The FIM Motocross World Motocross Championship came to a scorching conclusion in southern Spain today at the MXGP of Castilla La Mancha as the 20th and final round of the season saw reigning World Champion Jorge Prado retain his crown with overall victory, but he was pushed all the way to the very last race with a final winning margin of just ten points!
From his dominant form in Saturday’s Qualifying Race, the red plate holder made it clear that he had no intention of losing the title on home ground. With two clear holeshots and scintillating early pace, he fought off the challenge of Tim Gajser to clinch his fourth World Championship, to the delight of his home fans, although there was a scare for him on the way!
The writing was on the wall for the reigning Champion’s rivals after his clear win in the Qualifying Race on Saturday, although Jeffrey Herlings again showed his pace with the fastest time in the morning Warm-Up session.
The sheer speed of Prado into the first corner of race one was once more nothing short of breath-taking, and he crossed the Holeshot line on the exit with around five bike lengths on the next rider, Jeremy Seewer.
Local fans had cause for concern; however, as Gajser immediately snapped past both Seewer and the fast-starting Andrea Bonacorsi to get himself up into second place, the Slovenian started hounding the rear wheel of the Spanish hero.
Coming out of the second corner, Herlings had run wide off the track and was judged to have gained an advantage as he rejoined, resulting in a three-position penalty. Regardless, he charged through to third position on track by the close, relegated to sixth position by the penalty.
One of the riders he passed was Alberto Forato, who fought forward throughout the race, passing Seewer with a strong move at the end of the start straight on lap 14. Sadly for the Italian, he tipped over in a corner on the following lap, allowing Seewer and Romain Febvre into what was ultimately third and fourth. Forato recovered to be classified in fifth.
Behind the top six were Bonacorsi, Valentin Guillod, then Maxime Renaux in ninth after a nasty crash in the early laps. Jan Pancar rounded out the top ten.
At the front, Prado did what he does best, and despite Gajser’s best efforts, the Spaniard edged away to build a seven-second lead before easing off in the closing laps to secure his 17th Sunday race win of the campaign and take a 12-point lead into the final race of the year!
That final race began in the usual fashion for the Champ, with another clinical Holeshot Award, his 18th for the season! This time, Gajser ran off the circuit, exiting turn one and rejoining between some advertising boards. He was judged not to have gained an advantage and was allowed to race on without penalty.
Seewer was again right at the sharp end, but Herlings blasted past him into the third corner and looked to be racing with intentions of a race win. Febvre and Gajser also advanced past Seewer before the start of the first full lap.
Behind the top five, the drying circuit was at its toughest, and most of the top ten held their positions until the end, including Guillod in a solid sixth, Glenn Coldenhoff, home rider Ruben Fernandez in eighth, with Renaux and Pancar again finishing ninth and tenth after Bonacorsi suffered a fall down the order. Guillod would take sixth overall ahead of Forato, Coldenhoff, Renaux, and Pancar.
The big moment occurred on lap seven, as Prado’s rear wheel suddenly stepped out on a downhill and he was forced to run off the circuit! Under pressure from Herlings at the time, “The Bullet” immediately led, and the fans looked worried as Prado seemed to cruise for a few corners, allowing Febvre and Gajser into second and third. Fortunately for the #1, there was no issue with his machine, and he took it easy to the flag. Gajser did all he could but couldn’t close on the leading pair, and Febvre tipped over in a corner as he tried to pressure Herlings, but kept hold of second place.
This left the top three in the series, Prado, Gajser, and Herlings to finish in that order overall, with Febvre and Seewer fourth and fifth in the GP. Prado had the crowd fully behind him to the chequered flag, and the celebrations continued long into the night! His 49th career GP win levels him with Gajser, and he becomes the first back-to-back MXGP World Champion since the Slovenian’s successful title defence of 2020. It was a good day to be a Spanish Motocross fan in Cozar!
“This is just unbelievable like at the beginning of the season I wouldn’t imagine to be sitting in this position right now and I was just enjoying it so much that second race was so long it just didn’t end and you know so much work goes behind this and all the fans came over they were supporting every single lap of every race and this is amazing to see this,” Prado said. “Amazing to feel in that atmosphere over there when I was in the party and just unbelievably grateful to get the world title over here in Spain with my fans with my family my friends with everyone. Just thank you, everyone, it’s been an awesome year again!.”
Tim Gajser was humble in defeat, saying, “I mean we had a great season, you know, nice battle with Jorge and with Jeffrey. So, congrats to Jorge for winning the title. I was really close this year, I was giving my best and I think we had a really good championship. So, I want to say a huge thank you to all my team, the bike was amazing for the all year and everybody around me. So, a huge thank you. Thank you very much guys.”
MX2
Lucas Coenen’s pace in the Qualifying Race on Sunday was ominous for Kay de Wolf, but a 34-point cushion looked to be enough if he held his nerve. However, as his teammate started in the top three, the red plate holder was outside the top ten after the first corner and almost seemed to be riding too cautiously.
Thibault Benistant took his third Holeshot Award of the season and led until lap three as Coenen forced his machine towards an inside line on a rutted left-hander. This left the Frenchman to deal with Simon Laengenfelder, with nothing to gain or lose as he was already set for the series bronze medal. The German could not find a way through, and instead came under pressure from the outgoing World Champion, Andrea Adamo!
Adamo had to pass Benistant, and Karlis Reisulis for fourth and dived past Laengenfelder on lap nine. With a similar move along the start straight he also got past Benistant two laps later. Laengenfelder eventually passed Thibault on lap 14 to claim third in the race.
Meanwhile, Ferruccio Zanchi took his best finish of the year in fifth after a battle with Quentin Prugnieres, but the Kawasaki man dropped the bike to eventually finish tenth. De Wolf was locked towards the edge of the top ten, fighting with Mikkel Haarup and Camden McLellan!
All three got past Reisulis, who finished in ninth, but with De Wolf needing fourth to seal the Championship even with Lucas winning, it was never on the cards as Haarup took sixth, and De Wolf only just held off McLellan to finish seventh. With Lucas winning by over 22 seconds, the gap was 23 points going into the final race!
With a complete change of strategy, De Wolf attacked the start of race two, and came out with a shock Fox Holeshot Award, only his third of the season! Again Benistant and Coenen were right at the front, with Haarup and Reisulis in tow. Laengenfelder and Adamo looked to have ruled themselves out of the podium places with dire opening laps.
De Wolf gave Coenen little resistance when the Belgian teenager made his move, but although Benistant looked close initially, the Dutch birthday boy was not in a mood to drop any further down the order.
Oriol Oliver had started well in his home Grand Prix, but Zanchi passed him on lap six for sixth position. The young Italian would finish there, but only after Adamo charged through to a brilliant fourth. Reisulis dropped back to tenth position where he would finish overall, behind Laengenfelder who had fell down to 13th at one stage in the race but recovered to ninth for fifth overall.
Prugnieres rose through the order to claim seventh position and eighth overall, passing Oliver with five laps to go, leaving the Spaniard ninth overall. Adamo’s pass on Haarup came courtesy of a small mistake for the Dane with just three laps remaining, putting the Triumph man in sixth overall ahead of Zanchi. Adamo’s brilliant ride left him second overall, with Benistant third, completing a decent return from injury with some podium pie! De Wolf’s second left him fourth overall, nearly 22 seconds down on Coenen at the flag, but the more important prize was the MX2 World Championship, four years into his MX2 career and completing a seven-year run with the factory Husqvarna squad. It is the brand’s first world title since 1999, and its first under its current Austrian ownership!
Coenen, with his tenth career GP win and ninth of the season, had closed the gap to 20 points at the end of the 20th round, but it was the man who turned 20 today that took his first World Championship, the perfect birthday present at the end of an incredible year of racing!
“It’s amazing! And on my birthday! I just have so many emotions about this result,” de Wolf said. “This team has believed in me from the very beginning – back in 2018 when they signed me for the 85cc. They have continued to support me every single day. From the 125cc, to the EMX 250, and now in MX2, it’s been absolutely unreal. I couldn’t have done it without all the hard work from this team – they have done an amazing job! I did what I had to do today to make sure the result was secure. I got a good start in the second moto, grabbed the holeshot, and then just rode smoothly to reach the final flag. Thank you so much to all my friends, family, and the entire team around me – I’m super grateful. Thank you so much! I’ve got this gold plate finally in my hands – we are definitely going to celebrate this one for sure!”
Lucas Coenen was dispaoineted to miss the title but happy with his season. “It’s tough to come so close and miss out on the title by just 20 points, but I’m incredibly proud of the way I raced this season,” Coenen said. “Winning the final round and having such a strong run of victories throughout the year shows what we’re capable of. I have to thank my team for all their hard work and support—they believed in me every step of the way. We’ll take all the positives from this season and come back even stronger next year!”
Simon Längenfelder was also happy with his season saying, “I’m happy with how my season went overall, finishing third overall in the championship. Of course I wanted to finish higher but it has been a tough year, but I managed to grab some big results and show what I’m capable of. The final round didn’t go as planned, but I’ve learned a lot, and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved as a team. Huge thanks to Red Bull GASGAS and everyone who supported me – I’m already looking forward to coming back stronger in 2025!”
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 34:12.045;
2 Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:02.766;
3 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:22.715;
4 Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:24.473;
5 Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +0:34.497;
6 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:16.287;
7 Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:45.920;
8 Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +0:49.842;
9 Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:50.227;
10 Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:58.662
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:19.434;
2 Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:05.501;
3 Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:12.077;
4 Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:20.893;
5 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:21.282;
6 Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +0:23.183;
7 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:24.978;
8 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:25.889;
9 Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:55.998;
10 Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:57.416;
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 43 Points
2 Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 42 Points
3 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 40 Points
4 Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 40 Points
5 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 36 Points
6 Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 28 Points
7 Alberto Forato (ITA, HON), 25 Points
8 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 24 Points
9 Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 24 Points
10 Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 22 Points
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification:
1 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 996 Points
2 Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 986 Points
3 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 944 Points
4 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 686 Points
5 Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 651 Points
6 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 601 Points
7 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 550 Points
8 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 428 Points
9 Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 388 Points
10 Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 340 Points
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 34:32.130
2 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:22.731
3 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:26.616
4 Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.149
5 Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:28.802
6 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:30.321
7 Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:31.408
8 Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:33.958
9 Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:53.288
10 Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:54.202
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 34:14.738
2 Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:21.998
3 Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:23.182
4 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:29.928
5 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:30.888
6 Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:37.448
7 Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:44.825
8 Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:46.616
9 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:51.297
10 Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:54.557
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1 Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 50 Points
2 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 40 Points
3 Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 38 Points
4 Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 36 Points
5 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 32 Points
6 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 31 Points
7 Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 31 Points
8 Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KAW), 25 Points
9 Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 23 Points
10 Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 23 Points
MX2 – World Championship Classification:
1 Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 959 Points
2 Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 939 Points
3 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 852 Points
4 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 749 Points
5 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 694 Points
6 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 674 Points
7 Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 555 Points
8 Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 456 Points
9 Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 424 Points
10 Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 393 Points
