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

MXGP

Holeshot (Moto One)

Antonio Cairoli

Best Times (Moto One)
Antonio Cairoli	1:44.098
Arnaud Tonus	1:44.284
Gautier Paulin	1:44.366
Jeremy Van Horebeek	1:44.404
Tim Gajser	1:44.429

Laps Led (Moto One)
Antonio Cairoli	19

Holeshot (Moto Two)

Tim Gajser

Best Times (Moto Two)
Antonio Cairoli	1:42.800
Tim Gajser	1:44.443
Clement Desalle	1:44.480
Arnaud Tonus	1:44.538
Jeffrey Herlings	1:44.572

Laps Led (Moto Two)
Tim Gajser	19

– Antonio Cairoli left onlookers in a state of disbelief on Sunday, as he ripped through the field on a track that had been labelled as ‘one-lined’ by a majority of contenders. There is really not much one can say about a ride as extraordinary as that. The lap times listed below serve as proof of just how fast Cairoli was going at the end of the moto. From lap ten to lap nineteen, which served as the final ten laps of the encounter, ‘222’ was the fastest man on track more often than not.

	Tim Gajser	Antonio Cairoli	Difference
Lap 10	1:44.856	1:44.611	-0.245
Lap 11	1:45.645	1:45.057	-0.588
Lap 12	1:46.404	1:45.323	-1.081
Lap 13	1:45.171	1:44.848	-0.323
Lap 14	1:45.422	1:43.679	-1.743
Lap 15	1:45.385	1:42.800	-2.585
Lap 16	1:46.284	1:44.567	-1.717
Lap 17	1:46.042	1:44.998	-1.044
Lap 18	1:45.958	1:45.607	-0.351
Lap 19	1:47.611	1:45.617	-1.994

– Although those laps have been used as a way of highlighting the type of speed that Cairoli possessed, it was not the most impressive statistic that emerged. On lap four of the moto, when Cairoli was just outside of the top ten and attempting to overcome traffic, he ran a time that was almost a full second quicker than anyone else. For someone to possess so much more speed than the current leader, despite being in an unfavourable position, is most noteworthy. Whereas one could perhaps argue that Gajser had settled down towards the end of the moto, hence why the times above follow that pattern.

– It has been twelve years since Cairoli won his first championship, so he has certainly been a contender in the FIM Motocross World Championship for quite some time. That explains why some have begun to consider that, perhaps, he is starting to show signs of weakness. The Grand Prix of Trentino dispelled that theory though, as he recorded the quickest time of the race on lap fifteen! When was the last time someone did that so late in the race? Kevin Strijbos set the fastest lap of the first MXGP moto on lap sixteen at the Grand Prix of Latvia in 2015.

– Arnaud Tonus was tipped to achieve great things this season and, following a battle with poor luck and bad starts, he finally broke through at the base of the Dolomites to take his first podium finish aboard a 450F. It was actually the twentieth time in his career that he has finished on the podium in a moto in the FIM Motocross World Championship. A third at Campo Grande, the Grand Prix of Brazil, in 2010 was his first top-three finish.

– The Wilvo Yamaha MXGP team have actually outperformed the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing squad on more than one occasion. Arnaud Tonus and Shaun Simpson are responsible for four of the results that Yamaha possess in the manufacturer standings. Yamaha sit third currently, behind Honda and KTM, but would actually be fifth without input from the Wilvo Yamaha MXGP team.

– A fourth overall may not seem too out of the ordinary for Evgeny Bobryshev, but the way in which he achieved it was worth celebration. “My foot was really painful this morning so I had a trip to the medical centre to get some painkillers,” Bobryshev stated in a post-race statement. That injury occurred following a collision with Clement Desalle in the qualifying heat. The burly Russian overcame that, of course, but was also the fastest man on track on three of the nineteen laps that were run in moto two! A third in that thirty-minute moto also marked the thirty-second time that he has finished in the top three in a single race.

– One may consider this a brilliant comeback for Clement Desalle, as he has acquired a handful of podium finishes and sits third in the series standings. However, the last time that he did not have more points than this after five rounds (excluding last year) was in 2010! ‘25’ missed two motos through five rounds that year, but still only had eight points less than he does now. The fact that a moto was cancelled this year was taken into account.

– Gautier Paulin was disappointed to miss the overall podium in Trentino, as he was seemingly more than capable of finishing on the box. An unidentified mechanical issue hindered him from the moment the gates dropped in moto two, however, so he certainly could have achieved more than what he did. An average finish of fifth through five rounds is still a respectable start to his campaign.

– It has been mentioned that Romain Febvre should not be eliminated from a list of title contenders, as he overcame such a large deficit to win two years ago. The largest gap that Febvre faced in his maiden season was sixty-three points, however, and now he is ninety-five back! Having an average finish of tenth will do that to you. Febvre has only been the best-placed YZ450F rider in one moto this year.

– Romain Febvre continues to search for answers, but Jeffrey Herlings may have found what he is looking for. A fourth in moto two was a major improvement and one that a good start was responsible for. It is incredible that, although he has arguably had a much worse season, Herlings has an average finish of twelfth. That is almost equal with Febvre! There is an important fact for Herlings to cling onto here, as it will serve as a massive boost. The Dutchman was the fastest rider on track on laps twelve and thirteen. The set-up issues must have not been as drastic, as one would presume that he would have been unable to ride at such a speed when the track had deteriorated so much.

– The two aforementioned riders have received the most criticism through five rounds, because of their lacklustre results, and that has taken a lot of heat off of Max Nagl. Nagl has just ninety-five points, which is the worst start that he has ever had after completing the first nine motos of the season. 2013 was worse, sure, but he missed round two completely, so you cannot really count that. 2007 was also worse, but again he missed a round completely. Whether you count those or not is down to your personal preference.

– Mechanical gremlins beset the Suzuki World MXGP in both classes, but it was Kevin Strijbos who felt their wrath at the worst moment. After pushing into the top ten from thirteenth, a respectable achievement on a track such as this, Strijbos was restricted by his machine on the final lap and forced to forfeit sixteen positions.

MX2

Laps Led (Moto One)
Pauls Jonass	19

Best Times (Moto One)
Julien Lieber	1:45.472
Vsevolod Brylyakov	1:45.620
Jorge Prado	1:45.947
Pauls Jonass	1:46.148
Jeremy Seewer	1:46.600

Laps Led (Moto One)
Pauls Jonass	19

Holeshot (Moto Two)

Jorge Prado

Best Times (Moto Two)
Jorge Prado	1:43.758
Thomas Covington	1:44.067
Jeremy Seewer	1:44.171
Thomas Kjer Olsen	1:44.222
Pauls Jonass	1:44.421

Laps Led (Moto Two)
Jorge Prado	19

– For whatever reason, the average fan seems to overlook just how young Jorge Prado is. The Grand Prix of Trentino was just the eighth MX2 outing of his career! To put that into perspective, it took Roczen five rounds to win his first Grand Prix (he did it with a 2-2 at Teutschenthal in 2010) and seven rounds to win his first moto outright. Jeffrey Herlings won his first overall and moto at the third race of his career, the Grand Prix of The Netherlands in 2011.

– The weight of expectation and pressure caught up to Jorge Prado in the second moto, as his times dropped off considerably towards the end. One can understand just how much time he lost to Pauls Jonass, thanks to the table below, but he says backmarkers were mostly to blame for that dip in form.

	Jorge Prado	Pauls Jonass	Difference
Lap 9	1:44.800	1:44.826	-0.026
Lap 10	1:45.173	1:44.826	+0.347
Lap 11	1:45.259	1:45.129	+0.130
Lap 12	1:47.591	1:45.595	+1.996
Lap 13	1:46.832	1:46.328	+0.504
Lap 14	1:46.874	1:45.759	+1.115
Lap 15	1:46.495	1:45.684	+0.811
Lap 16	1:47.564	1:47.022	+0.542
Lap 17	1:46.842	1:46.575	+0.267
Lap 18	1:46.820	1:46.574	+0.246
Lap 19	1:47.539	1:49.095	-1.566

– Although we have featured those two protagonists in the table above, as they were battling for the lead, some other riders proved to be faster at that point in the moto. On the eleven laps highlighted above, Jeremy Seewer was the fastest on three of them. Thomas Kjer Olsen registered the quickest times on two of those laps, as did Thomas Covington, and then Julien Lieber logged a single fast lap. Prado was the fastest on track on lap nine, but then Pauls Jonass was on lap ten.

– A final point about these lap times that were registered towards the end of the moto. One would probably argue that there is a typo, as it seems as though Jonass logged identical lap times on two consecutive laps. That is no mistake, however, as it actually occurred. How is that for consistency? His sector times were similar, but did fluctuate.

– Acquiring a third in the first moto was quite the achievement for Julien Lieber, as he matched a career-best statistic. Lieber landed on the podium in a single race on six occasions two years ago, which was the most top-three finishes he had had in one season. Now, just five rounds into the season, he has matched that! Interestingly, all six of those finishes have been third place. Lieber has only finished second in a moto once!

– Benoit Paturel was forgettable at the Grand Prix of Trentino, as poor starts and a mechanical issue hindered him. Starts are undoubtedly his kryptonite and may stop him from vying for this title. Paturel has had an average-starting position of fourteenth through the motos that have been run thus far, but is that normal? He had an average-starting position of ninth across the eighteen rounds last year.

– Although Thomas Covington did not quite achieve the results that he desired, the Grand Prix of Trentino was a huge leap forward for him. Covington has struggled to master the slick terrain of Pietramurata in the past, as he had never finished in the top fifteen in a moto there, but obviously managed that with ease this past weekend. A sixteenth was his best finish at the Italian venue prior to this season.

– Adam Sterry has competed in eighteen rounds of the FIM Motocross World Championship as an MX2 rider. Consistency has been missing through that period though, as he has only scored points in both motos on a Grand Prix weekend on six occasions. There certainly seems to be a black cloud that follows ‘811’ around the world, as a majority of the issues that beset him have been quite unusual. The Monster Energy KRT MX2 rider was dealt another cruel blow this past weekend, for instance, as he was disqualified from the second moto for course cutting.

– Despite those issues, Sterry has still performed the best on the Monster Energy KRT MX2 team thus far. Kawasaki are currently fifth in the manufacturer standings after the first five outings, which is the worst start that they have had in quite some time. After perusing the results from the last thirteen years, there was not a single point where they were that far down the order.

– Jorge Prado obviously secured a season-best moto finish at the Grand Prix of Trentino, but who joined him in achieving that? Vsevolod Brylyakov (fourth), Ivo Monticelli (twelfth), Conrad Mewse (tenth) and Ivan Petrov (twentieth).

Words: Lewis Phillips | Lead Image: Yamaha Racing