ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING RIDER CLIMBS TO SECOND IN THE MXGP CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Continuing his impressive run of form in the 2017 FIM Motocross World Championship, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Gautier Paulin wrapped up his home round of the MXGP series in France with a strong third overall, moving to second in the MXGP class’ championship standings. Winning the opening MXGP moto Max Nagl earned fourth overall in the 450cc class.
With round nine of the championship taking place at the famous Ernée track in northern France, competitors were faced with deep ruts and slippery off-camber corners in proved to be a demanding MXGP of France. Racing on home soil, Paulin worked hard and managed to overcome a few minor issues he faced during Saturday’s qualifying session.
Despite not getting the best of starts in MXGP moto one, Paulin quickly found himself battling for a spot inside the top five. Involved in a late battle with Jeffrey Herlings, he eventually crossed the line in sixth place.
Coming back stronger in moto two, Paulin got a better start and moved up to second before the end of the fifth lap. Battling for victory until the last corners of the race, the Frenchman brought his FC 450 home in second to earn third overall at the GP. Moving up to second in the MXGP championship standings, Paulin is now 50 points behind series leader Antonio Cairoli.
Getting an impressive holeshot before quickly opening up a sizeable lead and going on to secure victory in moto one, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl secured a well-deserved winning result. Getting a great start in moto two the German suffered a crash late in the race before crossing the line in ninth place.
Putting in another solid performance, MXGP class rookie Max Anstie collected 10th overall at the MXGP of France. Battling through a crash he suffered on Saturday, the Brit managed to collect 9/11 results during the two final motos on Sunday.
In the MX2 category, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Kjer-Olsen was faced with a mountain to climb after a bad start in moto one and a crash in the opening laps of moto two. Pushing hard and making a series of crucial passes, the young Dane collected 7/8 results for seventh overall at the GP of France.
Battling his way through the pack after two bad starts in MX2’s final motos, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Covington got 11/7 results for eighth overall at the GP of France.
Getting good starts and showing great speed in both motos, Conrad Mewse collected two top 10 results for ninth overall in France.
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team will return to action at round ten of the 2017 FIM Motocross World Championship in Russia on June 9/10.
Gautier Paulin: “I’m really happy with getting on the podium in front of my home fans. The weekend didn’t start in the best possible way for us, but we managed to make some great progress and find a setup that worked very well on Sunday. I can’t thank my team enough for all their hard work and dedication. In the opening moto I didn’t get a good start and had to push hard for sixth. Max Nagl did a great job taking the holeshot and going on to claim victory and I’d like to congratulate him for that. In moto two my start wasn’t perfect but I made a good come back for second. I showed that victory was within my reach and I’m happy with that. Second in the championship is great but obviously the goal now is to remain consistent and to be on the podium in each of the following GPs.”
Max Nagl: “Struggling with my confidence during the last few GPs, it felt great to get out there and get the victory in moto one. The weekend started well for us and I’m really satisfied that all my starts were good. In moto one I got the holeshot and kept my head down. Increasing the lead in every lap, I built a gap of almost seven seconds at the chequered flag. Then in moto two my start was good but I made a couple of mistakes in the opening laps losing a few spots. Then after the halfway mark I had a big crash, falling heavily. Luckily I didn’t get hurt and I resumed the race to earn ninth.”
Max Anstie: “It was a solid GP for me. The track was challenging and it was just too easy to make a mistake. I had two strong motos for 10th overall and I’m happy about that. With this just being my first year in the class, I’m still learning and improving every time out. We’ll keep working as hard as we do hoping to get even higher next time out in Russia. Already during the last few races we’ve made some big improvements on my riding and with our bike, so I feel that we’re gradually putting all the pieces of the puzzle together.”
Thomas Kjer-Olsen: “It was a tough weekend and I’m happy with seventh overall. To be honest I struggled with the track and my riding and had to ride a bit cautiously during the weekend. My starts were not good and I had to take risks and push hard to make passes. In moto one I came from outside the top 20 in the opening laps to finish seventh. Then in moto two I had a crash early on and that made it difficult to do anything better than eighth at the chequered flag. We take our seventh place in the overall and move on. There’s still a lot of racing to be done in this year’s championship.”
Thomas Covington: “I did my best in what was a challenging weekend of racing in France. To be honest I didn’t feel comfortable on the track so had to struggle to get a good flow around it. In moto one I got a bad start and pushed hard for 11th at the finish. Then in moto two I saw Kjer-Olsen crashing in front of me right after the start and could do nothing to avoid him. Despite losing time there, I fought back to seventh at the flag. Considering this was a tough GP for me, to earn eighth overall is not a bad result at all. I’m now looking forward to the following GP in Russia.”
Conrad Mewse: “It was a great weekend for me. I got two good starts in the final motos and spent most of them battling to retain a good position. We’ve worked hard during the last couple of months and that has helped me get a better feeling riding my bike. In moto one I pushed hard to finish inside the top 10 and in moto two I felt like I was running out of energy. Overall, I’m quite happy with my results here in France and I can’t wait for the following round in Russia.”
Results – FIM Motocross World Championship, Round 9
MXGP - Overall
1. Clement Desalle (Kawasaki) 43pts; 2. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 42; 3. Gautier Paulin (Husqvarna) 37; 4. Max Nagl (Husqvarna) 37… 10. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 22… 15. Tanel Leok (Husqvarna) 10… 19. Rui Goncalves (Husqvarna) 6
MXGP - Race 1
1. Max Nagl (Husqvarna) 18 laps, 35:35.189; 2. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 35:41.922; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (Yamaha) 35:43.649… 6. Gautier Paulin (Husqvarna) 35:53.475… 9. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 36:16.817… 19. Tanel Leok (Husqvarna) 17 laps, 35:36.688… 21. Rui Goncalves (Husqvarna) 35:39.739… 26. Nicolas Bender (Husqvarna) 36:57.387
MXGP - Race 2
1. Clement Desalle (Kawasaki) 18 laps, 35:08.044; 2. Gautier Paulin (Husqvarna) 35:10.483; 3. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 35:16.213… 9. Max Nagl (Husqvarna) 36:05.623… 11. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 36:19.790… 13. Tanel Leok (Husqvarna) 36:35.497… 15. Rui Goncalves (Husqvarna) 36:38.369… 29. Nicolas Bender (Husqvarna) 36:16.061
MX2 - Overall
1. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 47pts; 2. Benoit Paturel (Yamaha) 45; 3. Jeremy Seewer (Suzuki) 42… 7. Thomas Kjer-Olsen (Husqvarna) 27; 8. Thomas Covington (Husqvarna) 27; 9. Conrad Mewse (Husqvarna) 23… 13. Brian Hsu (Husqvarna) 13… 17. Henry Jacobi (Husqvarna) 8… 21. Anton Gole (Husqvarna) 5
MX2 - Race 1
1. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 18 laps, 35:40.293; 2. Jeremy Seewer (Suzuki) 35:42.688; 3. Benoit Paturel (Yamaha) 35:43.617… 7. Thomas Kjer-Olsen (Husqvarna) 36:25.158; 8. Brian Hsu (Husqvarna) 36:35.321… 10. Conrad Mewse (Husqvarna) 36:41.880; 11. Thomas Covington (Husqvarna) 36:42.412… 17. Henry Jacobi (Husqvarna) 37:25.319… 19. Anton Gole (Husqvarna) 37:31.398
MX2 - Race 2
1. Benoit Paturel (Yamaha) 17 laps, 34:00.096; 2. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 34:01.795; 3. Jeremy Seewer (Suzuki) 34:03.722… 7. Thomas Covington (Husqvarna) 35:22.681; 8. Thomas Kjer-Olsen (Husqvarna) 35:26.511; 9. Conrad Mewse (Husqvarna) 35:31.084… 17. Henry Jacobi (Husqvarna) 16 laps, 34:09.606; 18. Anton Gole (Husqvarna) 34:09.928… 21. Brian Hsu (Husqvarna) 34:38.009
Championship Standings (After Round 9)
MXGP
1. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 347pts; 2. Gautier Paulin (Husqvarna) 297; 3. Clement Desalle (Kawasaki) 289… 9. Max Nagl (Husqvarna) 200… 12. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 146… 15. Tanel Leok (Husqvarna) 101… 20. Rui Goncalves (Husqvarna) 58… 23. Harri Kullas (Husqvarna) 21… 30. Yentel Martens (Husqvarna) 6
MX2
1. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 372pts; 2. Jeremy Seewer (Suzuki) 330; 3. Thomas Kjer-Olsen (Husqvarna) 291… 6. Thomas Covington (Husqvarna) 208… 17. Conrad Mewse (Husqvarna) 78; 21. Brian Hsu (Husqvarna) 60… 23. Anton Gole (Husqvarna) 54; 24. Iker Larranaga (Husqvarna) 43… 26. Henry Jacobi (Husqvarna) 41… 31. Caleb Ward (Husqvarna) 14; 32. Karel Kutsar (Husqvarna) 14… 40. Ivan Petrov (Husqvarna) 1… 43. Aaron Tanti (Husqvarna) 1
With round nine of the championship taking place at the famous Ernée track in northern France, competitors were faced with deep ruts and slippery off-camber corners in proved to be a demanding MXGP of France. Racing on home soil, Paulin worked hard and managed to overcome a few minor issues he faced during Saturday’s qualifying session.
Despite not getting the best of starts in MXGP moto one, Paulin quickly found himself battling for a spot inside the top five. Involved in a late battle with Jeffrey Herlings, he eventually crossed the line in sixth place.
Coming back stronger in moto two, Paulin got a better start and moved up to second before the end of the fifth lap. Battling for victory until the last corners of the race, the Frenchman brought his FC 450 home in second to earn third overall at the GP. Moving up to second in the MXGP championship standings, Paulin is now 50 points behind series leader Antonio Cairoli.
Getting an impressive holeshot before quickly opening up a sizeable lead and going on to secure victory in moto one, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl secured a well-deserved winning result. Getting a great start in moto two the German suffered a crash late in the race before crossing the line in ninth place.
Putting in another solid performance, MXGP class rookie Max Anstie collected 10th overall at the MXGP of France. Battling through a crash he suffered on Saturday, the Brit managed to collect 9/11 results during the two final motos on Sunday.
In the MX2 category, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Kjer-Olsen was faced with a mountain to climb after a bad start in moto one and a crash in the opening laps of moto two. Pushing hard and making a series of crucial passes, the young Dane collected 7/8 results for seventh overall at the GP of France.
Battling his way through the pack after two bad starts in MX2’s final motos, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Covington got 11/7 results for eighth overall at the GP of France.
Getting good starts and showing great speed in both motos, Conrad Mewse collected two top 10 results for ninth overall in France.
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team will return to action at round ten of the 2017 FIM Motocross World Championship in Russia on June 9/10.
Gautier Paulin: “I’m really happy with getting on the podium in front of my home fans. The weekend didn’t start in the best possible way for us, but we managed to make some great progress and find a setup that worked very well on Sunday. I can’t thank my team enough for all their hard work and dedication. In the opening moto I didn’t get a good start and had to push hard for sixth. Max Nagl did a great job taking the holeshot and going on to claim victory and I’d like to congratulate him for that. In moto two my start wasn’t perfect but I made a good come back for second. I showed that victory was within my reach and I’m happy with that. Second in the championship is great but obviously the goal now is to remain consistent and to be on the podium in each of the following GPs.”
Max Nagl: “Struggling with my confidence during the last few GPs, it felt great to get out there and get the victory in moto one. The weekend started well for us and I’m really satisfied that all my starts were good. In moto one I got the holeshot and kept my head down. Increasing the lead in every lap, I built a gap of almost seven seconds at the chequered flag. Then in moto two my start was good but I made a couple of mistakes in the opening laps losing a few spots. Then after the halfway mark I had a big crash, falling heavily. Luckily I didn’t get hurt and I resumed the race to earn ninth.”
Max Anstie: “It was a solid GP for me. The track was challenging and it was just too easy to make a mistake. I had two strong motos for 10th overall and I’m happy about that. With this just being my first year in the class, I’m still learning and improving every time out. We’ll keep working as hard as we do hoping to get even higher next time out in Russia. Already during the last few races we’ve made some big improvements on my riding and with our bike, so I feel that we’re gradually putting all the pieces of the puzzle together.”
Thomas Kjer-Olsen: “It was a tough weekend and I’m happy with seventh overall. To be honest I struggled with the track and my riding and had to ride a bit cautiously during the weekend. My starts were not good and I had to take risks and push hard to make passes. In moto one I came from outside the top 20 in the opening laps to finish seventh. Then in moto two I had a crash early on and that made it difficult to do anything better than eighth at the chequered flag. We take our seventh place in the overall and move on. There’s still a lot of racing to be done in this year’s championship.”
Thomas Covington: “I did my best in what was a challenging weekend of racing in France. To be honest I didn’t feel comfortable on the track so had to struggle to get a good flow around it. In moto one I got a bad start and pushed hard for 11th at the finish. Then in moto two I saw Kjer-Olsen crashing in front of me right after the start and could do nothing to avoid him. Despite losing time there, I fought back to seventh at the flag. Considering this was a tough GP for me, to earn eighth overall is not a bad result at all. I’m now looking forward to the following GP in Russia.”
Conrad Mewse: “It was a great weekend for me. I got two good starts in the final motos and spent most of them battling to retain a good position. We’ve worked hard during the last couple of months and that has helped me get a better feeling riding my bike. In moto one I pushed hard to finish inside the top 10 and in moto two I felt like I was running out of energy. Overall, I’m quite happy with my results here in France and I can’t wait for the following round in Russia.”
Results – FIM Motocross World Championship, Round 9
MXGP - Overall
1. Clement Desalle (Kawasaki) 43pts; 2. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 42; 3. Gautier Paulin (Husqvarna) 37; 4. Max Nagl (Husqvarna) 37… 10. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 22… 15. Tanel Leok (Husqvarna) 10… 19. Rui Goncalves (Husqvarna) 6
MXGP - Race 1
1. Max Nagl (Husqvarna) 18 laps, 35:35.189; 2. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 35:41.922; 3. Jeremy Van Horebeek (Yamaha) 35:43.649… 6. Gautier Paulin (Husqvarna) 35:53.475… 9. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 36:16.817… 19. Tanel Leok (Husqvarna) 17 laps, 35:36.688… 21. Rui Goncalves (Husqvarna) 35:39.739… 26. Nicolas Bender (Husqvarna) 36:57.387
MXGP - Race 2
1. Clement Desalle (Kawasaki) 18 laps, 35:08.044; 2. Gautier Paulin (Husqvarna) 35:10.483; 3. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 35:16.213… 9. Max Nagl (Husqvarna) 36:05.623… 11. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 36:19.790… 13. Tanel Leok (Husqvarna) 36:35.497… 15. Rui Goncalves (Husqvarna) 36:38.369… 29. Nicolas Bender (Husqvarna) 36:16.061
MX2 - Overall
1. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 47pts; 2. Benoit Paturel (Yamaha) 45; 3. Jeremy Seewer (Suzuki) 42… 7. Thomas Kjer-Olsen (Husqvarna) 27; 8. Thomas Covington (Husqvarna) 27; 9. Conrad Mewse (Husqvarna) 23… 13. Brian Hsu (Husqvarna) 13… 17. Henry Jacobi (Husqvarna) 8… 21. Anton Gole (Husqvarna) 5
MX2 - Race 1
1. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 18 laps, 35:40.293; 2. Jeremy Seewer (Suzuki) 35:42.688; 3. Benoit Paturel (Yamaha) 35:43.617… 7. Thomas Kjer-Olsen (Husqvarna) 36:25.158; 8. Brian Hsu (Husqvarna) 36:35.321… 10. Conrad Mewse (Husqvarna) 36:41.880; 11. Thomas Covington (Husqvarna) 36:42.412… 17. Henry Jacobi (Husqvarna) 37:25.319… 19. Anton Gole (Husqvarna) 37:31.398
MX2 - Race 2
1. Benoit Paturel (Yamaha) 17 laps, 34:00.096; 2. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 34:01.795; 3. Jeremy Seewer (Suzuki) 34:03.722… 7. Thomas Covington (Husqvarna) 35:22.681; 8. Thomas Kjer-Olsen (Husqvarna) 35:26.511; 9. Conrad Mewse (Husqvarna) 35:31.084… 17. Henry Jacobi (Husqvarna) 16 laps, 34:09.606; 18. Anton Gole (Husqvarna) 34:09.928… 21. Brian Hsu (Husqvarna) 34:38.009
Championship Standings (After Round 9)
MXGP
1. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 347pts; 2. Gautier Paulin (Husqvarna) 297; 3. Clement Desalle (Kawasaki) 289… 9. Max Nagl (Husqvarna) 200… 12. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 146… 15. Tanel Leok (Husqvarna) 101… 20. Rui Goncalves (Husqvarna) 58… 23. Harri Kullas (Husqvarna) 21… 30. Yentel Martens (Husqvarna) 6
MX2
1. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 372pts; 2. Jeremy Seewer (Suzuki) 330; 3. Thomas Kjer-Olsen (Husqvarna) 291… 6. Thomas Covington (Husqvarna) 208… 17. Conrad Mewse (Husqvarna) 78; 21. Brian Hsu (Husqvarna) 60… 23. Anton Gole (Husqvarna) 54; 24. Iker Larranaga (Husqvarna) 43… 26. Henry Jacobi (Husqvarna) 41… 31. Caleb Ward (Husqvarna) 14; 32. Karel Kutsar (Husqvarna) 14… 40. Ivan Petrov (Husqvarna) 1… 43. Aaron Tanti (Husqvarna) 1
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