Not only did Cairoli and Herlings deliver championship titles for us, but racers using Akrapovič exhaust systems took nearly all the podium positions in Teutschenthal.

In the last round of the world championship in the MX1 and MX2 classes this year, the truly outstanding Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings spared us the excitement of waiting to see who would win the world championship titles. Both of them already staked out their titles at the GP of Europe at Faenza: Tony for the sixth time, and Herlings for the first. But this doesn’t mean that the races in front of a 40,000-strong crowd were boring—not a chance!

The home crowd couldn’t wait to see Ken Roczen perform on his home turf after returning from the races in the U.S. He had the best time in the MX1 qualifiers and then placed third at the qualifying race behind Cairoli and another German, Max Nagl, which was another reason for the excitement on the natural hillside stands. In the first Sunday moto, Cairoli passed the checkered flag ahead of Desalle and Rozcen, and in the second moto Roczen made it through to second place behind the invincible Cairoli to the accompaniment of his fans’ loud cheers. Places one through four were taken by riders using Akrapovič exhaust systems: Cairoli, Roczen, Desalle, and Nagl.

His finger injury from Saturday’s qualifying session didn’t stop Cairoli: “After what happened in Sweden (double DNF) it was my goal to win every GP and I’m really satisfied with what happened. It was great to fight with my teammates Roczen and Nagl, especially because they were racing on their home ground.”

In the MX2 class, world champion Jeffrey Herlings dropped out of the first moto due to technical problems, leaving Zach Osborne (Yamaha) and Jordi Tixter (KTM) to follow the winner Tommy Searle (Kawasaki) through the finish line. Searle also won the second moto, and second and third places were taken by Jeffrey Herlings and Arnaud Tonus (Yamaha). After both motos, the overall second and third places were taken by members of the Monster Energy Yamaha team, Osborne and Tonus, both riding a 250 cc Yamaha sporting the red scorpion on their exhausts.

“I knew it was my last GP moto of this stage of my career, so I put my heart and soul into it and was able to finish on the podium,” said Osborne, summing up his impressions on the last race.

After sixteen rounds in the MX2 class, the first three places overall are held by Jeffrey Herlings (Red Bull KTM Factory), Tommy Searle (Kawasaki), and another KTM rider, Jeremy van Horebeek. The triumph of both KTM riders was shared by Akrapovič as well! We’re even happier looking at the overall MX1 standings, where the red scorpion also occupies the first two podium steps: Cairoli is first and Desalle second. Thanks and heartfelt congratulations, guys! It’s a real pleasure to watch you do what you’re best at!

Photo: Matevž Hribar