Thor’s Gautier Paulin has claimed a sensational victory at round 9 of the FIM Motocross World championship held on the historical Maggiora circuit in Italy.   The Factory Kawasaki racer, went head to head with reigning world champion, Antonio Cairoli, andcame out on top in an epic final moto battle in front of almost 40.000 spectators.    THOR’s Alessandro Lupino had the Italian crowd cheering him on as he claimed another solid podium result.

Paulin started his Italian GP off with a bang as he cruised to victory in Saturday’s MX qualification race.  David Philippaerts was having his best qualification race of the season on board his 1986 David Bailey – Maggiora Honda replica machine but then went down hard, much to the dismay of his home crowd.

Philippaerts would dig deep to ride the first MX1 moto on Sunday with a suspected broken nose but another crash sidelined the Italianformer MX1 world champ.

The tricky hillside circuit witnessed an exciting first MX1 moto as Paulin had to come through the pack after being ousted out in the first turn.  Belgian, Clement Desalle, took advantage of a good start and took the victory while Paulin put in a last minute charge to catch second place man, Ken Dedycker, but he could not break the Belgian giant and had to settle for 3^rd.   Fellow THOR team-mate Jeremy Van Horebeek  was holding his own for most of the moto until he let Cairoli by after occupying 4^th place.

The final MX1 moto would be one for the history books as Gautier Paulin grabbed the hole-shot and put a quick 3 second gap between his Factory Kawasaki and the rest of the pack.  Cheered on by an electric crowd,  Cairoli got two breaks when Van Horebeek and Dedycker let him by and he managed to close down Paulin’s advantage.   With 3 laps remaining, Paulin changed his lines to defend the Italian’s attack and with one lap to go he pushed hard to break his nemesis and take an emotional victory which had the Frenchman holding back his tears on the podium.

Alesandro Lupino was the outright crowd favourite in the MX2 class and after 6^th place in moto 1 the Italian youngster was determined to give the crowd their monies worth.   Lupino charged through the pack in the final outing and with every position he made up, a roar would echo throughout theMaggiora hills.  Lupino made his last move on Russian, Alexander Tonkov with two laps to go and the crowd erupted to cheer him to the finish line in 2^nd place.   Christophe Charlier lost out on his starts scoring a 5-6 result and was disappointed to have missed out on a podium opportunity.

With the series now passing the halfway point,  MX1 and MX2 riders will have a short week off  before 3 tough GP’s back to back will take the championship to Sweden, Lativa and Finland.

Images: CDS + Bavo

Thor riders were back at it again over the weekend, winning races around the globe in dominating fashion. Collecting the first win of the weekend was Thor’s Mike Brown at the season opener of the EnduroCross series. At the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Brown collected the fastest hot-lap time in both the afternoon and night sessions, grabbed a heat-race win, and took his first EnduroCross series win of his career. While he has won at X Games, this is the first series win for the 41-year old. Also putting in great efforts in the main event were Thor’s Taylor Robert and Destry Abbott, finishing sixth and 11th, respectively.

Mike Brown

Also running in Las Vegas was the final round of the Monster Energy Supercross Series at Sam Boyd Stadium. Villopoto clinched the championship last weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah, but he was hungry to claim that 10th win of the season. He got to the front quickly and by the second lap he had moved into the lead, adding another win to his impressive comeback season.

Ryan Villopoto

The 250SX riders had a lot of racing to do over at Sam Boyd Stadium, with a 15-lap main event and a 10-lap East/West Shootout. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki interim rider Tyler Bowers started the night on a positive note as he broke through for his first career win in the Eastern Regional 250SX Main Event. Later in the East/West Shootout, he was in the top five, but a crash pushed him back and he recovered for 14th.

Tyler Bowers

It was a hard-fought battle for Eastern Regional title-contender Marvin Musquin who finished just a few points out of the title. He never gave up and nearly beat Bowers to the line, taking second in the main event and second in the standings. In the East/West Shootout, Musquin finished on the podium again with a third-place result.

Marvin Musquin

In the Western Regional 250SX Main Event, Martin Davalos shot out of the gate and grabbed the holeshot, leading the field for 11 laps before eventually rounding out the podium in third. Tyla Rattray was able to work his way up to ninth. Davalos almost had another podium finish in the East/West Shootout, but finished just off the podium in fourth, while Rattray finished 10th.

Martin Davalos

Tyla Rattray

Out in the Utah desert, Thor’s Kurt Caselli added another win to the weekend with an impressive ride at the AMA National Hare and Hound in Jericho, Utah. After six rounds, Caselli holds a decent points gap over second place in the championship standings.

Kurt Caselli

On the other side of the globe, the FIM Motocross World Championship headed to Agueda, Portugal for the sixth round of the season. Thor’s Gautier Paulin held off his toughest rivals to claim the overall win by finishing with a 1-2 moto finish, making it back-to-back wins for the Frenchman.

Gautier Paulin

Also in the MX1 class, Thor’s Jeremy Van Horebeek showcased his speed with a 5-6 finish for seventh overall, while David Philippaerts was just behind him in eighth overall with an 8-8 moto result. In the MX2 class, Christophe Charlier put in a great ride to finish with a top five.

Jeremy Van Horebeek

Also in the MX1 class, Thor’s Jeremy Van Horebeek showcased his speed with a 5-6 finish for seventh overall, while David Philippaerts was just behind him in eighth overall with an 8-8 moto result. In the MX2 class, Christophe Charlier put in a great ride to finish with a top five.

Charlie Mullins

Kailub Russell

One final win was added to the tally when Thor amateur rider Ryder DiFrancesco took the win during the KTM Supercross Juniors Challenge in Las Vegas during the Monster Energy Supercross.

Ryder DiFrancesco

It was another great weekend for the Thor riders all around the globe, with Charlie Mullins and Gautier Paulin both pick up wins in their respective series.

At the Big Buck GNCC in Union, S.C., Mullins won his third race of the season over teammate Kailub Russell, who placed second. While Mullins won by 30 seconds, Russell finished nearly four minutes ahead of the third place rider. The win helped Mullins extend his championship lead to 10 points.

In XC2 class, Thor’s Grant Baylor tied his season-best finish of second, moving him into second place in total points for the year. Baylor battled for his second-place result, finishing just half a second in front of the third-place finisher.

After dominating every timing and qualification session, Thor’s Gautier Paulin continued to look great when it counted, winning the FIM Motocross World Championship in Bulgaria. His victory moved him into second place in the World Championship classification. Thor’s Jeremy van Horebeek was good for fifth place overall, his best result of the year. David Philippaerts took eighth overall, a result that has him edging ever closer to a top-10 season finish.

In MX2 class, Thor’s Alessandro Lupino took third overall, his best result of the season. Christophe Charlier was able to finish sixth overall with a 7-5 moto result.

Thor’s Maria Forsberg had a long race weekend that started with the Women’s Enduro X race at the X Games. After finishing with a silver medal in Brazil, she flew back and captured the GNCC Women’s class win in Union, S.C.

Thor’s Gautier Paulin made another podium appearance, finishing second overall in MX1 class at the second round of the FIM Motocross World Championship in Si Racha, Thailand. His strong 4-2 finish helped him maintain third-place in the points standings. David Philippaerts took 11^th overall in Thailand with a 6-14 moto result.

In MX2 class, Thor’s Christophe Charlier just missed the overall podium after charging hard in the final moto to finish the day fourth overall with a 9-3 moto result. Alessandro Lupino rode near Charlier in both races, taking fifth overall with an 8-4 moto finish.

Thor MX is proud to announce it’s 2013 International Team. This years GP MX1 team riders are #21 Gautier Paulin, #89 Jeremy Van Horebeek, and #19 David Philippaerts. In the 2013 GP MX2 class we have #300 Alessendro Lupino, #200 Arnoud Tonus, and #23 Christophe Charlier. We would like to wish all of our riders the best this year. For more info on each rider check out the team rider pages and stay tuned for more info.