Jeffery Herlings and Sacha Coenen Top Qualifying at the MXGP of China

Morning sunshine gave way to cloud cover and afternoon showers at the Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China, but the stifling heat and humidity at Shanghai International Off-Road Circuit still played a role as riders battled through two tense Qualifying Races.

The stakes were high, with Grand Prix gate picks and crucial Championship points on the line.
In MXGP, Jeffrey Herlings marked his birthday weekend in style with a rare start-to-finish win. The Dutchman fended off a late charge from Tim Gajser, who settled for second ahead of Championship leader Romain Febvre, giving the Frenchman enough to extend his series lead to 30 points

A week on from his maiden Qualifying Race victory in Türkiye, Sacha Coenen repeated the performance with another flag-to-flag win in MX2. His teammate Simon Längenfelder backed him up in second, extending his points lead, while rookie Valerio Lata claimed an impressive third.

MXGP

The day had started with Romain Febvre setting the pace in Free Practice, ahead of Ruben Fernandez and Jeffrey Herlings, but it was “The Bullet” who fired off a late flyer to snatch the fastest lap in Time Practice and secure first gate pick. Tim Gajser slotted into second, just clear of Lucas Coenen, while Febvre dropped to fifth behind Maxime Renaux.

On the gate, Herlings had a last-second drama shouting for a goggle change, which didn’t happen. Fired up, he blasted into the lead with a rare Holeshot, chased by Renaux and Febvre. Febvre made a small mistake and was quickly passed by both Gajser and Jago Geerts, before Geerts dropped the bike in the following corner. Geerts later recovered to 12th but missed the points.

Meanwhile, Calvin Vlaanderen pushed Lucas Coenen back to eighth as the teenage title contender struggled. Gajser soon moved past Renaux for second at the end of lap one, with Febvre fourth ahead of Fernandez, Pauls Jonass, Vlaanderen, Coenen, and Andrea Bonacorsi and Glenn Coldenhoff. Coenen clawed his way past Jonass for seventh, closing in on Vlaanderen, but the drizzle made overtaking tough.

By lap two, Febvre had carved past Renaux and fought hard to close on Gajser, but the Slovenian had his eyes on Herlings. Despite pressure, Herlings stayed strong to notch his fourth Qualifying Race win of the season, with Gajser just over a second behind. Febvre finished third ahead of Renaux and Fernandez, with Jonass, Bonacorsi and Coldenhoff rounding out the top ten. Lucas Coenen’s seventh place kept him in the fight, but Febvre’s four extra points extended his cushion to 30 with only five gate drops left this year.

Herlings was relieved to deliver under difficult conditions, explaining, “I felt really good out there today. Time Practice was solid and I managed to get the inside gate, which helped. I did run into a bit of an issue with my goggles fogging up because of the humidity, but once I got the holeshot, I could clear it with some tear-offs and settle into my rhythm. Leading the whole race and taking the win felt great, and I’m really happy with how it went. The travel was tough, I only got here yesterday morning and barely slept, but last night I finally caught up with some good rest. Hopefully we can keep it dry tomorrow, get another good night of sleep, and go for it again.”

Second placed Tim Gajser was satisfied with his performance in Shanghai, explaining that the tricky conditions made the race demanding but also gave him confidence heading into tomorrow’s motos: “Very happy with my result today and how I felt on the track. It definitely isn’t an easy track and it got a bit greasy for the race, but I think my riding was good and I had a good start off the gate, I just ran a little bit wide in the first corner. I think if I can do the same start tomorrow I can get out front and I know from today that passing isn’t easy so hopefully I can get myself on the podium.”

For Championship leader Febvre, it was more about the long game. “It was an OK day and good for the championship to take some points,” he said. “It’s a tiny track but I was feeling good all day; it’s really warm here but it’s the same for everybody. I didn’t get a really good jump at the gate but I turned well in the first turn to be fourth and I could pass Maxime on lap two. I was feeling comfortable behind the two leaders, but I let them go in the last few laps; they are not my points rivals so it was good to finish third. We know now why we didn’t get the jump today so we can make some adjustments to the settings for tomorrow.”

MX2

In MX2, Sacha Coenen dominated early by topping both Free and Time Practice. Andrea Adamo and Valerio Lata rounded out the top three in Free Practice, while Simon Längenfelder shadowed his teammate in Time Practice, ahead of his main rival Kay de Wolf.

When the gate dropped, Coenen pulled his trademark Holeshot, with Längenfelder tucked in behind and Lata in third. A strong start from Jens Walvoort quickly unravelled as he suffered mechanical trouble and retired. That opened the door for Guillem Farres, while teammate Camden Mc Lellan went down in the first corner, tangling with Rick Elzinga.

Early on, Liam Everts ran in eighth behind his Husqvarna teammate De Wolf, but a simple washout saw him lose ground. De Wolf himself found a way past Farres’ group, eventually barging his way into fifth with an aggressive move before reeling in and passing Karlis Reisulis for fourth.

Behind them, Mathis Valin, Adamo, Kay Karssemakers, and Australian wildcard Byron Dennis fought hard for the lower points. Elzinga and Everts recovered well, climbing to ninth and tenth, just ahead of McLellan, keeping their Championship battles alive.

Valin clung to seventh under pressure from Adamo, leaving the Italian now 68 points adrift of Längenfelder in the title chase. Up front, Farres dug deep to re-pass Reisulis for fifth, while Lata defended third fiercely from De Wolf to claim his best Qualifying Race result of the season. Längenfelder’s second place extended his series lead to 14 points, and Coenen’s commanding six-second victory gave him a second career Qualifying Race win, cementing his spot in fourth overall in the standings.

Coenen said the hot and humid conditions took a toll but he stuck to his plan. “I’m feeling really good. It was hot and a little tiring for everyone today, but I had a strong race, led all the laps, and just did my race. I’m really happy with it, and tomorrow the plan is simple: try to do the same again.”

With rain threatening and form guides constantly shifting, tomorrow’s Grand Prix in Shanghai promises to be as unpredictable as the weather itself. Both the MXGP and MX2 Championships remain finely poised, and with five gate drops left in the season, the title fight could still throw up surprises.

MXGP – Qualifying Race – MXGP of China
Pos	No	Rider	Nat	Bike	Gap
1st	84	Jeffrey Herlings	NED	KTM	+0:00.000
2nd	243	Tim Gajser	SLO	Honda	+0:01.346
3rd	3	Romain Febvre	FRA	Kawasaki	+0:14.042
4th	959	Maxime Renaux	FRA	Yamaha	+0:16.024
5th	70	Ruben Fernandez	ESP	Honda	+0:18.686
6th	10	Calvin Vlaanderen	NED	Yamaha	+0:20.957
7th	96	Lucas Coenen	BEL	KTM	+0:23.892
8th	41	Pauls Jonass	LAT	Kawasaki	+0:30.159
9th	132	Andrea Bonacorsi	ITA	Fantic	+0:40.950
10th	259	Glenn Coldenhoff	NED	Fantic	+0:42.806
11th	517	Isak Gifting	SWE	Yamaha	+0:44.759
12th	93	Jago Geerts	BEL	Yamaha	+0:48.127
13th	253	Jan Pancar	SLO	KTM	+0:53.464
14th	87	Kevin Brumann	SUI	Husqvarna	+1:02.550
15th	101	Mattia Guadagnini	ITA	Ducati	+1:07.523
16th	919	Ben Watson	GBR	Beta	+1:10.425
17th	319	Quentin Marc Prugnieres	FRA	Honda	+1:13.753
18th	189	Brian Bogers	NED	Fantic	+1:18.448
19th	91	Jeremy Seewer	SUI	Ducati	+1:21.709
20th	226	Tom Koch	GER	Beta	+1:28.362
21st	48	Zac Watson	AUS	Triumph	+1:53.162
22nd	599	Yuzhang Li	CHN	Yamaha	+2 laps
23rd	61	Wu Riga	CHN	Yamaha	+3 laps
24th	34	Levi Rogers	AUS	Yamaha	+6 laps

MXGP – Championship Standings
Pos	No	Rider	Nat	Bike	Total
1st	3	Romain Febvre	FRA	KAW	893 Points
2nd	96	Lucas Coenen	BEL	KTM	863 Points
3rd	259	Glenn Coldenhoff	NED	FAN	639 Points
4th	70	Ruben Fernandez	ESP	HON	563 Points
5th	10	Calvin Vlaanderen	NED	YAM	533 Points
6th	84	Jeffrey Herlings	NED	KTM	532 Points
7th	959	Maxime Renaux	FRA	YAM	490 Points
8th	132	Andrea Bonacorsi	ITA	FAN	482 Points
9th	243	Tim Gajser	SLO	HON	420 Points
10th	91	Jeremy Seewer	SUI	DUC	358 Points
11th	253	Jan Pancar	SLO	KTM	299 Points
12th	919	Ben Watson	GBR	BET	281 Points
13th	189	Brian Bogers	NED	FAN	279 Points
14th	93	Jago Geerts	BEL	YAM	277 Points
15th	24	Kevin Horgmo	NOR	HON	243 Points
16th	517	Isak Gifting	SWE	YAM	242 Points
17th	41	Pauls Jonass	LAT	KAW	238 Points
18th	101	Mattia Guadagnini	ITA	DUC	206 Points
19th	32	Brent Van doninck	BEL	HON	191 Points
20th	39	Roan Van De Moosdijk	NED	KTM	168 Points
21st	811	Adam Sterry	GBR	KTM	104 Points
22nd	226	Tom Koch	GER	BET	96 Points
23rd	87	Kevin Brumann	SUI	HUS	78 Points
24th	92	Vallintin Guillod	SUI	YAM	72 Points
25th	303	Alberto Forato	ITA	HON	72 Points
26th	71	M Spies	GER	KTM	47 Points
27th	427	H Fredriksen	NOR	YAM	41 Points
28th	411	M Stauffer	AUT	KTM	38 Points
29th	222	Antonio Cairoli	ITA	DUC	37 Points
30th	319	Quentin Marc Prugnieres	FRA	HON	36 Points

MX2 – Qualifying Race – MXGP of China
Pos	No	Rider	Nat	Bike	Gap
1st	19	Sacha Coenen	BEL	KTM	+0:00.000
2nd	27	Simon Längenfelder	GER	KTM	+0:06.532
3rd	18	Valerio Lata	ITA	Honda	+0:16.124
4th	1	Kay de Wolf	NED	Husqvarna	+0:16.924
5th	99	Guillem Farres	ESP	Triumph	+0:22.415
6th	47	Karlis Alberts Reisulis	LAT	Yamaha	+0:23.915
7th	317	Mathis Valin	FRA	Kawasaki	+0:24.538
8th	80	Andrea Adamo	ITA	KTM	+0:33.133
9th	4	Rick Elzinga	NED	Yamaha	+0:36.776
10th	26	Liam Everts	BEL	Husqvarna	+0:41.123
11th	8	Camden Mc Lellan	RSA	Triumph	+0:55.187
12th	33	Kay Karssemakers	NED	Kawasaki	+1:13.887
13th	366	Adria Monne	ESP	GASGAS	+1:42.469
14th	265	Byron Dennis	AUS	KTM	+1 lap
15th	767	Haoyu Li	CHI	Kawasaki	+1 lap
16th	434	Jinyu Yang	CHN	KTM	+2 laps
17th	841	Nellie Fransson	SWE	Yamaha	+2 laps
18th	139	Shaohui Zou	CHN	Honda	+2 laps
19th	489	Jens Walvoort	NED	KTM	+4 laps

MX2 – Championship Standings
Pos	No	Rider	Nat	Bike	Total
1st	27	Simon Längenfelder	GER	KTM	842 Points
2nd	1	Kay de Wolf	NED	HUS	828 Points
3rd	80	Andrea Adamo	ITA	KTM	774 Points
4th	19	Sacha Coenen	BEL	KTM	711 Points
5th	9	Thibault Benistant	FRA	YAM	603 Points
6th	8	Camden Mc Lellan	RSA	TRI	582 Points
7th	26	Liam Everts	BEL	HUS	577 Points
8th	99	Guillem Farres	ESP	TRI	433 Points
9th	18	Valerio Lata	ITA	HON	421 Points
10th	317	Mathis Valin	FRA	KAW	413 Points
11th	172	Cas Valk	NED	KTM	355 Points
12th	47	Karlis Reisulis	LAT	YAM	303 Points
13th	51	Oriol Oliver	ESP	KTM	290 Points
14th	4	Rick Elzinga	NED	YAM	277 Points
15th	73	Ferruccio Zanchi	ITA	HON	220 Points
16th	319	Quentin Marc Prugnieres	FRA	KTM	215 Points
17th	20	Julius Mikula	CZE	TM	205 Points
18th	22	David Braceras	ESP	HON	190 Points
19th	83	Maxime Grau	FRA	KTM	124 Points
20th	489	Jens Walvoort	NED	KTM	103 Points
21st	33	Kay Karssemakers	NED	KAW	80 Points
22nd	256	Magnus Smith	DEN	KTM	70 Points
23rd	408	Scott Smulders	NED	TRI	50 Points
24th	114	Nicolas Vennekens	BEL	KTM	36 Points
25th	276	Nicolai Skovbjerg	DEN	YAM	35 Points
26th	696	Mike Gwerder	SUI	KTM	32 Points
27th	744	Saad Soulimani	MAR	TM	19 Points
28th	36	N Greutmann	SUI	HUS	17 Points
29th	338	Filip Olsson	SWE	KTM	17 Points
30th	515	Mads Fredsoe	DEN	HUS	14 Points