Romain Febvre has won the RAM Qualifying Race for the MXGP of The Netherlands while Lucas Coenen emphatically won the MX2 RAM Qualifying Race.
The MXGP RAM Qualifying Race started intensely right from the gate drop with Jeremy Seewer taking the best start in front of his teammate Glenn Coldenhoff. Jorge Prado and Romain Febvre followed them closely while battling with each other. Prado got the best of Febvre on the opening lap but between lap two and three they exchanged position a couple of times showing great skills on the demanding track of Arnhem. Finally, Febvre who was third, pulled away from Prado on lap three.
In the meantime, Coldenhoff who pushed hard to keep Febvre at bay, managed to charge Seewer and took the lead on lap three. The Swiss got threatened again but this time by the Frenchman who made a strong move to go second on lap four. The race got even better for Febvre who was looking comfortable as he made a decisive pass a lap later on Coldenhoff to take the lead, and set the fastest lap of the race along the way. From then on, no one could match Febvre’s pace and he flew to victory.
Prado overtook Seewer on lap five to go third and kept racing smoothly until he decided to go the second place and Coldenhoff. Coldenhoff had to deal with a late charge from Prado over the last couple of laps but in the end, the Dutch rider stayed second to start his Home Grand Prix in a good spot. Prado settled for third place while Seewer who started the race perfectly had to concede a few places and finished fourth.
Behind the front four riders, Tim Gajser started well in sixth position and move past Pauls Jonass in the opening lap to go fifth. Gajser showed good riding all way through and even got close to Seewer at the end although he had to settle for fifth. Jonass crashed in lap four and picked himself in thirteenth where he finished in the end.
Home rider and fan favourite, Jeffrey Herlings unfortunately injured himself in Free Practice and will have to sit out his home GP.
The other home rider Calvin Vlaanderen started well as he was riding within the top 10 in the opening lap until his bike failed him and had to retire from the race.
“I’m super happy because the day didn’t start as planned,” Febvre explained. “I was training this morning and I knew if I would get a good start I would be in the flow with the other ones and that’s exactly what I did. I was third on the start and played with Prado a bit and made the pass until the lead. I was feeling comfortable so let’s go for tomorrow.”
MX2
The MX2 RAM Qualifying Race began in the best of manner for home rider Rick Elzinga who took the lead. Lucas Coenen rapidly placed himself in second place in the opening lap after overtaking his twin brother, Sacha Coenen. L.Coenen showed amazing control throughout the whole race and got close to Elzinga. The Belgian then went for the high line in a turn while Elzinga got the commanding line in the middle. L.Coenen went off track momentarily and avoided crashing. However, L.Coenen never gives up and came back on the charge a few laps later on lap six of twelve to make this time the pass stick and take the lead. L.Coenen kept going without looking back and won the RAM Qualifying Race.
S.Coenen who was third crashed on lap three and retired from the race. For Elzinga, his second spot got under threat by the ever-present Simon Laengenfelder who overtook the good performer Oriol Oliver earlier in the race. Laengenfelder went full gas to powerfully overtake Elzinga on the straight and close him magnificently in the next turn. Laengenfelder finished the race at an excellent second place. Unfortunately for the rookie Elzinga, Liam Everts felt good on this track as he kept pushing until the end while he was fourth. Everts got dangerously close and both riders nearly collided in a turn but fortunately narrowly avoided each other. On lap eleven, Elzinga made two mistakes on two jumps and struggled to keep his balance which was a golden opportunity for Everts to pass him and finish third. Elzinga still managed a very good fourth place.
Jago Geerts who was coming back from an injury that he sustained in Finland showed all his fighting spirit and great talent. Geerts first overtook Championship leader Andrea Adamo on the opening lap to go eighth and then pass for seventh, another returning rider on lap two, Roan Van de Moosdijk. Geerts was cruising in sixth place behind Oliver (following S.Coenen’s crash) and kept riding smoothly to find a way past the young Spanish on lap ten and finish at an encouraging fifth place. Oliver finished seventh in the end.
MX2 Red Plate Adamo didn’t find his usual flow as he hovered around the eighth spot throughout the race but capitalised on the unfortunate crash of Camden Mc Lellan who was riding very well in seventh place until lap ten. Adamo salvaged a seventh place and four points in the Championship while Mc Lellan finished outside the top ten in thirteenth place.
“The race was quite tough because the track was really rough, even more than Lommel so it was going to be technical and physical,” Coenen said. “It was not easy to pass Elzinga and I tried once but he run me wide but the second pass was good. First race done and tomorrow will be racing day!”
MXGP – RAM Qualifying Race – Top 10 Classification:
1 Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), 23:57.055
2 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:01.227
3 Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:05.027
4 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:07.272
5 Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:09.654
6 Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), +0:22.779
7 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:26.805
8 Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:37.410
9 Brian Bogers (NED, Honda), +0:39.200
10 Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:41.802
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification:
1 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 778 Points
2 Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 682 Points
3 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 610 Points
4 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 562 Points
5 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 525 Points
6 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 498 Points
7 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 456 Points
8 Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 385 Points
9 Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 281 Points
10 Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 231 Points
MX2 – RAM Qualifying Race – Top 10 Classification:
1 Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 24:03.266
2 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:11.086
3 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:19.178
4 Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:31.625
5 Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:36.196
6 Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:37.439
7 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:39.284
8 Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna), +0:47.517
9 Emil Weckman (FIN, Honda), +0:50.178
10 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:50.849
MX2 – World Championship – Top 10 Classification:
1 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 667 Points
2 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 591 Points
3 Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 565 Points
4 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 555 Points
5 Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 501 Points
6 Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 471 Points
7 Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 462 Points
8 Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 436 Points
9 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 426 Points
10 Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 313 Points
