KTM factory ace Pauls Jonass took over where Jeffrey Herlings left off with a stunning double win in the sand of Valkenswaard in Holland.
With a coupe of fast starts, he soon took to the front in both races and was unchallenged as he took the maximum 50 points haul for the weekend. He extended his title lead over Suzuki’s Jeremy Seewer to 19 points as they head to Jonass’ home GP in Latvia in two weeks.
Jonass, who admitted his bike wasn’t 100% set up right after the opening moot, said: “We made a few improvements on the bike and that helped a lot in the second moto. In the second race after 15 minutes, I started to cruise around. The track was difficult and it was easy to make mistakes.”
Seewer took second overall after battling through from mediocre starts. He took fourth place in the opener and then tailed Jonass in the second moto, and dropped 10 points further behind the KTM man.
Jonass’ charge was helped as many of the top riders had problems. Jorge Prado, winner of the last GP in Italy, had two flying starts but ended up crashing in both motos. Julien Lieber, second in the opener, went out in the opening lap of the second race. And Thomas Covington, third first tiome out, crashed early in race two and retired with a damaged bike.
Seewer said: “Twice today I came from around 15th to take second overall, I did well. Pauls is pretty strong in the moment, especially in the sand. But there are many races still to come.”
Third overall was Belgian Yamaha ace Brent Van Doninck, who took his first podium finish of the year. He said: “The first race took a lot of energy as I came from the back. Second moto I had a better start and didn’t have to use so much energy on the first few laps. I came close to Seewer at the end but was tired.”
Thomas Kjer Olsen took fourth overall despite wiping out in a crash in the first moto, and South African Calvin Vlaanderen was sixth overall from Benoit Paturel.
Brit Adam Sterry held third place in the opening race but dropped back and eventually pulled out after twisting his knee, scoring no points. He didn’t start race two. And Ben Watson, running in the top 10 in the opener, dropped back and didn’t score. Second time out he got nine points for 19th overall.
And Conrad Mewse also had bad luck, getting a poor start in the opener but taking a single point for 20th but falling from a good place in the second moto and not scoring.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Classification
1 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT LAMSF KTM 35:37.548 18 0:00.000 0:00.000 1:51.044 4 50.2
2 33 Lieber, Julien BEL FMB KTM 35:41.024 18 0:03.476 0:03.476 1:51.000 6 50.2
3 64 Covington, Thomas USA MUL Husqvarna 36:14.476 18 0:36.928 0:33.452 1:52.504 3 49.5
4 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS Suzuki 36:22.312 18 0:44.764 0:07.836 1:53.402 7 49.2
5 172 Van doninck, Brent BEL FMB Yamaha 36:28.676 18 0:51.128 0:06.364 1:51.950 6 49.8
6 10 Vlaanderen, Calvin NED KNMV KTM 36:33.957 18 0:56.409 0:05.281 1:53.330 4 49.2
7 6 Paturel, Benoit FRA FFM Yamaha 36:41.076 18 1:03.528 0:07.119 1:53.115 9 49.3
8 18 Brylyakov, Vsevolod RUS MFR Kawasaki 36:45.448 18 1:07.900 0:04.372 1:54.063 5 48.9
9 19 Olsen, Thomas Kjer DEN DMU Husqvarna 36:50.113 18 1:12.565 0:04.665 1:53.246 4 49.2
10 96 Lawrence, Hunter AUS MA Suzuki 36:52.865 18 1:15.317 0:02.752 1:53.866 4 49
11 161 Östlund, Alvin SWE SVEMO Yamaha 36:59.406 18 1:21.858 0:06.541 1:54.238 3 48.8
12 152 Petrov, Petar BUL FRM Kawasaki 37:04.635 18 1:27.087 0:05.229 1:55.243 9 48.4
13 29 Jacobi, Henry GER DMSB Husqvarna 37:08.669 18 1:31.121 0:04.034 1:55.283 3 48.4
14 128 Monticelli, Ivo ITA FMI KTM 37:15.123 18 1:37.575 0:06.454 1:55.349 2 48.3
15 57 Sanayei, Darian USA AMA Kawasaki 37:17.254 18 1:39.706 0:02.131 1:54.732 9 48.6
16 107 van Berkel, Lars NED KNMV Honda 37:21.927 18 1:44.379 0:04.673 1:55.912 4 48.1
17 61 Prado Garcia, Jorge ESP RFME KTM 37:22.141 18 1:44.593 0:00.214 1:52.101 1 49.7
18 747 Cervellin, Michele ITA FMI Honda 37:28.651 18 1:51.103 0:06.510 1:56.518 4 47.8
19 189 Bogers, Brian NED KNMV KTM 37:32.576 18 1:55.028 0:03.925 1:55.818 7 48.1
20 426 Mewse, Conrad GBR ACU Husqvarna 37:36.157 18 1:58.609 0:03.581 1:56.185 12 48
21 95 De Waal, Micha-Boy NED KNMV Honda 35:38.555 17 1 lap 1 lap 1:56.503 8 47.8
22 919 Watson, Ben GBR ACU KTM 35:40.288 17 1 lap 0:01.733 1:54.545 2 48.7
23 170 Ward, Caleb AUS MA Husqvarna 35:49.687 17 1 lap 0:09.399 1:54.565 3 48.7
24 88 van der Vlist, Freek NED KNMV KTM 35:58.182 17 1 lap 0:08.495 1:53.253 1 49.2
25 132 Kutsar, Karel EST EMF Husqvarna 35:59.232 17 1 lap 0:01.050 1:55.472 12 48.3
26 83 Renkens, Nathan BEL FMB KTM 36:33.388 17 1 lap 0:34.156 1:59.631 4 46.6
27 97 Ivanov, Maykal Grisha BUL FRM Honda 37:09.542 17 1 lap 0:36.154 1:58.578 1 47
28 48 Wilson, Jay AUS MA Yamaha 37:37.409 17 1 lap 0:27.867 1:58.752 1 46.9
29 722 Mantovani, Michael ITA FMI Yamaha 36:06.488 16 2 laps 1 lap 2:01.777 1 45.8
30 783 Toriani, Enzo FRA FFM Husqvarna 36:10.184 16 2 laps 0:03.696 2:04.436 3 44.8
31 397 Arbini, Gabriele ITA FMI Husqvarna 36:11.058 16 2 laps 0:00.874 2:01.268 2 46
32 81 Hsu, Brian GER MAMS Husqvarna 37:06.931 16 2 laps 0:55.873 1:55.453 8 48.3
33 321 Bernardini, Samuele ITA FMI TM 33:25.797 15 3 laps 1 lap 1:54.970 1 48.5
34 8 Fontanesi, Kiara ITA FMI Yamaha 36:22.983 15 3 laps 2:57.186 2:08.067 1 43.5
35 142 Petrov, Ivan BUL FRM Husqvarna 26:20.551 12 6 laps 3 laps 1:59.640 1 46.6
36 811 Sterry, Adam GBR ACU Kawasaki 23:08.571 11 7 laps 1 lap 1:52.240 1 49.7
37 338 Herbreteau, David FRA FFM Kawasaki 20:24.643 9 9 laps 2 laps 1:59.099 5 46.8
38 297 Gole, Anton SWE SVEMO Husqvarna 13:54.723 6 12 laps 3 laps 1:57.616 1 47.4
39 75 Roosiorg, Hardi EST EMF KTM 4:04.494 1 17 laps 5 laps 2:01.003 1 46.1
40 67 Klingsheim, Magne NOR NMF Kawasaki 0:00.000 -1 19 laps 2 laps 0:00.000 0
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Classification
1 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT LAMSF KTM 34:09.329 17 0:00.000 0:00.000 1:52.232 3 49.7
2 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS Suzuki 34:13.820 17 0:04.491 0:04.491 1:51.885 4 49.8
3 172 Van doninck, Brent BEL FMB Yamaha 34:18.839 17 0:09.510 0:05.019 1:52.797 7 49.4
4 19 Olsen, Thomas Kjer DEN DMU Husqvarna 34:22.681 17 0:13.352 0:03.842 1:52.960 6 49.3
5 96 Lawrence, Hunter AUS MA Suzuki 34:33.707 17 0:24.378 0:11.026 1:53.620 8 49.1
6 81 Hsu, Brian GER MAMS Husqvarna 34:38.023 17 0:28.694 0:04.316 1:51.938 1 49.8
7 10 Vlaanderen, Calvin NED KNMV KTM 34:40.378 17 0:31.049 0:02.355 1:54.065 11 48.9
8 152 Petrov, Petar BUL FRM Kawasaki 34:45.471 17 0:36.142 0:05.093 1:54.102 3 48.9
9 6 Paturel, Benoit FRA FFM Yamaha 34:45.716 17 0:36.387 0:00.245 1:54.727 5 48.6
10 189 Bogers, Brian NED KNMV KTM 34:57.019 17 0:47.690 0:11.303 1:54.612 5 48.6
11 57 Sanayei, Darian USA AMA Kawasaki 34:59.663 17 0:50.334 0:02.644 1:54.872 6 48.5
12 919 Watson, Ben GBR ACU KTM 35:00.529 17 0:51.200 0:00.866 1:54.560 6 48.7
13 161 Östlund, Alvin SWE SVEMO Yamaha 35:06.289 17 0:56.960 0:05.760 1:54.876 7 48.5
14 747 Cervellin, Michele ITA FMI Honda 35:09.877 17 1:00.548 0:03.588 1:56.334 6 47.9
15 88 van der Vlist, Freek NED KNMV KTM 35:13.437 17 1:04.108 0:03.560 1:55.413 12 48.3
16 321 Bernardini, Samuele ITA FMI TM 35:16.967 17 1:07.638 0:03.530 1:55.553 11 48.2
17 128 Monticelli, Ivo ITA FMI KTM 35:17.310 17 1:07.981 0:00.343 1:56.125 8 48
18 29 Jacobi, Henry GER DMSB Husqvarna 35:20.336 17 1:11.007 0:03.026 1:55.708 6 48.2
19 95 De Waal, Micha-Boy NED KNMV Honda 35:21.161 17 1:11.832 0:00.825 1:56.266 15 47.9
20 107 van Berkel, Lars NED KNMV Honda 35:28.567 17 1:19.238 0:07.406 1:56.854 1 47.7
21 297 Gole, Anton SWE SVEMO Husqvarna 35:30.241 17 1:20.912 0:01.674 1:56.130 3 48
22 426 Mewse, Conrad GBR ACU Husqvarna 35:44.951 17 1:35.622 0:14.710 1:56.087 6 48
23 61 Prado Garcia, Jorge ESP RFME KTM 36:05.966 17 1:56.637 0:21.015 1:54.295 3 48.8
24 97 Ivanov, Maykal Grisha BUL FRM Honda 34:16.492 16 1 lap 1 lap 1:58.037 3 47.2
25 83 Renkens, Nathan BEL FMB KTM 34:24.562 16 1 lap 0:08.070 1:58.867 2 46.9
26 48 Wilson, Jay AUS MA Yamaha 34:54.865 16 1 lap 0:30.303 2:01.075 3 46
27 75 Roosiorg, Hardi EST EMF KTM 34:55.559 16 1 lap 0:00.694 1:59.867 1 46.5
28 67 Klingsheim, Magne NOR NMF Kawasaki 35:12.851 16 1 lap 0:17.292 2:00.845 2 46.1
29 397 Arbini, Gabriele ITA FMI Husqvarna 35:47.231 16 1 lap 0:34.380 2:04.059 9 44.9
30 783 Toriani, Enzo FRA FFM Husqvarna 35:47.362 16 1 lap 0:00.131 2:03.671 3 45.1
31 722 Mantovani, Michael ITA FMI Yamaha 35:51.074 16 1 lap 0:03.712 2:04.215 3 44.9
32 8 Fontanesi, Kiara ITA FMI Yamaha 36:18.390 15 2 laps 1 lap 2:06.526 2 44.1
33 338 Herbreteau, David FRA FFM Kawasaki 22:24.875 10 7 laps 5 laps 1:58.905 2 46.9
34 170 Ward, Caleb AUS MA Husqvarna 19:52.968 9 8 laps 1 lap 1:56.865 4 47.7
35 132 Kutsar, Karel EST EMF Husqvarna 18:07.712 8 9 laps 1 lap 1:57.398 7 47.5
36 64 Covington, Thomas USA MUL Husqvarna 12:24.409 5 12 laps 3 laps 1:55.291 2 48.3
37 33 Lieber, Julien BEL FMB KTM 2:11.761 0 17 laps 5 laps 0:00.000 0
38 18 Brylyakov, Vsevolod RUS MFR Kawasaki 0:00.000 -1 18 laps 1 lap 0:00.000 0
MX2 – GP Classification
1 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT LAMSF KTM 25 25 50
2 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS SUZ 18 22 40
3 172 Van doninck, Brent BEL FMB YAM 16 20 36
4 19 Olsen, Thomas Kjer DEN DMU HUS 12 18 30
5 10 Vlaanderen, Calvin NED KNMV KTM 15 14 29
6 96 Lawrence, Hunter AUS MA SUZ 11 16 27
7 6 Paturel, Benoit FRA FFM YAM 14 12 26
8 152 Petrov, Petar BUL FRM KAW 9 13 22
9 33 Lieber, Julien BEL FMB KTM 22 0 22
10 64 Covington, Thomas USA MUL HUS 20 0 20
11 161 Östlund, Alvin SWE SVEMO YAM 10 8 18
12 57 Sanayei, Darian USA AMA KAW 6 10 16
13 81 Hsu, Brian GER MAMS HUS 0 15 15
14 189 Bogers, Brian NED KNMV KTM 2 11 13
15 18 Brylyakov, Vsevolod RUS MFR KAW 13 0 13
16 128 Monticelli, Ivo ITA FMI KTM 7 4 11
17 29 Jacobi, Henry GER DMSB HUS 8 3 11
18 747 Cervellin, Michele ITA FMI HON 3 7 10
19 919 Watson, Ben GBR ACU KTM 0 9 9
20 88 van der Vlist, Freek NED KNMV KTM 0 6 6
21 107 van Berkel, Lars NED KNMV HON 5 1 6
22 321 Bernardini, Samuele ITA FMI TM 0 5 5
23 61 Prado Garcia, Jorge ESP RFME KTM 4 0 4
24 95 De Waal, Micha-Boy NED KNMV HON 0 2 2
25 426 Mewse, Conrad GBR ACU HUS 1 0 1
26 297 Gole, Anton SWE SVEMO HUS 0 0 0
27 97 Ivanov, Maykal Grisha BUL FRM HON 0 0 0
28 83 Renkens, Nathan BEL FMB KTM 0 0 0
29 48 Wilson, Jay AUS MA YAM 0 0 0
30 75 Roosiorg, Hardi EST EMF KTM 0 0 0
31 67 Klingsheim, Magne NOR NMF KAW 0 0 0
32 397 Arbini, Gabriele ITA FMI HUS 0 0 0
33 783 Toriani, Enzo FRA FFM HUS 0 0 0
34 722 Mantovani, Michael ITA FMI YAM 0 0 0
35 8 Fontanesi, Kiara ITA FMI YAM 0 0 0
36 338 Herbreteau, David FRA FFM KAW 0 0 0
37 170 Ward, Caleb AUS MA HUS 0 0 0
38 132 Kutsar, Karel EST EMF HUS 0 0 0
39 142 Petrov, Ivan BUL FRM HUS 0 0 0
40 811 Sterry, Adam GBR ACU KAW 0 0 0
MX2 – World Championship Classification
1 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT KTM 242
2 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI SUZ 223
3 33 Lieber, Julien BEL KTM 197
4 19 Olsen, T. DEN HUS 188
5 6 Paturel, B. FRA YAM 173
6 172 Van doninck, B. BEL YAM 159
7 64 Covington, T. USA HUS 133
8 18 Brylyakov, V. RUS KAW 123
9 61 Prado Garcia, J. ESP KTM 121
10 747 Cervellin, M. ITA HON 109
11 10 Vlaanderen, C. NED KTM 99
12 321 Bernardini, S. ITA TM 98
13 57 Sanayei, D. USA KAW 90
14 189 Bogers, Brian NED KTM 89
15 96 Lawrence, H. AUS SUZ 88
16 811 Sterry, Adam GBR KAW 72
17 919 Watson, Ben GBR KTM 58
18 128 Monticelli, I. ITA KTM 49
19 161 Östlund, Alvin SWE YAM 45
20 66 Larranaga Olano, I. ESP HUS 43