In contrast to his copybook first race, Tony had more problems in the second moto. He again got away from the gate sharply in the second moto but got involved in several race incidents on the tough and gnarly track. He then had to settle down and pick off the riders in front of him to get back into contention. The Italian rider put in his copybook burst at the finish made his typical finish when he dropped the hammer in the last laps and moved up the order from seventh to fourth place.
Teammate Max Nagl of Germany, who also celebrated his birthday today, was in good form, especially in the second moto when he got a good start and looked like taking a top three right up to the final laps. The positive news from Max is that he will not have to make a break in the season for surgery on his back and that had clearly lifted his spirits and confidence on the track. All weekend Nagl looked strong on the tricky, rain soaked serpentine circuit at Loket but he admitted that at the end of the second race he was physically exhausted. Because of his back injury, he is currently not allowed to train on the bike and his fitness exercise is restricted to swimming, and this, he admits, has cost him strength and muscle power. A solid fifth today means he hangs on to fifth overall in the championships standings and now trails fourth placed Evgeny Bobryshev by just five points.
With three GPs to go and 150 points up for grabs, Cairoli, the Italian world champion has a 48-point lead on second placed Clement Desalle, who illustrated he is back in form this weekend with a GP win.
Tony Cairoli: “The first race was good. I got the holeshot and made some good laps. I had very good speed and I could pull away and make a good gap. In the second I got a good jump out of the gate but I went a bit too wide in the first corner and one of the inside riders clipped my wheel. I didn’t want to crash so quite a few riders got past me and I was back at around 10 or 11. Then another rider made a mistake going over one of the jumps and he crashed in front of me when I was on the jump and I was again back in 7 or 8th place. It was difficult to pass but at the end of the race I managed to get up to Max who was riding well in third and passed him. By then it was too late to go for the win.”
Max Nagl: “I had a very good day yesterday. I easily won the qualifying race and I felt good about the race today. But it turned out not so good because of the rainy conditions and that made it very difficult to pass. I know I was faster than the guys in front of me in the first moto but I wasn’t able to get past them because of the rain. In the second race I had a good start and a good race and I had the pace of the top riders. It was still a good weekend for me and I took some points on Bobryshev. I’ll try my best in the last GP's and I’m looking forward to riding in England because I really like the English circuits.”
1, Clement Desalle, Belgium, Suzuki
2, Tony Cairoli, Italy, KTM
3, Rui Goncalves, Portugal, Honda
4, Tanel Leok, Estonia, TM
5, Max Nagl, Germany, KTM
MX1 Standings
1, Tony Cairoli, Italy, KTM, 509
2, Clement Desalle, Belgium, Suzuki, 461
3, Steven Frossard, France, Yamaha, 428
4, Evgeny Bobryshev, Russia, Honda 387
5, Max Nagl, Germany, KTM, 378
MX1 Manufacturers’ Standings
1, KTM, 534
2, Yamaha, 473
3, Suzuki, 471
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