VOL. 52 ISSUE 28 JULY 14, 2015 P37
the pair on the podium, in spite
of a near disastrous race one af-
ter the points leader was caught
up in a first-turn incident. It went
from bad to worse, as the young
Frenchman's bike took forever
to start, losing 30 seconds right
off the bat. The rookie didn't give
up and set the fastest lap time
of the race, salvaging enough
points to finish eighth.
Febvre bounced back in a big
way in race two to take the lead
by turn three for a dominant win,
his seventh race win and sev-
enth consecutive podium finish
of the season.
It was a mixed day for Rock-
star Energy Suzuki World
MXGP's Kevin Strijbos who
finished behind his fellow Suzuki
rider Glenn Coldenhoff in race
one, but had to fight his way
through the pack to salvage
sixth, leaving him one point shy
of the podium.
Red Bull KTM Factory Rac-
ing's Antonio Cairoli managed to
finish in the top five in spite of of
a broken elbow that he injured at
his home race in Maggiora, Italy,
on June 14.
Meanwhile
in MX2, it was
a testament
to Monster
Energy DRT
Kawasaki
rider Max An-
stie's ability
to ride sand.
Anstie grew
up racing in
the renowned
sand of The
Netherlands,
but acknowledged that it would
have been a much more difficult
task if Red Bull KTM Factory
Racing's Jeffrey Herlings had
not been absent.
"Jeffrey [Herlings] is an amazing
rider, he is not the World Cham-
pion for nothing,"Antsie said.
In Herlings' absence it was
pure domination from Anstie who
won all three races—Saturday's
qualifying and Sunday's GP
motos—for his first overall win of
the season.
Red Bull KTM Factory Rac-
ing's Pauls Jonass put in two
solid second-place finishes for
second overall.
"Since I was small on my
85cc bike it was always my
dream to stand on the podium at
a grand prix in Latvia," the home-
town hero said. "My fans were
so loud, I did feel the pressure
but it was fun and I can't thank
everyone enough."
Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Fac-
tory Racing's last minute replace-
ment rider Harri Kullas joined An-
tsie and Jonass on the podium, a
career first for the Finn.
Rockstar Energy Suzuki Eu-
rope's Jeremy Seewer has made
solid progress in his transition to
the premier championship, fin-
ishing fourth and fifth for fourth
overall.
Meanwhile, Honda Gariboldi's
Tim Gajser had to make the best
of a bad situation in race one
after being taken down at turn
one. The Slovenian managed
to bounce back for sixth in that
race which he followed up with a
fifth in race two to round out the
top five. CN
Max Antsie
dominated the
MX2 class in all
conditions.
PHOTO
COURTESY
OF
KAWASAKI