| Two wins in a row for fantastic Febvre as Yamahas fill MXGP top five | Swampy conditions formed the ninth round of eighteen in the 2015 MXGP campaign as Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube's Romain Febvre rode to his second win in a row at Maggiora for the Grand Prix of Italy. 36,000 fans elected to ignore the heavy rain showers Sunday morning and travelled to the upgraded and renovated site that was staging the Italian stop on the schedule for the third year in succession. Maggiora actually represented the second trip to Italy for MXGP in 2015 and was the second of three home events for the works team based in Parma. Febvre was again superlative to go 1-6 for the top step of the podium and in the first moto the Frenchman headed a YZ450F 1-2-3 with David Philippaerts and Jeremy Van Horebeek filling the top three. The Maggiora hard-pack was in place on Saturday as the forecasted rain did not arrive until late afternoon and riders observed that the fast course was relatively straightforward thanks to hardened soil and lack of ruts and berms. The climate on Sunday was extreme. Thunderstorms and periods of torrential rain threatened to washout the Grand Prix and MX2 warm-up was red-flagged as was the second EMX300 moto. The monsoon eased off by mid-morning and humid temperatures started a drying process on the sodden terrain but dark clouds continued to blow over. Yamaha's 60th anniversary celebrations coincided with the launch of the 2016 production machinery at Maggiora and the Grand Prix stars revelled in the novelty of wearing the iconic yellow 'bumble-bee' livery. Romain Febvre was nothing short of supreme. The French GP winner slotted in behind Philippaerts as the Italian earned the first moto holeshot and made his move into the lead on the second lap. From there '461' attacked a slick and difficult surface to forge a margin of almost twenty-five seconds over his brand-mate. Antonio Cairoli held third position for a while but his left arm injury meant that Jeremy Van Horebeek was able to pressurise the world champion and soon breached the top three. Three yellow YZ450Fs ran in the first three positions for a picture-perfect scenario. By the time of the second moto the Italian skies began to look ominous but the circuit remained mercifully dry. Febvre's race was dramatic. He almost collided with Shaun Simpson on an uphill drag and crashed on the other side of the slope on the opening lap. With his handlebars bent and a broken front brake Febvre was still able to commence an impressive charge back to sixth place to make sure of his triumph by three points over Kevin Strijbos. Philippaerts had his hands full battling for fourth position with the likes of Simpson, Ken De Dycker and the closing Febvre. For fifteen of the seventeen laps the 2008 World Champion had a memorable podium place secured and with his every move cheered by the Italian public. Strijbos' rally to win the moto on the final circulation bumped DP - who was seventh in the race - to fourth overall but it was still his best finish for three years in the premier class. Jeremy Van Horebeek was hit by Evgeny Bobryshev on the first corner and had to restart from last position. The Belgian rode really well to cut through the pack and reach ninth place, which fixed him fifth overall for the day. Febvre's astounding run of form and results has lifted the MXGP rookie into contention for the championship. He is third in the standings and just 38 points away from the red plate after a gain of 12 over Max Nagl this weekend. Philippaerts is twelfth and Van Horebeek sits in ninth. Yamaha's MXGP crew will now travel north and enter the popular Talkessel facility at Teutschenthal, close to the city of Halle, for the Grand Prix of Germany next weekend.  |
| | | 1st and 6th for 1st overall. Championship Position: 3rd | | "I'm really happy to win my second GP in a row and it is great for the team and for Yamaha on their 60th anniversary. It was definitely nice. The first moto was pretty good. I made a good start and was second but after two or three laps I was in the lead. It was pretty easy to be at the front. In the second moto the start was not so good and it was hard to pass. With Simpson we came together on a jump and I had to change the line quickly and made a mistake. I had a huge crash; so I was happy already with this GP that I could come away uninjured. I was able to keep pushing for the GP victory. My handlebar was very bent and it was hard on the right hand corners to put my leg out. I had no front brake so you can imagine how difficult the downhill was on this track. After the crash the main focus was to still win the GP so I kept pushing until the end and it paid off." | |  | | | 2nd and 7th for 4th overall. Championship Position: 12th | "There were more lines on the track today and it was much better. The rain helped. I had a really good first moto. The holeshot, and when Febvre was behind me I had to slow down a bit because I could not go that speed but I felt good and was very happy with second place. My start in the second moto was good but not like the first. I had some pressure and I knew I was close to the podium. We just missed it, but I'm happy because the fans enjoyed the job we did. I hope we can keep up this form in the next races." |
 | | | | 3rd and 9th for 5th overall. Championship Position: 9th | | "More bad luck and it is a pity because today I could have easily been on the podium. I had an awesome start in the second moto and Bobryshev went straight into me. My handlebar was in his rear wheel. It was bent, the clutch too. I rode an awesome race afterwards to come from the back. I needed another five minutes in the moto! We are heading in a good direction and everyone can see this. I feel good and the results are coming back. Fifth overall is not too bad and we will keep working. Together with the team we made a great step this weekend and we had some new things on the bike and they are pushing to help me as much as possible. I'm really thankful. I will be soon on the box, that's for sure."
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| Erik Eggens, MX Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe "It has been a great Grand Prix. We had a really nice event with the 2016 model presentation and the 60th anniversary special and then the results were there also. Maxime did the job in EMX, the Kemea guys made some progress in MX2 while Valentin was a bit unlucky and then Romain takes his second win in MXGP. I thought the first moto was amazing to watch; you cannot ask for more than three yellow bikes in the first three. Each of the guys had really nice stories as well. Jeremy gets back into podium contention, David runs second at his home GP and with the public going crazy and Romain disappears with that huge lead. Like I said, it was a great day." | |
| race I | | 1 | Romain Febvre | Yamaha | FRA | 34'30.862 | | 2 | David Philippaerts | Yamaha | ITA | 0'16.185 | | 3 | Jeremy Van Horebeek | Yamaha | BEL | 0'22.837 | | 4 | Todd Waters | Husqvarna | AUS | 0'25.631 | | 5 | Alessandro Lupino | Honda | ITA | 0'39.407 | | 6 | Shaun Simpson | KTM | GBR | 0'43.504 | | 7 | Antonio Cairoli | KTM | ITA | 0'53.425 | | 8 | Evgeny Bobryshev | Honda | RUS | 0'55.228 | | 9 | Kevin Strijbos | Suzuki | BEL | 0'56.129 | | 10 | Jose Antonio Butron | KTM | ESP | 0'58.612 | | 11 | Christophe Charlier | Honda | FRA | 1'01.159 | | 12 | Ken De Dycker | KTM | BEL | 1'11.798 | | 13 | Nicolas Aubin | Suzuki | FRA | 1'12.660 | | 14 | Gautier Paulin | Honda | FRA | 1'24.142 | | 15 | Maximilian Nagl | Husqvarna | DE | 1'25.856 | | 18 | Matevz Irt | Yamaha | SVN | -1Laps | | 19 | Pier Bertuzzo | Yamaha | ITA | -1Laps | | race II | | 1 | Kevin Strijbos | Suzuki | BEL | 35'17.283 | | 2 | Maximilian Nagl | Husqvarna | DE | 0'02.013 | | 3 | Gautier Paulin | Honda | FRA | 0'24.778 | | 4 | Todd Waters | Husqvarna | AUS | 0'29.652 | | 5 | Shaun Simpson | KTM | GBR | 0'32.520 | | 6 | Romain Febvre | Yamaha | FRA | 0'36.443 | | 7 | David Philippaerts | Yamaha | ITA | 0'37.465 | | 8 | Ken De Dycker | KTM | BEL | 0'38.913 | | 9 | Jeremy Van Horebeek | Yamaha | BEL | 0'39.954 | | 10 | Christophe Charlier | Honda | FRA | 0'53.466 | | 11 | Evgeny Bobryshev | Honda | RUS | 1'08.186 | | 12 | Glenn Coldenhoff | Suzuki | NLD | 1'13.051 | | 13 | Tyla Rattray | Kawasaki | ZAF | 1'59.751 | | 14 | Jose Antonio Butron | KTM | ESP | -1Laps | | 15 | Matevz Irt | Yamaha | SVN | -1Laps | | 19 | Pier Bertuzzo | Yamaha | ITA | -1Laps |
| Maximilian Nagl | Husqvarna | DE | 1'56.360 | | | | Rider Standings | After Race 9 of 19 | | | 1. | Maximilian Nagl | Husqvarna | DE | 360 | | 2. | Antonio Cairoli | KTM | ITA | 330 | | 3. | Romain Febvre | Yamaha | FRA | 322 | | 4. | Clement Desalle | Suzuki | BEL | 291 | | 5. | Gautier Paulin | Honda | FRA | 279 | | 6. | Evgeny Bobryshev | Honda | RUS | 270 | | 7. | Shaun Simpson | KTM | GBR | 200 | | 8. | Todd Waters | Husqvarna | AUS | 174 | | 9. | Jeremy Van Horebeek | Yamaha | BEL | 158 | | 10. | Ken De Dycker | KTM | BEL | 155 | | 11. | Glenn Coldenhoff | Suzuki | NLD | 148 | | 12. | David Philippaerts | Yamaha | ITA | 139 | | 13. | Tyla Rattray | Kawasaki | ZAF | 138 | | 14. | Ryan Villopoto | Kawasaki | USA | 124 | | 15. | Kevin Strijbos | Suzuki | BEL | 115 | | 16. | Dean Ferris | Husqvarna | AUS | 101 | | 28. | Cedric Soubeyras | Yamaha | FRA | 15 | | 32. | Matevz Irt | Yamaha | SVN | 9 | | 35. | Paul Coates | Yamaha | GBR | 7 | | 37. | Pier Bertuzzo | Yamaha | ITA | 4 | | 38. | Jeffrey DeWulf | Yamaha | BEL | 3 | | 44. | Lewis Gregory | Yamaha | GBR | 0 |
| |  | | | Circuit Length:
1700 Lap Record:
1'56.360
(Maximilian Nagl, 14-6-2015) Last Years Winner:
Antonio Cairoli | | | |  | | | Van Doninck heads MX2 charge as Renaux wins EMX125 again | Kemea Yamaha Racing's Brent Van Doninck managed to brush aside the complications around his recent knee injury to log a personal-best Grand Prix finish with fifth place overall at Maggiora today for the Grand Prix of Italy and the ninth round of the MX2 series; bringing MXGP to the midway point of the calendar. 36,000 spectators braved inclement weather and heavy showers on Sunday morning to crowd the steep facility that had seen further upgrades and improvements with a view to the 2016 Motocross of Nations that it will host in September next year. The track was muddy, slick and largely one-line in places and the MX2 motos saw many riders hitting the slop. As in MXGP, Yamaha's MX2 stars could be found in a distinctive yellow shade to celebrate Yamaha's sixtieth birthday and the Standing Construct and Kemea YZ250Fs were a different kind of blur in Italy. The first moto was wet with a thick layer of swampy top-soil meaning a diversion from the emerging drier line was risky in terms of traction and speed. Standing Construct Yamaha's Valentin Guillod - nursing a sore right foot this weekend - was the top YZ250F rider until the ninth lap of sixteen when he crashed on the start straight. Van Doninck gained another place, managed to keep on two wheels and crossed the line in fifth for his highest classification in Grand Prix. Standing Construct's Julien Lieber was next home in eighth while Guillod fought back to eleventh. Kemea's Benoit Paturel had tasted the mud and was a lap down in fifteenth while team-mate Damon Graulus had also fallen and took three points for eighteenth place. Guillod looked to have a bright start for the second moto that begun on a drying course and with less potential for unexpected crashes but had his line cut by Jeffrey Herlings on the first corner and was pushed outside the top twenty. The Swiss had a difficult time and lost more ground and positions late into the sprint when he was caught in a multi rider incident that again saw him retrieving the '92' machine from the mud. He ended up nineteenth for fourteenth overall in the event standings. Van Doninck rode to the top seven and was just able to keep a look at Paturel ahead who had flown out of the gate and was running as high as third before dropping back to fifth place. The result was still another personal best for the Frenchman who - like Van Doninck - is taking his first steps in MX2 Grand Prix in 2015. Benoit was also competing with the discomfort of his dental injury from his home fixture almost two weeks previously. Julien Lieber made another top ten with ninth place - seventh spot overall - while Graulus was unlucky to fall again and couldn't recover to get inside the first twenty positions. In the MX2 points table Guillod is second and trails Jeffrey Herlings by 139 points while Lieber is also creeping into the top ten with ninth position. Paturel is twelfth. Maggiora hosted the sixth round of eight in the EMX125 European Championship and with good starts and great riding technique Kemea's Maxime Renaux scooped his second overall win of the season with a 3-1 on his YZ125. The French teenager lifted the red plate as part of the final podium ceremony of the meeting and heads Josiah Natzke by ten points in the title chase. Yet more hard-pack awaits the MX2 elite next weekend with the shallow undulations of the Talkessel terrain once more the stages for the Grand Prix of Germany. MXGP will head into 'double figures' with the tenth round of the series opening a stint of the calendar in northern Europe.
| | | 11th and 18th for 14th overall. Championship Position: 2nd | | "A difficult day but I will take the positive side and that is I gained some points. With my foot injury I should be at home on the sofa. I came here to try and yesterday was good when the track was dry but today I needed a lot of strength and it was really difficult. I was fifth in the first moto but then I made a mistake on the straight. I went sideways and back to eleventh. In the second moto I made a good jump out of the gate but Jeffrey crossed my line and pushed me and I had to brake. I was in twentieth. It was hard to ride but I got back to eleventh when with two laps to go I crashed again. We can only hope for better in Germany." | |  | |
 | | | | 8th and 9th for 7th overall. Championship Position: 9th | | "It wasn't my best day but not too bad. I was consistent to come back from two bad starts. My speed was OK in the first moto and I was behind Jeffrey all the way until I made a mistake and lost one position. In the second moto I passed a lot of riders but then found myself making a lot of mistakes and lost a lot of time. Tonkov got me on the last lap. The track was pretty slippery and not my favourite conditions but it was the same to deal with for everybody. I will work now for next week and not give up." | | |
| | | 5th and 7th for 5th overall. Championship Position: 17th | | "This result comes as a great surprise for me and I'm really pleased with it. One week ago it was still unclear if I would race here and in the week I hurt my knee again, so I had no expectations. In both races I had a good start and managed to stay out of trouble in the first laps. I got into fifth pretty quick and felt good on the difficult track. In the second one I was closing in on Benoit but when I tried another line to pass him, I got stuck in a rut and hurt my knee again. In the end I managed to finish well and score my best result so far. This gives me a lot of confidence and I'm so happy. This week I won't ride with the bike to let the knee rest and be better again for Germany." | |  | |
 | | | | 15th and 5th for 9th overall. Championship Position: 12th | | "Hard and difficult weekend for me. I wasn't feeling it and rode bad all weekend long. The fifth place in the second moto was positive but I didn't ride well. I should have been finishing closer [to the front]. I don't have an explanation or reason, so let's forget about this weekend and look forward to Teutschenthal." | | | 18th and 24th for 22nd overall. Championship Position: 30th | "Luck doesn't seem to turn out well for me on a GP race day. Every time all goes well on Saturday, but on Sunday I can't put it together. On a track like we had today you needed a good start to get a good result. Both times riders crashed in front of me and that put me at the back of the pack. In the first moto I crashed myself too. I decided to go to the pitlane and get fresh goggles. I lost a lot of time with that but still came back to 18th; it's not the place I had in mind. The second race I couldn't get by [Jorge] Zaragoza and started taking risks. I crashed and hurt my shoulder a little, so the race was over. Going back to the EMX2 next week I'm disappointed I couldn't show more in these two GPs. I feel I have the speed to race in the top 10, but can't make it happen. Let's start with Teutschenthal and give my best there!" | 3rd and 1st for 1st overall. EMX125 Championship Position: 1st | "It was a very difficult track with many bumps and lines by the end of the day. It was slippery! Some riders crashed in some lines and it was hard to get by. I took great starts today and I'm really happy with this result." |
| race I | | 1 | Aleksandr Tonkov | Husqvarna | RUS | 35'43.948 | | 2 | Jordi Tixier | Kawasaki | FRA | 0'10.152 | | 3 | Tim Gajser | Honda | SVN | 0'19.927 | | 4 | Jeremy Seewer | Suzuki | CHE | 0'43.043 | | 5 | Brent Vandoninck | Yamaha | BEL | 1'20.365 | | 6 | Jeffrey Herlings | KTM | NLD | 1'25.800 | | 7 | Petar Petrov | KTM | BGR | 1'29.160 | | 8 | Julien Lieber | Yamaha | BEL | 1'35.621 | | 9 | Vsevolod Brylyakov | Honda | RUS | 1'37.483 | | 10 | Samuele Bernardini | TM | ITA | 1'38.710 | | 11 | Valentin Guillod | Yamaha | CHE | 1'54.311 | | 12 | Max Anstie | Kawasaki | GBR | 1'54.947 | | 13 | Nicola Recchia | Kawasaki | ITA | 2'04.974 | | 14 | Brian Bogers | KTM | NLD | -1Laps | | 15 | Benoit Paturel | Yamaha | FRA | -1Laps | | 18 | Damon Graulus | Yamaha | BEL | -1Laps | | race II | | 1 | Jeffrey Herlings | KTM | NLD | 34'14.548 | | 2 | Tim Gajser | Honda | SVN | 0'01.424 | | 3 | Jeremy Seewer | Suzuki | CHE | 0'03.496 | | 4 | Max Anstie | Kawasaki | GBR | 0'05.292 | | 5 | Benoit Paturel | Yamaha | FRA | 0'27.111 | | 6 | Brian Bogers | KTM | NLD | 0'39.218 | | 7 | Brent Vandoninck | Yamaha | BEL | 0'46.169 | | 8 | Aleksandr Tonkov | Husqvarna | RUS | 0'54.492 | | 9 | Julien Lieber | Yamaha | BEL | 0'57.393 | | 10 | Samuele Bernardini | TM | ITA | 0'58.765 | | 11 | Petar Petrov | KTM | BGR | 0'59.285 | | 12 | Pauls Jonass | KTM | LVA | 1'24.253 | | 13 | Ben Watson | KTM | GBR | 1'31.937 | | 14 | Roberts Justs | KTM | LVA | 1'44.821 | | 15 | Jorge Zaragoza | Honda | ESP | 1'44.931 | | 18 | Valentin Guillod | Yamaha | CHE | 2'15.816 | | 20 | Kevin Fors | Yamaha | BEL | -1Laps | | 24 | Damon Graulus | Yamaha | BEL | -1Laps |
| | | | Rider Standings | After Race 9 of 19 | | | 1. | Jeffrey Herlings | KTM | NLD | 398 | | 2. | Valentin Guillod | Yamaha | CHE | 259 | | 3. | Pauls Jonass | KTM | LVA | 259 | | 4. | Aleksandr Tonkov | Husqvarna | RUS | 256 | | 5. | Tim Gajser | Honda | SVN | 251 | | 6. | Jordi Tixier | Kawasaki | FRA | 251 | | 7. | Jeremy Seewer | Suzuki | CHE | 246 | | 8. | Max Anstie | Kawasaki | GBR | 210 | | 9. | Julien Lieber | Yamaha | BEL | 209 | | 10. | Dylan Ferrandis | Kawasaki | FRA | 205 | | 11. | Petar Petrov | KTM | BGR | 176 | | 12. | Benoit Paturel | Yamaha | FRA | 145 | | 13. | Thomas Covington | Kawasaki | USA | 141 | | 14. | Brian Bogers | KTM | NLD | 131 | | 15. | Vsevolod Brylyakov | Honda | RUS | 109 | | 16. | Roberts Justs | KTM | LVA | 106 | | 17. | Brent Vandoninck | Yamaha | BEL | 102 | | 29. | Kevin Fors | Yamaha | BEL | 14 | | 30. | Damon Graulus | Yamaha | BEL | 13 | | 37. | Maykal Grisha Ivanov | Yamaha | BGR | 6 | | 47. | Yannis Irsuti | Yamaha | FRA | 0 |
| | | | | Circuit Length:
1700 Last Years Winner:
Jeffrey Herlings | | | | | | | 
