2018 ASIA MXGP | MX2 OVERALL RACE RESULTS

On Jul 8, 2018

The start of the MX2 class in Asia.

KTM’s Jorge Prado‘s mid-season push has helped him reel in points leader, Pauls Jonass. Prado went 2-1 in the Asia MXGP over Jonass’ 1-6 finishes. These overall finishes tied the teammates in points heading into the 14th round of the series in the Czech Republic.

MX2 OVERALL RACE RESULTS | ASIA

Jorge Prado (KTM)–2-1
Pauls Jonass (KTM)–1-6
Calvin Vlaanderen (Hon)–5-2
Ben Watson (Yam)–3-5
Thomas Covington (Hus)–7-3
Anthony Rodriguez (Yam)–4-7
Thomas Kjer Olsen (Hus)–11-5
Michele Cervellin (Yam)–6-11
Brent Van doninck (Hus)–9-9
Adam Sterry (Kaw)–8-10
Bas Vaessen (Hon)–16-8
Muhammad Delvintor Alfariza (Hus)–13-12
Diva Ismayana (Hus)–14-13
Jy Roberts (Hus)–12-15
Hitman Maksum (Hus)–15-14
Jago Geerts (Yam)–10-DNS
Simone Furotti (Yam)–17-DNS
Yosua Pattipi (Hus)–18-DNS

2018 250 GRAND PRIX POINTS (After 13 of 20 rounds)

1. Pauls Jonass (KTM)…550
2. Jorge Prado (KTM)…550
3. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Hus)…422
4. Ben Watson (Yam)…312
5. Calvin Vlaanderen (Hon)….369
6. Thomas Covington (Hus)…331
7. Jago Geerts (Yam)…286
8. Michele Cervellin (Yam)…255
9. Henry Jacobi (Hus)…223
10. Davy Pootjes (KTM)…218

2018 ASIA MXGP | FULL COVERAGE

The KTM rider of Pauls Jonass won the overall in Asia and is now tied for points with teammate Pauls Jonass heading into the 14th round.

The MX2 Asia podium from left to right: Pauls Jonass, Jorge Prado, Calvin Vlaanderen.

MX2 ASIA RACE REPORT

The MX2 Championship fight is in full force after today’s MXGP of Asia in Semarang. Race one began with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado taking the Fox Holeshot ahead of his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Pauls Jonass.

Jonass had Team HRC’s Calvin Vlaanderen just to his inside down the Pit Lane straight after the start and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Thomas Kjer Olsen to his outside. Vlaanderen grabbed a handful of front brake on the entry to the next turn resulting in him going down and just moments later Olsen was down. For Olsen his crash came from landing short on the next jump and he took out his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing teammate Thomas Covington in the process.

With some room to breathe early Jonass pushed to pass Prado but then fell himself after losing the front end. Quick to get up Jonass was still second ahead of Kemea Yamaha Official MX2 Team’s Ben Watson and Yamaha SM Action M.C. – Migliori’s Michele Cervellin. F&H Racing Team’s Adam Sterry was in 5th with Honda 114 Motorsport’s Bas Vaessen giving chase.

Kemea Yamaha Official MX2 Team’s Anthony Rodriguez passed Vaessen on lap 3 and then got by Sterry on lap 6 for 5th. Vaessen continued to push but had a big crash just before the downhill triple and was slow to get going again before eventually pulling off the track.

Back at the front Jonass had again caught Prado with the help of lapped riders and mistakes from the Spaniard. Jonass made the impressive pass for the lead on lap 9 and then started to pull away. A few spots further back Rodriguez was searching for a way into 4th and eventually took the spot from Cervellin.

Also making big passes to finish the race was Vlaanderen who came back from last to finish 5th ahead of Cervellin and Covington. Winning the race was Jonass with Prado 2nd and Watson 3rd followed by his teammate Rodriguez in 4th.

Race 2 was off to another wild start with Jonass crashing in the first turn while Prado took the Fox Holeshot and lead. Vlaanderen had another strong jump off of the grid and kept the mistakes to a minimum in 2nd. Covington also rebounded from the bad luck of race 1 and found himself 3rd on the first laps followed by Watson and Olsen.

4 laps into the race Covington took 2nd from Vlaanderen, Jonass was up to 10th and Olsen made a pass on Watson for 4th on lap 5. Prado was able to manage his lead well as every time Covington gained ground Prado responded.

The top 5 remained unchanged for the next 10 laps until Vlaanderen made charge with 2 laps to go and reclaimed 2nd from Covington. In the meantime Jonass had clawed his way back to 6th in a massive effort. Crossing the finish first was Prado with Vlaanderen, Covington, Olsen, and Watson finishing out the top 5.

On the overall podium it was Prado by 7 points over Jonass and 9 ahead of Vlaanderen. Prado’s effort has tied the MX2 Championship standings at 550 points for both himself and Jonass. Jonass will however maintain the red plate with more race wins as the series heads to Loket for the MXGP of Czech Republic in 2 week time.

Jorge Prado: “It was a great weekend! I had to really fight every lap of the races but I was really happy taking two Fox Holeshots which made everything easier. I am really happy with my performance. Now Pauls and I are the same points so in 2 weeks we go to Loket.”

Pauls Jonass: “Actually the weekend went really good. I was feeling really good just in the second race I had a bad mistake in the first turn. I wanted to end the 2 weeks in Indonesia on a more positive note but we are looking forward to the next GP in Loket and we are going to work hard to gain more points on Jorge.”

Calvin Vlaanderen: “It feels great to be on the podium again and go back to back. I had a good day and overall I’m happy. My mechanic showed me 3 laps to go in race 2 and that’s when I took a deep breath, pushed the last few laps to make a pass and thats what happened.”

MX2 SATURDAY QUALIFYING

The Factory KTM rider of Pauls Jonass took the qualifying race win in Asia.

Round 13 of the MXGP World Championship series is on its way in Semarang, Indonesia in the country of Asia. Just like the MXGP last week in Indonesia, the MX2 field won’t even half-way fill up the 40 man gate. At 19 riders it’s a joke. On the same weekend at the Red Bud National over 80 riders signed up to race in the 250 class.

Points leader Pauls Jonass took the Saturday qualifying race win with teammate Jorge Prado taking second. Yamaha’s Ben Watson finished third.

MX2 QUALIFYING RACE RESULTS | ASIA

Pauls Jonass (KTM)
Jorge Prado (KTM)
Ben Watson (Yam)
Thomas Kjer Olsen (Hus)
Thomas Covington (Hus)
Calvin Vlaanderen (Hon)
Anthony Rodriguez (Yam)
Michele Cervellin (Yam)
Brent Van doninck (Hus)
Davy Pootjes (KTM)
Bas Vaessen (Hon)
Jago Geerts (Yam)
Adam Sterry (Kaw)
Jy Roberts (Hus)
Muhammad Delvintor Alfariza (Hus)
Diva Ismayana (Hus)
Yosua Pattipi (Hus)
Hitman Maksum (Hus)
Morgan Fogarty (KTM)

2018 ASIA MXGP | FULL COVERAGE

Jorge Prado is only seven points down in championship points to his teammate Pauls Jonass.

Yamaha’s Ben Watson finished third.

ASIA MX2 RACE REPORT

MX2’s Racing was a sight for the Indonesian fans as well with the 250cc bikes stretching out the massive jumps of the Semarang circuit. Off the start it looked as if Kemea Yamaha Official MX2 Team’s Ben Watson was about to take his first holeshot. Unfortunately for Watson Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Pradocame out of the first turn with the lead.

Watson’s best start of the year put him third after the first lap with Prado’s Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Teammate Pauls Jonass also making it past the Brit. In 4th and 5th position were Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Kjer Olsen and Thomas Covington.

Last week’s MX2 overall winner, Team HRC’s Calvin Vlaanderen was in 6th with Yamaha SM Action – M.C. Migliori’s Michele Cervellin and Kemea Yamaha Official MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts giving chase.

The first portion of the race Prado held a steady pace and lead over Jonass but just before the halfway mark Jonass started making up time little by little. Prado then reached the tail end of lapped traffic which allowed Jonass to close the gap to nearly nothing. With Jonass on the back wheel of Prado it took just over a lap to make a pass for the lead stick.

Another rider on a clear mission to forward was Kemea Yamaha Official MX2’s Anthony Rodriguez. Rodriguez looked comfortable on the track since Free Practice and showed impressive speed passing both Cervellin and Geerts in the race to take 7th.

The remainder of the race stayed relatively unchanged and at the finish Jonass kept Prado behind him to score his 4th pole position of 2018 with Watson 3rd, Olsen 4th, Covington 5th, and Vlaanderen matching his qualifying position from last week of 6th.

Pauls Jonass: “The qualifying went really good. I haven’t won a qualifying race in a while so it was good to win and go the gate first because here the start is very important. I think they did a really good job on the track.”

Calvin Vlaanderen: “The qualifying race was quite good, we got off to a good start and I was in 6th from the first laps. I just saved some energy for tomorrow…we just did our thing today but tomorrow hopefully we get 2 good starts so we can run up front and fight for the podium again.”