MXGP Czech Republic, Gajser falls: Cairoli wins race 2 and reopens the World Championship. Prado wins in Loket

With the 2nd place obtained in the Czech Republic, Antonio Cairoli has completely reopened the MXGP World Championship. The 9-time world champion won race 2 of the fifth round of the season in Loket and was just 11 points off the top of the standings. Which, before the second heat, was 30 points away. Now a minimum gap separates Tony from the leader Tim Gajser (Honda) thanks to the concreteness of the Sicilian but also due to the fall of the championship leader in the final stage.

Ace in the hole

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Winner of the GP for the first time this year was Jorge Prado (Ktm). Flawless in race 1, he finished 3rd the next one. Cairoli, for his part, after the 6th place in the first heat, confirmed that at this moment the second heat is his ace in the hole. After Oss’s feat in the previous round, in the final heat of Loket he left the holeshot in Prado and then overtook it in the immediately following meters. Tony initially maintained an advantage of about 2 ”, increasing it during the heat. Second of lap (and 3rd of day) Jeremy Seewer (Yamaha) who overtook Prado on the sixth of 18 laps, immediately after the most important twist: the crash of Tim Gajser (Honda), who on a short section of waves he landed badly after being thrown off the bike Entering the pits, he returned to the track in 28th place with more than a minute late from Cairoli and finished 15th. The Slovenian thus lost most of the advantage he could count on in the general after race 1. 5th of the day Romain Febvre (Kawasaki), now 4th in the championship 20 points behind Gajser; good 7th Alessandro Lupino (Ktm) while Ivo Monticelli (Kawasaki) stood out in the second heat with the fifth place.

Opposite sensations

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“Loket is a very difficult track, if you don’t start well it’s hard to recover – said Cairoli at the end of the GP -. As already happened in Oss, I am disappointed with how the first heat went, but the second one went very well. My goal is to always get on the podium and once again we did it, so I’m very happy both for this reason and for having reduced the gap in the standings from Gajser ”.

Guadagnini hits the mark

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Mattia Guadagnini (Ktm) was the best of the day among the 250 cc, winning the Grand Prix with a 1st and a 5th place in the heats. Second success of the season for the Venetian after the triumph in Maggiora. The blue won race 1 always remaining in the lead and without making any mistakes. In the second heat he remained in fourth place for three quarters of the race, then on the thirteenth of the 18 laps he made a mistake while he was pushing to enter the top 3. In any case, the fifth place was enough for him to get the GP victory in front of Maxime Renaux (Yamaha, 5th and 2nd) – who in general precedes him by only two lengths – and Thibault Beninstant (Yamaha, 9th and 1st), protagonist of a second heat that saw him constantly in the lead. Tom Vialle (Ktm), 2nd in race 1, crashed twice in the next one and was forced to retire. “I’m happy for the win – said Guadagnini at the end of the fifth round of the season – but I’m sorry for the mistake in race 2. While I was forcing to grab 3rd place, I crashed without suffering any physical consequences”.

The results

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Race 1 MXGP: 1. Jorge Prado (Ktm) in 35’10”919, 2. Tim Gajser (Honda) + 0”529, 3. Romain Febvre (Kawasaki) + 21”968
Race 2 MXGP: 1. Antonio Cairoli (Ktm) in 33’52”869, 2. Jeremy Seewer (Yamaha) + 4”369, 3. Jorge Prado (Ktm) + 7”715
MXGP Day Ranking: 1. Jorge Prado (Ktm) 45 pt., 2. Antonio Cairoli (Ktm) 40 pt., 3. Jeremy Seewer (Yamaha) 38 pt.
MXGP Championship Standings: 1. Tim Gajser (Honda) 194 pt., 2. Antonio Cairoli (Ktm) 183 pt., 3. Jorge Prado (Ktm) 177 pt.