Clean sweep of MX2 for KTM riders at Belgium's Lommel

KTM riders tackled the soft heavy sand of Lommel on Sunday at the MX2 GP of Belgium and came away with the top sixth places.

The two races delivered breathtaking action with race two shaking up the Red Bull KTM factory riders and championship leaders Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle who were involved in a pile up in the opening minutes.

Both fought their way heroically back into the action but it was KTM supported rider Gert Krestinov of Estonia who snatched the overall victory. Second place went to Red Bull KTM's Rui Goncalves of Portugal while team-mate Tommy Searle was third, narrowing the gap on championship leader KTM's Tyla Rattray by just a single point.

"Things started going well for me yesterday," said the 18-year-old Estonian rider. "I feel like I am living a dream after taking the victory today. I did make a few mistakes in the first race and I couldn't manage better than eighth but then I went out and won the second race."

Krestinov said he is quite at home on sand as he rides in similar conditions in Estonia. It is his second year in GP but he was taken out of action after he broke his leg at the German GP last season. "Now I hope to carry on and to stay with KTM. I really like the bike," he said.

"For sure it was my best result for the season so far," said second placed Rui Goncalves, who said he hoped the result was a reward for KTM and his team who have supported and believed in him throughout the season.

"In race one I took the holeshot and found some good lines, but just wanted to stay focussed and not take any risks. The second race was very different. There were a lot of crashes and it was quite messy. I wasn't going so well but I managed to close the gap." Rui ended the day with the same points tally as Krestinov who took the top podium because of his victory in the second race.

Searle fights to the finish

With the fever that comes with a true fight for the title, Searle, the British teenager also made it an all or nothing race from the back after the opening incident and despite several crashes was still on the podium in the final shakeout. "I didn't have such a good start in the first race," Tommy said.

"Then I had problems at the gate in the second and then I was involved in the crash in the first corner. I managed to close down the gap in the second but I crashed again and stalled the bike and made another mistake in the final lap. But even if I did make some mistakes, I still managed to gain a point on Tyla." The two Red Bull KTM factory riders have established a significant lead in the championship standings, especially now that third placed Antonio Cairoli is out with a knee injury.

Rattray had an easy win in the first race and made a good start in race two but when van Horebeek went down directly in front of him in the first corner he was unable to avoid the crash. After the pileup in the opening stages Rattray tore his way through the tricky soft sand from the back of the pack to fourth place. He seemed certain to come out of the incident with the most points when the loose surface grabbed his front wheel, spilling him off this bike and suddenly the South African was back at seventeenth place.

He put in a super human effort to finish in fourth place just behind Searle and rescue enough points to hang onto the red number plate. "I managed to close the gap after the crash in race two but then I stalled the bike and couldn't finish any higher in the order and lost some valuable points. Now I just plan to put my head down and work very hard for the rest of the season," he said.

Team boss Stefan Everts said it had been a very good weekend all round for KTM. "It was a pity that our riders crashed and couldn't finish with a better result but I am happy for Rui's second place because he is a hard fighter and worker." He also acknowledged Tyla as "the best rider and fighter on the circuit today."

1. Gert Krestinov, Estonia, KTM (8-1)

2. Rui Goncalves, Portugal, KTM (3-4)

3. Tommy Searle, Britain, KTM (2-6)

4. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, KTM (1-10)

5. Jeremy van Horebeek, Belgium, KTM

6. Joel Roelants, Belgium, KTM

Other KTM

9. Shaun Simpson, Britain, KTM

12. Anthony Boissiere, France, KTM

1. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, KTM 452

2. Tommy Searle, Britain, KTM 432

3. Antonio Cairoli, Italy, 357

4. Shaun Simpson, Britain, KTM 312

5. Rui Goncalves, Portugal, KTM, 279

7. Jeremy van Horebeek, Belgium, KTM 232

12. Anthony Boissiere, France, KTM, 174

15. Jeremy Tarroux, France 140

16. Joel Roelants, Belgium, 133

-KTM , Mattighofen -