2020 GRAND PRIX OF LOMMEL FINAL RESULTS: GAJSER GAPS ‘EM & WATSON SHOCKS ‘EM

Tim Gajser.

450 GRAND PRIX CLASS

Sentimental favorite Tony Cairoli hasn’t showed his good stuff since round eight. He’s been a solid top five, but every now and then he has a terrible moto (14th at round 9, a 7-6 day in Spain, 13th at the tenth GP and 10th in moto two this weekend).  At the third and final Lommel GP, Tony went 3-10. He got got away from the pack, save for Gajser and Febvre, early and held on for third in moto one, but in moto two he messed up the first turn and threw it away over the next jump. Dead last, he came through for tenth. He is still second in the Championship, but can only hope that the next three rounds at home in Italy will bode better for him or Seewer will move him back to third and Gajser will clinch before Tony gets a chance to show what he can do in Trentino. He is 74 points behind Gajser in the championship.

Gautier Paulin was fourth at Lommel and issixth in the 450 World standings.

Apart from Gajser’s sudden victory streak and Cairoli’s troubles, Romain Febvre’s season was damaged by missing the first two rounds and one bad day in Italy at round nine. He went 2-2 for second at Lommel #3, but his fifth in the title chase is really more a result his two missed rounds. Of course he was also helped by injuries to riders that were in front of him in the 450 standings. But Romain was incredibly consistent over the last 13 events. Romain scored one moto win, five seconds, seven thirds, four fourths and three fifth—for 20 top fives out of 26 possible moto scores.

Tim Gajser and the spoils of motocross.

2020 GRAND PRIX OF LOMMEL 450 OVERALL RESULTS
1. Tim Gajser (Hon)..1-1
2. Romain Febvre (Kaw)…2-2
3. Jeremy Seewer (Yam)…4-3
4. Gautier Paulin (Yam)…5-4
5. Tony Cairoli (KTM)…3-10
6. Arnaud Tonus (Yam)…8-5
7. Brian Bogers (KTM)…6-7
8. Clement Desalle (Kaw)…10-6
9. Jordi Tixier (KTM)…7-9
10. Jeremy Van Horebeek (Hon)…9-15
Other notables: 11. Calvin Vlaanderen (Yam); 12. Brent Van Doninck (Hus); 13. Evgeny Bobryshev (Hus); 14. Dylan Walsh (Hon); 15. Ivo Monticelli (Gas); 16. Tanel Leok (Hus); 18.Nathan Watson (Hon).

Jeremy Seewer.

2020 FIM 450 GP POINTS STANDINGS
(After 15 of 18 rounds)
1. Tim Gajser (Hon)…583
2. Tony Cairoli (KTM)…509
3. Jeremy Seewer (Yam)…499
4. Jorge Prado (KTM)…476
5. Romain Febvre (Kaw)…465
6. Gautier Paulin (Yam)…403
7. Glenn Coldenhoff (Gas)…375
8. Clement Desalle (Yam)…362
9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (Hon)…289
10. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM)…263

250 GRAND PRIX CLASS

Isak Gifting.

Ben Watson said after achieving his first-ever 250 Grand Prix victory, “Honestly, there are no words! Just thank you to everybody for making this happen. I’m a GP winner – I don’t believe it! The first race I rode incredible, I felt really good, I made a real smart race. In the second one I just took a bad start and fell to pieces a little bit, I really didn’t ride good but I just kept putting the laps in. I made quite a few mistakes, but I was able to finish fourth and take the victory.”

Watson’s good day was in stark contrast to Jago Geerts’ bad day. Geerts, once red plate holder and still a safe second in 250 GP points, finished ninth at Lommel #3 with a 13-7 day. Geerts, who had the measure of points leader Tom Vialle early in the season, is now 74 points behind the French KTM rider with only three races to go. Vialle could DNF the next GP and still have a 24 points lead over Jago.

Ben Watson—Grand Prix winner.

As for Tom Vialle, he went 3-6, which doesn’t sound very impressive for the 250 Grand Prix points leader, but Vialle is only racing against Jago Geerts—so when he scores more points than Jago that is a good day. Vialle has such a big points lead over the field that only Geerts could possibly take the title from him. If Vialle went home and stayed there for the final three rounds, would still be second overall in the series.

You gotta feel happy for Swede Isak Gifting. He didn’t have a ride for the first eight 250 GPs, but when Gas Gas riders Michael Sandner and Simon Langenfelder got injured, Gifting got called up as a fill-in rider. And, in the seven races he has compete in ,he has come from zero points to 179 points (and is currently 13th in 250 GP points), Gifting had a great second moto at Lommel when he duel with Thomas Kjer Olsen and Tom Vialle to get second place. Combined with his first moto seventh he ended up fifth overall.

Isak Gifting said, “Just amazing. Another great GP and a great end to the week. Having some battles with the top guys in the class has been really good for my confidence. It was a shame that I crashed in race one, but race two was amazing. Second place, I cannot complain. As always, I just went for it today. Full gas in both motos and another great result. I can’t wait for next weekend in Italy.”

2020 GRAND PRIX OF LOMMEL 250 OVERALL RESULTS
1. Ben Watson (Yam)…1-4
2. Roan Van Moosdijk (Kaw)…6-1
3. Maxime Renaux (Yam)…2-5
4. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Hus)…5-3
5. Isak Gifting (Gas)…7-2
6. Tom Vialle (KTM)…3-6
7. Thibault Benistant (Yam)…4-11
8. Jed Beaton (Hus)…7-8
9. Jago Geerts (Yam)…13-7
10. Alvin Ostlund (Hon)…12-9
Other notables: 11. Conrad Mewse (KTM); 12. Bas Vaessen (KTM);14. Nathan Renkens (KTM); 15. Kevin Horgmo (KTM); 16. Stephen Rubini (Hon); 24. Michael Sandner (Gas).

Roan Van De Moosdijk.

Thomas Kjer Olsen is fifth in 250 GP points, but only 6 poins in front of Ben Watson.

2020 FIM 250 GP POINTS STANDINGS
(After 15 of 18 rounds)
1. Tom Vialle (KTM)…651
2. Jago Geerts (Yam)…577
3. Maxime Renaux (Yam)…476
4. Jed Beaton (Hus)…456
5. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Hus)…446
6. Ben Watson (Yam)…440
7. Roan Van De Moosdijk (Kaw)…417
8. Conrad Mewse (KTM)…307
9. Ruben Fernandez (Yam)…279
10. Mathys Boisrame (Kaw)…234

 

Photos: Honda, Yamaha, Gas Gas