even on Saturday, and were not
disappointed, as the high-speed
circuit provided the best racing
seen so far this season.
Monster Energy Kawasaki
rider Ryan Villopoto was clearly
the fastest rider on the track
during Saturday's qualifier, using
every inch of the sandy course
in route to second place behind
Cairoli's KTM. Starting outside
the top 10, the American gave it
everything he had during his at-
tempt to catch Cairoli, but came
up short at the finish. During a
post-race interview, he men-
tioned that it would "take a start"
to have a chance on Sunday.
His words became a self-fulfill-
ing prophecy when he could do
no better than a pair of fourth-
place moto finishes on Sunday
after mediocre starts. Villopoto
seemed to be the hardest work-
ing rider on the track, choos-
ing wide, outside lines that no
one else was using, with mixed
results. He had to pass several
riders more than once because
of bad line choices and never
did get a chance
to mix it up with the
top three riders on
the day. Overall, it
was Nagl's 3-1 over
Desalle's 1-3, with
Cairoli's 2-2 scores
good for the bottom
step of the podium.
Gautier Paulin
continued to strug-
gle on his Factory
Honda, carding 6-7
moto finishes for
fifth overall.
After three
rounds, Desalle's
133 points lead the
championship, with
Cairoli and Nagl tied
for second at 123
apiece. Villopoto
is fourth with 109
points and Paulin rounds out the
top five with 96. With 15 rounds
remaining, the series takes
a two-week break before the
Grand Prix of Trentino.
In the MX2division, American
rider, Thomas Covington, carded
7-7 moto finishes, good enough
for fourth on the day and fifth in
the series point standings. KTM
teammates Jeff Herlings and
Dylan Ferrandis split moto wins,
after Herlings' had to retire his
mangled bike, following a first-
moto crash. Pauls Jonass and
Jeremy Seewer rounded out the
podium.
Steve Bauer
VOL. 52 ISSUE 13 MARCH 31, 2015 P25
Max Nagl took top
honors at the Motocross
Grand Prix of Argentina.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
JP
ACEVEDO/HUSQVARNA
IMAGES
PHOTO
COURTESY
OF
SUZUKI
RACING
