out. Anstie went down in the late
going, relegating himself to eighth,
but Herlings took the win over
Martin, Forkner, Anstie's American
teammate Thomas Covington,
and Martin's old Yamalube/Star
Racing Yamaha teammate Mitchell
Harrison.
In moto two, Anstie again got
the start, but Herlings fought his
way into the lead by lap two, and
once again, he checked out. For-
kner was forced to come through
the pack after a terrible start, and
then crashed out of the race with
six laps to go while he was running
11th.
Martin, once again, was able
to work his way up to second
and actually looked to be gaining
ground on Herlings in the middle
of the race, but he was forced to
slow up as he got a bit tired, and
then found himself fighting off MX2
vice champion Jeremy Seewer for
second place. Martin got the spot
at the finish just in front of See-
wer. Then came Anstie, and once
again, Harrison.
Martin was happy with his day
despite coming up just short of a
win in both motos.
"I missed practice this morning,"
Martin said [see Briefly]. "We had
made changes from yesterday,
and I was going to try them out in
practice, but that didn't happen.
But we learned a lot, and it was
really fun. You can't take anything
away from Herlings. He's a three-
time world champ for a reason. He
was going fast."
For Herlings, it was the per-
fect cap to a phenomenal (if also
injury-riddled) MX2/250cc career.
"I knew it would be amazing
to finish off my Lites career with
a win," Herlings said. "The first
moto, I got a good start, then
closed up on the lead pretty quick
and I could control the race and
save some energy. The second
moto, my start was a bit worse,
and I came around in eighth, then
worked my way up to the lead.
Once I got there, I made a good
gap and was able to control it.
The track was pretty gnarly and
slick, so I think they overwatered
a bit definitely down the hills. It
was pretty dangerous. It's very
high speed and really slick, so I
think this track is such an amazing
track, and to overwater it like that
was a little bit amateur. But for the
rest, it was really cool—wide, fast.
I really enjoyed it. It's very cool
to finish off my Lites career with
a win. Time to close this chapter
and go to the big boys now."
Herlings took the overall in front
of Martin (2-2), Harrison (5-5),
Anstie (8-4) and Seewer (11-3). CN
MXGP
1. Eli Tomac (Kaw) 1-1
2. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 2-2
3. Tim Gajser (Hon) 3-4
4. Max Nagl (Hus) 4-3
5. Gautier Paulin (Hon) 10-5
MX2
1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 1-1
2. Jeremy Martin (Hon) 2-2
3. Mitchell Harrison (Yam) 5-5
4. Max Anstie (Hus) 8-4
5. Jeremy Seewer (Suz) 11-3
VOL. 53 ISSUE 36 SEPTEMBER 13, 2016 P93
