KTM Red Bull Racing Team MX1 Factory riders scored a 4th and 8th place at the Spanish Grand Prix with factory supported rider Max Nagl riding to an excellent third place. The event at Bellpuig was a real test of rider endurance on Sunday with MX1 riders having to face heavy, muddy conditions after solid rain that wiped out training on Saturday. KTM Factory-supported rider Germany’s Max Nagl nevertheless had a golden day and ended on the podium in third place overall after a fifth and a second in the two motos.
Nagl gathered a total of 38 points to beat KTM factory rider Jonathan Barragan of Spain into fourth overall. Barragan, riding with a badly bruised shoulder from a training crash earlier in the week collected championship 33 points for his heroic fourth and sixth places in the two races.
Barragan received a pain killing injection before the race but nevertheless he found himself hampered by the injury. He struggled with his rhythm in the first race and managed to improve on that in the second. On advice from the team physiotherapist he will now return home and rest up ahead of the Portuguese Grand Prix next weekend. “I hope to do better there,” he said. “It was where I had my first podium last year.”
Italian David Philippaerts made some improvement on the first event of the season the Benelux Grand Prix at Valkenswaard and ended the day with a 15-8 result for the two motos. The rough and very muddy course was not kind to the Italian who is used to riding in much different conditions. Philippaerts did not get away cleanly in either of the two starts and will join Tyla Rattray of the KTM MX2 team for some intensive training with team boss Stefan Everts in the coming week.
Everts said Philippaerts was nevertheless showing good fighting spirits and was still adjusting to the bigger KTM 450 SX-F machine after moving up from the MX2 category. “Although both riders had quite bad starts today, we did better than expected, so I am satisfied,” Everts said. While Barragan rests his injured shoulder, Everts will work closely with Philippaerts on the starts while the KTM mechanics will work on the bike setup to better suit the Italian rider ahead of the next Grand Prix.
Jonathan Barragan is third in the championship standings with 74 points, Max Nagl is fourth with 63 points and David Philippaerts is fifteenth with 26 points.
Results from Bellpuig:1. Joshua Coppins, New Zealand, Yamaha
2. Kevin Strijbos, Belgium, Suzuki
3. Max Nagl, Germany, KTM
4. Jonathan Barragan, Spain, KTM
5. Sebastian Pourcel, France, Kawasaki
8. David Philippaerts, Italy, KTM
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