At Matterley Basin Antonio Cairoli had the best possible start of the weekend. The rider from Sicily won Qualifying Race on the British track ahead of his team-mate and rival Jeffrey Herlings. We remind you that the Dutch Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider has 48 points of advantage on Cairoli in championship standings (386-338) and so the 9th 2018 MXGP may be crucial in the fight for the title. Let’s see what happens in the two races, starting at 14:15 and 17:10 local time (GMT +1).
MONOLOGUE – Cairoli took the lead after a great start and midway the 20 minutes (+ 2 laps) of the race he had eight seconds of advantage on Glenn Coldenhoff. Later the gap increased more and more and finally “TC #222” crossed the finish line 20 seconds before Jeffrey Herlings, who ranked second after overtaking Coldenhoff (thanks to whom KTM scored a triple) and Tim Gajser (4th). The top 5 was closed by Clement Desalle.
MX2 – The Qualifying Race of the under-23 class was won by Jorge Prado. After getting away in the early stages, the Spanish Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team rider finished first with a six-second advantage on his team-mate Pauls Jonass, who ranked third after defending himself from the assaults of Husqvarna’s Thomas Kjer Olsen.
Photo Credit: MXGP