VOL. 54 ISSUE 26 JULY 4, 2017 P43
In MX2, Suzuki's Jeremy See-
wer traded moto wins with Red
Bull KTM's points leader Pauls
Jonass to take the overall win,
while American Thomas Coving-
ton (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna)
was the top qualifier and parlayed
that into a 3-3 score for third
overall on the day.
In MXGP, points leader Cairoli
grabbed the holeshot, but his
young teammate Jeffrey Herlings
passed him to take the moto vic-
tory while Cairoli hung on for sec-
ond in front of Suzuki's Arminas
Jasikonis. In moto two, Cairoli
again got out front early, but this
time he wasn't to be headed
on his way to the moto win and
overall victory.
It was Cairoli's first-ever win in
Portugal on a KTM, with all four
of his previous wins in Agueda
coming in his Yamaha days. Mon-
ster Energy Kawasaki's Clement
Desalle sits second in points but
had an off-day on the redesigned
circuit, going 6-10 for eighth over-
all. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's
Gautier Paulin, third in points,
had an even worse day, going 12-
11 for 12th overall. The end result
is that Cairoli is only 9 points
away from holding a two-race
(four-moto) points lead. If Cairoli
can hang on to win the title, it'll
be his ninth world championship.
In the MX2 class, American
Thomas Covington went out
and won the qualifying race on
Saturday over points leader Pauls
Jonass, and on Sunday, Coving-
ton took the early lead and held it
for most of the race before Jona-
ss passed him with a few laps to
go. While Covington was trying
to go to school on Jonass's lines
and maybe make a move back by
for the win, Seewer snuck up on
him and passed him for second
on the final lap. Jonass took the
win over Seewer and Covington,
and Covington crossed the line
only 2.7 seconds behind the win-
ner, Jonass.
In moto two, Jonass got the
start, and Covington was again
trying to match the points lead-
er's pace when, around halfway,
Seewer went by Covington, then
chased Jonass down out front
and relegated him to second with
just a handful of laps left to run.
Seewer took the moto and overall
win over Jonass, and Covington
finished a very strong third both
in the moto and overall.
"It's good to be on the podium
again," Covington said. "I've been
inconsistent in the past with one
good race then one bad so it's
good to see that coming along.
I never found the rhythm but it's
good to be on the podium and
put the American flag up there on
the 4th of July weekend."
There are seven more rounds
left to run in the championship,
and it resumes in three weeks
with the Grand Prix of the Czech
Republic on July 23. CN
MXGP
1. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 2-1
2. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 1-2
3. Arminas Jasikonis (Suz) 3-3
4. Romain Febvre (Yam) 5-4
5. Max Nagl (Hus) 4-5
MX2
1. Jeremy Seewer (Suz) 2-1
2. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 1-2
3. Thomas Covington (Hus) 3-3
4. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Hus) 4-5
5. Benoit Paturel (Yam) 6-4
Jeremy
Seewer (91)
won again
in MX2 but
still trails
championship
leader Pauls
Jonass.
PHOTOGRAPHY
SUZUKI
RACING
