VOL. 55 ISSUE 26 JULY 3, 2018 P39
to pull away as Jonass and Jorge
Prado (Red Bull KTM) battled it
out over second place. Prado
eventually secured the spot,
while Jonass began to fade,
eventually finishing seventh.
In the final handful of laps,
Prado fell victim to hard-charging
Ben Watson, who came through
to secure the second spot, while
Prado hung on for third just a
few seconds in front of Coving-
ton, who mounted a gutsy ride
to recover from his poor start to
finish fourth.
But in the end, it was still a
moto-one win and then second
overall for Covington for the third
race in succession.
"I needed to pass Jorge and
Watson there at the end to get
the overall and they were just
riding really good," Covington
said. "I didn't have it in me to
pass both of them so I was a
little bummed on that but we'll
line up and go for it again next
weekend."
As for the South African,
Vlaanderen said, "I wasn't
expecting this win! In race one I
got a good start and was second
for most of the race, but then
kind of blew the last few minutes
and got passed. Third place was
not bad, but before the second
moto I was fired up: I told one
of the mechanics that I felt like
a holeshot was coming, and it
happened! When you have a
clear track ahead you can take
the lines you prefer and do
your own thing. It's such a cool
feeling to cross the line in first
place, and to win the first GP is
unbelievable. Since I was three
it was my dream to win a grand
prix and I finally done it. I felt it
was coming and I'm glad to be
rewarding the team with a win;
they have always supported me
with their hard work and helped
me improve as a rider, so a huge
thank you to them—they deserve
it!"
Vlaanderen's victory marked
Honda's first win in the class
since 2015.
The series continues next
weekend, still in Indonesia, for
the MXGP of Asia. CN
MXGP
1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 2-1
2. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 1-2
3. Romain Febvre (Yam) 5-3
4. Tim Gajser (Hon) 4-4
5. Clement Desalle (Kaw) 3-7
MX2
1. Calvin Vlaanderen (Hon) 3-1
2. Thomas Covington (Hus) 1-4
3. Jorge Prado (KTM) 4-3
4. Ben Watson (Yam) 6-2
5. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 2-7
South African Calvin
Vlaanderen got his first
career MX2 win and
Honda's first in the class
since 2015.
PHOTOGRAPHY
HONDA
HRC
