Motocross GP carves up Thailand

Standing -Ryan Blood-FOX Intl. / KritsadaAtapan / Chalermphol Thienmanee / Vonn Yang – Primer Grp / Airrica Danas Primer – Grp / Gautier Paulin FOX MXGP rider / Paolo MIsa – Primer Grp / Duangtiva Binkamalee Seated -Tim Gasjer FOX MXGP rider / Evgeny Bobryshev FOX MXGP Rider

DUSTY, hot, and muddy. Bikes catching big, air and mud spewing about. A carved up dirt track. A full on assault on the senses, and pure unadulterated adrenaline rush. This is the world of Motocross GP Racing.

Suphan Buri, Thailand, was the venue for the second race of the 18-round 2016 FIM Motocross World Championship (MXGP).

The 1.585-km dirt circuit is roughly a 90-minute drive from the city of Bangkok, and fans, some coming from as far as Europe, trooped down to Thailand for the race.

But it was mostly locals that braved the elements all weekend to see their heros fight it out for the right to be crowned the top dog in Thailand.

MXGP Thailand ran two race categories: the MX2, with bike displacements of 250 cc and below, and MXGP, with displacements of 450 cc and below.

Unfortunately, the womens race, or MXW, was not held in Suphan Buri.

For those new to the sport, each race lasts 30 minutes, and an additional three laps will be run after the 30-minute mark to determine the winner.

The race on Sunday saw Jeffrey Herlings of The Netherlands winning the first heat in the MX2 category with a huge 32-second lead ahead of Russian Aleksandr Tonkov and the Swiss Jeremy Seewer.

In the second heat, it was Herlings again taking top honors. Max Anstie of Great Britain and Jeremy Seewer followed the Dutch across the line, 26 seconds back, to take second and third place place, respectively.

Herlings was in complete control of both heats, displaying outright power and speed. His lead was never threathened; Herlings was dominant.

The MX2 championship standing had Herlings, Anstie and Seewer occupying the top 3 places.

In Race 1 of the MXGP, it was Romain Febvre of France taking the win. Two seconds adrift was the Italian Antonio Cairoli, and in third was Slovenia’s Tim Gasjer.

Race 2 saw Febvre establish a huge lead from the get-go, which the Frenchman even increased by 15 seconds to his closest rival.

Febvre showcased his finesse in throttle control, and like Herlings, was unchallenged all afternoon.

Fabvre took the checkered flag seven seconds ahead of the Kiwi Ben Townley following closely behind. And taking third place was Maximilian Nagl from Germany.

Febvre showcased his superior race-craft in Thailand, and even as the sun bore down hard on all the riders, Romain took it all in stride, shrugging off a possible heatstroke which was a common occurrence in Thailand, and left his rivals to eat his dust enroute to taking the win.

The championship standings now have Romain Febvre leading the MXGP category with 92 points, followed closely by Fox athletes Tim Gasjer (86 points) and Evgeny Bobryshev (74 points).

Fox Head Inc., makers of the iconic and best-selling Motocross apparel FOX Racing, is the title sponsor for the Holeshot award. This recognition is given to the fastest starting rider for each race. One point is awarded for each holeshot victor, and at the end of the season, the highest total points in the MXGP race wins Euro 10,000, while Euro 5,000 is given for the MX2 category winner.

It was Kei Yamamoto of Thailand Team Honda and Valentin Guillod of Kemea Yamaha, respectively, taking the holeshot trophy in races 1 and 2 of the MXGP.

In MX2, Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings claimed the holeshot in race 1 with  teammate Pauls Jonass taking the honors in race 2.

Fox Racing and the FOX head logo is synonymous with motocross. Borne from the vision of Geoff Fox some 40 years ago to provide the best motocross products that money can buy.

Fox Racing is now one of the most recognized brands worldwide. But not wanting to rest on their laurels, the Fox brand has expanded its catalogue to include BMX, wakeboarding, and even moutain biking.

Fox International sales representative Ryan Blood, in an interview, mentioned that while the worldwide growth of the Fox brand in motocross is substantial and has never faltered, it is the annual increase of the mountain bike apparel line-up that continues to impress.

With a reported growth rate of 30 percent year on year, it is no surprise that Fox has remained, and will continue to remain, as one of the leaders in the race apprael and performance gear market.

Fox Racing is available locally in nine concept stores scattered in various malls across the country. You can also find them at the R.O.X. and Grind stores nationwide.