Everts wins overall on his 250cc motorbike in Bitche. Max Nagl regains the championship lead with second place. Jordi Tixier delights French fans with third place.
Numerous fans enjoyed a successful French premiere of the ADAC MX Masters with exciting races. Liam Everts (B/Neestan Husqvarna Factory Racing) became the seventh winner of the season at the Circuit du Martinsthal, narrowly beating Max Nagl (D/Dörr Motorsport Triumph Racing powered by Krettek) and Jordi Tixier (F/KMP-Honda-Racing powered by DVAG). Nagl thus took the championship lead ahead of the season finale in Holzgerlingen.
Everts finishes with race victory
Everts improved steadily during his guest appearance. After finishing sixth in Saturday's race, he managed third place behind Nagl and Tixier in Sunday's second race on a smaller-capacity motorcycle. In the third race, he was in third place after the opening lap and then passed Jörgen-Matthias Talviku (EST/JMT Esttrans Yamaha Keskus Racing Team) to move into second place. In the final third of the race, he closed the gap to the leader Spies and took the lead with six laps to go. The race victory ahead of Spies and van de Moosdijk also earned Everts the overall victory in Bitche.
‘I got better and better over the course of the weekend. On Saturday, the ground was quite heavy due to the rain, which made it difficult for me on the 250cc machine at the start and on the long climbs. I didn't expect to win overall. It's a shame that Max Nagl crashed in the third race, because I would have liked to have battled it out with him after a good start,’ said Everts.
Nagl returns to the top of the overall standings
As Acerbis Best Qualifier, Nagl laid the foundation for a successful Saturday in qualifying. In the first race, he took a clear start-to-finish victory after the Red Bull Holeshot. On Sunday, he showed that he was back to his usual strength with another start-to-finish victory in the second race ahead of Tixier and Everts. With his third start victory of the weekend, Nagl also took the lead in the third race, but crashed after a riding error in the first lap and was only able to resume the race from the back of the field. In a furious chase, he worked his way up to twelfth place. He missed out on victory in Bitche by one point, but regained the lead in the standings. Nagl now leads by three points ahead of van de Moosdijk and Spies.
"I'm leaving with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I'm happy that things are going a bit better for me again after two difficult events and that I was able to win two of the three races. But I'm very annoyed about the mistake in the third race, because it meant I threw away the overall victory and a lot of important points. For the spectators, it was a spectacular comeback, but for me it was very exhausting. I tried to save every point. Of course, I'm delighted to be heading to Holzgerlingen with the red plate," said Nagl.
Tixier on the podium at his home race
Jordi Tixier narrowly missed out on the podium in Saturday's opening race after a mediocre start and a good comeback, finishing fourth behind Nagl, Spies and Marcel Stauffer (A/Osicka MX Team). In the second race, he passed Talviku on the opening lap to take second place and held it confidently until the finish. In the third race, Tixier had to fight his way up from ninth place after the opening lap. After the first third of the race, he moved up to fifth place, which he held behind Talviku until the finish. For Tixier, it is his third podium in four races.
‘A podium finish at my home race is fantastic! I really enjoyed riding in front of the French fans. Better starts would have made my life easier. Here's a fun fact: when I became world champion, Liam's father was my coach. Now I'm standing here on the podium with Liam. That's very special,’ said Tixier.
All races from both days of the event can be viewed free of charge as re-livestreams via the ADAC MX Masters playlist on the ADAC Motorsport YouTube channel. The full results from the weekend are available at adac.de/mx-masters.
