The victory by Cairoli moved him to 385pts in the championship and he is now 57pts ahead of second places Max Nagl. It will take a huge effort from Nagl, David Philippaerts and Josh Coppins to stop the Italian from winning his third World title and joining Alessio Chiodi as a three time title winner from Italy.

As for the MX2 championship lead of Marvin Musquin (who also went 1-2 in the MX2 class in Latvia, but lost out to Goncalves due to the poorer second moto result) is now 49pts ahead of second placed Gautier Paulin and 70pts ahead of third placed rider Goncalves. We might just see both titles decided in Lierop, Holland in two months time.

Races

The opening moto of the MX2 race saw Musquin come out of the first lap with the lead, followed by Rui Goncalves, Steven Frossard, Ken Roczen, Valentin Teillet, Dennis Verbruggen, Manuel Monni, Joel Roelants, Yohei Kojima, and Gautier Paulin.

Musquin pulled a slight lead on the others and on lap four Roczen had worked his way into second place and was trying to set his sights on the Frenchman, although Musquin was controlling his own destiny in this race and the German rider didn't get closer than around five seconds.

Further back Goncalves was having a strange race as he dropped from second on lap one to fifth on lap five, but then moved into second place after a nice charge past Roelants, Frossard and Roczen on the last five laps.

Paulin moved from 10th to fifth in a steady race, while third placed rider in the MX2 class Davide Guarner started in 13th and finished in seventh place. Whatever was happening to the title contenders, it was Musquin who was again making a statement.

The second MX2 race and Goncalves led this one from Musquin, Paulin, Frossard and Roczen. Unlike the first moto though Goncalves held on and crossed the finish line 14 seconds ahead of his Red Bull KTM team mate (Musquin) and another nine seconds ahead of Paulin.

Roczen rode well, but couldn't produce the same magic of the week earlier, finishing in fifth place for fourth place overall.

The opening MX1 moto saw Saturdays qualification race winner De Dycker blast into the lead early, although a crash on lap three after being passed by Nagl dropped him back to 17th position.

In the mean time Nagl was making a small break from the pack, with Desalle second, Leok third, Philippaerts, Coppins, Aigar Leok, and Cairoli. Cairoli worked his way through the pack to move into fourth place on lap six, as Leok dropped out after sliding off and not being able to restart his machine Cairoli had moved into third place.

Desalle worked his way past Nagl on lap nine and Carioli also went past the KTM rider on lap 16 and began what looked like an impossible chase of the leader. The two had crashed into each other on Saturday and many in attendance were looking forward to the two getting into it again as the race closed down.

Cairoli made up four seconds to pull his machine alongside Desalle on the last lap, but even a desperate attempt to get the moto win he finish second, right on the back wheel of the Belgian. Nagl was third, followed by a very fast finishing Coppins, then came Philippaerts, Aigar Leok, De Dycker, Aranda, Swanepoel and Campano in 10th place.

The second MX1 moto saw a similar start to the first moto with Desalle and Nagl two of the lead riders. Well back in the pack was Cairoli, although just like he does so often he worked his way to the leaders and then put on a brilliant pass on leader Desalle. Once in the lead Cairoli just took off, and won his 29th Grand Prix and extended his series points lead.

Rider comments

Antonio Cairoli

I am really happy about this GP, it is one track I was thinking it was more hard to win, I am fast on hard tracks, in sand I still need to learn how to ride 40 minutes, my lines were good and I didn't get tired. First heat I could almost pass Clement and this is good for the championship. Second heat I didn't get a good start and I waited, and rode easy for the first lap, then I pushed more and more. I worked hard this winter after the recovery of my knee, in the first races (rounds of the season) I wasn't fast enough and my condition wasn't good, but now I am strong and I can push more than at the start of the season. I liked the second moto with a fight and coming back from the back. Sometimes getting the holeshot is sometimes nice also. For sure I could see Clement was fast at the beginning, but after 15 minutes I pushed more and the gap was changing and then I knew I could catch him and then after passing De Dycker I was able to catch and pass Clement. There were two places I had good lines here and I used them well.

Clement Desalle

My first heat win was good, I was happy, the pressure was hard in the last lap, and the last corner it was difficult, but I kept the first prize, that was good for me. In the second moto my start was good, I passed Nagl and I was first and riding fast, but then after 20 minutes my clutch was playing up and I finished the last laps with no clutch. It was hard and sure I lost too much time and I finished fifth, I was disappointed for this, I could easily have been second in the second moto, but it is like this. The air is hot here, different than in Belgium.

Josh Coppins 

I expected the podium, I was close in Germany, but crashed with David, but I expected to be here this weekend. Germany was one of those things, a little bit my fault, but today I passed David like normal and concentrated on my race. I felt good after the first race, the six or seven before Germany I was struggling a lot. I will now continue to be strong the rest of the year. I enjoy this country, the track was good, nice lines and I enjoyed it. The start wasn't really nice, but I had good starts, all three races this weekend I was good, but yesterday Max went straight ahead and took me out of my line and he did the same today. I am looking forward to Sweden and also looking forward to having a break after Sweden.

Rui Goncalves

For sure it was a great weekend, it started yesterday when I won the qualification race and then won the GP today with 2-1, great feeling. It is special when you win somewhere you have never been. The track was nice and I felt good walking the track and it was rough, but not really deep sand, it got bumpy and I enjoy it. I will just do the same in Sweden, try and do my best and try and be a front runner. I have a great team behind me and Sweden is just another GP, I look forward to racing there I like the sand and good tracks coming up for me, and I just want to come and race, I won also on the hard pack and I am looking forward to them.

Marvin Musquin

It is good for the championship, but this weekend wasn't great for me, it was slippery and much sand and bumps, the track had many sections with whoops, but for the championship this was good. I want to be like this for the future. For sure I expected Rui to be strong, I won the first and took the holeshot in the second heat, and I rode with him and I tried to pass him, but the track was difficult, but really good to stay second for the championship.

Gautier Paulin

For sure I am happy, the bike is working good and the track was difficult with many bumps and I liked that. I had a bad start in the first heat, but came back to a good finish. I was happy also to get third early in the second moto, I tried to catch them, but they were a long way ahead. I look forward to being on the podium in the last rounds of the championship. I was happy about my race, but not happy with my starts. It was just one line like in Mallory Park and Germany, but I proved this week I had a good start in the sand and I am happy about that. It is possible to beat the KTM, at the start of the season I was beating them, but I proved I can beat KTM riders.

Grand Prix of Latvia Results 

MX2 moto one: 1. Marvin Musquin (KTM); 2. Rui Goncalves (KTM); 3. Ken Roczen (Suz); 4. Steven Frossard (Kaw); 5. Gautier Paulin (Kaw); 6. Joel Roelants (KTM); 7. Davide Guarneri (Yam); 8. Dennis Verbruggen (Hon); 9. Manuel Monni (Yam); 10. Evgeny Bobryshev (Yam)

MX2 Moto two: 1. Rui Goncalves (KTM); 2. Marvin Musquin (KTM); 3. Gautier Paulin (Kaw); 4. Davide Guarneri (Yam); 5. Ken Roczen (Suz); 6. Joel Roelants (KTM); 7. Dennis Verbruggen (Hon); 8. Marcus Schiffer (KTM); 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (Yam); 10. Jose Butron (Suz)

MX2 O/A: 1. Rui Goncalves 47pts, 2. Marvin Musquin 47pts, 3. Gautier Paulin 36pts, 4. Ken Roczen 36pts, 5. Davide Guarneri 32pts, 6. Joel Roelants 30pts, 7. Dennis Verbruggen 27pts, 8.

World MX2 Championship points table: 1. Marvin Musquin 371pts, 2. Gautier Paulin 322pts, 3. Rui Goncalves 301pts, 4. Davide Guarneri 296pts, 5. Steven Frossard 264pts, 6. Ken Roczen 200pts, 7. Nicolas Aubin 197pts, 8. Xavier Boog 197pts, 9. Manuel Monni 165pts, 10. Jeremy Van Horebeek 157pts

MX1 Moto one: 1. Clement Desalle (Hon); 2. Antonio Cairoli (Yam); 3. Max Nagl (KTM); 4. Josh Coppins (Yam); 5. David Philippaerts (Yam); 6. Aigar Leok (TM); 7. Ken De Dycker (Suz); 8. Gregory Aranda (Kaw); 9. Gareth Swanepoel (Kaw); 10. Carlos Campano (Yam)

MX1 Moto two: 1. Antonio Cairoli (Yam); 2. Josh Coppins (Yam); 3. Ken De Dycker (Suz); 4. Tanel Leok (Yam); 5. Clement Desalle (Hon); 6. Max Nagl (KTM); 7. David Philippaerts (Yam); 8. Aigar Leuk (TM); 9. Manuel Priem (Aprilia); 10. Carlos Campano (Yam)

MX1 O/A: 1. Antonio Cairoli 47pts, 2. Clement Desalle 41pts, 3. Josh Coppins 40pts, 4. Max Nagl 35pts, 5. Ken De Dycker 34pts, 6. David Philippaerts 30pts, 7. Aigar Leok 28pts, 8. Manuel Priem 22pts, 9. Carlos Campano 22pts, 10. Gareth Swanepoel 21pts

World MX1 Championship points table: 1. Antonio Cairoli 385pts, 2. Max Nagl 328pts, 3. David Philippaerts 327pts, 4. Josh Coppins 314pts, 5. Clement Desalle 309pts, 6. Ken De Dycker 298pts, 7. Tanel Leok 270pts, 8. Jonathan Barragan 215pts, 9. Aigar Leok 270pts, 10. Gareth Swanepoel 151pts