(MENAFN- The Peninsula) German star Maximilian Nagl won both MXGP races in the opening round of the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship at Losail International Circuit (LIC) here last night.
Earlier in the opening round of MX2, Dutchman Jeffrey Herlings also won two races as did French rider Livia Lancelot, who topped both contests in the women's (MXW) class.
In the last race of the night, Nagl - riding for Huqsvarna - upstaged defending champion Antonio Cairoli of Italy and American star Ryan Villopoto for the second time in the season's first Grand Prix.
The 28-year-old clocked a time of 35:00.295 in race 2 as he finished the 18-lap contest ahead of French rider Clement Desalle and Gautier Paulin.
Desalle, riding for Suzuki, clocked a time of 35:06.318 while Honda star Gautier finished with a time of 35:09.047, some 8.75 seconds slower than Nagl.
Cairoli, the eight-time world champion, finished fourth.
In race 1, Nagl finished ahead of Desalle and Cairoli to grab all 50 points.
In the closing stages of race 1, Nagl was hotly chased Desalle but the German sealed his win with a neat finish.
American bike legend Villopoto encountered a number of difficulties in race 1. His bike stopped straight after the gates dropped and during the first lap the American crashed after a collision with Jose Butron.
The experienced 28-year-old rider made his way back after mounting the bike but crashed again to lose ground on the pace-setters. After his third setback, Villopoto still managed to finish in ninth position.
The American finished in the eighth spot in race 2.
In the MX2 category, Herlings, who topped the qualifying on Friday, yesterday produced an impressive display to clinch both races on the opening night of the new season.
The KTM star bagged 50 points from both contests after finishing ahead of Belgium's Julien Lieber in race 2. In race 1, Herlings clocked a time of 33:51.825 over 17 laps. In race 2, he clocked 33:56.613.
Herlings won race 1 after a tense battle under the lights here. Despite trailing Pauls Jonass at one stage, he picked up the pace and grabbed the lead only to lose it after another keen battle.
Frenchman Dylan Ferrandis shadowed Herlings with purpose, passing the Dutchman in the middle of the race.
Herlings, however, played the patient role well and worked his way up from 4.6 seconds behind Ferrandis.
Herlings started to close down the gap and with a few laps to go, the Dutchman took over the lead again and closed out the race 2.6 seconds ahead of Ferrandis. Lieber finished third, a notch above Tim Gajser.
In a troubling start to the new season, Great Britain's Max Anstie was forced to retire from the race after a nasty fall.
Meanwhile, French rider Lancelot yesterday won both races to go the top of the women's standings after the first race of the new season.
Riding a Kawasaki, she secured the maximum tally of 50 points in both races.
Lancelot, who won the first ever FIM Women's Motocross World Championship title in 2008, clocked a time of 25:00.222 in race 2 last night. Her time in race 1 was 24:34.777.
Italy's Kiara Fontanesi was leading race 2 for a lengthy time but got passed by in-form Lancelot, who took her second win of the day with a slick finish.
Fontanesi finished second in each of the two 11-lap races at the imposing Losail Circuit. She now has an overall tally of 44 points after the first round.
Meghan Rutledge of Australia is in third spot after finishing third in race 1 - worth 20 points - but ending up in fourth place in race 2 - worth 18 points. Rutledge has a tally of 38 points.
The next round of the MXGP will be held in Thailand on March 8.
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