Herlings, Guadagnini Rule Italian MXGP
T
he steep hills and hardpack
of the historic Maggiora Park
circuit welcomed FIM World
Championship racing for the first
time since the 2016 Motocross
of Nations and for the first Grand
Prix event since 2015. Warm and
showery conditions created a
slick, rutty and finally muddy af-
fair around the narrow and tricky
Italian layout, and it was Red Bull
KTM Team riders who prevailed.
Jeffery Herlings used a lop-
sided 6-1 moto tally to claim the
MXGP-class win, while the Italian,
Mattia Guadagnini, captured his
first career overall victory in MX2.
Herlings dominated timed
practice for his first pole position
of the season by almost four-
tenths of a second over Tim Ga-
jser (Honda HRC). Jorge Prado
was third fastest. Winner of the
last round in the UK, Tony Cairoli,
was seventh.
It was Prado who made the
better start in the first race and
circulated behind leader and
winner Romain Febvre (Monster
Energy Kawasaki) in what was a
static affair. Cairoli was third and
Herlings had to fight back to sixth
after he initially lost time remov-
ing a stone wedged into his rear
brake system.
A brief thunderstorm just
before the second moto dumped
a lot of rain on Maggiora and
ensured the final race of the day
would be a mudder. Herlings
made the best start and followed
Glenn Coldenhoff for 11 of the
17 laps. Herlings passed his
fellow countryman and won by
almost seven seconds. The 6-1
IN
THE
WIND
P24
A lopsided 6-1 moto tally was still
good enough to give Jeffrey Herlings
(left) the overall MXGP victory at
Maggiora. He and third-place Antonio
Cairoli celebrate on the podium.
PHOTOS: RAY ARCHER
