The Circuito Municipal Jorge Prado hosted the MXGP of Galicia for the sixth round of the MXGP World Motocross Championship this weekend, and the new venue to the series made an instant impression as a packed gallery of fans enjoyed an action-packed Grand Prix in sunny conditions, that couldn’t have been more of a contrast to the previous week’s mudfest in Portugal!
After losing the red plate at the previous round, home hero Jorge Prado delivered the goods for his local supporters. The hometown hero, who grew up near to the circuit, and after whom the venue is named, achieved the same perfect weekend as he did on the previous visit to Spanish soil back in March. The two race wins and misfortune for Tim Gajser means that the reigning champ will once more bolt the red plate onto his bike for the next round in France!
In what is turning into another fantastic season of MX2 action, four riders finished a frantic day’s racing with just one point separating them! With a dominant second race win from Lucas Coenen to seal his first overall victory of the year, it was the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing team that deservedly took the winner’s trophy back to their transporter, as well as the red plate for his teammate Kay de Wolf.
MXGP
After a stunning victory in Saturday’s Qualifying Race swung the momentum back towards home hero Prado, he found his perfect recipe once more with a clear Holeshot Award in race one, ahead of Romain Febvre, and the Spaniard proceeded to pull away and deliver the win that all of his fans wanted to see.
Although Gajser was initially third, a sweet move from Calvin Vlaanderen moved the Slovenian back, even putting Valentin Guillod ahead of him. Not long after Gajser blasted through the middle of them to reclaim third, he then dropped the bike in the corner before the wave section and had to fight back to 6th, further hampered by another off-track excursion that could have been a lot worse than it was!
Jeffrey Herlings fought his way up to fourth ahead of Febvre’s teammate Jeremy Seewer, but the top three of Prado, Febvre and Vlaanderen held their positions to the finish.
In race two, there was confusion for Prado and Herlings as their gates failed to drop, so a red flag was waved to force a restart. With Vlaanderen tasting a chance at the podium, it was the South African that hit the first corner in front, but halfway around the first full lap he soon fell prey to a swift move up the inside from Prado.
Gajser had started outside of the top ten, but charged through the pack to lie third by the end of the first full lap, and on lap seven he charged past Vlaanderen into second position. For the next ten laps he stalked the reigning champion in a fascinating duel of unstoppable force versus immovable object, until finally the chase was too much and the Slovenian fell in a tight left-handed corner. He managed to salvage third in the race for fourth overall.
As the track got rougher, Herlings was able to keep his speed up and pounce on those who couldn’t. With aggressive moves on Seewer, Febvre,and finally Vlaanderen, “The Bullet” worked his way into third, and was close enough to take advantage of Gajser’s fall to inherit a solid second. He even caused Prado to look over his shoulder during the final lap, and ironically the two riders who got stuck in the gate before the red flag went on to finish first and second! The result was enough to put the former world champion into second overall, his best of the year so far, with Febvre third overall.
Sadly for Vlaanderen, he crashed in a rut immediately after Herlings went past him, and finished the race in seventh to claim fifth overall. Prado’s 43rd career GP win means that he leads the series again, by just two points from Gajser. Febvre lies a further 29 points behind in third, then 21 further back is Herlings, now 52 back from the leader. It’s well and truly still on for St. Jean!
“My goal coming into the weekend was to win, win as much as I could and it just went perfect going 1-1-1 again!” Prado said. “I’m in a good form this year and I hope we can keep it until the end of the season. I’m so happy! It was hard because I did a lot things around racing and it was a tough weekend but once I was on track, I was on it and full focus. Yesterday after a bad start I got to the front but today with good starts I was at the front from the beginning so that made it easier. Super happy with my riding and my effort, I just want to thank the whle Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing team and we’ll keep it going! “
MX2
The MX2 class once more brought two fantastic races, with the top positions in doubt right to the end of both encounters, and multiple overtaking moves available around the fast and spectacular Lugo circuit.
Fresh from his RAM Qualifying Race win Thibault Benistant took took his first Holeshot Award of the season in race one, with the Sacha Coenen and Andrea Adamo on his tail! Their teammate Liam Everts was not far behind either, diving past Simon Laengenfelder, who was riding with a plated collarbone and was purely out to salvage some points in his quest for the title.
Adamo was in the mood to take advantage of his good start, and a slip by Benistant gave him the half-chance he wanted to make the move mid-way around the first full lap. De Wolf was on the charge and fired past Everts along the start straight, then after three more laps made a clean pass on Sacha Coenen! His teammate Lucas had to charge from even further back and would have to settle for fourth at the flag.
In an intense battle that saw the series leader employ a triple jump into the waves that was previously reserved only for the 450s, De Wolf finally got the better of Benistant with a similar move to the one he’d used on Everts. After the very next corner, the Frenchman suffered a big over-the-handlebars crash that amazingly caused no damage to either him or the bike! He was able to hold on for fifth behind Everts and Lucas Coenen, but all eyes were on De Wolf as he charged after Adamo!
The series leader hauled in the reigning champ, and very nearly overcooked it on the final lap in the waves section that he was so fast through! Ultimately it was the Italian that took the race win by 0.732 of a second
Race two saw more intense battling, but this time it had nothing to do with the leader, as Lucas Coenen moved rapidly to the front around the opening circulation past Holeshot winner Everts and fast starter Mads Fredsoe. Once again, De Wolf was buried in the pack and had a lot of work to do. And a lot of work he did do!
While Sacha Coenen fought hard with Ferruccio Zanchi and Rick Elzinga, De Wolf closed in after passing Zanchi on lap three. He was able to hunt down and pass Elzinga by lap eight, and Sacha Coenen for third by lap thirteen, with Adamo and Mikkel Haarup in tow!
Benistant was also not far off their pace, but had to settle for sixth in the race for fifth overall. Haarup was able to claim fifth in the race after a crash had limited him to ninth in race one. Adamo had to accept fourth for the second step on the overall podium, but De Wolf tore after Everts, trying to not just get on the podium, but claim the overall win if he made the pass.
His chase fell agonisingly short, but after three straight wins followed by three straight fourth places, plus the injury for Laengenfelder which restricted the German to 7-9 finishes, the Dutchman’s Championship lead has increased to 44 points. Everts’ third overall puts him 18 behind Laengenfelder, and back ahead of Benistant, who heads to his home Grand Prix next weekend!
Overall though, Lucas Coenen was rightfully happy with his first Grand Prix win of the year and only the second of his career, and lying fifth behind Benistant means that he still has a long season to take advantage of his speed if he can only keep from crashing. It’s certainly still possible!
So after six rounds the contrast of the big hitters in MXGP in a titanic championship battle, and the all-out warfare of MX2 making it tough to predict a winner every time, makes this Championship one to savour as it heads to the fine slopes of France next weekend!
“I’m back! Not 100% yet with the shoulder but I’m battling a bit with it but we’ve done a great job today,” Coenen declred. “The first race I was a bit mad at myself that I couldn’t pass someone but second race I knew that the start was going to be vital. I went 3rd and then quickly first then made a gap and controlled it. I’m very happy with this second race and we’ll keep on going for the rest of the season like this and let’s see where we will be”
The run of back-to-back weekends continues with the MXGP of France on the 19th May.
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification
1 Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 34:11.687;
2 Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.036;
3 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:02.599;
4 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:16.658;
5 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:23.255;
6 Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:27.707;
7 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fan-tic), +0:43.667;
8 Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +0:45.774;
9 Pauls Jonass (LAT, Honda), +0:52.013;
10 Brian Bogers (NED, Fantic), +0:58.586
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification :
1 Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 34:04.763;
2 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:02.880;
3 Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:10.110;
4 Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:18.797;
5 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:23.497;
6 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:28.722;
7 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:41.101;
8 Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:53.755;
9 Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +1:01.502;
10 Pauls Jonass (LAT, Honda), +1:04.467
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 50 points;
2 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 40 p.;
3 Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 40 p.;
4 Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 35 p.;
5 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 34 p.;
6 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 31 p.;
7 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 30 p.;
8 Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 25 p.;
9 Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 23 p.;
10 Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, HUS), 21
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification:
1 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 298 points;
2 Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 296 p.;
3 Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 267 p.;
4 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 246 p.;
5 Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 217 p.;
6 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 193 p.;
7 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 191 p.;
8 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 179 p.;
9 Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 120 p.;
10 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 115 p
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification :
1 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 34:23.923;
2 Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:00.732;
3 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:08.044;
4 Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:14.344;
5 Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:23.543;
6 Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:25.794;
7 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:32.078;
8 Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:33.797;
9 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:38.384;
10 Marc-Antoine Rossi (FRA, GASGAS), +0:59.661;
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification :
1 Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 34:49.474;
2 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:02.658;
3 Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:05.026;
4 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:15.030;
5 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:17.888;
6 Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:21.302;
7 Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:39.731;
8 Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:45.215;
9 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:55.051;
10 Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +1:11.415;
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification :
1 Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 43 points;
2 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 43 p.;
3 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 42 p.;
4 Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 42 p.;
5 Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 31 p.;
6 Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 29 p.;
7 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 28 p.;
8 Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 26 p.;
9 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 26 p.;
10 Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 21 p
MX2 – World Championship Classification :
1 Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 292 points;
2 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 248 p.;
3 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 230 p.;
4 Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 226 p.;
5 Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 223 p.;
6 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 211 p.;
7 Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 190 p.;
8 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 182 p.;
9 Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 141 p.;
10 Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 126 p
