by Chase Stallo
Sign of the Lap Times: Valkenswaard GP
Tuesday, April 10, 2012 | 1:30 PM
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PrintThe 2012 Grand Prix season opened yesterday in the deep sands of Valkenswaard with little to be desired at day's end – in terms of the unexpected. Three-time defending champion Antonio Cairoli began yet another title defense with yet another win, his fourth at Valkenswaard. While Cairoli’s main competition faltered under the pressure, the Italian looked as strong as ever – sending a resounding message to the rest of the field that the title still goes through him.
In the MX2 class, Holland’s own, Jeffery Herlings, showed why he is considered the best sand rider of his generation. The Sandman dominated en route to his third straight overall at his home race. Most expected Herlings to walk away with 50 points at Valkenswaard and the points lead, which he did. We will know a lot more about his title chances at the next two rounds in Bulgaria and Italy – which are more hard packed.
Now let’s move to the lap charts to see how it all broke down.
Grand Prix MX1 Class
Moto 1
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Rider |
| 1 | 3 | 1:58.074 | 2 |
Steven Frossard |
| 2 |
1 | 1:58.251 | 1 | Antonio Cairoli |
| 3 | 2 | 1:58.890 | 1 | Clement Desalle |
| 4 | 4 | 1:59.652 | 2 | Gautier Paulin |
| 5 | 6 | 2:00.974 | 2 | Kevin Strijbos |
| 6 | 5 | 2:01.340 | 9 | Ken de Dycker |
| 7 | 8 | 2:01.432 | 2 | Xavier Boog |
| 8 |
7 | 2:01.868 | 4 | David Philippaerts |
| 9 | 9 | 2:02.382 | 6 | Tanel Leok |
| 10 | 32 | 2:03.166 | 2 | Christophe Pourcel |
Moto 2
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Rider |
| 1 | 1 | 1:57.610 | 5 |
Antonio Cairoli |
| 2 |
2 | 2:00.655 | 2 | Clement Desalle |
| 3 | 6 | 2:00.795 | 2 | Ken de Dycker |
| 4 | 3 | 2:01.082 | 3 | Steven Frossard |
| 5 | 9 | 2:01.537 | 3 | Christophe Pourcel |
| 6 | 8 | 2:01.861 | 2 | Shaun Simpson |
| 7 | 13 | 2:02.348 | 2 | Jonathan Barragan |
| 8 |
4 | 2:02.930 | 5 | Rui Goncalves |
| 9 | 12 | 2:03.222 | 6 | Evgeny Bobryshev |
| 10 | 7 | 2:03.252 | 9 | Gautier Paulin |
Red Bull Teka KTM’s Antonio Cairoli was the star of Valkenswaard. The Italian stallion sat patiently behind Steven Frossard in moto one, waiting for the Frenchman to make a mistake, which he did, so he could grab control of the race. It was more of the same in moto two, as Desalle and Frossard held the early lead before Cairoli swooped in, grabbing the lead and the overall.
MX1 rookie Gautier Paulin was far and away the biggest surprise from the opening round. After a fourth in moto one the rookie fought back from dead last to secure a seventh place finish in moto two. Paulin was expected to excel on the big bike, and now looks to be a podium threat going down the road.
Super Tony's best lap in the second MX1 moto was three seconds clear of anyone else.
Photo: Ray Archer // KTM Images
Grand Prix MX2 Class
Moto 1
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Rider |
| 1 | 1 | 1:55.606 | 1 |
Jeffery Herlings |
| 2 | 2 | 1:58.337 | 2 | Tommy Searle |
| 3 | 3 | 1:59.861 | 18 | Joel Roelants |
| 4 | 4 | 2:00.647 | 3 | Jeremy van Horebeek |
| 5 |
5 | 2:00.761 | 3 | Jake Nicholls |
| 6 | 6 | 2:01.452 | 2 | Jordi Tixier |
| 7 | 8 | 2:01.632 | 5 | Mel Pocock |
| 8 | 9 | 2:01.988 | 2 | Valentin Teillet |
| 9 | 7 | 2:02.954 | 2 | Alexander Tonkov |
| 10 | 10 | 2:04.518 | 2 | Dylan Ferrandis |
Moto 2
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Rider |
| 1 | 1 | 1:54.517 | 3 | Jeffrey Herlings |
| 2 | 2 | 1:56.050 | 3 | Joel Roelants |
| 3 | 3 | 1:56.068 | 2 | Tommy Searle |
| 4 | 5 | 1:56.752 | 2 | Max Anstie |
| 5 |
6 | 1:59.842 | 2 | Glenn Coldenhoff |
| 6 | 8 | 2:00.593 | 2 | Dylan Ferrandis |
| 7 | 4 | 2:00.750 | 5 | Jeremy van Horebeek |
| 8 | 17 | 2:01.106 | 1 | Valentin Guillod |
| 9 | 7 | 2:01.175 | 2 | Jordi Tixier |
| 10 | 12 | 2:01.647 | 2 | Mel Pocock |
The only way Red Bull Teka KTM's Jeffery Herlings can lose in the sand is if he forgets to show up. The Dutch native continues to show he is vastly superior in the soft stuff, and Valkenswaard proved to be just another mark on the scorecard. Herlings lapped up to sixth and seventh in both motos, and won the first moto by almost one minute over Tommy Searle. He also set the two fastest laps of the day with a 1:55.606 in moto one and a 1:54.517 in moto two. Herlings' 1:54.517 was three seconds faster than Cairoli's 1:57.610 in moto two and nearly two seconds quicker than Joel Roelants 1:56.050, also in moto two. This is why people are buzzing about what Herling's could do at this year's Motocross of Nations, which will take place in even deeper sand at Lommel.
In his last season in the MX2 class, Tommy Searle continues to chase that elusive World Title that has escaped him on numerous occasions. Searle knew he needed to just survive the Herlings onslaught in the sand and wait to pounce on the hard packed tracks. Well, the Brit did just that scoring a podium finish behind Herlings and Roelants. Searle sits eight points back of Herlings after round one, a fine position for the Monster Kawasaki rider.
Herlings finished 1-1 for the overall -- he's won six-straight motos at Valkenswaard.
Photo: Ray Archer // KTM Images
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I am pretty sure Antonio Cairoli took 1st in both moto's...
Herlings 3 sec faster then the big bikes!! Dude Rips
@arealracer: Frossard bested Cairoli in the first moto: Frossard's fastest lap was a 1:58.074 to Cairoli's 1:58.251.
It says Frossard finished 1st in moto 1. Cairoli did win both motos
I said it before its still early to call but Steven Frossard is a fav for cairolli upset.
If Herling does turn up at Southwick its gonna be a truly amazing race :)
@MX579 it says he got Fossard got 3 in the moto but the fastestest lap.
I guess nobody bothered to tell Carioli that racing the 350 puts him at a disadvantage.
I wonder wether it's an advantage or not in the sand?
There is little doubt in my mind that Herlings will be a revelation to the American riders come MXdN time. 3 seconds (minimum) faster than the MX1 guys is astonishing!
Maybe the U.S. team can sneak in some paddle tires for Lommel.
@ Jan, I doubt Herlings will show up at Southwick (this year) as, 1) KTM U.S. has Roczen (who is no slouch in the sand) and Musquin (has done well before in the sand) and 2) Red Bull KTM (MXGP) cares more about the MX2 title than proving anything in Southwick. 3) I would assume contract-wise, he's not allowed to do one-off races. I do agree however, that Herlings would be an instant podium favorite.
And Roczen beat this guy on the reg!
Man outdoors is going to be good. Anyone who watched the MX2 season last year will know whats coming when Roczen heads outdoors. The guys a world champion at 17!
Frita- you realy think Roczen is going to dominate outdoors in the Nationals? I seriously doubt it and I will go on record here as saying he does not win more than 6 motos this year....... I think Durham, Bagget, Barcia, Bogle and Wilson will prove more than worthy competitors.
No doubt he will have a lot of competition. I think he can do it. Even though I'm a Wilson and Tomac fan.
Dont forget Barcia is on another level now so dont count him out for mx. He didnt have a good season last yr but now he has experience. Barcia and Malcolm too will be good outdoors.
carlsbad Guys do one off races all the time, Guys have come over here for one race many times so i think it is doable.
After the 2nd moto Herlings said that he wished it was ROUGHER. He was saying that they has smoothed the track out inbetween motos. The guy IS the fastest sand rider on the planet. Roll on Lommel where the sand is waist high and there is no track grading between motos.
I guess Toni Cairoli knows which bike is best for him. Max Nagl (injured) and replacement rider DeDycker decided to ride 450´s so I guess Cairoli had the choice to pick the bike he likes.
Exactly, every year Cairoli had the chance to choose between the 350 or the 450. He tested the new 450 but he then decided to go for the 350, at least for another year, that's what he said. Anyway Herlings showed that, at least on sand, the capacity of the bike does not matter that much.
Last year Roczen diced back and forth with Herlings in the sand, just losing. And then yarded him on other surfaces. Red plate after 2nd race and held to the end.
As always crashes/injuries etc happen, but if Roczen is healthy outdoors.... he is likely gone. If you have seen him outdoors you know this is at least probable if not a lock.
Snapshot: Roczen (on a Suzuki 250) passes and leaves Dungey (Suzuki 450) at the MXDN last year. And not by a little.
Better start liking the guy or you are going to have an unhappy summer. Just some friendly advice...
At the mxdn last year Roczen rode a KTM 250 not a Suzuki.
it was in 2010 that Roczen Passed Short on the 250 Suz, Last year he did pass RD in the first moto in the mud for 2nd I believe.
@ElsinoreRacer First of all I want to start by saying how much of a K.Roc fan I am, have been since his first GP in 09 where he went 9-4 at the Czech Republic, but dude, I'm not sure what race you were watching last year, because the sand race I watched last year between Kenny and Herlings, Herlings handled Kenny with ease.. In the second moto Herlings had a massive off and gave Kenny about a 10 second gift only for Jeff to hunt Roczen back down and do the business on him.. I hardly call that dicing.. And as big a fan I am of Kenny, this year is going to tough for him, Wilson and Barcia will be in there 3rd seasons as pro's racing on those tracks, and Roczen will only have 45 mins of practise to learn each track? No one,, and I mean NO ONE wants that dude to win more than me, but it's gonna hella tough this year. I just don't think he'll have enough time on each track, and once he gets fustrated I see mistakes happening. Hope I'm wrong, and if anyone can do it, it's King Roczen, but like I said, it's going to be tough.
Actually, Barcia will be in his 4th year..! My bad.
Barcia could be in his 10th season, and he still won´t beat the King.
Kenny Roc will smoke ´em outdoors. And anyone saying it ain´t true hasn´t seen the world champ on a MX track. End of story. Good nite.
@ BillC, Yeah Bill, it's been done before and I for one (among many) would enjoy seeing it happen but, I don't believe Herlings will (be allowed to) make that trip.
I'm not a fan of making bold predictions but, I don't think there are a lot of factors to hold Roczen back from making a title run in his first year here. I see his worst race as being Freestone because of the heat which, Euros traditionally don't do well in. Otherwise, his speed & consistency will put him up in the points regularly which, as most of us know is the key to pulling a title out of the 250F's.
Nice to hear from euromike without the degrading / insulting...........see Mike, it wasn't that hard.
One thing I am certain of is this: PC's pucker factor has risen substantially. It will not be the same tour de force they have enjoyed these past years. Teams GEICO & KTM plus several other racers (name your favorite here) will make it one HECK of a year for whomever pulls this championship off. Ought to be one for the ages....
As a side note to Euromoke's statement: Mike, Barcia's already been softening him up for the nats. They've had a couple run-ins already in SX/E with Barcia coming out on top. I'm not predicting anything, I'm just pointing out what I've seen. Barcia knows Roczen will be one of his main competitors and he's doing a little schoolyard posturing right now to set the mental stage. That's my two cents.
I can imagine Stanton in Barcia's corner advising him "PARK HIM! We're not doing '91 over again"!!!
Roczen/Herlings dicing in sand.. well, they traded the lead a couple times. Argueably that is dicing, but I give you some points. Herlings mentioned in interview the other day that Roczen was only one to give him trouble in the sand. So, I get a point back.
Barcia putting head job on Roczen.... ahhhhh NO. Roczen has hardly raced SX (this is the learning year), he has an arm on the mend (so he knew it was going to be uphill in SX anyway), and thus not getting hurt for the outdoors is Job One. Plus, be sure Rozcen was well-briefed on Barcia and his Bam crap. Everything that happened indoors happened indoors.
Outdoors..... New Deal: KRoc has won races all over the planet, has a World Championship outdoors by age 17 (Barcia zero outdoor titles at 20). He has beat top (450) Americans while on a smaller bike at the MXDN (at 15-16 yrs old)..... outdoors. Pretty sure Roczen is pretty happy being Roczen when thinking about the outdoors. Not thinking that "intimidated" is really on his list.
Speculating here, but if I am Roczen and thinking about Barcia outdoors, then I'm feeling a lot better about Barcia after seeing him buckle in tears after a little adversity last week. Barcia is a bully on the track. Bullies, all bullies, are walking con jobs. Inside every bully is a puss afraid everyone will find out their secret. Old truths never change. If Roczen is smart, and he seems to be, then he knows this. My guess is he is marking the days to the opener. Roger too.