Race Report: MXGP of Glen Helen

As at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Tomac faced little in the way of opposition among a group of riders with differing levels of intensity; some at the tail end of a long GP campaign that started in February and after almost two weeks overseas and with little in the way of championship rankings to be decided. Tomac himself was filling his obligation to put on an exhibition to the best of his capabilities and some important set-up changes to the suspension and shock of the works KX450F were key to embedding his speed on Sunday after an indifferent set of sessions on Saturday. Monster Energy Yamaha’s Romain Febvre grabbed Pole Position (the 2015 world champ and Glen Helen winner from last year had clutch trouble in the first moto and crashed in the second, only taking ninth) under some relentless sunshine. Eli’s comeback prowess at least gave the crowd (non-existent on Saturday, better on Sunday and no discernible difference compared to the last three editions of the Grand Prix at the circuit) reason to get vocal. Falls affected the races of Tommy Searle, Dean Wilson and Jeremy Van Horebeek.

A top five for Gautier Paulin was a satisfactory send-off for what has been a disappointing second and final year with HRC. Sooner or later an explanation will service for how the mercurial Frenchman and vanquisher of Motocross of Nations motos can look so ordinary in red. Nations and SMX appearances beckon before Paulin is Husqvarna-bound. The Paulin-Honda link-up was fairly promising in 2015 as the 25-year-old ran to his best MXGP championship finish of second place. In 2016 it has been abject without much rhyme or reason to the cause and Paulin dropped to thirteenth in the world, counting a rib and vertebrae injury into play and forcing him to the sidelines for five rounds.

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Arnaud Tonus made his MXGP debut in the premier class and rode to a respectable ninth overall on his maiden outing with the KX450F; very much a training and testing run ahead of the Nations and where the Swiss lines-up with a potent team including Valentin Guillod (allegedly heading for a Honda-support ride in 2017) and Suzuki’s Jeremy Seewer. The latter received his silver medal in the MX2 category, where he classified 114 points behind a rampant Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings.

The Dutchman spoke of the lessons learned in Charlotte where he was versed in sprint lap pacing by the likes of Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner and Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb. If Tomac ruled through flying speed and deft overtaking then Herlings’ double (and first overall victory in the U.S. for his 61st career win) was just as authoritative but from the front. For all of his verve Forkner could do little about the KTM man on this occasion and two crashes in the second moto—the latter a big tip-over from which he was lucky to emerge uninjured—dispelled any chances of a consecutive podium celebration. GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin was very complimentary to Herlings and Grand Prix in general, even if his timekeeping was a little off having missed Sunday morning warm-up due to a schedule misreading. The two-time 250MX champion went 2-2 on the CRF250R and further refined his initial base setting after a matter of days on the bike.

With Forkner crashing, coming all the way back to eleventh in what was an extremely watchable and enjoyable trawl, and then falling again, Mitchell Harrison’s 5-5 was good enough for the last step of the box and ahead of Max Anstie who finally bagged two excellent starts but simply could not hold his speed in the lead. The Star Racing Yamaha representative was a little overawed by the result and admitted a top five had been his initial target. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Thomas Covington must be feeling disappointed not to have been in contention for the champagne after a decent run to fourth in the first moto. A disastrous opening lap of the second outing left the GP-based American rooted towards the rear of the pack and he worked back to fourteenth. Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Darian Sanayei, another GP-based American, also cursed mistakes to be fourteenth overall.

Seewer was fifth and is the sole rider in MX2 with the distinction of scoring points in each and every one of the thirty-six outings this season. He headed Kemea Yamaha’s Benoit Paturel; the Frenchman disposing Anstie of a second consecutive top three championship finish and gaining some immense emotional satisfaction in just his second year of Grand Prix and after a painful recent family bereavement.

Now begins the countdown to the 70th Motocross of Nations at Maggiora in Italy and thirty years on from the iconic American victory of ’86 at the same site.