The MXGP World Motocross Championships got back to tearing up European soil today as the Qualifying Races took place at the Loketske Serpentiny circuit towards the western border of the Czech Republic.
Bright sunshine raised the temperatures and the hard-pack circuit served up some brilliant racing for the already crowded venue as the fans cranked up the atmosphere!
Many Slovenian supporters had made the trip to Loket to cheer on their hero Tim Gajser, and they were not disappointed as the current Championship leader snatched the lead on the opening lap and kept it until the end to extend his World Championship points gap! It also helps him to pull away in the race for the RAM Driving Experience in MXGP, as he has now won six times on Saturday this season!
Lucas Coenen took his third consecutive Qualifying Race win in MX2 with a stunning performance that included multiple overtaking moves. With his teammate Kay de Wolf suffering a big crash in the early laps but recovering to sixth, the gap at the top of the table has narrowed further!
MXGP
After Tim Gajser marginally took the fastest time in Free Practice ahead of Calvin Vlaanderen, the big three battled it out in Time Practice, with Jeffrey Herlings taking first gate pick by only two-tenths of a second. A late charge from “The Bullet” put him there ahead of defending World Champion Jorge Prado, as Gajser claimed third despite hitting a fence while avoiding another rider mid-way through the session.
Prado, who has been unable to secure one of his trademark holeshots in recent weeks, delivered a timely one in the afternoon’s race to lead the way from the off! Gajser was right on his tail, however, and after passing both Vlaanderen and fast-starting Mattia Guadagnini, Herlings was also right in the mix as the pack powered past the pit lane on the opening lap!
Tiny mistakes could ultimately decide this Championship battle, and right at the bottom of the circuit, near to where Gajser had a heart-stopping moment in Time Practice, it was Prado’s turn to make that mistake as he over-balanced, lost momentum, and was helpless to prevent the Honda man powering past him to take the lead away!
For several laps, the Spaniard did all he could to reverse the order, setting the fastest lap on the third circulation, but could not break the Slovenian’s resolve. The pair pulled away from Herlings, leaving the Dutchman to finish in a lonely third place, on his first visit to Loket since 2018. Behind them, the battle raged between Guadagnini, Vlaanderen, Jeremy Seewer, and the returning Romain Febvre, who did well to claim sixth with a pass on Guadagnini with three laps to go.
Seewer battled his way into an eventual fourth ahead of Vlaanderen, while Glenn Coldenhoff claimed eighth behind Guadagnini. Valentin Guillod took ninth, and Italian Guiseppe Tropepe claimed his first ever Qualifying Race point with tenth.
Ultimately, Gajser was always able to keep Prado at bay and won by 5.2 seconds to stretch his Championship advantage to 35 points, while the Spaniard now has 18 points between himself and third-placed Herlings.
With overnight rain hitting the circuit, it is anyone’s guess as to who will be triumphant in tomorrow’s thirteenth round of the MXGP World Championship!
“It was a good race, and I had a solid start placing second behind (Jorge) Prado,” Gajser said. “The track was sketchy but I made my pass at the beginning. Then we pulled away with Jorge, which showed that we had a good pace. I felt my riding was good so I’m really happy and hopefully, we can do the same tomorrow”
MX2
Sacha Coenen was fastest in Free Practice ahead of Andrea Adamo, but it was Lucas Coenen just 74 thousand of a second ahead of #74, the red plate holder Kay de Wolf!
As with MXGP, the MX2 class saw a familiar figure claim the holeshot in the Qualifying Race, as Sacha Coenen tucked into the lead ahead of Simon Laengenfelder, who was enjoying plenty of local support, just an hour away from his home over the German border!
The Husqvarna riders were on the fringe of the top ten from the gate drop, and had to battle through, as Rick Elzinga and Karlis Reisulis were both in the early top five! Lucas made great early progress to end the first full lap in fifth place, while Liam Everts also battled at the sharp end.
De Wolf had moved into sixth past Reisulis on lap two, but a lap later he was spat over the handlebars as he landed short on a tabletop and suffered a spectacular fall that he was extremely lucky to walk away from! Initially remounting in twelfth place, the Dutchman put on a stirring charge back to claim sixth at the chequered flag ahead of Reisulis, with Camden McLellan taking eighth. That was after his teammate Mikkel Haarup lost a points-scoring position with a crash two laps from home! Adamo also crashed to drop himself to ninth in the end, ahead of Ferruccio Zanchi, who took the final point.
Elzinga held on for fifth, his best finish in four GPs, but Laengenfelder could not make a pass on Sacha Coenen for the lead, and ultimately got caught by Sacha’s brother, with Everts then denying the German a top-three finish with two laps to go!
This made it a Belgian 1-2-3, as Lucas passed Sacha on lap ten to take his third straight Saturday win by just over a second from his twin brother, with Everts chasing across the line less than a second down on his younger compatriots!
This closes the gap between the two Husqvarna flyers to 44 points, with De Wolf knowing that he has a real fight on his hands tomorrow with a packed field of challengers looking to strike in the hard pack before the return to the sand next weekend!
“It was a good race today,” Coenen declared. “The start was not bad but my brother got ahead in the straight. During the race, I made some good passes and I was a little bit aggressive so it was great and also on this track you need to be aggressive. So, good day and I’m looking forward to tomorrow!”
MXGP – RAM Qualifying Race – Classification:
1 Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 24:03.130
2 Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:05.204
3 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:13.449
4 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:25.855
5 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:30.460
6 Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:33.823
7 Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:42.672
8 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:54.429
9 Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +0:59.638
10 Giuseppe Tropepe (ITA, Honda), +1:03.740
MXGP – World Championship Classification:
1 Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 618 Points
2 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 583 Points
3 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 565 Points
4 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 435 Points
5 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 418 Points
6 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 363 Points
7 Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 332 Points
8 Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 274 Points
9 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 264 Points
10 Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 261 Points
MX2 – RAM Qualifying Race – Classification:
1 Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 24:44.517
2 Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:01.050
3 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:01.884
4 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:06.720
5 Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:25.056
6 Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:32.161
7 Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:35.942
8 Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:36.346
9 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:46.141
10 Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:48.204
MX2 – World Championship Classification:
1 Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 581 Points
2 Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 537 Points
3 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 516 Points
4 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 479 Points
5 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 457 Points
6 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 399 Points
7 Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 352 Points
8 Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 350 Points
9 Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KAW), 228 Points
10 Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 226 Points
