimum recovery time of about four weeks.
“Overall it was a good weekend. I’m taking home 50 points which is very important for the championship,” Cairoli said. “We are looking forward to Indonesia, it will be a hot race which I like so hopefully we will be back on the podium which is always the goal.”
As the two KTM pilots duke it out at the top of the points leaderboard, third in points, Desalle, now trails Cairoli by fully 100 points with 9 rounds left to run.
2018 MX GP of Lombardia Results
American Thomas Covington won the MX2 qualifying race and the first MX2 moto for the second week in a row, but a fourth-place finish in moto two relegated him to second overall, also for the second race in a row. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF YOUTHSTREAM
In the MX2 class, American Thomas Covington of the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna team again qualified first by winning the qualifying race on Saturday in dominant fashion. In the opening moto, Covington gated second behind Red Bull KTM’s Jorge Prado and studied the young Spaniard’s lines until an error gave Covington the window move by for the lead. At that point, Covington ran away with the moto, winning by almost six seconds over Prado, points leader and defending champ Pauls Jonass, Yamaha’s Ben Watson, and Covington’s teammate Thomas Kjer Olsen.
2018 MX GP of Lombardia Results
Jorge Prado won the MX2 class with a 2-1 showing and now trails defending champ Pauls Jonass by 9 points as the series enters a two-week break. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF YOUTHSTREAM
Prado got the start again in moto two with Covington again giving chase, but this time Covington eventually started losing ground instead of gaining it, first being passed by teammate Olsen and then by Jonass to finish fourth, while Prado led the moto from start to finish.
Prado took the overall win with his 2-1 over Covington’s 1-4 and Jonass’s 3-3. Then came Olsen in fourth (5-2) and Watson in fifth (4-5).
Jonass continues to lead the championship, now by 9 points over Prado, while Covington has moved up to sixth in the points standings despite missing an entire event due to injury, riding injured at following events, and suffering another moto DNF.
“The weekend overall felt really good starting on Saturday,” Covington said. “I just had a nice flow around the track and I felt really comfortable with the bike. It was awesome.”
2018 MX GP of Lombardia Results
2018 MX GP of Lombardia Results
2018 MX GP of Lombardia Results
2018 MX GP of Lombardia Results
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