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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1139968
Gajser, Prado Fight For Indonesia MXGP Wins T im Gajser and Jorge Prado continued their winning ways in the 2019 FIM Motocross World Championship. Once again, the duo won their respective classes at the MXGP of Indonesia (round 11) in Palembang, July 6-7. Gajser took the overall win in the MXGP class for the seventh time this sea- son, and Prado won MX2 for the 10 th time of 2019. Gajser won the first MXGP moto by six seconds over Great Britain's Max Anstie (KTM) and looked to be headed to another moto win in round two until he crashed while leading the race. He got up in third, passed Jeremy Seewer to get back into second, where he would finish out the moto. His 1-2 tally, however, would be good enough for the overall win. The Honda HRC rider stretched out his champion- ship lead to 130 points over Red Bull KTM's Antonio Cairoli, who did not suit up due to his shoulder injury. (Teammate Jeffrey Herlings did not race, either, due to his broken leg.) "All day I really enjoyed riding the track," Gajser said. "In the first moto, I grabbed the holeshot and made a little gap and controlled the race. I had a lot of fun out there and managed to win the first moto. "In the second race, I didn't have the best jump out of the gate, so I got closed off on the straight, but as they ran wide, I was able to cut inside and take another holeshot. On the fourth lap, and went off the track, and my rear tire spun on the dusty ground, and I had a little crash. I re-joined the race in third place but managed to pass Jeremy [Seewer] immediately. I saw that Romain was riding a really good pace out front so I decided to settle for sec- ond place and to win another overall. Obviously, I'm still happy with how the day went and my standing in the championship. Second overall on the day went to Yamaha's Romain Febvre who won the second moto after placing fourth in race one. It was Febvre's first moto win since the MXGP of Sweden in 2017. "It's been too long since I last won a race," Feb- vre said. "It's been hard, and I have wondered what I am doing, but finally it's in, and I have done it. But still I am second overall, and I would like to win the Grand Prix. It's always nice to win races, but I want to stand on the top step of the podium. It feels like it has been so close this season, but I miss it by just a little bit. I hope that it is coming, and I look forward to going to Semarang next weekend because I like the track there, it is fast and nice to ride, so I hope for good weather, good starts and then it will be good." IN THE WIND P38 Tim Gajser extended his winning streak to six in the MXGP Championship. His latest win comes in Indonesia. PHOTO: HONDA PRO RACING/ SHOTBYBAVO Jorge Prado won again in MX2, but he had to first battle his way past Red Bull KTM teammate Tom Vialle. PHOTO: RAY ARCHER