Today’s MXGP of Germany at Teutschenthal could go down in the history books as the round where Jeffrey Herlings (Red Bull KTM) finally broke his team-mate and defending champion Tony Cairoli.

The Dutchman raced to a pair of dominant victories around the brutal hard-pack circuit but Cairoli looked a beaten man as he struggled to sixth overall with a six-five card that saw him drop another 19 points in the championship chase.

“I can’t describe it,” said Herlings. “It’s such a wonderful feeling on a track that is basically not my favourite to come out on top twice. I’m feeling so good on the bike – it’s just a blessing.

“I want to thank all of the crew for always sticking behind me and giving me such a great team. It was a good day and I’m very, very pleased – I can’t wait for the next one in two weeks in England.”

Gautier Paulin (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) holeshot race one but within a few turns Herlings had gone around the outside of him to take the lead and from there on in it was game over.

With Tim Gajser (Team HRC) holding third ahead of Belgian Jeremy Van Horebeek (Monster Energy Yamaha), Cairoli was back in sixth behind Romain Febvre (Monster Energy Yamaha) and when the nine-time champion hit the Frenchman’s rear wheel he lost two further places to Julien Lieber (Monster Energy Kawasaki) and Clement Desalle (Monster Energy Kawasaki).

After five minutes Herlings’ advantage over Paulin was already three-and-a-half seconds but Cairoli was stuck behind Desalle with the gap to his title rival almost nine seconds and growing.

With limited passing places the top six looked set until a big mistake from Paulin cost him a position to 2016 champion Gajser with the Slovenian over 16 seconds behind Herlings at the flag. Febvre – champion in 2015 – was fourth from Desalle with Cairoli stuck in sixth after chasing the Belgian for 17 laps but unable to make a pass.

Herlings looked to have the holeshot in race two but drifted wide, letting Paulin up the inside. Just as in race one, Herlings was at the front within a few turns as Cairoli once again found himself out of striking distance and helpless to act as his main championship rival began to check out for the second time.

A mistake by Paulin put him off the track for just long enough for Gajser to go by with Febvre settling into fourth ahead of his team-mate Van Horebeek whose race ended on lap two when he crashed with Lieber.

After passing his team-mate Glen Coldenhoff for sixth Cairoli came up behind Desalle but, following the frustration of race one, still couldn’t find a way through.

With 10 minutes gone Herlings led Gajser by almost nine seconds as Cairoli laboured in sixth over 20 seconds behind the Dutchman who simply didn’t let up, continuing to post fastest laps as he pulled clear.

At half-distance Febvre was closing on Paulin who in turn was closing on Gajser but with three laps to go Febrve crashed out of fourth before restarting in seventh and handing Desalle and Cairoli an extra position.

Herlings’ eventual winning margin over Gajser was almost 30 seconds as he stretched his championship lead to 48 points from Cairoli. Gajser’s two-two scorecard was good enough for second overall – his best finish of the season – with Paulin third ahead of Desalle, Febvre and a dejected Cairoli.

With Shaun Simpson (Wilvo Yamaha) and Graeme Irwin (Hitachi ASA KTM) still injured, UK hopes rested with Max Anstie (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), Tommy Searle (Bike It DRT Kawasaki) – who was back in world championship action for the first time since breaking his collarbone at round two at Valkenswaard in March – and wildcard Steven Clarke (Carglass Honda).

Anstie, who’s still getting back up to full speed following a bad concussion, ran 15-12 for 12th and Tommy carded 17-18 for 18th but Clarke – who’s contesting the EMX250 class – failed to score.

The championship now takes a weekend off before round nine – the MXGP of Great Britain at Matterley Basin.

MXGP Germany race two

1 84 Herlings, Jeffrey NED KNMV KTM 35:12.176 19 0:00.000 0:00.000 1:46.860 5 51.8
2 243 Gajser, Tim SLO AMZS Honda 35:40.796 19 0:28.620 0:28.620 1:48.632 5 51
3 21 Paulin, Gautier FRA MCM Husqvarna 35:45.039 19 0:32.863 0:04.243 1:48.413 6 51.1
4 25 Desalle, Clement BEL FMB Kawasaki 36:00.899 19 0:48.723 0:15.860 1:49.236 3 50.7
5 222 Cairoli, Antonio ITA FMI KTM 36:10.341 19 0:58.165 0:09.442 1:49.071 6 50.8
6 259 Coldenhoff, Glenn NED KNMV KTM 36:15.402 19 1:03.226 0:05.061 1:49.476 5 50.6
7 461 Febvre, Romain FRA FFM Yamaha 36:22.791 19 1:10.615 0:07.389 1:48.717 5 50.9
8 12 Nagl, Maximilian GER DMSB TM 36:24.314 19 1:12.138 0:01.523 1:50.042 6 50.3
9 777 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS MFR Suzuki 36:30.263 19 1:18.087 0:05.949 1:50.036 5 50.3
10 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS Yamaha 36:31.099 19 1:18.923 0:00.836 1:50.783 4 50
11 77 Lupino, Alessandro ITA FMI Kawasaki 36:39.562 19 1:27.386 0:08.463 1:50.199 5 50.3
12 99 Anstie, Max GBR ACU Husqvarna 36:49.486 19 1:37.310 0:09.924 1:51.168 8 49.8
13 17 Butron, Jose ESP RFME KTM 36:52.971 19 1:40.795 0:03.485 1:51.664 8 49.6
14 141 Desprey, Maxime FRA FFM Kawasaki 36:54.733 19 1:42.557 0:01.762 1:51.972 5 49.5
15 22 Strijbos, Kevin BEL FMB KTM 36:59.873 19 1:47.697 0:05.140 1:51.800 10 49.5
16 27 Jasikonis, Arminas LTU LMSF Honda 37:18.585 19 2:06.409 0:18.712 1:51.813 6 49.5
17 152 Petrov, Petar BUL BMF Honda 35:12.558 18 1 lap 1 lap 1:52.201 6 49.4
18 100 Searle, Tommy GBR ACU Kawasaki 35:14.510 18 1 lap 0:01.952 1:51.677 13 49.6
19 33 Lieber, Julien BEL FMB Kawasaki 35:16.160 18 1 lap 0:01.650 1:51.893 9 49.5
20 7 Leok, Tanel EST EMF Husqvarna 35:38.367 18 1 lap 0:22.207 1:53.026 4 49
21 613 Kovar, Vaclav CZE ACCR Gas Gas 35:58.779 18 1 lap 0:20.412 1:54.063 6 48.6
22 920 Valentin, Ander ESP RFME Husqvarna 36:05.565 18 1 lap 0:06.786 1:54.959 4 48.2
23 85 Ekerold, Stefan GER DMSB KTM 36:06.170 18 1 lap 0:00.605 1:53.418 5 48.8
24 83 Renkens, Nathan BEL FMB Honda 36:13.722 18 1 lap 0:07.552 1:55.072 9 48.1
25 926 Delince, Jeremy BEL FMB Honda 36:38.389 18 1 lap 0:24.667 1:55.018 3 48.2
26 93 Bengtsson, Jonathan SWE SVEMO KTM 37:09.103 18 1 lap 0:30.714 1:56.103 4 47.7
27 377 Krc, Martin CZE ACCR KTM 36:17.060 17 2 laps 1 lap 1:56.379 4 47.6
28 128 Monticelli, Ivo ITA FMI Yamaha 31:51.835 16 3 laps 1 lap 1:52.845 5 49.1
29 62 Gercar, Klemen SLO AMZS Husqvarna 20:16.136 10 9 laps 6 laps 1:53.739 4 48.7
30 15 Bonini, Davide ITA FMI KTM 14:42.180 7 12 laps 3 laps 1:55.123 7 48.1
31 89 Van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL FMB Yamaha 2:40.784 1 18 laps 6 laps 1:53.214 1 48.9

MXGP Germany race one

1 84 Herlings, Jeffrey NED KNMV KTM 34:00.399 18 0:00.000 0:00.000 1:48.984 7 50.8
2 243 Gajser, Tim SLO AMZS Honda 34:16.654 18 0:16.255 0:16.255 1:49.859 7 50.4
3 21 Paulin, Gautier FRA MCM Husqvarna 34:24.427 18 0:24.028 0:07.773 1:49.935 7 50.4
4 461 Febvre, Romain FRA FFM Yamaha 34:30.933 18 0:30.534 0:06.506 1:50.203 6 50.3
5 25 Desalle, Clement BEL FMB Kawasaki 34:34.455 18 0:34.056 0:03.522 1:50.937 4 49.9
6 222 Cairoli, Antonio ITA FMI KTM 34:38.399 18 0:38.000 0:03.944 1:50.662 8 50
7 89 Van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL FMB Yamaha 34:40.889 18 0:40.490 0:02.490 1:50.980 15 49.9
8 33 Lieber, Julien BEL FMB Kawasaki 34:43.171 18 0:42.772 0:02.282 1:51.603 13 49.6
9 259 Coldenhoff, Glenn NED KNMV KTM 34:46.317 18 0:45.918 0:03.146 1:51.664 6 49.6
10 777 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS MFR Suzuki 34:54.109 18 0:53.710 0:07.792 1:52.123 8 49.4
11 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS Yamaha 34:59.019 18 0:58.620 0:04.910 1:51.244 6 49.8
12 12 Nagl, Maximilian GER DMSB TM 35:08.293 18 1:07.894 0:09.274 1:51.697 13 49.6
13 77 Lupino, Alessandro ITA FMI Kawasaki 35:14.978 18 1:14.579 0:06.685 1:52.737 8 49.1
14 27 Jasikonis, Arminas LTU LMSF Honda 35:18.591 18 1:18.192 0:03.613 1:51.575 7 49.6
15 99 Anstie, Max GBR ACU Husqvarna 35:25.282 18 1:24.883 0:06.691 1:53.419 9 48.8
16 141 Desprey, Maxime FRA FFM Kawasaki 35:36.390 18 1:35.991 0:11.108 1:53.470 7 48.8
17 100 Searle, Tommy GBR ACU Kawasaki 35:49.905 18 1:49.506 0:13.515 1:53.667 5 48.7
18 85 Ekerold, Stefan GER DMSB KTM 35:51.116 18 1:50.717 0:01.211 1:55.346 5 48
19 7 Leok, Tanel EST EMF Husqvarna 35:51.757 18 1:51.358 0:00.641 1:54.486 10 48.4
20 17 Butron, Jose ESP RFME KTM 35:54.854 18 1:54.455 0:03.097 1:53.592 9 48.8
21 62 Gercar, Klemen SLO AMZS Husqvarna 34:15.269 17 1 lap 1 lap 1:55.171 8 48.1
22 511 Clarke, Steven GBR ACU Honda 34:48.428 17 1 lap 0:33.159 1:56.775 7 47.4
23 83 Renkens, Nathan BEL FMB Honda 34:50.662 17 1 lap 0:02.234 1:56.574 7 47.5
24 93 Bengtsson, Jonathan SWE SVEMO KTM 34:54.681 17 1 lap 0:04.019 1:56.714 6 47.5
25 613 Kovar, Vaclav CZE ACCR Gas Gas 34:56.093 17 1 lap 0:01.412 1:56.555 7 47.5
26 926 Delince, Jeremy BEL FMB Honda 35:31.461 17 1 lap 0:35.368 1:56.789 6 47.4
27 377 Krc, Martin CZE ACCR KTM 34:44.421 16 2 laps 1 lap 1:59.888 5 46.2
28 128 Monticelli, Ivo ITA FMI Yamaha 26:58.224 13 5 laps 3 laps 1:55.245 9 48.1
29 152 Petrov, Petar BUL BMF Honda 16:17.853 8 10 laps 5 laps 1:53.679 8 48.7
30 920 Valentin, Ander ESP RFME Husqvarna 17:06.887 7 11 laps 1 lap 1:56.443 4 47.6
31 22 Strijbos, Kevin BEL FMB KTM 6:43.306 3 15 laps 4 laps 1:54.447 3 48.4
32 15 Bonini, Davide ITA FMI KTM 5:00.975 2 16 laps 1 lap 1:59.674 2 46.3