Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1007261
IN THE WIND P38 HERLINGS TOPS MXGP OF CZECH REPUBLIC, PRADO TAKES OVER IN MX2 T he 2018 Monster Energy FIM Motocross World Champion- ship visited the Loket Circuit in the Czech Republic, July 22, where Jeffrey Herlings continued to put the hurt on the MXGP class, and a new leader emerged in the MX2 Championship. In MXGP, Herlings (Red Bull KTM) passed his teammate Antonio Cairoli during the first lap of both motos and simply ran away for a 1-1 sweep. He was pretty much unchallenged all day, winning both motos by 31 seconds over Cairoli. In the first moto, Tim Gajser (Honda HRC) finished three sec- onds behind Cairoli in third, while Clement Desalle (Monster En- ergy Kawasaki) took fourth, seven seconds behind Gajser. Jeremy Van Horebeek (Monster Energy Yamaha) finished another five sec- onds back in fifth. Gajser again took third in the second moto, well clear of fourth- place Romain Febvre (Monster En- ergy Yamaha) and Van Horebeek. In the overall classification, Herlings, Cairoli and Gajser made up the MXGP podium, while Febvre took fourth and Van Horebeek fifth. Herlings is now 33 points clear of Cairoli in the championship stand- ings with six rounds to go. The next-closest rider is Desalle who is 124 points behind Cairoli with 479 points. Gajser is fourth with 450 points, and Febvre fifth with 432. In MX2, Spain's Jorge Prado (Red Bull KTM) is the new cham- pionship leader, overtaking his teammate Pauls Jonass, who had led since the opening round, 14 rounds ago. Prado traded moto wins and 1-3 moto finishes in Loket with Dutch rider Calvin Vlaanderen (Honda), but it was Prado who was awarded the overall victory for winning the tie-breaking second moto. Prado earned 45 points on the day versus Jonass' 34 and now leads the championship by 11 over Jonass, who struggled to find his rhythm on the day after going 4-5 for fourth overall. Vlaanderen was second overall, while American Thomas Covington (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) was third overall with a pair of second- place finishes. For Covington it was a solid weekend, as he won Saturday's qualifying race. "Considering everything it was a really solid weekend for me getting the win yesterday and two consis- tent races today," Covington said. "I am happy to be on the podium." CN MXGP 1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 1-1 2. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 2-2 3. Tim Gajser (Hon) 3-3 4. Romain Febvre (Yam) 7-4 5. Clement Desalle (Kaw) 4-7 MX2 1. Jorge Prado (KTM) 3-1 2. Calvin Vlaanderen (Hon) 1-3 3. Thomas Covington (Hus) 2-2 4. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 4-5 5. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Hus) 7-4 Jeffrey Herlings won by more than half a minute in both MXGP motos at Loket. PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ARCHER/KTM IMAGES