Red Bull Teka KTM rider Kenny Roczen made KTM, his team and 40,000 fans at the Teutschenthal circuit happy on Sunday when he took overall victory in the MX2 GP with a 1-3 moto result to surge further forward on the overall championship standings. Factory teammate Jeffrey Herlings finished fourth overall with a 2-4 moto finish and is still second behind Roczen in the championship.
"Das Wunderkid" Roczen grabbed the MX2 overall on home turf
The two KTM factory teenagers completely dominated the first moto finishing over 30 seconds ahead of the field but the second moto was much harder work. Herlings missed the start and found himself back at fourteenth and Roczen crashed in the first lap. Both riders then pulled out all the stops hunted down the rest of the pack. Within three laps, Herlings was back in second while Roczen was closing in on him in fourth place. Roczen waited his moment then, responding to the huge roar from the crowd, slipped past his teammate and rode out the rest of the moto in third behind Gautier Paulin and Tommy Searle to seal another comfortable GP victory. Roczen raced with a cold but still pulled off a thrilling performance for the massive crowd who came to the German circuit to support the young super star. Roczen and Herlings again proved that they are in a class of their own in MX2 this weekend. Teammate Jeremy van Horebeek was unable to start on race day after a crash on Saturday put him in hospital overnight under observation. It was bad luck for the Belgian rider who has only just rejoined the team after another injury break. Jeremy was released from hospital on Sunday but returned to Belgium for more checks.
Ken Roczen: “Yesterday was good and today was even better. I won the first race and I got the holeshot in the second. Then I crashed in the first lap, I was back at 16th and it’s hard to pass on this circuit. I managed to come back to third and won the overall so I could make a bigger gap in the points to Jeffrey.”
Jeffrey Herlings admitted that although Teutschenthal was not his favorite track, he was still satisfied with his result. ” I’m satisfied with my riding and although I finished behind Ken I was still able to keep up with the same speed and I didn’t lose too many points. I also like the changes that they made to the track here,” he said. “Now I go and train in the sand because we’ll be racing in sand next weekend in Kegums and that’s my specialty.”
Herlings will be keen for some sandier soil next week...
A last corner battle between Red Bull Teka KTM’s Tony Cairoli and Russian Evgeny Bobryshev in the second moto of the MX1 GP of Germany had 40,000 fans at the Teutschenthal circuit on their feet and screaming. But when the championship leader tangled with a rut in the last corner the race and the GP went to the Russian. Cairoli’s efforts, which netted him a 2-2 result for the two motos still added another 44 points to his bid to retain the championship title and he retained the red plate.
The Italian who rode this weekend with a special Pit Beirer Replica Helmet as a mark of respect for the head of KTM Motorsports, secured the holeshot in the all important second moto but then settled in behind the Russian in second place. The two riders engaged in some close encounters and several times Cairoli slipped back in the field, including when he got stuck behind a back marker in the last stages of the race. But Cairoli saved the best till last, shadowing Bobryshev and planning exactly where on the hard and at times slick circuit he would make his move. He delivered some typical magic in the final lap, maneuvering into position to make the move on the Russian. Then he made a brief contact with the other bike and the moment was gone.
Tony Cairoli: “I am working on changing my riding style and I have to try to be a bit more focused on the first 15-20 minutes. I’m trying to be a bit more aggressive. But its getting better and I’m happy about my riding.
Cairolli still controls the MX1 points race (Weisz Jurgen KTM Images)