else did the same as they chased the lead and a potential moto win, Thomas Covington was in his own little bubble and remained the coolest and calmest of all, rode his own race and took the chequers by a winning margin of 21 seconds over Herlings for his second career race win. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider had just beaten the worlds’ best sand rider, and there aren’t too many who will be able to say that when they look back on their careers. There must have been something in the air that day because in Race 2 Herlings had to win a hard fought battle with his younger teammate Jorge Prado who had JH84 scratching his head for the first eight laps of the race before normal service was resumed. MX2 is gonna be exciting next year, no doubt about it. 11. Webb wins at home Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina will be remem-
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MXGP MAG 2016 MXGP.COM
bered for a number of things, not least for the weather that forced the cancellation of the first day of action. The track crew played its part in getting the track in perfect condition but all eyes were on Jeffrey Herlings in his quest for a third MX2 title, and the American’s who were out to prove a point, namely Cooper Webb and Austin Forkner. In Race 1 Forkner led the way with Webb and Herlings pretty much equidistant and for the first nine laps it was like a game of chess; no-one seemed to make any distinctive moves until ‘the moment’ that changed everything on lap 10. Forkner tipped over in a slow right-hander and Webb, who was committed to the same tight rut, struggled to avoid his compatriot. By the time he’d passed Forkner, Herlings who had taken evasive action around the outside, drew level with Webb and it was a 250m drag race to Turn 2, the two fastest MX2 riders in the world going bar-to-bar with
the crowd on their feet. Herlings made the pass and went on to win from Webb to secure that title, but in Race 2 The Bullet was shown the way by the Yamaha ace who came from nineteenth on the opening lap to catch and pass both Herlings and Forkner with a handful of laps to go, to not only take the lead, but the race and GP win in front of his home NC fans in his last ever race on a 250. He had beaten the champ outright on what was a memorable night of racing. 12. Tomac four-midable We can’t end this feature anywhere other than the good ol’ US of A and the final two rounds of MXGP were a real eye opener. At Charlotte you could argue that Gajser had the championship on his mind but however you look at it, the MXGP regulars were no match for Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac who took