Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl rounded out his participation in round nine of the Motocross World Championship in Spain with a second place overall MXGP class result. Showing impressive speed around a rutted and challenging track, the German rider is now placed fourth in the championship standings with his gap to the top three reduced to just 21 points.
Getting his weekend at the Talavera de la Reina track off to a great start, Max Nagl earned a well-deserved runner-up spot in MXGP’s qualifying race. Getting a great jump out of the gate in the first moto the German got the holeshot and went on to lead the race for the first three laps before allowing Tim Gajser to move ahead. Putting in some consistent lap times Nagl went on to finish as a runner-up.
In what was almost a carbon copy of the first moto, Nagl rode his FC 450 to the holeshot in race two and went on to secure another strong runner-up finish. Earning second overall in the GP the German finished on the overall podium for the fourth time this season.
Working hard to find a good race pace around the slippery Spanish track Nagl’s MXGP teammate Christophe Charlier ended the first moto in 25th position. The Frenchman came back stronger in moto two, racing his FC 450 to 14th position for 18th overall at the GP of Spain.
For Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s MX2 rider Max Anstie the GP of Spain proved to be a challenging one. Looking to fight for a spot on the MX2 podium Anstie was left with a mountain to climb after a crash at the start of moto one. Picking himself up he started passing riders before eventually crossing the line in eighth position. Pushing hard to overcome a bad start in moto two the Brit finished 12th giving him 10th overall at the GP of Spain.
Pushing hard to get closer to the top in only his first season racing the MX2 class, Conrad Mewse was once again unable to get the starts he’d hoped for. Forced to battle his way from the back of the pack in both MX2 motos the 16-year-old Brit wrapped up round nine of the series with 31/26 results.
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team will return to action at round 10 of the FIM Motocross World Championship in France on June 4/5.
Max Nagl: “It was a great weekend and a great reward for the hard work the team has been putting in. We did some more testing last week and we managed to make my bike even better. One of our goals was to further improve our starts and during the weekend our starts were great. I got the holeshot in both motos and lead the races for the first few laps. Gajser was a little bit quicker around the track so when he passed me in race one and in race two I tried to ride smart and stay behind him. Our lap times were a bit better than the rest of the field and I was happy to finish both races in a good second position. This GP is a big confidence booster for me and for my team. Going to France now I’m positive for another good result. I’m in good shape at the moment and the bike feels great, so I’ll do my best to keep my podium streak running.”
Christophe Charlier: “It was a difficult weekend, but I feel like it was a good learning step for the future. It took me some time to feel comfortable in this track. A small mechanical issue didn’t allow me to finish the qualifying session so I had to start both final motos from the outside. I did my best for good results in both races but without good starts it was really hard to get inside the top 10. We’re now heading to my home GP in Sain Jean d’Angely and my goal is to prove I have what it takes to battle for the top in MXGP.”
Max Anstie: “It was a challenging GP but we proved we had the speed to battle for the top. Overall, I felt good during the weekend, the track was pretty nice and everything was working well. In the opening moto I made a series of mistakes in the first few turns, so I ended up colliding with another rider and loosing time. I guess to come back from last to eighth showed my speed was good. In the second race I was right there after the start but then got a bit squeezed going into the first turn. I made a couple of wrong decisions in the first turns and dropped back so I had to work hard again to come through. Our results weren’t exactly what we wanted but we’ll take the positives and move on to the next GP in France.”
Conrad Mewse: “Today wasn’t so good but I’m going to keep trying my best. I struggled a lot with the track and my riding here in Spain. We’ve been working a lot on several aspects and the start is one of them. I think my starts have been improving a lot, which is one of many good steps we’ve made. But I still have to work on a few other points around the track and in my head and when this happens I’m pretty sure the results will start coming.”
Results – FIM Motocross World Championship, Round 9
MXGP Overall
1. Tim Gajser (Honda) 50pts; 2. Max Nagl (Husqvarna) 44pts; 3. Gautier Paulin (Honda) 38pts… 17. Jake Nicholls (Husqvarna) 9pts; 18. Christophe Charlier (Husqvarna) 7pts; 19. Rui Goncalves (Husqvarna) 7pts… 27. Marco Maddii (Husqvarna) 0pts
MXGP Race 1
1. Tim Gajser (Honda) 17 laps, 34:19.713; 2. Max Nagl (Husqvarna) 34:27.057; 3. Clement Desalle (Kawasaki) 34:31.311… 13. Jake Nicholls (Husqvarna) 35:07.748… 19. Rui Goncalves (Husqvarna) 35:55.206… 25. Christophe Charlier (Husqvarna) 16 laps, 34:20.497… 28. Marco Maddii (Husqvarna) 35:26.598
MXGP Race 2
1. Tim Gajser (Honda) 17 laps, 34:15.981; 2. Max Nagl (Husqvarna) 34:19.588; 3. Gautier Paulin (Honda) 34:22.595… 14. Christophe Charlier (Husqvarna) 35:22.381… 16. Rui Goncalves (Husqvarna) 35:24.461… 20. Jake Nicholls (Husqvarna) 35:52.246… 25. Marco Maddii (Husqvarna) 16 laps, 35:16.568
MX2 Overall
1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 50pts; 2. Benoit Paturel (Yamaha) 40pts; 3. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 40pts… 10. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 22pts… 28. Nicholas Lapucci (Husqvarna) 0pts; 29. Conrad Mewse (Husqvarna) 0pts
MX2 Race 1
1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 17 laps, 34:15.998; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (Kawasaki) 34:36.609; 3. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 34:39.307… 8. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 35:11.122… 25. Nicholas Lapucci (Husqvarna) 36:08.869… 31. Conrad Mewse (Husqvarna) 16 laps, 34:34.573
MX2 Race 2
1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 17 laps, 34:54.462; 2. Benoit Paturel (Yamaha) 35:01.711; 3. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 35:13.590… 12. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 36:05.881… 24. Nicholas Lapucci (Husqvarna) 16 laps, 35:03.431… 26. Conrad Mewse (Husqvarna) 35:11.579
Championship Standings (After Round 9)
MXGP
1. Tim Gajser (Honda) 385pts; 2. Romain Febvre (Yamaha) 361pts; 3. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 338pts; 4. Max Nagl (Husqvarna) 317pts… 12. Christophe Charlier (Husqvarna) 142pts… 20. Jake Nicholls (Husqvarna) 49pts… 26. Rui Goncalves (Husqvarna) 10pts
MX2
1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 447pts; 2. Jeremy Seewer (Suzuki) 325pts; 3. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 300pts… 7. Max Anstie (Husqvarna) 205pts… 17. Thomas Covington (Husqvarna) 70pts… 23. Ben Watson (Husqvarna) 39pts… 37. James Dunn (Husqvarna) 5pts… 43. Lars van Berkel (Husqvarna) 3pts… 46. Conrad Mewse (Husqvarna) 1pt
