2016 MXGP of Trentino Results | Cairoli Closes In

2016 MXGP of Trentino - Tanel Leok
Tanel Leok

2016 MXGP of Trentino Results and Coverage |
Cairoli Wins At Home

2016 MXGP of Trentino - Tony Cairoli
Tony Cairoli

Eight-time MXGP Champion Tony Cairoli continued his pursuit of championship leaders, reigning MX2 Champion Tim Gajser and defending MXGP Champion Romain Febvre, by going 1-2 at the 2016 MXGP of Trentino, Cairoli’s home GP.

Cairoli picked up seven points on Febvre and 11 on Gajser, both of whom were fast on the mountainous Italian course, but also had trouble staying on two wheels.

2016 MXGP of Trentino - Start
Start

Red Bull KTM’s Cairoli pulled a massive holeshot in Race 1, and was never shown a wheel. Dropping into the 1:45s before any other rider, Cairoli opened up a solid lead and managed it until the end, even with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl closing to within two seconds at the checkered flag.

Team Suzuki World MXGP’s Kevin Strijbos held third from start to finish, in a race that was largely processional up front.

However, Honda Gariboldi’s Gajser and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Febvre were caught up in first-turn drama that left Gajser in 9th, Febvre on the ground and in 17th, and Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin out of the race with a broken throttle.

Both Febvre and Gajser regrouped quickly, with Febvre taking out after the leaders. Gajser passed KTM Estonia’s Tanel Leok for 5th on Lap 6, and Gajser looked poised to battle for a podium spot as he was posting the fastest lap times in the field. However, an unforced error on a downhill on Lap 9 left Gajser on the ground, putting an end to his podium run. Gajser wasn’t quite done, though, as he did chase down Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek and put a hard pass on him three laps from the finish.

2016 MXGP of Trentino - Tim Gajser
Tim Gajser

Febvre’s slog through the pack was considerably longer, and Febvre wasn’t able to hit the top 10 until Lap 9 when he went by a fading Jose Butron, riding for Marchetti Racing Team KTM, and then Wilvo Virus Performance KTM’s Shaun Simpson a lap latter.

On Lap 13, Febvre started another charge that put him past Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Christophe Charlier (who had run as high as 5th), Leok (who also logged time in 5th), and Team Suzuki World MXGP’s Ben Townley, who was locked in a battle with Leok. Febvre’s 6th meant he only lost three points to series leader Gajser, despite this first turn crash.

Cairoli grabbed another holeshot in Race 2, but was quickly passed by Gajser, bent on maintaining his record of overall podiums at every round. Febvre started in 6th, and worked his way up to 3rd on Lap 7 after hounding Paulin for four laps. Disaster struck for Gajser on Lap 9 as he blew a berm at the bottom of a downhill, going over the bars and crashing hard. Gajser remounted in 6th, with Cairoli retaking the lead with a slim advantage over Febvre, who was now being hounded by a surging Team HRC Evgeny Bobryshev.

2016 MXGP of Trentino - Romain Febvre
Romain Febvre

Although the top seven riders were close, after Lap 12, only Gajser and Febvre were making passes. Gajser took Strijbos on Lap 12 and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy van Horebeek on Lap 17 to put himself in 4th for Race 2 and the final spot on the podium.

Febvre kept Cairoli close for most of the race, occasionally showing Cairoli a wheel, but was not able to execute a pass. The riders swapped minor errors, narrowing and expanding the gap, until Cairoli bobbled in a roller section and Febvre was able to pass him on the following downhill.

Once in the lead, Febvre took off, adding nearly three seconds to his lead on Laps 16 and 17. However, Cairoli nearly caught a complacent Febvre on the final lap, clawing back nearly two seconds before the checkered flag flew, though still trailing winner Febvre by a half-second.

Leaving the 2016 MXGP of Trentino, Febvre halved Gajser’s eight-point MXGP Championship Series lead, and Cairoli cut his deficit to Gajser to just one race (25 points). The chase resumes at the MXGP of Spain in Talavera de la Reina on May 29.

Photography by Youthstream

2016 MXGP of Trentino Race 1 Results

  1. Tony Cairoli (KTM)
  2. Max Nagl (Husqvarna), +0:01.934
  3. Kevin Strijbos (Suzuki), +0:03.076
  4. Tim Gajser (Honda), +0:05.585
  5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (Yamaha), +0:07.778
  6. Romain Febvre (Yamaha), +0:42.411
  7. Ben Townley (Suzuki), +0:48.079
  8. Tanel Leok (KTM), +0:52.426
  9. Evgeny Bobryshev (Honda), +0:57.919
  10. Christophe Charlier (Husqvarna), +0:59.080

2016 MXGP of Trentino Race 2 Results

  1. Romain Febvre
  2. Tony Cairoli, +0:00.565
  3. Evgeny Bobryshev, +0:04.628
  4. Tim Gajser, +0:06.656
  5. Jeremy Van Horebeek, +0:12.571
  6. Kevin Strijbos, +0:20.509
  7. Valentin Guillod (Yamaha), +0:38.299
  8. Max Nagl, +0:39.929
  9. Gautier Paulin (Honda), +0:44.670
  10. Shaun Simpson (KTM), +0:45.198.

2016 MXGP of Trentino Overall Results

  1. Tony Cairoli, 1-2, 47 points
  2. Romain Febvre, 6-1, 40
  3. Tim Gajser, 4-4, 36
  4. Kevin Strijbos, 3-6, 35
  5. Max Nagl, 2-8, 35
  6. Evgeny Bobryshev 9-3, 32
  7. Jeremy Van Horebeek, 5-5, 32
  8. Shaun Simpson, 11-9, 21
  9. Tanel Leok, 8-14, 20
  10. Ben Townley, 7-15, 20

2016 MXGP World Championship Standings (after 8 of 18 rounds)

  1. Tim Gajser, 335 points (6 race wins)
  2. Romain Febvre, 331 (6 race wins)
  3. Tony Cairoli, 310 (3 race wins)
  4. Max Nagl, 273 (1 race win)
  5. Evgeny Bobryshev, 264
  6. Jeremy Van Horebeek, 247
  7. Kevin Strijbos, 204
  8. Shaun Simpson, 189
  9. Valentin Guillod, 153
  10. Glenn Coldenhoff, 146
  11. Tommy Searle, 139
  12. Christophe Charlier, 135
  13. Ben Townley, 119
  14. Jose Butron, 94
  15. Milko Potisek, 92

    2016 MXGP of Trentino Photo Gallery

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