The deep sand of Lommel awaited the 2024 FIM World Motocross Championships today, and the Qualifying Races at the Stedelijk Motorcrossterrein Lommel circuit tested the world’s top Motocross racers as always to make for two thrilling contests!
Reigning World Champion Jorge Prado won a stunning MXGP encounter as a packed venue couldn’t take their eyes away from a charging Jeffrey Herlings, who very nearly caught the Spaniard on the final circulation, ultimately having to settle for second.
The win sees Prado inch closer to Tim Gajser for the lead in the RAM Qualifying Challenge for the season, as he now has four Saturday wins to the Slovenian’s six in the battle for the RAM Driving Experience.
The battle for victory in MX2 again came down to teammates, Kay de Wolf and Lucas Coenen. With decisive early passing by Kay and a late mistake for Lucas, it was dynamic Dutchman De Wolf who extended his Championship lead, but for sure the teenage Belgian will be back tomorrow!
MXGP
After Herlings had set the quickest time in Free Practice, Prado set a fast early pace in Time Practice which Herlings very nearly caught at the end of the session. At the same time, Conrad Mewse shocked everybody on his return to MXGP action with the third-fastest time, even ahead of Gajser!
As it would play out, the Qualifying Race would mirror the Time Practice session for the top two positions, as Prado pulled a clean holeshot, tailed by Gajser and fast starter Isak Gifting. Prado proceeded to pull a gap, as Calvin Vlaanderen and Andrea Bonacorsi battled past Gifting, with Herlings initially in sixth place!
It took Herlings until lap five to get past Vlaanderen for third, and Brian Bogers held fifth ahead of Kevin Horgmo. The Norwegian put on a brilliant race, passing both Bonacorsi and Romain Febvre halfway through, before lunging past Bogers for an eventual fifth position on lap nine of twelve, proof that his fitness is at a high level in the gruelling sand.
By lap seven, Herlings had caught Gajser, and was barely held up by the Championship leader as he swept past on a long left-hander, and set his sights on the five-second gap to Prado out front!
Behind them, Gajser took a lonely third ahead of Vlaanderen, Horgmo, Bogers and Febvre, with Mewse proving his speed to recover from an awful start and pass Bonacorsi for eighth, as the Italian held on for ninth. The final point went to Jeremy Seewer.
With Herlings quicker in the first three quarters of the circuit, he threatened to pass Prado in each of the last three laps, finally diving to the inside of a big left-hand corner berm in a move that looked decisive, but somehow the Spaniard danced out of the way and held on, using his speed in the final sector to claim a hard-earned fourth RAM Qualifying Race win of the season!
With the top three in the Championship again taking the top three positions in the race, albeit in a different order, there is little movement in the Championship situation, but with the big points being paid out tomorrow, that could be a different story! With an even bigger crowd due in to line the fences around Lommel, the atmosphere is going to be astronomical when the big boys hit the circuit on Sunday!
”I felt good quite all day long,” Prado said. “In the RAM Quali race I didn’t find my flow at all but I managed to stay in front of everyone else. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get a bit more flow and I can ride more like myself as I was a little bit tight. Also I need to get used to these ruts in the sand as it makes it hard to get the rhythm but it’s the same for everyone. We’ll go again tomorrow but it’s nice to be again inP1, especially in the sand right?! So let’s see tomorrow two 35minutes, in will be interesting!”
MX2
Lucas Coenen topped the practice in the morning before Kay de Wolf claimed the first gate pick in the Time Practice session, ahead of Liam Everts and a surprising Camden McLellan!
Simon Laengenfelder claimed the holeshot, helped by a near-crash in the first corner for Everts’ teammate Sacha Coenen, to take the early lead. Laengenfelder held off an outside charge from Lucas to keep the lead for over half of the first burst around the track! That proved crucial as series leader De Wolf was able to reel them both in and make quick passes on them both to head the pack at the end of the first full lap!
Lucas Coenen was able to blast around the outside of the German to make an inside move stick into the following corner, and then it was the battle of the teammates out front as we have seen through much of this MX2 season.
Laengenfelder had to fend off a challenge from sand lover Rick Elzinga, but the young Dutchman couldn’t make a move and the pair stayed in third and fourth until the chequered flag. Behind them was Everts, who had suffered two crashes in the first four laps but still recovered to fifth with a last lap pass on McLellan. Without mistakes, Liam could be the biggest threat to the Husqvarna men tomorrow.
Karlis Reisulis came home in seventh ahead of Sacha Coenen, while Ferruccio Zanchi mounted a heroic comeback from the very back of the field to take ninth. Dutchman Scott Smulders also advanced well to take the final point.
Lucas Coenen continued to pressure his teammate, looking for that two-point swing and the mental victory against his Championship rival, but a mistake that led him to running off track on the penultimate lap left the young Belgian with too much to do, and the Dutchman took the race win by just over six seconds at the flag.
De Wolf will take stock, as will his teammate and the duo could well give us a pair of incredible races tomorrow, with Everts, McLellan, Laengenfelder, and Elzinga all with a chance of getting onto the podium as well!
Do not miss a single spinning wheel of action tomorrow, because both classes have some monumental battles in prospect for us!
“It was a really nice and comfortable race,” de Wolf reflected. “I felt good out there. I just did my own thing and, in the end, I made a few small mistakes but we’ll fix it for tomorrow. Otherwise, riding was good and I’m very happy with it and I’m looking forward to tomorrow to do it again”
MXGP – RAM Qualifying Race – Classification:
1 Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 26:24.996
2 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:01.078
3 Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:25.512
4 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:40.400
5 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:46.526
6 Brian Bogers (NED, Fantic), +0:52.860
7 Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:58.329
8 Conrad Mewse (GBR, Honda), +1:07.539
9 Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +1:10.247
10 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +1:10.723
MXGP – World Championship Classification:
1 Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 671 Points
2 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 637 Points
3 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 617 Points
4 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 478 Points
5 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 452 Points
6 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 389 Points
7 Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 367 Points
8 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 289 Points
9 Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 274 Points
10 Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 273 Points
MX2 – RAM Qualifying Race – Classification:
1 Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 26:15.748
2 Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:06.539
3 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:42.429
4 Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:46.790
5 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:47.680
6 Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:49.153
7 Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:12.016
8 Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +1:32.898
9 Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +1:56.757
10 Scott Smulders (NED, Honda), +2:15.150
MX2 – World Championship Classification:
1 Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 636 Points
2 Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 589 Points
3 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 568 Points
4 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 521 Points
5 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 457 Points
6 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 433 Points
7 Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 389 Points
8 Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 365 Points
9 Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 236 Points
10 Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 231 Points
