Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation President, Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah (first right) with H H Sheikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Special Adviser to the Emir yesterday at the Losail MX Track for the opening race of the 2014 FIM Motocross World Championship season. RIGHT: MXGP riders during Race 1 of Qatar MXGP at Losail International Circuit. pictures by Shaival Dalal
DOHA: French MXGP rider Gautier Paulin and Dutch MX2 star Jeffrey Herlings yesterday grabbed the honours in Qatar by taking the points lead after round one of the 2014 World Motocross Championship at Losail International Circuit.
Kawasaki rider Paulin won race two to add 25 points to his earlier tally of 20 from the first race to lead the overall standings after a fierce battle with defending world champion Antonio Cairoli of Italy.
Motocross giant Cairoli, who ended race one in second spot, finished in third place in the second race.
Paulin won race two (35:04.471) ahead of French rider Steven Frossard (Kawasaki, 35:07.244 ) and Cairoli (KTM, 35:14.412).
Earlier in race one, Paulin finished third behind Germany’s Maximillian Nagl (Honda) and second-placed Cairoli.
In MX2, 19-year-old Herlings emerged as the points leader by winning race two after the Dutchman lost ground with a second-place finish in race one.
Paulin, leader in MXGP standings, said there was room for improvement.
“I was not enjoying my ride, I didn’t have the speed I wanted,” Paulin said.
“I didn’t have the jumps I do normally. I am happy for my team though. My and my team-mates were good today. It is good for the opening round,” he added
In race one, German rider Nagl won with a time of 34:57.925 while defending champion Cairoli was placed second (34:59.867). Paulin took third spot on his Kawasaki in a time of 35:05.752.
Earlier, Herlings won the second MX2 race ahead of Kawasaki’s Swiss rider Arnaud Tonus and American Thomas Covington in a time of 33:49.169.
Despite winning race two, the points leader was far from happy with his performance in Qatar.
“I have been struggling with my start for a long time now,” Herlings said.
“It doesn’t get better. I hope I can get better starts,” he added.
“My riding was really bad. I should have won by 20-30 seconds but I barely won the race. It is not good. (I) hope to come out better the next time,” he added.
Swiss rider Tonus was only 1.204 seconds slower than Herlings while Covington was 7.646 seconds adrift of race two winner.
In race one, French rider Dylan Ferrandis (Kawasaki) finished ahead of Herlings and third-placed Glenn Coldenhoff (Suzuki).
The Peninsula
