MXGP #57 May 2018

RACING CATCH UP

RIDER OF THE MONTH Henry Jacobi

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INDEX

COOL SHOT

MONSTER GIRLS

HALL OF FAME Jeff Staton

MXGP MAG: Chief Editor: Marionna Leiva Photos: Youthstream YOUTHSTREAM Media World Trade Center II Rte de Pré-Bois 29 1215 Geneva 15 Airport Switzerland MXGP Mag #57 May 2018 The articles published in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the official position of Youthstream.

Then content of this publication is based on the best knowledge and information available at the time the articles were written.

The copying of articles and photos even partially is forbidden unless permission has ben requested from Youthstream in advance and reference is made to the source (©Youthstream).

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EDITORIAL Giuseppe Luongo President of Youthstream Group Dear MXGP Friends,

Each year Motocross has more and more international recognition, not only as a sport but for all aspects linked to it: organization, presentation, promotion and media coverage. This is due to the great collaboration and partnership between all stakeholders; YS, FIM, FIM-E, National Federations, organizers, manufacturers, teams, riders, industries, sponsors and to the great support Motocross receives from all the fans worldwide.

over the last 10 years. Teams have made massive improvements to their set-ups, years ago there were only a few factory teams today the paddock is exploding with factory and professional teams with great presentations; they have about 20 employees today compared to the 4 or 5 some 10 years ago. The paddock is buzzing with energy and fans walking through the paddock will have seen increasingly more teams’ hospitalities, becoming more beautiful and with more famous guests. One of Youthstream’s policies is to give fans access to the paddock, for us it’s fundamental that fans can stay close to the action and have the possibility to see the stars and bikes from up close and witness the teams in action, for lovers of Motocross this is all part of the fun.

People who have come to events for many years and walked through the paddock will have seen and experienced the enormous step our sport has made

The work that has been done on a sporting perspective to MXGP over the years is impressive and major key points in its evolution was the creation of the Europe-

This month I want to talk to you about the incredible evolution MXGP and all the levels of the pyramid linked to MXGP, like MX2, Women and European Championships, have done over the last several years.

an Championships and the work to make the race tracks very technically demanding. Based on the project of MXGP’s growth, racing on the Saturdays was an essential item, and now with time we have seen the number of spectators on the Saturdays have multiplied by 3 compared to the previous Saturdays’ format, which is indispensable for the local organizers.

Clearly our sport is growing from all points of view; today MXGP touches nearly all the continents, fans can follow MXGP from all over the world via TV, MXGP-TV and all the various social media platforms. On the backstage, however, there are a lot of people working to make all this happen, and we want to pay a special tribute to all these people who are not on the front pages of the magazines but with their hard work permit all this to happen. These people are: • All the local organizers’ voluntary workers who spend days working under extreme MXGP MAG 2018 MXGP.COM

weather conditions carrying out their important duties.

• The teams’ staff; mechanics, engineers, chefs, truck drivers who work very hard and with a lot of passion for their teams and who help the overall success and image of MXGP. • The FIM and FIM-Europe staff who travel from far to every race and work with devotion ensuring the sport and technical regulations are fairly respected by all the participants.

• All the professional people working for YS, who are: 55 for TV, social media and marketing, 35 for logistics, 20 for food and beverage, 10 for the sport and track, and more than 15 for administration, passes and other services. These people work day and night to make the event happen and help spread the image of our sport worldwide.

I want to take our logistics department as an example, they

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really do a remarkable job, especially when there are 2 back-toback GP events like Trentino and then Agueda, they arrive at Trentino on the Tuesday before the event, they build everything (Skybox, pitlane, install advertising, Youthstream hospitalities and offices) in 3 days, then during the weekend they have specific tasks related to the running of the event, on Sunday they work late into the evening and Monday they finish loading everything into the trucks so that by 5pm on Monday they can be on the road to Portugal (2,400km), stopping the time required by law to arrive in Agueda by Wednesday evening and have everything ready by Friday evening. Clearly, these are professional people and are paid for their jobs, but they have a huge passion which drives them and they work very hard feeling the responsibility of being a part of this great project.

We don’t hear so much about

all these people and that’s why I want to talk about them when I talk about the success of our sport, because evidently the most important aspects in our sport are the riders and the racing because thanks to them MXGP exists and there are a lot of fans who follow MXGP, but we must never forget those who work behind the scenes.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the magazine where you can catch up on all the latest riders’ action at the MXGP in Trentino and Portugal, read about MXGP Academies activities in Russia, and much more.

Next Tuesday the MXGP of Russia will be held for the first time on the 1st of May, Labour Day. This date of recognition was created in Russia and therefore has an important significance. I’m sure it will be a fantastic event.

COOL SHOTS

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COOL SHOTS

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COOL SHOTS

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HOLESHOT

Holy Fox Holeshot!

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The 2018 FIM Motocross World Championship season is now well underway as we have completed the first 5 rounds of the year’s 20 total. Out of the five races we had record-ed a total of 20 Fox Holeshots between MXGP and MX2 racing.

HOLESHOT

black plates just one over his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Teammate Pauls Jonass. Similar start conditions to Trentino yielded similar results for Prado. The layout of the long straight into an uphill left then right and downhill suited the Spaniard well. As the field charged into the first corner Prado’s KTM Last time in the Fox Holeagain led the way and again Covshot report privateer bikes ington followed on his Husqvarna. led had surprised the factory What looked to be brewing into a ma-chines of MX2 and Cairoli replay of Trentino’s race 2 never was nearly untouchable on the happened, as Covington pulled out starts of MXGP. The tables have For Race 2 Prado had a repeat of of the race after twisting his knee. now been turned in both class- the start leading another HusqPrado showed the rest of the field es with the weekends in Trenvarna across the Fox Holeshot line, just how important a Fox Holetino and Portugal. Just days shot was as he led every lap to the this time Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas before Russia we give you the finish. latest update on who has been Covington. With his 3rd holeshot, Race 2 started identical for Prado getting the early ad-vantage in Prado took the lead in the standings. While Prado’s holeshot helped but with the loss of Covington his racing. him to lead nearly every lap, the holeshot was even more massive good start from Covington allowed again leading the field by multiMX2 ple bike lengths through the first the Ameri-can to pass Prado for MXGP of Trentino corner. His lead never diminished, Trentino was the start of a new the race win on the last lap! it only grew with his double Fox trend in the MX2 class, a trend Holeshots helping him to claim MXGP of Portugal that was all in the benefit of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s At the start of the 5th round of the FIM Motocross World ChampionJorge Prado. At Prado’s home GP in Spain only 2 weeks prior ship, in Agueda, Portugal, Jorge he scored his first Fox Holeshot Prado held the most Fox Holeshot

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in race 2 but would later be passed by Jonass for the win.

As the gate dropped in Trentino for Race 1 Jorge Prado took his second Fox Holeshot of the season to tie with Jonass in the standings as he crossed the chalk several bike lengths in front of the nearest competitor, STC Racing Husqvarna’s Henry Jacobi. Prado took the rest of the race as a training session leaving the field to battle behind him.

double race wins and the overall.

MXGP MXGP of Trentino The MXGP of Trentino was not just a turning point in MX2 with Prado taking over the Fox Holeshot standings, it was also the host of a monumental change in the MXGP class.

The racing leading up to the Trentino GP was a continual game of cat and mouse be-tween Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings but the differ-ence often came down to the start where Cairoli took the 5 of the 6 Fox Holeshots, while Herlings struggled and worked his way back through the pack.

When the gate dropped in Trentino for race 1 Herlings did the previous unthinkable and scored his first Fox Holeshot of his career in the MXGP class. Herlings took full ad-vantage of the holeshot and ran away with the race win. Race 2’s Fox Holeshot honor returned

to Cairoli for the 6th time in 2018.

Though Cairoli took the holeshot Herlings still scored a top 5 start and quickly passed Cairoli.

MXGP of Portugal Into the MXGP we went with Cairoli leading the Fox Holeshot standings with 6 to Her-lings Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Romain Febvre’s 1. Herlings race was no-table less troublesome when he started at the front but the question remained if his good starts of Trentino would continue.

As the roar of the MXGP bikes flying down the start straight brought life to the fans it also empowered Jeffrey Herlings to claim the race 1 Fox Holeshot showing everyone he had cured his start weakness. Chasing Herlings was Gajser and Cairoli but neither would could the “Bullet” on his way to victory.

class, Herlings had a slight mishap of the long gate drop of race 2.

Claim-ing his first Fox Holeshot of the season was the injured Wilvo Yamaha Official MXGP rid-er Shaun Simpson. Simpson barely led Cairoli and Febvre by half a wheel but just enough to take the most recent Fox Holeshot black plate!

MXGP Antonio Cairoli: 6 Jeffrey Herlings: 2 Romain Febvre: 1 Shaun Simpson: 1 MX2 Jorge Prado: 5 Pauls Jonass: 2 Hunter Lawrence: 1 Davy Pootjes: 1 Henry Jacobi: 1

After becoming the only rider other than Cairoli to take more than one holeshot in the premier MXGP

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RACING CATCH UP

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TEN OUT OF TEN FOR KTM

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With the 2018 MXGP season now very much in full swing, a quick look at the overall statistics after the opening five rounds has revealed one very significant factor: that KTM has so far won every round of MXGP and MX2 with Jeffrey Herlings winning four to Antonio Cairoli’s one in the premier class, whilst Pauls Jonass’ run of three-in-a-row came to an abrupt halt as his young teammate Jorge Prado bounced back to form with two wins of his own at the last two rounds. So, let’s revisit the MXGP rounds of Trentino and Portugal.

The ‘Crossodrome Ciclamino’ at Pietramurata, Italy, was the venue for round four of MXGP on the second weekend of April and we will never get tired of visiting this spectacular circuit. Nestled in the shadows of the impressive mountain range known as The Dolomites, the venue first hosted a round of the FIM Motocross World Championship in 1987 and it was an Italian by the name of Massimo Contini who was victorious that day in the 125cc class riding an

Italian-made Cagiva. As debut’s go, it does not get any better than that, especially if you’re Italian.

Not far from the rocky, hillside circuit is the northern tip of Italy’s largest lake, Lake Garda, which is known for its crystal-clear waters. It is also one of northern Italy’s most popular holiday destinations and a real treat for visiting tourists. Apart from the usual lake activities, the Trentino region offers a whole host of other sporting opportunities; skiing and snowboarding are popular during the winter months with cycling being one of the more popular things to do during the summer.

Rock climbing and base-jumping are also favourite past times or hobbies for the more daring and in actual fact, we often see the occasional ‘jumper’ from the confines of the MXGP Paddock. On top of that, if you have never been to this round of MXGP, then it really is a must-see destination and as well as the close racing, some of the local sights and spectacular scenery is breath taking. Even the view

from behind the Monster Energy Finish Line jump is impressive, and as the riders exit Turn 2 on the race track, if they look up, they see the snow-capped mountains on the horizon. As far as views go, it doesn’t get any better.

In terms of hosting the FIM Motocross World Championship, there were three rounds in close succession at Pitramurata; the 125cc class raced there twice, in 1987 and 1991, the latter being won by the late Donny Schmit of the USA, and three years later it was another American, Billy Liles who won the 500cc class. Unfortunately, it would be NINETEEN YEARS before we returned here, and in 2013 the KTM’s of Jeffrey Herlings and Antonio Cairoli were the masters of the mountain, and since then we have been there every year since. During those five years (2013-2017) KTM have lost just three times; in 2014, Clément Desalle won for Suzuki, and in 2015 Tim Gajser took his first MX2 win for Honda whilst Max Nagl took the glory for Husqvarna in

MXGP. Even more surprising is that whilst Yamaha has seen winners in EMX125, EMX250 and WMX, it has never won in either MXGP or MX2, and Maxime Desprey’s win in EMX250 in 2015 is the only win at Trentino for Kawasaki. Sadly for them, 2018 was another year where the wins went to KTM, only this time it was Jeffrey Herlings who won in the premier class beating last year’s home hero Cairoli, in his own back yard, or as JH84 referred to it as ‘The Lion’s Den’.

Prado won in MX2 and in the WMX category we saw an impressive performance from Suzuki’s Larissa Papenmeier who went 1-3 to secure her first win since 2010. In EMX125 presented by FMF Racing, a young Italian by the name of Emilio Scuteri shone in front of his home fans with a stunning 2-1 to stand on the top step of the podium.

Portugal As we arrived in Portugal one week later it seemed like all anybody wanted to talk about was the weather as it pretty much hadn’t

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stopped raining for around two weeks prior to the GP. Whilst the Águeda circuit has a hard, sandy base, like all tracks, it will only take so much water before it becomes saturated and eventually un-ride able. However, when the rain eventually eased up on Thursday, the MXGP track crew went to work and literally turned over the whole circuit, bringing the dry dirt to the top before ‘tracking it’ back in. Yes, it might have been soft underneath but given the amount of rain, you couldn’t have had a better racetrack to go racing. Even the riders drooled over it!

Before we had even turned a wheel though, there was the small matter of the Media Opportunity and rider’s signing session in the centre of Águeda on Friday. A short drive from the circuit, we crossed the Cértima River and into the heart of the city. The venue for the event was the CAA or Centro de Artes de Águeda where there was a vast array of vintage scooters and motorcycles on display, one of which was the very rare and one-

of-a-kind, Macal Cross 125cc from 1980, which was built in Águeda; it housed a Casal engine which was also built in Portugal.

The scooters that were on display were featured in an exhibition ‘of two halves’ with bikes that came from Germany, the USA, France, Japan and Italy, built after the Second World War. The other half featured bikes from Portugal, such as Famel, Macal and SIS Sachs, which were all built in Águeda.

All-in-all it was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon and the exhibition runs from February until April.

As well as MXGP and MX2, the support classes on show were WMX, who were making their second appearance of the season, along with EMX250, who we hadn’t seen since Redsand. After finishing second in a three-way-tie at Trentino, New Zealand’s Courtney Duncan eventually came out on top on her Altherm JCR Yamaha with a solid 1-1 performance. It was the first time that WMX had raced here

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since 2010 so it was much more of a level playing field in that no-one had a real significant advantage over the other. Having said that, Kiara Fontanesi, Larissa Papenmeier, Steffi Laier and Natalie Kane were a few of the riders that had ridden there in the past. Duncan’s win meant she also took over the red plate, but Papenmeier left Portugal second overall and just five points behind the Kiwi. Nancy Van De Ven took third overall, not bad considering she had only started riding one week before Trentino after breaking her leg in the off-season.

In EMX250 the action was frantic as always but it was Honda Redmoto Assomotor’s Mathys Boisrame that stole the show with a 1-1 to claim the overall, but after his third overall at Redsand, REVO Husqvarna’s Mel Pocock went one better in Portugal and emerged with the red plate after a consistent 4-4 and leads the series by eight points. BUD Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Pierre Goupillon may have lost the lead but he remains in touching distance to Pocock as they head to Russia for

Round Three.

In MX2 Jorge Prado took his Red Bull KTM to an impressive 1-1 with the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna of Thomas Kjer Olsen (4-2) and F&H Racing’s Aussie import Jed Beaton (3-4) rounding out the podium. For Beaton, it was his second career podium in MX2 after ‘boxing’ at the final round at Villars last year. However, he came to within 0.1 seconds of losing it to Kemea Yamaha’s Ben Watson, who was pipped to second in Race Two

by TKO; the likeable Brit is getting closer to his first podium though, it’s just a matter of time.

Finally, rounding things off were the big boys of MXGP and just like the three classes before them, this one also finished with a 1-1 with Jeffrey Herlings taking his fourth victory of the season. And, just like his MX2 teammate, The Bullet led every single lap on offer as well in what was very impressive victory indeed. Cairoli was second overall with a 2-2 scorecard and slips sixteen points behind JH84, but as Herlings said in his post-race

interview: ‘sixteen points means nothing; in 2014 and 2015 I was more than 150 points in the lead and still lost the championship, but I’d rather be sixteen points in front than behind, that’s for sure!’

Rounding out the podium was Team HRC’s Tim Gajser; his 3-5 saw a welcome return to the box for the Slovenian, proof that he is moving in the right direction every time he throws his leg over his motorcycle. Monster Energy Yamaha’s Romain Febvre advanced to third in the standings at the expense of Clément Desalle and Gautier Paulin, who both experienced a technical issue and DNF’d one race each.

Next stop on the calendar is Russia where the Monster Energy Kawasaki of Desalle was victorious in MXGP in what was one heck of a mudder last year, and in MX2 Pauls Jonass will be looking to find the form that took him to the win at Orlyonok last year and the first three GP wins of 2018.

Addio!

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FIM Motocross World Championship

Standings MXGP CHAMP. STANDINGS

MX2 CHAMP. STANDINGS

1. J.Herlings (NED, KTM), 241points 2. A.Cairoli (ITA, KTM) , 225 p.

3. R. Febvre (FRA YAM) ,169 p 4. C. Desalle (BEL, KAW),165 p.

5. G. Paulin (FRA, HUS), 147 p.

6. G.Coldenhoff (NED, KTM)140 p.

7. J. VanHorebeek (BEL,YAM) 132 p.

8. T. Gajser (SLO, HON) ,113p.

9. J. Seewer (SUI, YAM), 110p.

10. M. Nagl (GER, TM), 88p.

1. P. Jonass (LAT, KTM),216points 2. J. Prado (ESP, KTM) , 202p.

3. T. Olsen (DEN, HUS), 185p.

4. B. Watson (GBR, YAM),141p.

5. J. Beaton (AUS, KAW), 129p.

6. V. Brylyakov (RUS, YAM) , 115p.

7. C. Mewse (GBR, KTM), 100p.

8 H. Lawrence (AUS, HON) ,99p.

9. C. Vlaanderen(RSA, HON), 97p.

10. H. Jacobi, (GER, HUS), 96p.

MXGP MANUFACTUERS 1. KTM 2. Yamaha 3. Kawasaki 4. Husqvarna 5. Honda 5. TM 6. Suzuki

250 points 177 points 176 points 155 points 128 points 88 points 72 points

MX2 MANUFACTUERS 1. KTM 2. Husqvarna 3. Kawasaki 4. Yamaha 5. Honda 6. TM

247 points 207 points 159 points 159 points 157 points 54 points

April MXGP Facebook Page Insights 2,291,326 LIKES +33K Likes weekly 2.5 Million Weekly Reach

+1.5% Weekly growth - best performance compared to main Motorsports Competitors Top 5 Countries: Indonesia, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France FOLLOW MXGP! Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mxgp Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mxgp Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/mxgp Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/mxgptv OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.mxgp.com

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Special Feature

MXGP PRO: A those who wa experience li

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A brand new start for ant to live the Motocross ike professional riders!

SPECIAL FEATURE

MXGP is finally back! The last chapter of the successful franchise was announced minutes after the qualifying races at the press conference in Pietramurata track. Milestone and Youthstream were together on the stage to unveil a very special partnership with Tim Gajser, Tony Cairoli and Gautier Paulin, which will make the game experience unique.

The riders were personally involved in the development, providing advice about very specific areas of the game.

Tim Gajser provided insights on how to have fun whipping, scrubbing, and passing through whoops sections, Tony Cairoli gave his feedback on start & braking precision, including how to take advantage of the starting grid and brake precisely. Finally, Gautier Paulin advised on controlling the ruts and taking corners at top speed. The result? On-track everything feels more dynamic, reactive

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and realistic, as the riders themselves confirmed during the conference.

Right after the announcement, it was the perfect time to have a sneak peek at the game: everyone attending the event had an exclusive chance to play a work in progress version of MXGP PRO, test the new “mechanical” approach and some of the new features.

Let’s have a look at them in detail: A new bike set-up system: This is certainly one of the most interesting features, which radically affects how players will enjoy the game: intervene directly on the bike arrange and modify each single parameter based on real metrics, such as rear suspensions, throttle mapping, wheel base and braking feedback.

A real physics approach: The developers at Milestone worked on creating spectacular maneuvers enhancing the players’ freedom and com-

bined those with a reworked grip system, crash collisions system, and in-air behavior.

Extremely realistic rider movements: Last but not least, all riders’ movements are perfectly integrated with it and affected by the impact of the bike on the different terrain and make you feel like you ride on a real track.

Finally, answering to a heartfelt request from the community of MXGP fans, the new game will also include a brand new, much larger Compound area in which it will be possible to train non-stop and become a real master of the craft. Start your engines and grab your pad to live the new MXGP experience by Milestone! MXGP PRO will be available from June, 29th 2018 on PlayStation®4, Xbox One and on Windows PC®/STEAM. TEXT AND PHOTOS: Milestone

RIDER OF THE MONTH

Henry Jacobi’s Path to the Podium 34

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Henry Jacobi is a name that many motocross fans around the world are starting to recognize. The 21-year-old German may be older than several of his rivals in the MX2 FIM Motocross World Championship but his impressive performance is catching the eyes of many. In this issue of MXGP Mag we feature Henry Jacobi and his quest to reach the podium in the prestigious FIM Motocross World Championship.

Henry Jacobi’s roots are firmly planted in Germany where he was born and raised. Since his birth on October 29th, 1996, the small German town of Bad Sulza has been home to the Jacobi family.

Jacobi’s inspiration to ride came from his father, who just started riding shortly before the birth of Henry.

The pair’s passion for riding

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and the sport was developed together as Henry joined his father at the races from the very beginning. Henry has had motorcycles in his life as long as he can remember and at the age of 3 he started riding for his first time on a Pee Wee bike.

As him and his father’s motocross passion grew, Henry’s talent became apparent and he soon began racing on a 85cc machine. In 2010 Jacobi made his mark in the sport claiming the FIM 85cc Junior Motocross World Championship against the likes of Slovenia’s Tim Gajser and Latvian Pauls Jonass, now MXGP and MX2 World Champions.

After Jacobi’s success in the Junior World Championship the future was looking bright but an unfortunate turn for the worse slowed the progress of the talented German: “I got the World Champion-

ship in 2010 on the 85cc and normally from that point it should have gone easier but I crashed in 2011 and broke both of my feet really badly, so I could not race for a whole year. I started again in 2012 with the EMX125, it was hard because I lost almost one complete year and that holds you back from racing again plus it is also hard on your mind. However, you have to believe in yourself and I did the whole time even if things weren’t perfect, I still believed I could do it, Henry Jacobi said.”

The following years were a struggle for Henry to return to his form prior to the injury. From 2012 to 2014 Henry race the EMX125 and EMX250 championships with no real success. In 2014 Jacobi started his MX2 career and in 2015 completed his first full season to earn 23rd in the championship

SPECIAL FEATURE

which he matched the following season.

In 2017 Jacobi made the switch to the German STC Racing Team and became their first World Championship rider. Jacobi speaking about the team explained: “We both set the goals to get good results. They do their best to give me a world championship ride and I do my best to provide them with good world championship results. Everybody gives their best and they want to do the best, so we are working in the same direction, it is really good.”

So far this year Jacobi has been impressive, achieving his career first holeshot in Spain, then a monumental first MX2 podium at the MXGP of Trentino, and he currently holds down 10th in the championship, a

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drastic improvement from his 20th in 2017 and 23rd the 2 seasons prior.

The podium performance in Trentino was notably emotion for not only Jacobi but also his entire team. When asked about the emotion behind it Henry explained, “It was a very special day for everyone, especially because I am in the World Championship for three years and many people have said that I am too slow and it doesn’t make sense to support me, this has been said not only to me but to my team and sponsors. It has been a surprise for me but I do my best for those who support me all the time.

I just really want to thank everyone who supported me in the times when I wasn’t so good and now it is just a bonus to everyone.”

When asked what has changed in his program

with the better results he explained the only real difference was the fact that he moved away from his home in Eastern Germany to the West part of the country. The move has allowed the German more seat time and given him the benefit of training on the GP tracks such as Lommel in nearby Belgium.

Jacobi’s goal coming into the season was to score a podium and to consistently place in the top ten, the earlier has already been achieved, and with the 15 rounds remaining he will have plenty of chance for more success. Jacobi’s path to the podium has been long and filled with adversity, but after achieving his main goal we can be sure he will continue to improve and look forward to seeing him succeed in the future.

MXGP SOCIAL

TWITTER, FACEB IN THE WORLD OF #MXGP @HondaRacingCRF The happiness when the next race is getting closer (w/ Calvin Vlaanderen) #HRC #Honda #MXGP #CRF450

@ansrmx 9x World Champion. Legend.

You choose! | @Antoniocairoli | #AnswerRacing #MXGP

@KTM_Racing A breather for #mxgp this weekend but thinking of that 100% record for Red Bull KTM in MXGP and MX2 classes: 5 Grands Prix wins from 5 in both classes, a fantastic first quarter of #motocross2018

alpinestars Kicking off the week with a wide open throttle from @ JHerlings84 at #MXGP of #Portugal Congrats on your 4th win of the GP season!

@mvdbutler Watching #worldrx #mxgp #supercarschampionship on @CBSSportsNet ‬

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@lisaleylandTV Pit chat with @ajasikonis aka. “Shorty” will be on the MXGP- TV YouTube channel later today! #MXGP #MXGPPortugal

@proxracingpart Jed Beaton of F&H Kawasaki put in a solid ride for a 3rd in Portugal! Awesome ride! #MXGP #ProXRacing

F&H Kawasaki Racing had an incredible weekend in Agueda, Portugal where Jed Beaton reached his second Podium on MX2.

Watch a typical team report featuring in a Ceramics factory.

The 2018 MXGP of Portugal is in the books! Watch the best of MXGP from the weekend, next race MXGP of Russia! #MXGPPortugal

The Italian Atmosphere at Trentino is always impressive. Watch the 2 mins best of from an unpredictable weekend!

BOOK, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE

@filippocamaschella Say hello! #MXGP #HappyFace Photo: @davidemessora #jupiler #mxgpofeurope #fun #friends

@dondany80: Great day! #MXGPTrentino #MXGP #circuitociclamino special thanks @ antoniocairoli and friends @manospinto5_22: Today was the 1st day of the @MXGP Academy in Agueda.

Tomorrow there is more :p #happy #MXGP #MXGP2018 #MXGPAcademy

@lagatart: MXGP2018 #lagat #MXGP2018 #MXGP #Cairoli222

@Andreias99: With Tim Gajser yesterday in Trentino! #MXGP #Trentinoaltoadige #motocross

IN THE WORLD OF #MXGP 41

MONSTER GIRLS

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HALL OF FAME

Jeff Stanton

Jeff Stanton did not have a very long professional career as a rider, but thanks to his great determination he collected wins and titles all over the world in his less than 10 seasons as racer. Among his achievements we can stand out his six US titles, the three wins at the Motocross of Nations, a couple of GP victories and a Supercross world title.

Born in the community of Coldwater, Michigan, on the 18th of June 1968, Jeff Stanton grew up in a farm and didn’t wait too long to get his first motorcycle as everyone in the family – even his mother had a bike. At the age of 4 he started riding around the farm and one year later he entered just for fun a local race with the family.

Having so many tracks around his native Michigan, Jeff had a lot of opportunities to compete and as soon as he got some good results, he obtained some support from Yamaha in the amateur ranks.

He claimed his first AMA title

at Loretta Lynn in 1983, racing the 100 class, and one year later, as Yamaha stopped to support the smallest classes, he had to move to the 250cc and 500cc classes at the early age of 16. Claiming many wins and titles in the Amateur ranks in 1985 and 1986, Stanton made his professional debut late in 1986 and impressed everyone when he finished 6th at his first ever outdoor race. His Supercross debut was also impressive, as he finished second at Daytona in what was only his second Pro SX! Named AMA rookie of the year at the end of the 1987 season, he got even better results in 1988 and he finally signed a factory contract with Honda America. Moving to California to train in wintertime with his teammate Ricky Johnson, Jeff won his first ever Supercross race a few weeks later in Atlanta. Stanton managed to win four other ‘main events’ to finally get the SX title at the end of the season! Known as a very hard worker and determinate rider, he also proved to be able to hold the pressure when

he became Honda’s number one rider for the outdoor championship after Johnson got injured.

Winning five of the seven rounds of the 250cc outdoor series, he got another title before winning the Motocross of Nations with team USA! Working even harder than usual, Jeff became ‘the man to beat’ in 1990. In fact, no matter how tough the races were, Stanton was stronger than ever, winning for example five times in a row the Daytona Supercross. Defending successfully his MX and SX titles in 1990, Stanton also won the Motocross of Nations and the Masters of Motocross, winning races all over the world!

The following season, even if he won again the Motocross of Nations, a race he entered only three times but he always won it, and claimed two GP wins in the USA and Japan, it was not his best year. Jeff Stanton lost both US titles against his teammate Jean Michel Bayle.

However, he took his revenge

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one year later, claiming his third Supercross title during the final race in Los Angeles Coliseum where he beat previous series leader Damon Bradshaw. Again winner of the 250cc Motocross championship, Stanton had an incredible season that year, entering 57 events all over the world, racing in US, Japan and all over Europe!

Jeff Stanton would never win again titles, as in 1993 he found on his way Jeremy Mc Grath.

He was Stanton’s teammate and he became the new star of the US scene. Jeff won his last US race at Millville in 1993 and he announced his retirement at the end of 1994. Working during a few seasons for Honda America as mentor, Jeff would later focus on his family farming business in Michigan.

Text and Photos: Pascal Haudiquert

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1987: 5th in the US 250 Motocross championship 2nd in the US 500 Motocross championship 1988: 3rd in the US 500 Motocross championship

4th in the US 250 Motocross championship 1989: US Supercross Champion (Honda) US 250 Motocross champion 2nd in the US 500 Motocross championship Member of the US Team winner at the MX of Nations 1990: US Supercross Champion (Honda) US 250 Motocross champion 2nd in the US 500 Motocross championship Member of the US Team winner at the MX of Nations Winner of the US 250 Grand Prix 1991: 3rd in the US Supercross Championship (Honda) 3rd in the US 250 Motocross championship 3rd in the US 500 Motocross championship Member of the US Team winner at the MX of Nations Winner of the US 250 Grand Prix and the Japan 250 Grand Prix 1992: US Supercross Champion (Honda) US 250 Motocross champion 2nd in the US 500 Motocross championship Champion du Monde Supercross Winner of the US 250 Grand Prix 1993: 3rd in the US Supercross Championship (Honda) 7th in the US 250 Motocross championship 2nd in the US 500 Motocross championship 1994: 6th in the US Supercross Championship (Honda) 6th in the US 250 Motocross championship

PADDOCK TALKS

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Paddock Talks 01/The Akropovic crew admiring their work!

02/Vertex Piston’s team checking out the bikes powered by their products.

03/The delegation from the MXGP of Turkey took in the racing at Trentino.

04/Special visit from Josh Copins to Romain Febvre at Trentino.

05/Steven Frossard keeping a watchful eye from behind the scenes.

06/The Italian fans took every opportunity to see their idol, Antonio Cairoli, in Trentino.

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Paddock Talks

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07/World SBK rider Marco Melandri came to watch the MXGP stars in Trentino!

08/Polisport were on hand and hands on at their home GP in Portugal!

09/A very interesting media event filled with vintage bikes for the MXGP of Portugal.

10/Sebastian Pourcel is back in the paddock with team VHR KTM. 11/The MXGP partner Bihr has been making their presence known in the paddock.

12/Portugal’s own Rui Gonçalves returned to racing in front of his home fans!

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Special Feature

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MXGP Academy’s Russian Trip

SPECIAL FEATURE

MXGP Academy has made a visit to Russia where it continues on its goal to educate young riders and trainers on the various aspects involved in becoming a professional motocross athlete.

The program covers both Europe and the surrounding areas as it strives to grow awareness for the sport and help the future stars succeed. The academy includes a well-rounded education plan from the meaning of flags on the track to off track behavior and everything in between for both the riders, parents and the trainers.

Just this month the Motorcycle Federation of Russia, VDC “Orlyonok” and the Yakhnich Motorsport Team welcomed the MXGP Academy for an international training and sport seminar.

The seminar took place at the Orlynok venue for the MXGP of Russia this 1st of

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May as well as the nearby Black Sea beach.

MXGP Academy coaches and coordinators Martin Van Genderen and Jan Postema traveled to Orlyonok with the mission to teach young riders on 65cc, 85cc and 125cc machines but also to add to the list of certified trainers in the region and give hands on instruction.

During the trip Van Genderen and Postema met the President of the Russian Motorsport Federation Mr. Alexander Dzheus, the Vice President of the Russian Federation Nikita Tepper and Russian Federation member Evgeny Parshin. In addition at the meeting there was also representation of FOX Russia, Tatyana Savelyeva, a group of professional translators and the Russian MXGP Academy certified trainers of Evgeny Mehaylov

and Dmitiri Parshin.

All together specialists from various regions of Russia were hosted as they looked to get their official trainer certificate. 36 aspiring trainers were present and 27 riders from as young as an 8 year old on a 65cc, to the older 85cc and 125cc riders.

On the first day of the event MXGP Academy coordinator and coach Martin Van Genderen informed Russian specialists about the development of a new system of classification for coaches and athletes, comparing it with obtaining belts of different colors in karate: “MXGP Academy will train and improve the skills of professionals and motorcycle racers,” Martin Van Genderen said, “as in the past year, such training will be

conducted within the framework of the Russian stage of the Motocross World Championship in Orlyonok.

The new system will lead to stronger motivation for professional development for both coaches and athletes.

As if in a computer game, they will move from level to level, increasing their theoretical knowledge and practical skills.”

One of the most interesting parts of the event for the specialist was the fact that aside from being taught the skills necessary as trainers, they witnessed such at first hand. The special event also gave a chance for them to put the learned methods into practice with the riders where they received immediate feedback and guidance from Van Genderen and Postema.

The seminar covered both the theoretical aspect and practical training on the track. At the conclusion

of the theoretical training Martin Van Genderen together with the President of the Motorcycle Federation of Russia and the Director of the VDC Orlyonok Alexander Dzheus, a riding enthusiast himself, who was very motivated and satisfied with the event, delivered the official certificates of MXGP Academy to the participants.

“We have to raise the athlete discretely – step by step to teach him to be not just a good motocrossman, but to be able to control their physical training, eat right, interact with sponsors, have good relationships with their team and mechanics. MXGP Academy teaches these simple truths. We also plan to hold a large seminar for mechanics, because now the level of our athletes is quite high, the technique is complex, and in Russia, unfortunately, there are few trained specialists, which also hinders the development of motocross. Motorcycles

have difficult settings that depend on the type of track, weather, weight of the rider, and characteristics of riding technique. Motocross is a very complex and synthetic sport, which should include the work of people and professionals trained in the necessary competencies. We are solving these problems now,” Mr Alexander Dzheus commented.

At the end of the event the newly certified specialist added to the list of now 123 trainers within the MXGP Academy’s framework spread over 14 different countries. The huge success of the event has encouraged the addition of another Russian MXGP Academy, this time to be held along with the MXGP of Russia on April 29th and May 1st. As for the future of Russia’s program, further training and an even stronger level of cooperation is expected after the Academy at the upcoming GP.

Dave Thorpe’s

1986 Honda RC500 ufacturing. Whilst the ‘sixties’ Dave Thorpe is a three-time world champion in 1979 as it was down to bravery and who FIM 500cc motocross world was the first ever world motocould go the fastest and the champion and Great Britain’s cross title won by a Honda, and seventies saw the innovation of most successful motocross from that moment the focus on lightweight materials and the racer in the history of the sport. winning and maintaining that introduction of single-shock With twenty-two GP wins, stance never dwindled. In fact, technology, the eighties saw his three titles were won in from 1979 – 1992 the mighty real progress and the first real 1985, 1986 and 1989 and it’s Japanese firm claimed the factory bikes. Take Brad Lackhis championship winning RC 500cc title TWELVE times, losing The 125cc class in the European Championship usually puts a spotlight on the next ey’s 1982 Suzuki for instance; Honda from 1986 that we will just twice in 1982 and 1983 to thisofbike equipped with big name In fact both thecame 2015 FIM Motocross World and feature in in thismotocross. issue of MXGP SuzukiChampions and Yamaha respectively.

‘Simons’ upside-down forks, but Magazine. course, it helped that Honda vice-world champions Romain Febvre, Gautier Paulin, Tim GajserOf and Pauls Jonass for HRC this type of technology had possibly the best racers of have all won the EMX125 championship on their paths to motocross wasn’t used until 1987 and this The eighties have often been thatsupremacy. era riding its machines, but was the team that re-wrote all referred to as the ‘golden era’ its dominance was also down to the rules during the eighties. of world motocross and the the bikes themselves; chassis, time when the evolution of the handling, power output, ride Britain’s Graham Noyce made factory bike set a precedent in ability, and much of this was history when he became 500cc the future of motorcycle mandown to evolving technology.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

And it wasn’t just in the world championship that this was happening but also on the other side of The Atlantic in the US as well. Whatever Honda was doing, they were doing it right!

At the end of the 1982 season Dave Thorpe switched from Kawasaki to Honda and by 1984 had won his first GP. The following year in 1985 he was world champion; his teammates André Malherbe and Eric Geboers followed him home for a historic Honda 1-2-3. For 1986, there didn’t appear to be too many significant changes to Thorpe’s bike but from an aesthetics point of view, HRC had just upped its game. But there was more to this bike than met the eye:

chassis, cooling efficiency had also been scrutinised and as a result – and let’s not forget that water-cooling was still very much in its infancy at this time – the size of the radiators had been increased, as Thorpe recalls: ‘Yeah, it had a larger rad on one side, so a tall one and a short one. The geometry was also slightly changed but if they hadn’t have told me, I wouldn’t have known. It also had a rear disc brake. Thorpe also used a 4-speed gearbox as opposed to

the 5-speed of his teammates’ In short, Honda and HRC were pushing new boundaries, but after occupying all three steps of the podium in the final standings in ’85, you wouldn’t have expected anything less.

As it is always the case, a team is made up of more than rider; in the case of HRC there were three guys all capable of winning the title. Thorpe’s teammates were André Malherbe and Eric Geboers and whilst all three bikes looked the same, they were

‘It was pretty much the same bike, but the main change for me was the seat that went all the way up the tank; it was the first year I used it. I think André and Eric may have had it in ’85.

It was the first time I used it, with the fuel pump off the bottom of the tank so it enabled us to run a smaller tank and allow the seat to be pushed up much higher. When you pushed the kickstart in (after starting the bike) the fuel tank went down behind the kickstart.’

That oversized fuel tank design not only held around 13 litres of fuel, it also changed the look of those super-trick Honda’s as well as the 500cc class for a generation.

As well as some changes to the

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SPECIAL FEATURE

all very different: ‘I preferred a torquey, yet soother engine whereas André always wanted something with low-end power; it was really aggressive off the bottom, and Eric was always similar to André. I also chose to ride with what we called the ‘sand’ bike because it was wider, and because I’m really big, I used to like the feeling of a wide tank. With the sand one, when we tested with it, I asked if I could run it all the time because I liked the feeling of having a bigger tank in front of me, especially on the ’85 bike.’

Having said that though, when the new bikes and parts were introduced at the end of each season, the riders all had the option to run with the same set-up, and whilst there was ‘some stuff that

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was universal for us to try’ once they’d made their decisions as to which way they wanted to go, that was it. Take exhaust pipes for instance: ‘We had quite a lot of options with the pipes; we tested them all and each rider chose two types and you went down the road that you chose. From my side, I used just one; the one that I really liked is what I stayed with; I didn’t change, whereas I think that André and Eric tended to change. Mine was really torquey, mid-top!’

On the left side of the handlebars the eagle eyed amongst us at that time would have noticed a small lever just above the clutch lever. This was a decompressor which allowed you start the bike a bit easier; remember, these

things had a heck of a kick on them, but it was used mainly if you were on un-even ground where it was even more difficult to kick the bike back into life.

The foot pegs, whilst the same size as standard, were made of a lightweight material and were much stronger and the swingarm was made of Alloy; it was lighter, stronger and in Thorpe’s case longer to improve stability.

With Thorpe and Malherbe being similar heights and weight, and with Geboers being much smaller, the only real differences with the frames was that Eric used a lower sub-frame, but it’s not something that ‘DT’ rarely gave much thought to: ‘To be honest, with Eric’s frame and his set-up, I didn’t really get involved; whilst we were a team,

we were a team within a team and obviously I wanted to beat Eric, so as long as I was happy, I wasn’t too worried about what they were doing, so I couldn’t tell you how much different their chassis was to ours.’

As for the ride ability of the RC500, it was probably one of the easiest bikes out there to ride: ‘I think it’s safe to say that those engines were way, way, ahead of their time; they were exceptionally strong engines, they were like a tractor. The chassis on the Honda was always amazing; incredibly good on the rough and incredibly good at turning. Really good.’

One of the things that stood out the most during this period though was how reliable the Honda’s were; even now, people

refer to them as being ‘bullet proof’. And 1985/’86 were no exception, and although there were never any issues during winter tests, you can never replicate a race and there were one or two occasions where the technicians were left with faces as red as their motorcycles.

In ’85 DT suffered a DNF in Race One in France whilst leading with a lap and a half to go before his bike came to a halt due to a broken gearbox shaft behind the gearbox sprocket, and in Italy, Malherbe failed to finish because of a piston ring location pin fault. In 1986, after winning the first race in Austria, Thorpe experienced another DNF when ‘my knee hit the radiator cap and flicked it off … the front end slipped, my foot went down and when the bike came up it just caught my knee and coincidentally since that day, they’ve made

the rad covers higher so you can’t get at it.’

But for all the trickery and bling that the 1986 RCHonda 500 offered up, it wasn’t a vintage year for Thorpe; he may have claimed the title and that’s all that matters, but on paper, the stats told a different story. In 1985, Thorpe won a total of eight moto’s and three GP victories, but in ’86 he won just five races and one GP, and that win at Markelo in Holland was gifted to him when Georges Jobé suffered a major DNF whilst leading. But sometimes winning a title can come down to ‘character’ and DT showed he had it in abundance.

Thorpe went into the final GP of the season in Luxembourg with a four-point advantage over Malherbe. On Saturday, Dave’s father Keith, who was his mechanic, was modifying something

SPECIAL FEATURE

with a Stanley Knife, slipped and took his finger off which resulted in him being rushed to hospital for emergency surgery to save his finger: ‘Obviously I didn’t sleep so well on the Saturday night, worrying about my dad, worrying about the race, only a few points between us.’

At 5.00/5:30am the next morning Dave woke at first light and saw his young brother-in-law was also awake, so he offered to take him to the park. After pushing him on the swings, Dave noticed a huge slide, the kind with bumps on the way down, and after they marched to the top, DT placed his mat onto the slide, but hadn’t realised it was slightly damp from the morning dew. It almost cost him the title: ‘When I went off the first lump I realised it wasn’t gonna end well, I was going too fast, and by the time I went off the second

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one I was airborne and when I hit the third one I banged my head on the side and luckily I got to the bottom without falling off.

But I got a black eye and when I went to the room I had like a (blind) spot in my eye because obviously I’d banged my head really bad, so I had to lie down for an hour until my vision came back. So, then I get to the race, dad’s got his hand all plastered up with one of those big splints on his finger, I’ve got a black eye; it wasn’t the best start to the Sunday really, it was all going a bit wrong but fortunately I really liked that track.’

As for the title showdown, the fans, who were more than likely unbeknown to what had happened in the past 24 hours, did not go home disappointed, and Race One was an epic encounter from start to finish: ‘The first race was really, really hot and really, really dry and André and I had an amazing

race considering what was at stake; it was remarkably fair for which I managed to pip him (for the race win), and then about an hour before the second race, the biggest thunderstorm you’ve ever seen hit, so the track went from being near-on perfect and a little bit hard to an ice-rink, so in theory all I had to do was try and follow André home, it’s all I tried to do. Eric Geboers took the holeshot and I was second.

Eric fell off. Georges Jobé won the race but he didn’t have anything to lose; I was quite surprised actually that he passed André because they were really close friends, I thought he may have followed him home. But when he passed me and then André, I was quite happy with that.’

The race finished Jobé, Malherbe, Thorpe which was enough for the Englishman to claim his second 500cc world title, a year after winning his first by five points.

QUESTIONS TO THE EDITOR

QUESTIONS TO THE EDITOR Dear MXGP, I bought the 2018 MXGP-TV Season Pass in January and I registered with my personal account. My father wishes to watch some races on MXGPTV.com but he doesn’t have any email address. Can I purchase some additional GPs with the same account?

Thanks, Austin Dear Austin, Thanks for this useful question. You can purchase as many GPs video passes as you like but please take note the same account can be used once at the time.

It means MXGP-TV doesn’t allow to have multiple devices connected at the same time with the same account.

I strongly recommend you to subscribe again with a different email address in order to avoid any confusion.

Best Regards MXGP

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Hi MXGP, When the MXGP Pro videogame will be available for PS4?

Thanks, Taylor Hi Taylor Thanks for your question on the MXGP Pro Videogame. MXGP Pro videogame will be available for PS4, Xbox and PC from June 29th. We suggest you to stay tuned to MXGP Social media platforms for more details.

Regards MXGP Hi MXGP, When the LIVE broadcasting for the MXGP of Russia will be online?

Thanks, Michele Hi Michele Being the MXGP of Russia set for Tuesday 1st May, the LIVE schedule will be released during the next weekend. Please remind also that on MXGP-TV you’ll be able to watch LIVE and Demand all MXGP and MX2 races as well as the support classes and the qualifying heats anytime.

Regards MXGP

Hi MXGP, I bought 2 weekend tickets for the MXGP of France. Can you confirm which areas I can access?

Thanks, Amandine Hi Amandine The weekend tickets will give you the access to all the public area except the paddock. The paddock admission is available for purchase onsite. For more information please click HERE See you in St. Jean d’Angely!

Regards MXGP

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