MXGP of Sardegna | Kate Kowalchuk Report

Story and Photos by Kate Kowalchuk

Sardegna Update

MX2

#93 Jago Geerts.

With just a 6-point gap in the MX2 World Championship, Yamaha Factory rider #93 Jago Geerts was looking to keep the red plate heading into Sardegna and this round did not disappoint. In easily one of the best battles of the weekend, possibly even the season, Geerts went 1-2 for 2nd overall tying KTM Factory rider #28 Tom Vialle who went 2-1 for 1st overall, allowing him to keep the 6-point lead in the World Championship standings. 

#28 Tom Vialle.

Vialle had one of the best weekends of his career in terms of his riding. Going into such a gnarly sand track he would have been happy with a podium and instead came out on top. Having being stuck in a first lap crash off the start of moto 1 he fought his way back to 2nd catching Geerts in the last lap with them leading the entire class by 40.7 seconds.

In moto 2, Vialle and Geerts were tire-to-tire from start to finish showing an insane amount of speed with another 39.2 second lead over the rest of the class, as Vialle took the win by 0.339 seconds. Rounding out the podium was Yamaha Factory rider #198 Thibault Benistant who also got both holeshots.

MX2 podium: Tom Vialle, Jago Geerts, Thibault, Benistant.

The MX2 battle between Vialle and Geerts was definitely something you want to go back and watch for both motos. This tight championship battle will continue at Round 9 in Madrid, Spain.

MX2 – GP Classification
Pos Nr Rider Nat. Fed. Bike Race 1 Race 2 Total
1 28 Vialle, Tom FRA FFM KTM 22 25 47
2 93 Geerts, Jago BEL FMB YAM 25 22 47
3 198 Benistant, Thibault FRA FFM YAM 20 20 40
4 24 Horgmo, Kevin NOR NMF KAW 16 18 34
5 80 Adamo, Andrea ITA FMI GAS 14 15 29
6 516 Laengenfelder, Simon GER DMSB GAS 15 14 29
7 517 Gifting, Isak SWE SVEMO KTM 12 16 28
8 11 Haarup, Mikkel DEN DMU KAW 18 10 28
9 72 Everts, Liam BEL FMB KTM 11 13 24
10 403 Boegh Damm, Bastian DEN DMU KTM 9 12 21
11 87 Brumann, Kevin SUI FMS YAM 10 11 21
12 38 Rubini, Stephen FRA FFM HON 8 9 17
13 427 Fredriksen, Hakon NOR NMF HON 13 0 13
14 253 Pancar, Jan SLO AMZS KTM 4 8 12
15 224 Teresak, Jakub CZE ACCR KTM 6 6 12
16 33 Karssemakers, Kay NED KNMV KTM 7 5 12
17 338 Olsson, Filip SWE SVEMO HUS 0 7 7
18 313 Polak, Petr CZE ACCR HON 5 2 7
19 912 Rizzi, Joel GBR ACU YAM 2 4 6
20 53 Lata, Valerio ITA FMI KTM 3 3 6
21 426 Mewse, Conrad GBR ACU KTM 1 1 2
MX2 – World Championship Classification
Pos Nr Rider Nat. Bike Total GBR ITA ARG POR TRE LAT ITA SAR ESP FRA GER INA INA CZE BEL SWE FIN FRA TUR OMA
1 93 Geerts, Jago BEL YAM 338 18-22 25-25 25-22 12-25 20-0 25-25 25-22 25-22 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
2 28 Vialle, Tom FRA KTM 332 22-20 22-0 22-25 25-22 25-25 16-20 16-25 22-25 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
3 516 Laengenfelder, S. GER GAS 245 25-25 14-22 8-16 8-12 13-11 18-9 15-20 15-14 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
4 11 Haarup, Mikkel DEN KAW 239 13-14 13-14 18-20 22-18 22-15 0-12 14-16 18-10 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
5 24 Horgmo, Kevin NOR KAW 233 14-12 15-13 16-8 13-20 9-16 22-18 9-14 16-18 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
6 74 de Wolf, Kay NED HUS 211 20-16 20-18 4-0 20-15 15-22 9-22 12-18 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
7 80 Adamo, Andrea ITA GAS 198 12-10 18-20 10-15 16-14 18-0 15-5 11-5 14-15 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
8 517 Gifting, Isak SWE KTM 193 7-15 9-16 14-6 10-10 11-13 11-14 20-9 12-16 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
9 38 Rubini, S. FRA HON 175 16-11 5-11 13-13 15-8 12-12 5-0 22-15 8-9 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
10 101 Guadagnini, M. ITA GAS 172 8-13 10-12 20-18 9-16 14-18 7-16 0-11 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

MXGP

#10 Calvin Vlaaderen.

This weekend in Sardegna was a weekend to watch in every class as Gebben Van Venrooy Racing rider #10 Calvin Vlaaderen went 1-1 dominating his first MXGP overall win of his career. Vladderen was on an entirely different level than every rider in the MXGP class yesterday in both motos, giving himself and 6D Helmets their first overall MXGP wins. After moto 1, he was the only rider leaving the race looking like he could have kept going for another 5-10 minutes.

#61 Jorge Prado.

After missing Maggiora due to a shoulder injury, GasGas Factory rider #61 Jorge Prado came out giving it his all going 3-3 for 2nd overall after taking 3 weeks off to recover. He is looking to continue his recovery and moving to the top step of the podium in the coming rounds.

#101 Mattia Guadanini.

Prado’s teammate #101 Mattia Guadanini moved up from the MX2 class this weekend going 11-8 for 8th overall in his 450 MXGP debut. Rounding out the podium was Yamaha Factory rider #959 Maxime Reneaux.

#243 Tim Gajser.

Many are wondering what happened to Honda Factory rider #243 Tim Gajser this weekend after looking absolutely gassed following his 2nd place in moto 1. He was reported to have been very sick all weekend with a viral flu and unfortunately struggled through this gnarly sand track going 12th in moto 2 keeping his championship lead at 79 points.

MXGP – GP Classification
Pos Nr Rider Nat. Fed. Bike Race 1 Race 2 Total
1 10 Vlaanderen, Calvin NED KNMV YAM 25 25 50
2 61 Prado, Jorge ESP RFME GAS 20 20 40
3 259 Coldenhoff, Glenn NED KNMV YAM 13 22 35
4 959 Renaux, Maxime FRA FFM YAM 15 18 33
5 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS YAM 18 15 33
6 189 Bogers, Brian NED KNMV HUS 16 16 32
7 243 Gajser, Tim SLO AMZS HON 22 9 31
8 101 Guadagnini, Mattia ITA FMI GAS 10 13 23
9 89 Van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL FMB BET 11 12 23
10 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT LAMSF HUS 12 11 23
11 70 Fernandez, Ruben ESP RFME HON 5 14 19
12 303 Forato, Alberto ITA FMI GAS 7 10 17
13 161 Östlund, Alvin SWE SVEMO YAM 9 8 17
14 32 Van doninck, Brent BEL FMB YAM 14 1 15
15 911 Tixier, Jordi FRA FFM KTM 6 7 13
16 29 Jacobi, Henry GER DMSB HON 8 2 10
17 23 Charlier, Christophe FRA FFM YAM 2 6 8
18 919 Watson, Ben GBR ACU KAW 4 3 7
19 75 Roosiorg, Hardi EST EMF KTM 0 5 5
20 147 Sihvonen, Miro FIN SML HON 1 4 5
21 7 Jasikonis, Arminas LTU LMSF YAM 3 0 3
22 43 Evans, Mitchell AUS MA HON 0 0 0
MXGP – World Championship Classification
Pos Nr Rider Nat. Bike Total GBR ITA ARG POR TRE LAT ITA SAR ESP FRA GER INA INA CZE BEL SWE FIN FRA TUR OMA
1 243 Gajser, Tim SLO HON 367 25-22 22-25 22-25 20-25 25-25 25-25 25-25 22-9 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
2 959 Renaux, Maxime FRA YAM 288 20-15 20-22 25-22 10-10 18-22 15-16 20-20 15-18 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
3 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI YAM 264 22-18 18-16 20-0 16-14 16-20 14-13 22-22 18-15 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
4 61 Prado, Jorge ESP GAS 260 18-25 25-14 18-18 25-22 20-18 9-8 – – 20-20 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
5 259 Coldenhoff, G. NED YAM 234 12-20 4-7 13-15 18-20 22-10 16-20 13-9 13-22 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
6 70 Fernandez, R. ESP HON 213 1-16 16-15 6-20 15-12 10-14 20-18 15-16 5-14 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
7 189 Bogers, Brian NED HUS 205 14-9 14-20 – – 22-18 13-16 13-15 12-7 16-16 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
8 89 Van Horebeek, J. BEL BET 189 11-12 12-13 14-14 12-11 14-13 12-2 14-12 11-12 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
9 10 Vlaanderen, C. NED YAM 178 9-10 9-4 – – 13-15 15-0 7-14 18-14 25-25 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
10 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT HUS 172 – – 11-0 15-16 14-16 4-0 22-22 16-13 12-11 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

After Riola, Sardegna showing some life in the MXGP class, expect to see further moves being made in Madrid, Spain at Round 9.

WMX

#36 Avrie Berry.

We aren’t done with the surprises yet! We had a familiar face show up in the WMX class this weekend. As most of you may know her, 2019 Canadian Triple Crown Series WMX Champion Avrie Berry was lining up for the first time in over a year. Unfortunately, following her incredible season up in Canada, Berry ran into some health issues sidelining her for a few years with difficulties getting back to 100% health to ride again.

Lining up this weekend, Avrie didn’t really have any expectations, knowing where her race fitness was, but wanted to get back into racing rhythm with pushing for top 10 and give it the best she had. She did just that going 16-14 for 16th overall and starting to look and feel like herself in moto 2. You can expect to see her improving in the coming round in Madrid, Spain.

[Update: Avrie will not be able to make it to Spain for the next round.]

Canadian WMX fans can look forward to seeing Avrie back competing in Canada in the near future, as we wish her the best in her continued recovery.

But wait, there’s one more thing…

#222 Antonio Cairoli.

Italian MXGP legend with his 9 World Championship titles Antonio Cairoli is packed up and on his way to appear at the first few rounds of Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championships starting May 28 in Pala, California, at Fox Raceway. Everyone over here is excited and very interested to see how he competes in the stacked 450 class in the USA. If you’re counting him out just remember… GO FASTA, EAT PASTA 😉

Europeanly,

Kate