Racer X - Motocross & Supercross NewsRacer X

  • Subscribe Now
  • Latest
  • Features
  • Breaking News

Racer X - Motocross & Supercross NewsRacer X

  • One Click Sign-In

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    OR

    Sign in with your username and password

    • Sign In
  • Features
    • 10 Things
    • 30 Greatest AMA Motocrossers
    • 3 on 3
    • 250 Words
    • 450 Words
    • Between the Motos
    • Breakdown
    • Deals of the Week
    • GNCC Report
    • Great Battles
    • How to Watch
    • Injury Report
    • Insight
    • In the Mag, On the Web
    • Lockdown Diaries
    • Longform
    • MXGP Race Reports
    • My Favorite Loretta Lynn's Moto
    • Next
    • Observations
    • On This Day in Moto
    • Open Mic
    • Privateer Profile
    • Race Day Feed
    • Racerhead
    • Racer X Awards
    • Racer X Redux
    • Rapid Reaxtion
    • RX Exhaust
    • Saturday Night Live
    • Staging Area
    • The Conversation
    • The List
    • The Moment
    • Things We Learned at the Ranch
    • Unphiltered
    • Wake-Up Call
    • Where Are They Now
    • 50 Years of Pro Motocross
  • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Photo Galleries
    • The Weege Show
    • Racer X Films
    • Video
    • SX Preview Shows
    • Factory Tech Tip
    • MX Preview Shows
    • Behind The Bars
    • Racer X Rapid News
  • Races
    • Series Schedules
    • TV Schedules
    • Results
    • Champions
    • Teams
    • 2022 Numbers
  • Results
    • Points Standings
    • Race Results
    • Riders
    • The Vault
    • Loretta Lynn's Vault
  • Shop
  • About Us
  • The Mag
    • Digital Magazine Bookstand
    • Customer Care
    • Current Issue
    • Newsletter
    • Store Locator
    • Subscribe
    • Free Stickers
    • Sell Racer X
  • Table of Contents
  • Subscribe Now
  • Latest
  • Features
  • Breaking News
Results Archive
GNCC
Snowshoe
Articles
Overall Results
  1. Jordan Ashburn
  2. Ricky Russell
  3. Jonathan Girroir
Full Results
XC2 Pro Results
  1. Jonathan Girroir
  2. Ruy Barbosa
  3. Cody J Barnes
Full Results
MXGP of
Indonesia
Articles
MXGP Results
  1. Tim Gajser
  2. Jorge Prado
  3. Ruben Fernandez
Full Results
MX2 Results
  1. Tom Vialle
  2. Simon Laengenfelder
  3. Thibault Benistant
Full Results
Australian MX
Maitland
Articles
Motocross
RedBud
Articles
450 Results
  1. Eli Tomac
  2. Chase Sexton
  3. Justin Barcia
Full Results
250 Results
  1. Jo Shimoda
  2. Hunter Lawrence
  3. Stilez Robertson
Full Results
Upcoming
Motocross
Southwick
Sat Jul 9
Articles
Upcoming
Motocross
Spring Creek
Sat Jul 16
Articles
Upcoming
MXGP of
Czech Republic
Sun Jul 17
Articles
Full Schedule
GP Report: 3 Observations from the MXGP of Kegums
Adam Wheeler

Adam Wheeler

GP Report 3 Observations from the MXGP of Kegums

August 17, 2020 12:25pm
by: Adam Wheeler
  • Home
  • MXGP
  • GP Report
  • 2020 MXGP of Kegums Motocross Recap

JUST1, based in Italy, was born in 2012 with the goal to produce one of the best off-road helmets. Now, and after only 10 years, JUST1 produces and sells worldwide several models of helmets, goggle, gear and is multi times MX world champions. The passion for off-road and motorsports in general allows JUST1 to enter into the on-road field as well with a very high tech helmet that will soon be followed by additional products with racers in mind.

Advertisement | Advertise with Us
Kegums, Latvia MXGP of Kegums (Lat) FIM Motocross World Championship

The fifth round of the 2020 FIM Motocross World Championship took place on Sunday at the MXGP of Kegums, in Latvia—the third round raced in Latvia in a week’s time. Here are our observations.

1. The Change Up

Thursday and Friday without racing allowed staff at the Kegums circuit to roll out the machinery and modify the layout of the shallow sandy course. While the alterations of moving a couple of corners were significant enough to force riders to reconstruct their laps, it was not as drastic as in the past when Kegums has been reversed and new jumps created. Some disliked the changes; others appreciated the effort.

“It felt like we were also riding a different track. They did a great job with that,” said Red Bull KTM’s Jorge Prado, the reigning MX2 world champion who was emotional during his first MXGP podium ceremony after just five events on the 450 SX-F and in the wake of a broken femur and collarbone while trying to prepare for his maiden term on the bigger bike. “The track is very tough physically with a tight first corner,” he added, with a nod towards the turn that contributed to a raft of crashes throughout the week. “It was very easy to make a mistake.”

Red Bull KTM's Jorge Prado
Red Bull KTM's Jorge Prado Juan Pablo Acevedo/KTM Images

Mistakes flowed. The glitches were not always from the riders who were again dealing with generous summer temperatures and sunshine as well as a terrain full of small, sharp, and treacherous bumps. What looked like an electrical problem for defending world champion Tim Gajser in the second moto ended his bid for a second podium result from three. The HRC man had already claimed the first moto (his second checkered flag of the week) after Jeffrey Herlings had botched his start from pole position and also briefly crashed. Gajser stood helmetless, motionless, and disbelieving next to the prone CRF and must have been also doing his arithmetic as Herlings circulated to victory. The Dutchman had been wayward and inconsistent in Latvia but seemed more like his old self as he bagged the sixth race of six at Kegums. Herlings has 89 career wins—one behind Cairoli—and three for 2020 from the five held in total. He has deepened the color of his red plate to the tune of 46 points over the stricken Gajser. The gap is almost two motos; not a shabby quantity at all with such uncertainty over the MXGP calendar and where, when, and how the series might conclude.

Rockstar Energy IceOne Husqvarna’s Arminas Jasikonis finished 2-3 at the third and final round in Latvia. Jasikonis finished sixth, fourth, and second overall, respectively, in the three Latvia rounds at Kegums.
Rockstar Energy IceOne Husqvarna’s Arminas Jasikonis finished 2-3 at the third and final round in Latvia. Jasikonis finished sixth, fourth, and second overall, respectively, in the three Latvia rounds at Kegums. Juan Pablo Acevedo Husqvarna Images

Kegums staged a mad flurry of action and a chaotic season resumption in the space of seven days. Three rounds and three podiums produced three different winners and seven different riders on the box, and it was Herlings and Rockstar Energy IceOne Husqvarna’s Arminas Jasikonis who banked the most from Latvia. The Lithuanian in particular was again as stylish as he was effective for the last GP with a 3-2 lifting the tall racer up to a career-best third in the standings and with three trophies to his name this campaign.

Tony Cairoli was handicapped by a first moto fall that meant another afternoon of hard work to recover to ninth. The Wednesday winner rallied hard with a painful back in the second race to place fourth overall and ensure Red Bull KTM ended the Latvian sojourn with their tails up thanks to first (Herlings), third (Prado), and fourth (Cairoli) for their riders at the Grand Prix. The initial victor at Kegums, Glenn Coldenhoff, defied bashed ribs to bring the Gas Gas to sixth overall. It was surprising to see Monster Energy Yamaha’s Jeremy Seewer register a zero in the first moto but a start crash, followed by another hefty fall meant the normally resilient Swiss rider had to admit defeat. He gingerly rescued points in the second moto however while teammate Gautier Paulin was the first Yamaha home in seventh; the Frenchman still afflicted by a fractured finger on his right hand that was problematic for braking. Another Yamaha rider, Thomas Covington, took his first MXGP points of the season in the second moto with an 18th. The American (who finished 26-18 for 21st overall) is still trying to gain race shape after his chronic illness in the second half of 2019.

2. It Takes Two, Baby

Earlier in the week Red Bull KTM’s Tom Vialle sensibly and modestly swept aside the notion that the 2020 MX2 title race would be decided between himself and Monster Energy Yamaha’s Jago Geerts. After last Sunday when the pair swapped 1-2, 2-1 scores—in favor of the Yamaha representative—Vialle’s suggestion was further weakened.

The class has stayed pretty constant. Vialle took Sunday and Geerts claimed Wednesday and then the following Sunday, although he was not without fault, so Vialle arrived with the red plate and also leaves with the distinction. However, the margin is a slender eight points. Two thousand twenty is Vialle’s second year in Grand Prix while it is the third for Geerts. The Belgian is bidding to become the first world champion from his land since 2007. Motocross is highly elevated in national consciousness in the country, so the racer from Geel carries more expectation than any other MX2 aspirant. Vialle could be KTM’s third French world champion and follow in the footsteps of Marvin Musquin and Jordi Tixier.

“It is close with Jago,” he admitted on Sunday afternoon. “We shared the points today and the guy in third is a little bit further back. It is quite tough to always fight with the same rider, but I think we can say this is [Jago’s] favorite track so I was happy to be there with him winning some motos and one GP. Today I didn’t lose points.”

Geerts has another three years in the class, Vialle another four so this could be a dispute that rumbles for some time.

Jago Geerts and his Yamaha squad celebrating his second overall win of the 2020 FIM Motocross World Championship.
Jago Geerts and his Yamaha squad celebrating his second overall win of the 2020 FIM Motocross World Championship. Yamaha
Through five rounds, Red Bull KTM's Tom Vialle has a 19-point lead over Geerts in the MX2 championship.
Through five rounds, Red Bull KTM's Tom Vialle has a 19-point lead over Geerts in the MX2 championship. Juan Pablo Acevedo/KTM Images

Don’t Miss a Moto!

 

Sign up for our newsletter to get headlines, info, and scoops as soon as they break. As a bonus, you’ll be entered into our weekly giveaways too!

TGI Freeday - Newsletter Giveaway
By subscribing, you agree to our privacy policy. Must be 18 years of age or older to win.
Forms on this page are protected by reCAPTCHA, its Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Some of Vialle’s initial hesitation to label 2020 as a two-horse sprint could come from the strength of the F&H Kawasaki team. Two of their riders, Roan Van De Moosdijk and Mathys Boisrame (EMX250 Champions of the last two years) applied heavy podium pressure in Latvia and owned all three pole positions. The Dutchman (Van De Moosdijk) sprayed champagne three times (the only rider with a 100 percent podium record in Latvia) whereas Boisrame’s all-action approach proved costly on the final Sunday and he was 10th overall. Van de Moosdijk is the rider ‘a little bit further back’ and will need to find 56 points over Geerts to move up from his third spot in the standings but all the signs of promise are there.

Another noteworthy development in MX2 is the competitiveness of the Japanese machinery for race starts. The Yamahas and Kawasakis have been smoked by Austrian orange and white in the last three years as Pauls Jonass, Jorge Prado, and Vialle have laid waste in terms of holeshots. Now Geerts, Ben Watson, and the F&H runners are benefitting from some keen technical homework over the winter. The diminutive Vialle is still a livewire over the first metres from the gate but the contest is much closer.

3. What Now?

A raft of riders will be counting the damage from three races in one week at Kegums: Coldenhoff and his ribs, Paulin and his finger, Cairoli and his knee, Clement Desalle and his neck, Shaun Simpson and his back and MX2 Red Bull KTM rider Rene Hofer who broke his left shoulder at the second Grand Prix and his how likely to miss the rest of the season. And what will that season look like? Frustratingly for the teams—and even promoters Infront Motor Racing—it’s a hard question to answer. It seems as though that the Grand Prix of Turkey on September 6 could be postponed to 2021 and the series will take refuge in the relatively safe and open confines of Italy for a three-round rush of races either at the hard-pack course of Faenza or the sand of Ottobiano or Mantova. Another three fixtures would pull MXGP up to a total of eight. If the Spanish and Argentinian rounds cannot proceed (and these are two territories battling furiously with the numbers of COVID-19 cases and flare-ups) then the series might be able to count on three dates in Belgium and another visit to Italy to try and form a creditable number of races. The Lommel sand will weather any dramatic swing in the European climate but getting the paddock through government regulations to pitch up for another ten-day spree at the circuit could be more complicated than the fine exercise completed in Latvia.

MXGP has been gloriously jumbled in ‘operation restart’ and ambiguity remains—even for a 2021 outlook, until the equation of fan attendances at sporting events can somehow be worked out—but it was encouraging to see that the racing can be as engaging as ever.

Romain Febvre is one of the many riders looking to build off the three Grand Prix in Latvia.
Romain Febvre is one of the many riders looking to build off the three Grand Prix in Latvia. Courtesy of Juan Pablo Acevedo/Kawasaki Racing Team

*Main image courtesy of Juan Pable Acevedo/KTM Images.

  • The Conversation: Osborne, Anderson, and Tomac The Conversation: Osborne, Anderson, and Tomac 11:20am
  • Open Mic: Hampshire, Martin, and McElrath Open Mic: Hampshire, Martin, and McElrath 2:00pm
Presented by:
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Website
Read Now
August 2022 Issue Now Available
Get Racer X on your iPhone
Check out all the exclusive content this month on any device!
Read Now
The August 2022 Digital Issue Availalbe Now

Motocross & Supercross News - Racer X

122 Vista Del Rio Drive, Morgantown, WV 26508 | 304-284-0084 | Contact Us
©1999 - 2022 Filter Publications LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
designed at: Website DesignImpulse Studios