Stat Sheet: GP of Switzerland

There is so much that goes on at each MXGP round that it is inevitable that you will overlook certain things. That is where our ‘Stat Sheet’ feature comes into play, however, as we focus on the details that you may have overlooked.

MXGP

Enlarge

– A fifth and a first took Antonio Cairoli to the win on Sunday and that, for the second week in a row, is a relatively-poor scorecard for the overall victor. Cairoli, who has won seventy-seven overalls in his time, has only stood atop the box with a total lower than the forty-one points that he gained in Switzerland once. When was that? Namur in 2004, his very first Grand Prix win.

– Antonio Cairoli would have, of course, had a first and a third to his name had it not been for a crash on the final lap of the second moto. A false neutral prompted the fall, which is something that he labelled as a ‘rookie mistake’. With those finishes at Frauenfeld-Gachnang, Cairoli has now been in the top five in eighteen of the thirty motos run thus far this year.

Enlarge

– Seventy-seven Grand Prix wins is an impressive total, but how many of those have been won with a 450F? Nine, compared to the forty-four victories he has enjoyed with the 350 SX-F between his legs. The other twenty-four wins came during his time in the MX2 division.

– Tim Gajser was obviously enjoying an extremely consistent season prior to Lommel. A couple of crashes left him outside of the top ten in moto one at the Belgian, and then another crash on lap this past weekend left him with a mediocre finish in the first race, so his statistics have taken a bit of a hit. His average finish after thirteen rounds was a second, but it has dropped to a third now.

– With that first-moto mistake that Gajser made, you would presume that he was the MXGP rider who made the most moves across the weekend. That title goes to Kevin Strijbos, however, who had to pull into pit lane on lap one of moto one to get a front-brake issue straightened out. The Belgian made eighteen passes once he returned to the track.

– Like his HRC stablemate, Evgeny Bobryshev has come unstuck somewhat in recent weeks. Bobryshev had dropped out of the top ten just once before the GP of the Czech Republic, but has finished twelfth twice in the last six motos. A crash in the first moto on Sunday led to one of those results.

– Just how competitive is the MXGP class this year? Bobryshev was sat in third with four hundred and sixty-three points after fifteen rounds last year and actually has nine points more this season, so is obviously doing slightly better. He sits in fifth, despite that, and a massive thirty-seven points down on Max Nagl in third.

– Speaking of Nagl, what happened to him in Switzerland? The German was on quite a streak and appeared to be back to his former level, but limped to a tenth and a thirteenth on Sunday and the lowest total that he has acquired at a single Grand Prix this year. It turns out that there was a reason behind those results though, as he injured his middle finger during the qualifying race. “I had to tape my two fingers together but I couldn’t get a good feeling with the clutch,” he commented in a press release.

Enlarge

– A third in the second moto was a major step forward for Glenn Coldenhoff, who has battled through a turbulent campaign thus far. It had been three hundred and forty-four days since his last top-three finish, which is quite a drought for a full-factory rider and former winner. Coldenhoff was the only MXGP rider to acquire a season-best moto finish in Switzerland.

– Tommy Searle had his best day in quite some time, as he hung to the lead group whilst en route to sixth overall. When did he last perform that well? The penultimate round in 2014, the Grand Prix of Brazil, where he finished fifth overall with the CLS team. Searle was also the fastest man on track at points in moto two this past weekend.

– What happened to Jake Nicholls? A lot, but none of it was too positive. Nicholls was sick entering the weekend, so started on the back foot, and then looped out in the waves in moto one. His bike was too beat up to continue and then another mechanical issue forced him to withdraw from the second race. Onto the next one!

MX2

– Max Anstie took his second-consecutive victory on Sunday and third trip up onto the podium in a row, so actually tied his career-best streaks. He had three podiums in a row last year, from Lommel to Assen, and two of those were wins. Could he set a new personal best next time out? He’ll have a great shot at finishing in the top three, but beating Jeffrey Herlings could be tough.

Enlarge

– Although a shot at the title is non-existent for Max Anstie, he could potentially top the Fox Head holeshot standings. He is currently tied with Jeffrey Herlings and one point ahead of Pauls Jonass, so it’s all to play for there! It is remarkable that, despite being one of the bigger guys in the class, Herlings has rounded the first turn in front so many times.

– Aside from Jeffrey Herlings, who is expected to win every single race, Jeremy Seewer has been the most-consistent rider in MX2. Thanks to his ten trips to the podium, Seewer sits second in the standings with five hundred and fifty-four points. When was the last time a rider in second had such a high total after fifteen rounds? Tommy Searle, who had six hundred and one points to his name, in 2012.

– It is not just consistency that Seewer can hang his hat on, do not get me wrong. Seewer has set the fastest lap in a moto more than any other rider in MX2 (aside from Jeffrey Herlings) and did it for a second time this past weekend, when he narrowly edged Max Anstie out. The lap time that Seewer recorded on lap five of the second moto was, in fact, the fastest time in either class all weekend.

Enlarge

– Although Benoit Paturel’s scorecard may state that he has not scored points in three motos this year, he has actually been one of the more consistent riders. Jeremy Seewer, who has scored in every race, and Samuele Bernardini, who has missed just one, are the only guys who have appeared in the points more than the Frenchman.

– Samuele Bernardini had his best result of the season (and his career) in Switzerland, with a fourth in moto one. Who joined him in achieving a season-best result? Just Ivo Monticelli, who ended moto two in seventh.

– Pascal Rauchenecker obviously had his best result of the season also, but that is because it was his first race this year. Rauchenecker, a former MXGP regular, now resides in the enduro world, but appeared (and impressed) in a wildcard berth this past weekend. The last time he made such a splash on a motocross bike was when he landed on Max Anstie at the Motocross of Nations last September.

Enlarge

– Calvin Vlaanderen is perhaps one of the more-underrated riders in the MXGP paddock. How many of you actually realized he was fifth overall on Sunday? He has been the fourth-best rider overall the last two weeks, on average, and, although he has finished around the top five a lot in individual motos, that fifth overall in Switzerland was the best result of his relatively-short career.

– Who made the most passes in MX2? Thomas Covington, thanks to an inspired ride in moto two that saw him progress from twenty-seventh to tenth. In total he made twenty-three passes across the two motos but, yet again, his speed did not quite match up with his results. That is becoming a bit of a trend.

Words: Lewis Phillips | Image: ConwayMX