Red Bull KTM counted on MX2 title holder Jorge Prado and teammate Tom Vialle to continue the team’s role as protagonists in the 2019 FIM Motocross World Championship as they finished 1st and 2nd at a hot Grand Prix of Germany and the tenth round of eighteen in the series.
The Talkessel circuit in Teutschenthal was tight, bumpy and rutty as the old German hard-packed was ripped and prepared in an effort to improve line choice. The hot summer conditions meant frequent watering. This created a slick circuit at times and riders had to push the pace while exercising caution through the ripples of an otherwise quick and jumpy layout.
Red Bull KTM missed representation in the MXGP class for the first time since 2016 with Jeffrey Herlings and Tony Cairoli nursing right leg and right shoulder injuries respectively. The orange ‘void’ was partially filled by Standing Construct KTM’s Max Anstie and Glenn Coldenhoff who managed to score 6th and 7th overall in front of 35,000 spectators (weekend figure).
MX2: World Championship leader and title defender Jorge Prado reigned supreme again for the ninth time in 2019. He is still unbeaten this year and has half a season of victories under his belt. Tom Vialle rode to a third podium result of his rookie term on what was his first race at Teutschenthal.
Prado steered his 250SX-F to a sixth Qualification Heat victory on Saturday (his fourth in a row) that permitted first choice in the gate and for the fast drop down to the opening left-handed turn. Prado again aced his start in the first moto and ran undisturbed ahead of Vialle, giving the team a dominant 1-2 classification. The second race was a similar story: Prado, with 14 holeshots now, rode to his seventeenth moto win (from eighteen appearances) and eighth double but Vialle was 3rd behind Mathys Boisrame, which still allowed him to occupy the second step of the podium.
Jorge Prado: “It was another good weekend and I’m happy because I was struggling a bit yesterday. I felt better in the second moto, on a track that was far from easy, because it was tough to get a flow. It was enough to get the job done today. We’ve had a lot of races recently but I will go back home in this small break and keep training. My goal this season is to keep improving.”
Tom Vialle: “A really good weekend for me and a good turnaround because I didn’t have a great feeling on the bike yesterday. Today I had two solid starts and races. The track was very hard: it wasn’t so fast but with really deep ruts and I liked it. I have been going step-by-step with my confidence and feeling this year and I’m really happy.”
Russia, Latvia and Germany represented an eastern European flavour for MXGP in the last three weeks but the series will head even further afield in a fortnight’s time. The first of two back-to-back Grands Prix in Indonesia will be staged at Palembang on July 7th.
STORY: Cairoli & Herlings To Miss German MXGP With Injury Setbacks
photos (c) Ray Archer