Surprise of the day? There were a couple of contenders. Red Bull KTM Tony Cairoli’s tumble out of the lead and a clear run in MXGP was unexpected. Cairoli toasted his 31st birthday on Friday but this was a downhill-slip-out-of-the-rut prang of someone with half his experience. Wearing the unusual number of ‘40’ the Italian was still a potent force in front of a very partisan crowd and Cairoli has a fine record of delivering on the right stage. Monster Energy Yamaha’s Romain Febvre duly assumed first place and the ranking – together with Kemea Yamaha Benoit Paturel’s exceptional third position in MX2 and HRC’s Gautier Paulin making a solid second in MX Open – gave the reigning Champions their picks of 1 and 20 for the motos tomorrow.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Jeremy Van Horebeek pushed hard and looked loose and tasty on the factory-spec YZ250F to deny Switzerland’s Jeremy Seewer an MX2 win. JVH has rarely shown the same zest in MXGP this year but commented how much fun he was having throwing the lighter bike around and being able to brake later. The Belgian’s record is perhaps the best of any rider at this edition of the Nations; seven appearancse and seven podiums means that Van Horebeek is part of a crew that makes things happen at this event and with Suzuki’s Kevin Strijbos running to third in MXGP the perennial rostrum nation look viable again for more silverware.
There was little shock about Jeffrey Herlings’ emphatic first baptism with the Red Bull KTM 450SX-F. The Netherlands lucked out with 32nd ball in the ballot for gate positions for the Qualifiers but Herlings aced the holeshot and was hesitant about his post-race comments for how effective the narrow circuit was for passing; aside from a few backmarkers this was a training ride for the world champion.
When the minimal dust had settled at Maggiora then the real turn-up was the progress of Team USA. At one point the record winners were in danger of slipping into the B-Final. Crashes for Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb, Alex Martin and Rockstar Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson dropped the Americans down to 15th place, meaning 15-35 picks on Sunday. There was little encouragement from lap-times or potential to indicate that the USA (last winners in 2011) can make the top step on Sunday but there was an element of poor luck and freakiness to their races today. It will be amazing if the same scenes occur tomorrow.
Maggiora – for all its renovation, conservation and upgrades – still has a heavy Italian flavour of tight hard-pack. Febvre said the preparation was “so, so good with grip everywhere” but it was also bumpy, rutty and restrictive. In short, a world away from the fast expanses of Glen Helen and Charlotte in the final weeks of MXGP where Webb excelled and the likes of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac was in a different league. Herlings expressed his desire for the track maintenance crew to leave the Italian soil scarred and rough.
Thoughts were with Rockstar Energy IceOne Max Nagl after an accident in the fast left hander after the pitlane during the MXGP race. The German knocked his head and also smashed his (fused) vertebrae but thankfully had feeling in both limbs when he was taken to hospital.
Maggiora heaved by the time of the afternoon qualification heats. It was hard to imagine many more people having room to squeeze into the tight banking. The paddock was almost impassable and the general feeling was one of ‘boom’ for motocross. Then again anybody who has visited a Nations since 2009 knows that the numbers and industry interest and presence is more intense across this weekend than any other on the calendar.
Tweet @ontrackoffroad with your Nations predictions tomorrow. We’ll send a new Alpinestars T-Shirt (size L) to the person with the right prediction.
Listen to the PulpMX Podcast with Steve Matthes and Jason Thomas by clicking this link: http://pulpmx.com/content/pro-circuit-mxdn-qualifying-pulpcast
