Double victory for Jeffrey Herlings in MXGP who
continues to lead the Championship; Jorge Prado wins both races in MX2 but the
red plate still belongs to Pauls Jonass
Agueda (Portugal), 16 April 2018 – The
Grand Prix of Portugal, at the
Agueda circuit, hosted the fifth round of
2018 FIM Motocross World Championship. The scenic Portuguese track was particularly difficult due to heavy rains falls in the build-up to the event but, thanks to excellent preparation work, it was in pretty good condition for racing. The soil had been ripped to dry faster and the soft terrain meant the majority of
Pirelli’s riders relied on the
SCORPION™ MX32™ Mid Soft front and the SCORPION MX™ SOFT for the rear and the tyres have proved once again to be the more competitive product in the
Pirelli range.
Jeffrey Herlings won both races in the
MXGP class – as he did the previous weekend in Italy - and extended his championship lead to 16 points.
Antonio Cairoli went 2-2 on the day and was the only rider capable to keep pace with the fast Dutchman. Third place meant a first podium appearance of the season for
Tim Gajser who headed
Romain Febvre,
Glenn Coldenhoff and
Jeremy Van Horebeek.
Portugal saw an excellent performance by
Jorge Prado who took victory in qualifying and in the two races of the
MX2 class. The Spaniard cut the gap in the championship standings to teammate
Pauls Jonass to 14 points. The World Champion was fifth overall in
Agueda.
Thomas Kjer Olsen finished second ahead of surprising Australian
Jed Beaton.
Pirelli also won the second round of the
EMX250 European Championship thanks to the great double success obtained by Team Red Moto’s rider
Mathys Boisrame.
In two weeks time
MXGP will move to
Orlyonok, on the shores of the Black Sea, for the
Grand Prix of Russia.
Race results (Pirelli riders in bold): MXGP race 11. HERLINGS Jeffrey (NED)2. CAIROLI Antonio (ITA)3. GAJSER Tim (SLO)4. PAULIN Gautier (FRA)5. FEBVRE Romain (FRA) MXGP race 21. HERLINGS Jeffrey (NED)2. CAIROLI Antonio (ITA)3. DESALLE Clement (BEL)
4. FEBVRE Romain (FRA)5. GAJSER Tim (SLO) MX2 race 11. PRADO GARCIA Jorge (SPA)2. JONASS Pauls (LAT)3. BEATON Jed (AUS)4. KJER OLSEN Thomas (DEN)5. WATSON Ben (GBR)
MX2 race 21. PRADO GARCIA Jorge (SPA)2. KJER OLSEN Thomas (DEN)3. WATSON Ben (GBR)
4. BEATON Jed (AUS)5. BRYLYAKOV Vsevolod (RUS)
GP Overall: MXGP1. HERLINGS Jeffrey (NED)2. CAIROLI Antonio (ITA)3. GAJSER Tim (SLO)4. FEBVRE Romain (FRA)5. COLDENHOFF Glenn (NED) MX21. PRADO GARCIA Jorge (SPA)2. KJER OLSEN Thomas (DEN)3. BEATON Jed (AUS)4. WATSON Ben (GBR)
5. JONASS Pauls (LAT) Championship overall: MXGP1. HERLINGS Jeffrey (NED) p.2412. CAIROLI Antonio (ITA) p.2253. FEBVRE Romain (FRA) p.1694.DESALLE Clement (BEL) p.165
5. PAULIN Gautier (FRA) p.1476. COLDENHOFF Glenn (NED) p.140 MX21. JONASS Pauls (LAT) p.2162. PRADO GARCIA Jorge (SPA) p. 2023. KJER OLSEN Thomas (DEN) p.1854.WATSON Ben (GBR) p.141
5. BEATON Jed (AUS) p.1296. BRYLYAKOV Vsevolod (RUS) p.115