VOL. 53 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 11, 2016 P61
Champion Herlings locked bars
for the first time in a couple of
seasons, the pair hitting the dirt
as Herlings tried to pass his old
rival. This allowed Osborne to
move into third. Febvre, with an
electric-starting Yamaha, was
able to remount before Herlings
and he took fourth with the KTM
rider's new 450 taking him to
fifth. Musquin would have to
come through the pack after a
first-turn pile-up to card sixth.
Race two saw Gajser once
again take the holeshot ahead of
Herlings, who went a bit too far
outside and had to bail from the
bike just after the holeshot line.
This dropped him to the back of
the pack and with a lot of work to
do for him to have any chance at
individual success. While he was
on the deck, the field streamed
through with Febvre just behind
Gajser, with Musquin, Dungey
and Osborne not far behind him.
Before we got a chance to savor
a battle between the last two
MXGP champs, Gajser pitched
himself over the bars and out of
the lead. He would then crash a
couple more times in the race,
leading to a DNF and a hurt
shoulder, ruining his and Hon-
da's chances of glory. Febvre
would perform his traditional
heel-clicker as he crossed the
line to win the second race, with
Musquin holding off Dungey for
second and Jordi Tixier fourth.
Herlings would make come all
the way through the field to fifth
place.
That meant after two races
composure and held on for an
impressive win. Of course it was
Dungey's first race back after a
number of months out through
injury, so he was probably play-
ing it safe, preferring to settle for
second, rather than push it on
this tricky track.
Behind those two there was
plenty of battling as 2015 MXGP
Champion Febvre and 2016 MX2
capitalize on his gate pick with
a holeshot, just beating Dungey
to the line with Osborne, Feb-
vre, Herlings and Musquin in
close attendance. This had all
the makings of an excellent race
as many thought the reigning
supercross champion Dungey
would be all over the back of the
youngster Gajser but as it turned
out, Gajser showed speed and
