Glenn Coldenhoff has won his first RAM Qualifying Race of the season at Lommel, Belgian for the MXGP of Flanders while Jago Geerts dominated MX2 to take his sixth Qualifying Race.
The new layout offered a tough challenge to the riders who returned to sand riding for the first time since Kegums in Latvia. As usual, Belgian fans turned up in large numbers to cheer and support the riders in all categories and created an amazing atmosphere throughout the whole day.
In the MXGP RAM Qualifying Race, Jorge Prado once again got the best start and took the lead in front of Glenn Coldenhoff, Jeremy Seewer and Romain Febvre. Febvre overtook Seewer on lap two to go third behind Prado and Coldenhoff. A battle between the front three ensued over the rest of the race. Prado took the advantage and looked composed in the lead while Febvre was threatening Coldenhoff over the first part of the race. As both riders were pushing each other, Coldenhoff closed in on Prado on lap nine and decided to put his efforts into chasing the leader. Coldenhoff made a solid pass on lap nine to squeeze past Prado on the inside for the lead. Coldenhoff edged away to race to his first RAM Qualifying Race win in style.
Prado took some time to get his groove back and crashed, leaving Febvre capitalising on that mistake to move second while Prado dropped down to third. Febvre finished second. However, the race was not over for Prado who was under threat by Seewer. Seewer pushed hard and managed to muscle his way past on the last lap but crashed a corner later.
Prado could not avoid him and fell too. These mistakes benefitted Calvin Vlaanderen who is performing to very high standards after his race win in Loket last weekend. Vlaanderen moved up and finish third. In the end, Prado picked his bike up quicker than Seewer in fourth but got overtaken by the Swiss on the very last corners. Seewer finished fourth while Prado settled for fifth in the end losing a few points to Febvre in the Championship.
The winner of the 2022 edition, Brian Bogers is getting his flow back as he performed greatly again in Lommel to finish sixth and get his best result of the season. Rubén Fernández managed to get into the points again as he rode solidly into seventh.
Jeremy Van Horebeek keeps displaying great ridings after his two top tens this season and finished eighth just in front of another great performer Maximilian Spies. Tim Gajser started strongly as he overtook Fernandez on the first lap but made a mistake on lap three to drop down to ninth. He then could do nothing when Spies passed him on lap four. Gajser finished tenth and got another point for the Championship.
“It is really quite tough for a Saturday,” Coldenhoff said. “This new layout is hard and demands more physically. I tried to save some energy but I knew I could win too so I decided to go for it. I was fast on one part the track and I managed to pass Prado there. Its good, it’s the first RAM Qualifying Race so I am looking forward to tomorrow!”
MX2
In the MX2 RAM Qualifying Race, Jago Geerts got the best start and took the lead through the first corner. Geerts kept going with the lead and looked very composed until Simon Laengenfelder started to get dangerously close. Laengenfelder quickly overtook Sacha Coenen and Kevin Horgmo who both made a great start. Laengenfelder now second, kept charging forward, setting the fastest lap of the race. As the German got really close to Geerts, he made a mistake and Geerts was off the hook to win the RAM Qualifying Race.
Laengenfelder looked to finish second but Lucas Coenen was determined to finish strongly after a solid race. L.Coenen was sixth on lap one and gained a position each lap to get to third on lap four. The young Belgian kept a strong pace to finally be able to pass Laengenfelder on the very last lap and finish second while Laengenfelder settled for third.
S.Coenen made a great start on his home GP. Unfortunately, he crashed while riding in front of his brother Lucas. L.Coenen could not avoid him and rolled over his brother’s bike to continue his charge forward. S.Coenen picked himself sixteenth but managed to finish twelfth. Horgmo on the other side was second on lap one and dropped down the rank to finish at a good seventh place to take four points.
It was a great race for Andrea Adamo who rode cleanly and strongly. Adamo who was eighth on lap one made his own race and benefitted from other riders’ mistakes a few times. In the end, the Red Plate holder finished at a really good fourth place in front of his teammate Liam Everts who rode consistently around fifth place. Everts was threatened by Kay de Wolf and had to defend for most of the second part of the race. De Wolf was pushing a lot, maybe a bit too much as he buried his front wheel towards the end of the race and crashed which let Everts finish comfortably fifth. De Wolf didn’t lose a position and finished in sixth place.
“I was in the lead after the first corner. I felt quite good, I wasn’t pushing that much but really trying to ride as comfortably as possible and don’t waste too much energy for tomorrow. In the end I am very happy with the RAM Qualifying win,” Geerts said.
MXGP – RAM Qualifying Race – Top 10 Classification:
1 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), 26:14.735
2 Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:03.117
3 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:21.645
4 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:29.500
5 Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:34.635
6 Brian Bogers (NED, Honda), +0:40.686
7 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:46.028
8 Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Honda), +0:55.610
9 Maximilian Spies (GER, KTM), +1:01.901
10 Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +1:13.222
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification:
1 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 620 Points
2 Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 519 Points
3 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 472 Points
4 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 456 Points
5 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 438 Points
6 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 410 Points
7 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 386 Points
8 Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 302 Points
9 Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 276 Points
10 Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 203 Points
MX2 – RAM Qualifying Race – Top 10 Classification:
1 Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), 26:30.635
2 Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:04.054
3 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:07.357
4 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:20.295
5 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:21.499
6 Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:43.463
7 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:45.016
8 Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:02.267
9 Isak Gifting (SWE, GASGAS), +1:03.378
10 Ivano Van Erp (NED, Yamaha), +1:08.390
MX2 – World Championship – Top 10 Classification:
1 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 538 Points
2 Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 501 Points
3 Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 501 Points
4 Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 462 Points
5 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 453 Points
6 Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 433 Points
7 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 398 Points
8 Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 381 Points
9 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 332 Points
10 Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 253 Points
