IN
THE
WIND
P22
TIXIER CLAIMS MX2 WORLD TITLE
F
renchman Jordi
Tixier, of the
Red Bull KTM Fac-
tory Racing Team,
wrapped up the
2014 FIM MX2
World Champion-
ship after going 1-3
and taking the over-
all win in the season
final in Leon, Mexi-
co, on Sunday.
Tixier won the
championship in
dramatic fashion,
as his teammate
and series leader
Jeffery Herlings
tried to hold on to
the top spot with a not-yet-fully-
healed broken femur that he suf-
fered just two months ago. Days
before the race, Herlings got
clearance from his doctor to race
the final round and did so wear-
ing a special brace on the leg.
Despite finishing 14th in the first
moto and Tixier winning, Her-
lings still held a five-point lead
over Tixier going into the final
moto of the day and year. Things
got interesting when Tixier went
down with another rider early
in the race, but the Frenchman
rallied back to finish third in the
moto, with Herlings gutting it out
to a 10th-place finish.
Tixier ended up winning the
title by just four points over Her-
lings.
Third in the championship
went to Husqvarna's Romain Fe-
bvre.
"In my head I still can't believe
it," Tixier said after all was said
and done. "After I crashed in the
first laps of the second moto, I
thought the championship was
over and I tried to give it every-
thing. Then when I crossed the
finish line I thought, 'I did it,' and
it's really nice to win like this.
I was really fast on the track, I
caught almost everyone and I
rode aggressive."
"For me it was like I was riding
with just one leg," said Herlings.
"Every time I put my foot down or
went over a bump the pain was
terrible. In the first moto, I was a
little calmer and I thought it was
already over, but in the second
moto, I was just fighting like a
warrior. Obviously, I came up
short but that's life and I'll try to
get the title back next year."
Going into the Leon final, the
MXGP title had already been
decided, with Antonio Cairoli,
Jeremy van Horebeek, Clem-
ent Desalle and Steven Frossard
clinching the first four positions
in the championship. French rid-
er Gautier Paulin finished off the
2014 season with the overall win
in Mexico after trading 4-1 moto
finishes with German Max Nagl.
Cairoli ended up third overall on
the day with a 3-2 while Strijbos
was fourth overall with a 2-3. Van
Horebeek rounded out the top
five overall with a 5-5.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
RAY
ARCHER/KTM
IMAGES
Red Bull KTM's
Jordi Tixier won
the FIM MX2
World title.
