KEGUMS (Latvia) 16 August 2020 – The MXGP of Kegums saw the third and final Grand Prix races of the Latvian triple-header in 2020, which once again treated us to some amazing action from start to finish.

The Latvian trio of races welcomed back the FIM Motocross World Championship after a long five month wait, and with the races concluded here in Kegums, that also concludes MXGP’s time in the Baltic country for the 2020 season.

Today’s racing was once again hard to predict with a really strong line-up of contenders all pushing for their shot on the podium. Though in the end it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings who finally took an overall win in Latvia, while Jago Geerts of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing sealed a back-to-back victory, leaving Kegums with two big trophies to take home back to Belgium.

As the gate dropped for the opening MXGP race of the day, it was Standing Construct GasGas MXGP’s Ivo Monticelli who claimed his second FOX Holeshot of the season. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing pilot Arminas Jasikonis, as well as Team HRC’s Tim Gajser were also right there in the top three, as Gajser quickly moved into the lead.

Bad luck once again for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings who got squeezed on the start straight and had to pick off some riders in order to get back into contention for the race win.

Additionally, the start also saw some more drama, with Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Arnaud Tonus and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Antonio Cairoli both going down in the first corner.

Things were not looking much better for Jeremy Seewer of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing who went down hard in turn three. Despite looking in pain, he managed to get back on his factory Yamaha and put in a few more laps, before eventually retiring from the race.

Gajser was the race leader, with Monticelli holding second and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado in third ahead of Jasikonis. Meanwhile Herlings was up in 7^th after making a decent recovery in the first lap.

Jasikonis then started to close on Prado as he chased second place, while Herlings was also looking to move up in the race as he passed Clement Desalle of Monster Energy Kawasaki MXGP, though Desalle fired straight back making it hard for the bullet to get ahead and catch the leaders.

Herlings then found himself in a battle with Monticelli for fourth place, with Monticelli doing a great job of protecting his position, as Herlings struggled for six whole laps before he passed the GasGas rider.

By the time Herlings passed Monticelli, Jasikonis had also managed to pass Prado for second. Though as Herlings moved into fourth place, Prado was too far ahead of him.

With two minutes and two laps to go, Gajser continued to lead, with Jasikonis second and Prado third. Herlings meanwhile was 32 seconds down on the leader so a race win was looking unlikely.

In the end Gajser took the opening race win, Jasikonis finished in second, Prado was third, Herlings fourth and Romain Febvre of Monster Energy Kawasaki MXGP in the top five.

In race two, this time it was Tim Gajser with the FOX Holeshot as he led the group around the first corner by pitlane. Herlings was having a much better start to the race and was on Gajser’s tail from the get-go as Prado and Cairoli also followed the two leaders.

Herlings wasted no time in the second race as he quickly made a move on Gajser and was the new race leader.

While Cairoli was adding pressure onto his KTM team-mate, he was also coming under fire from Febvre and Jasikonis. Though he managed to catch up to Prado, those two were then locked in a pretty intense battle, that saw Prado block pass Cairoli and Cairoli block pass him back. After several attempts, Cairoli eventually passed the MXGP rookie, Prado, and moved into third.

Gajser then started to catch back up to the #84 of Herlings, though something happened to the Honda rider and he went down, allowing Cairoli through to second.

Meanwhile Jasikonis made some quick passes on Prado and Febvre and was up in fourth, with his energy concentrated on catching Gajser ahead. He then passed Gajser to move into third, though Gajser wasn’t going to let the Lithuanian run away.

As he started to catch the tall Lithuanian, his bike suddenly stopped, forcing the defending world champion out of race two due to an electrical issue.

In the end it was Herlings with the race win, followed by Cairoli who had a strong finish in second, with Jasikonis crossing the line in third place.

Overall it was Jeffrey Herlings who finally claimed a Grand Prix victory in Latvia, with Jasikonis reaching a career milestone with second overall, and Prado also making his first MXGP podium of his rookie season!

As it stands, Herlings continues to lead the MXGP World Championship, with Gajser a further 46 points back, as Jasikonis joins in third just four points behind the factory Honda rider.

Jeffrey Herlings: “The first race was tough. I didn’t have a good jump, I was like fifteenth and then was struggling with arm pump, the riding just wasn’t good. The track was really sketchy overall the last three races with a lot of square bumps. I know it’s going to be a long series, I’ve had a lot of injuries in the past and I try to be at every race, maybe not be dominant but just try to be there and be consistent, until now it’s actually been working out. I haven’t won that much, because when I got here I was 4-4, 3-3 and 4-1 but I’ve been the most consistent over the races and it’s been paying off in the championship. Going into the next race I’ll definitely have to put in some work, try to work a bit more on the starts, work on myself and try to get some more speed and confidence. But I’m happy to finish off this Latvian trip in this way”.

Arminas Jasikonis: “We improved every race day, with a complete week of racing; first race last Sunday was good, I mean could be better but then on Wednesday it got better and now finally we got the podium second, I think one point off the overall win but overall we improved a lot and know where we need to work more to get even better. We know we are on the right tracks and thanks to the whole team for believing in me so much. We had bad luck a lot of times but we never gave up and here we are, we need to be calm and work hard and be better for the next races”.

Jorge Prado: “Sometimes you win, and it doesn’t mean as much as maybe this third place means to me. I had a very tough round to get here with injuries. But all the hard work pays off. I’ve been working really hard and putting my maximum effort every single training… and you know a podium in the MXGP class, I mean it’s the top class of the sport and it’s not easy, not so many riders can say that they’ve been on the podium, so we need to really appreciate every single result so I’m very happy”.

Main Photo: Jeffrey Herlings

Bottom Photos: 1. Arminas Jasikonis; 2. Jorge Prado & Antonio Cairoli

In MX2 race one, it was Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Ben Watson who pulled the FOX Holeshot in the race and was closely followed by Tom Vialle of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Mathys Boisrame from F&H Kawasaki Racing and Maxime Renaux of SM MC Migliori – J1 Racing.

Jago Geerts from Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing and F&H Kawasaki Racing’s Roan Van de Moosdijk were also not far behind the top three on the opening lap.

Renaux then went down out of third and was dropping down the order, meanwhile Geerts started to close in on Van de Moosdijk, and then went after his team-mate who was in second.

Mikkel Haarup from F&H Kawasaki Racing had another tough race as we saw him go down in the early stages out of eighth and was showing down in 30^th.

Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee rider Conrad Mewse was also having a superb rider in fifth place, which he retained until the chequered flag dropped on lap 17.

On lap 4, Geerts moved past Watson for 2^nd, while Vialle continued to lead the race with a 5 second gap over P2.

The second Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milawaukee rider Bas Vaessen was also having a tough riding, as he crashed out of 18^th, which was unfortunate for him as he was already struggling with a painful back.

Though back at the front it was Vialle who was leading the race, with Geerts slowly closing in on the KTM rider, with Watson also managing to keep a steady gap on Van de Moosdijk who was behind him in 4^th place.

2 laps to go and Geerts put on a charge for the race win, though as he edged closer to Vialle, backmarkers started to play a part, with the factory Yamaha rider eventually going down after colliding with one, though fortunately still managed to stay in second which is exactly where he finished the race, with Watson in third.

The 2^nd MX2 race saw another Monster Energy Yamaha Factory machine in front but this time it was Jago Geerts. Mewse had another strong start, followed by Simon Laegenfelder of Diga Procross GasGas Factory Juniors and Vialle right there as well.

Geerts then continue to lead Mewse with Vialle catching up to #426 and applying the pressure for second place. Vialle then moved into second and set his sights on the race leader.

Meanwhile Watson was down in 7^th, ahead of Renaux and Moosdijk, with those three guys going at it, trying to pass for P7.

As Vialle pushed to catch Geerts, he made a mistake and almost lost it, though he managed to hold on. Van de Moosdijk then tried to close in on Renaux for 5^th and that’s when the battle between those two began.

Though Renaux caught second wind and started to close to the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jed Beaton. Both riders then caught on to Mewse, with the Brit having to fight hard to keep them behind him. Eventually Renaux managed to move into 3^rd as Nathan Crawford of Honda 114 Motorsports was seen walking back to the pits and was out of race 2.

As Van de Moosdijk was able to get a good drive on the wave section, passing Renaux for 3^rd place, Beaton also lost a position to Watson who moved up into 6^th position.

3 laps to go and Vialle’s pitboard read “close the gap” as he pushed for the second race win, though in the end he didn’t manage to do it and it was Geerts who crossed the line first.

Vialle was second, with Van de Moosdijk third, followed by Renaux and Watson who finished in the top 5.

Overall it was Jago Geerts who took a back-to-back win in Latvia, with Tom Vialle managing a second overall and Roan Van de Moosdijk third! In the championship standings Vialle is still the series leader with 217 points, with Geerts a further 8 points back and Van de Moosdijk there as well on 153 points.

Unfortunately, today we didn’t see Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Kjer Olsen due to his shoulder injury, which puts his championship contention in danger. 

Jago Geerts: “It was a good day for me. It the first race I didn’t have the best start, but then I was able to make a lot of passes, after 10 minutes I think I was in second and then in the end I was coming closer to Tom but on the last lap I wanted to try to make one last move, but then the crashed with a lapper. Still second. Then in the second race got the holeshot and just rode a really good pace all race and I could win so I was really happy with that. It’s my third GP win so it was a good day”.

Tom Vialle: “It was much better than the other day. In the practice I was already feeling pretty good and in the first race I led all the race and I was really happy to win it. The second one was also really close to Jago. Then 3 laps before the finish I lost a little bit of time with one lapper and afterwards it was really difficult but no, I’m actually really happy I did not lose any points today so it’s really good for the championship”.

Roan Van de Moosdijk: “Latvia has been great for me. Three podiums in a row. Today was tough though, two bad starts but the first race I didn’t managed to get in a rhythm so I stayed there fourth. In the second race I started outside the top 10, maybe even top 15, and I was really happy about my riding so I just want to keep it like this, get this momentum going and looking forward to the next race”.

MXGP of Kegums – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1790m

Type of ground: Hard Sand

Temperature: 28°

Weather conditions: sunny