The steep hills and hardpack of the historic Maggiora Park circuit was able to welcome FIM World Championship racing for the first time since the 2016 Motocross of Nations and for the first Grand Prix event since 2015. Warm and showery conditions created a slick, rutty and finally muddy affair around the narrow and tricky Italian layout.

Jeffrey Herlings ruled Timed Practice for his first Pole Position of the season by almost four-tenths of a second over Tim Gajser. Jorge Prado was 3rd fastest. Winner of the last round in the UK, Tony Cairoli, in 7th. It was Prado who made the better start in the first race and circulated behind leader and winner Romain Febvre in what was a static affair. Cairoli was 3rd and Herlings had to fight back to 6th after he initially lost time removing a stone wedged into his rear brake system.

Jeffrey Herlings wins the first moto and GP of 2021 with the KTM 450 SX-F for his 91st career success.

A brief thunderstorm just before the second moto dumped a lot of rain on Maggiora and ensured the final race of the day would be a ‘mudder’. Herlings made the best start and followed Glenn Coldenhoff for 11 of the 17 laps. He passed his countryman and won by almost seven seconds. The 6-1 scorecard meant he tied on points but the second moto win defined the Grand Prix ranking. Also equal on 40 points was Cairoli who had to deal with broken goggles before finally ditching the eyewear. Despite the disadvantage, Cairoli was able to ride to 3rd and his 3-3 gave him a second consecutive podium appearance. Prado was also running with the leaders but lost two places inside the final two laps and his 2-7 cast him to 4th spot overall.

Jeffrey Herlings: “The first moto felt like a disaster. I didn’t know what was stopping the rear brake so I had to sort it out and lost places and around twenty seconds. I then had to make a late moto charge. I was bummed about that and really wanted to go for the win in the second race but the rain fell so hard just before the start. It was a bit unexpected, and we had to make a last minute decision about tires and googles. My starts were off a bit today but the second moto was OK and I got into 3rd, where I saved my goggles for a while. I had a little gap to Glenn and I knew coming to the lapped riders would be a moment where you can lose but also gain a lot of time: you have to be a bit lucky. So I attacked at that moment and it led to the ‘overall’. We closed a lot of points in the championship so the day started and finished in an unlucky and lucky way. It’s good to head into Oss with a confidence boost. I want to give-it-up to the Red Bull KTM team and the job they did, the bike was excellent.”

One week after his maiden podium result in his rookie MX2 season, Mattia Guadagnini was not over-awed by the prospect of his home Grand Prix and rode to a strong and steady 2nd position behind Thibault Benistant in the first moto. The rookie was faultless in the second race to lead from the first lap to the last and reached a new career highlight. As well as his superiority on the day the Italian was also able to seize the red plate as the new world championship leader.

Mattia Guadagnini: “This is crazy. I don’t know what to say. It feels really good. I made two good starts and I didn’t want to take too many risks in the first moto. Staying calm and taking 2nd place was enough, although I did wait to see if I could pass Thibault in the last part of the race but he was too fast. I pushed hard to take the lead on the first lap of the second moto and then just rode my race and had fun. I made a gap and enjoyed the last few laps. It’s amazing to win here in Italy and it was also a surprise to take the red plate. Oss is next and I’m pretty good in the sand, we’ll train and be ready to go again.”

MX2 World Champion Tom Vialle tried returning to competitive action after missing the British Grand Prix the previous weekend. The Frenchman’s fractured right hand had improved but was still too painful for the downhill descents and long ruts of Maggiora and he could not complete more than a few laps of the first moto. With a one-week break between races in Italy and Holland Vialle should be more confident of entering round four in better condition.

Rene Hofer started the first race among the leaders but was hit and then swamped through the opening twisty corners. He then spent the rest of the 30 minute and 2 lap distance trying to enter the top ten, managing 11th by the flag. In the second moto the Austrian was more competitive thanks to a more effective launch. Reaching 6th ensured 10th place overall.

The Oss Motocross Circuit will welcome MXGP for the very first time as the venue prepares for the Grand Prix of the Netherlands on July 18th. Round four will be the first of four meetings on consecutive weekends with trips to the Czech Republic, Latvia and Belgium following the Dutch stop.

STORY: Red Bull KTM Lock-Out Loket As Prado & Guadagnini Win In The Czech Republic (July 2021)
STORY: Herlings & Vialle Run Out Winners In France For Final Shakedown Race Ahead Of MXGP 2021 (June 2021)

photos (c) Ray Archer