VOL. 56 ISSUE 12 MARCH 26, 2019 P31
because I am stiff on my right
shoulder and neck, which gave
me arm pump right away. Hope-
fully, I can be 100 percent again
for the next race, but overall I'm
really happy, of course. For the
championship everything is going
well, and this is my goal."
"Today was a special day for
me, and I'm really happy to finish
on the podium," said Gajser.
"The first race I had a good start.
I was behind Tony and managed
to pass him quickly, made a little
gap then I made a mistakeā¦
thankfully I could continue. I was
really happy to win the second
race, and I'm looking forward to
next weekend. We can see that
we are going in the right direc-
tion so we will continue pushing
hard with the team and everybody
I'm just happy that the pace and
everything are finally back."
In MX2, Tom Vialle (Red Bull
KTM) started race
one with the holeshot.
Vialle led but had pres-
sure from Kjer Olsen
and the UK's Dylan
Walsh (Husqvarna).
Also in the thick of the
racing was Ben Wat-
son (Monster Energy
Kemea Yamaha) and
Henry Jacobi F&H
Racing/Yamaha).
Watson, however,
made an error drop-
ping the bike early
in the race, which in
turn dropped him from
fourth back to ninth.
By the second lap,
Olsen took the top spot from
Vialle, who then got passed by
Jacobi as well.
Olsen's lead then started to be
chipped at by Jacobi, but Olsen
kept his cool and held the spot
through to take the checkered flag
and his first race win this season.
Jacobi took second, followed
by Vialle, Watson and Michele
Cervellin (Yamaha).
Moto two saw Vialle nab the
holeshot again. Vialle again had
Walsh just behind along with
Olsen, Jacobi and Team HRC's
Calvin Vlaanderen.
Olsen took second away from
Walsh before the first lap was
complete, while 2018 EMX250
Champion Mathys Boisrame
fought in the top five on his Honda
RedMoto Assomotor CRF250.
A mistake by Jacobi allowed
Vlaanderen to get past who then
took third away from Walsh.
Jacobi then recovered and
found his form to get past Walsh,
as well. Jacobi's speed allowed
him to catch the front-runners
and Vialle, who dropped a spot to
Vlaanderen. With less than two laps
to go, Jacobi flew past Vialle which
moved the German into third in the
race and second overall.
Olsen's dominant weekend
continued by winning the sec-
ond moto by 9.9 seconds over
Vlaanderen.
In the overall, it was Olsen's 1-1
taking first, Jacobi's 2-3 taking
second, and Vialle's 3-4 third.
It was Vialle's first podium in his
second-ever MX2 race.
"It was amazing to go 1-1 for the
first time, and it was even better
when I was on the podium, and
they gave me the red plate be-
cause I didn't realize I would be
leading the points," Olsen said.
"Overall I had a great weekend, I
felt really good out on the track,
I had great energy, and I felt re-
ally comfortable, we even made
improvements every time I was
out, so I was really happy with
that and how the whole team is
working." CN
MXGP
1. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 1-2
2. Tim Gajser (Hon) 3-1
3. Gautier Paulin (Yam) 2-3
4. Clement Desalle (Kaw) 4-7
5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (Hon) 5-6
MX2
1. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Hus) 1-1
2. Henry Jacobi (Kaw) 2-3
3. Tom Vialle (KTM) 3-4
4. Calvin Vlaanderen (Hon) 8-2
5. Ben Watson (Yam) 4-5
Thomas Kjer Olsen won both MX2 motos.
PHOTO: JUAN PABLO ACEVEDO