VOL. 52 ISSUE 8 MARCH 1, 2016 P25
to go in the championship and
as Herlings is only too aware,
winning races only matters if you
can finish the season healthy.
Meanwhile in the MXGP
class, it was the current MX2
World champ Tim Gajser who
surprised everyone with a com-
manding 1-1 performance in his
first-ever premier-class MXGP
race. Passing Evgeny Bobryshev
in the first moto and Gautier
Paulin in the second, the rookie
Gariboldi Honda rider capital-
ized on two good starts to win
in front of the current MXGP
champ Romain Febvre. The
French rider, Febvre, couldn't
quite keep up with the Honda
guys at the beginning of the race
and had to work his way forward
for his 3-2 finishes. Rounding
off the podium was Bobryshev
who looked good all weekend
and can be very happy with his
first round performance. Jeremy
van Horebeek was fourth overall
while former champ Antonio Cai-
roli sits 17 points behind Gajser
after his 6-4 results. Apparently
he is still suffering from nerve
damage and is nowhere near
100% fit but he still can't afford to
let these other riders to get too
far ahead. However he'll be at lot
happier than Gautier Paulin who
had a shocking couple of races,
dropping down the field to 10th
in moto one and then pulling off
with bike problems in the sec-
ond.
In the Women's World Cham-
pionship, Kiwi rider Courtney
Duncan went 1-1 in convincing
fashion with Livia Lancelot over
25 seconds back in both races.
Duncan rode in America a few
years back, winning races on
her 125cc machine before injury
ruined her title chances. Appar-
ently she doesn't have a ride for
the whole championship lined
up but after performances like
this, she surely is a shoe-in for
the title and must get support for
Yamaha for the rest of the races.
David Bulmer
In MX2, however, it came as little
surprise that Jeffrey Herlings won
both motos.
PHOTOGRAPHY
COURTESY
OF
YOUTHSTREAM
