A dominant double victory at Fermo in Italy helped Jeffry Herlings extend his lead at the top of the MX2 World Championship standings on the same weekend as chief title rivals Tommy Searle and Joel Roelants both recorded DNFs.
Moto 1
A late bike issue wasn’t enough to prevent Herlings from winning the opening moto by over 16 seconds from Jeremy van Horebeek after the Belgian’s crash restricted his chances of victory.
With Searle, who had won Saturday’s qualifying race, and Roelants crashing early, the door was left ajar for a surprise podium finisher. On just his second appearance in the championship that chance fell to Michael Leib who charged through from 15th at the start to take third. Jake Nicholls, Dylan Ferrandis, Harri Kullas, Jordi Tixier and Christophe Charlier completed the top eight.
Moto 2
Herlings wrapped up his clean sweep in heat two but only after battling back after clashing with Searle. The pair’s early accident while out front saw them both relegated down the order. What followed was a masterclass in overtaking as both battled back through the pack to eventually finish 1-2 after passing long-time leader Leib with only three laps remaining.
The young American’s second podium finish in as many heats was enough to give him second overall ahead of van Horebeek who finished fourth in moto two. Tixier’s consistency ultimately gave him fourth overall after adding a fifth to his earlier seventh, with Jose Butron fifth and Christophe Charlier sixth.
Searle’s heat two heroics helped him at least secure 22 points for the weekend as he slipped to third in the standings and some 35 points adrift of Herlings. It was even worse for Roelants though who was also forced to sit out the second moto after suffering concussion from his earlier fall.
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MX2 Race 1 top ten:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 40:06.301; 2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:16.652; 3. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), +0:21.834; 4. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:27.065; 5. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:34.091; 6. Harri Kullas (FIN, Suzuki), +0:36.761; 7. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:40.763; 8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:43.712; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:48.831; 10. Nikolaj Larsen (DEN, Suzuki), +1:03.412;
MX2 Race 2 top ten:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:49.655; ; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:03.234; 3. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), +0:17.454; 4. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:28.991; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:32.368; 6. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:34.819; 7. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:40.922; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), +0:57.391; 9. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:04.357; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, Suzuki), +1:16.502;
MX2 Overall top ten:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), 40 p.; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 30 p.; 5. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 26 p.; 6. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 7. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 23 p.; 9. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 22 p.; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), 22 p.;
MX2 Championship top ten:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 144 points; 2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 114 p.; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 109 p.; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 85 p.; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 80 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 78 p.; 7. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 73 p.; 8. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 69 p.; 9. Harri Kullas (FIN, Suzuki), 65 p.; 10. Michael Leib (USA, Yamaha), 61 p.;
Tom Hornsby
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