The fifth round of the 2022 FIM Motocross World Championship at Trentino, the autonomous province of Italy, saw some explosive action as Tim Gajser and Tom Vialle topped the MX1 and MX2 podiums respectively at the MXGP of Trentino with perfect scores across both races.
The new reversed track layout made for some intense racing as the leaders had to work hard for their victories. There were more exciting moments at the Pietramurata venue, Nestled at the base of the imposing Dolomite mountains, including the impressive triple that was tackled by Jeremy Seewer during the races.
What made the MXGP of Trentino even more special was the incredible fan support that created a stunning atmosphere. The Gajser’s corner was the standout as the group of fans created a roar that shook the entire circuit lap by lap and especially at the podium as Gajser celebrated his first 1-1 result of 2022.
MXGP race one was an explosive one, with Glenn Coldenhoff grabbing the first Holeshot from Tim Gajser, previous round winner Jorge Prado, Jeremy Seewer, and Australian Mitch Evans.
Seewer was looking strong in the opening laps as he looked to be closing in on Prado, who fought to not lose grip on the leaders, while Gajser and Coldenhoff got themselves into an intense battle for the win as they traded in who took the fastest sector and lap times of the race, lap by lap. On one occasion, Gajser was fastest in sector one, while Coldenhoff went purple in sector two, then Gajser again in three and Coldenhoff in four – that is how close the racing really was at the front.
After 11 laps, which were full of nail-biting action, close passes, and plenty of moments that almost ended in tears, Gajser was able to find a way past the #259 of Coldenhoff to finally get himself into the lead. After doing so, the Slovenian settled into his own pace as he got comfortable in the front, while Coldenhoff had Prado looming in the shadows.
Further down the order, there were also some intense battles coming from Calvin Vlaanderen who fought his way through the field. After getting a mid-pack start, the Yamaha rider passed Australian Jed Beaton on lap seven and then on lap 14 got around Evans to secure sixth in the race.
In the closing stages, Prado started to gain a little on Coldenhoff as Gajser got comfortable in the lead. In the last three laps, Prado tried to pass the factory Yamaha rider, though could not find an opportunity and was forced to settle for third as Gajser won.
In the second race, Prado bounced back with a Fox Holeshot as he led Gajser, Seewer, and Bogers. Seewer once again displayed his fearlessness as he jumped the triple to get himself into second, but Gajser was fast to react.
Race one Holeshot winner, Coldenhoff, did not get so lucky in race two, as he went down in the first corner.
Prado’s time in the lead did not last a full lap, as he stalled his bike which saw him drop down to fifth as Gajser took control of the lead. Seewer remained second ahead of Bogers and Renaux who joined the fight for P2. Seewer did crash but managed to stay ahead for the time being.
Further down the field, Alberto Forato passed Pauls Jonass on lap two, and then set his sight forward as he was able to get around Bogers, who crashed, then Ben Watson on lap five, before catching up to Prado.
For six laps, Forato consistently applied the pressure onto Prado and showed better speed at times than the Spaniard ahead and even set the fastest lap of the race on the seventh lap. But it was not meant to be for the Italian who then crashed on lap 11.
In the final laps, we saw Seewer and Renaux locked in a close battle as the Frenchman looked to solidify his spot on the podium after his struggles in Portugal. This was also an opportunity for Prado who also got closer to the pair and joined the fight for second position once again.
On lap 15 Renaux went by his teammate as Prado was looking to do the same, but Seewer managed to keep hold of third by the chequered flag as Gajser won the race.
It was Gajser’s first 1-1 of the season, as he enjoyed the moment on the top step of the podium with the roar of his fans who gathered in huge crowds! Renaux celebrated his comeback to the box with second overall, with Prado down on the third step.
After five rounds, Gajser now has 236 points to his name as he continues to lead the MXGP championship, while Prado is second 33 points behind and Renaux third on 184 points.
“It was a great weekend. I was really excited about coming here to Trentino, it’s the first time in two years that I could see this public after being a bit quiet here in Pietramurata,” Gajser said. “It was great. Two good races, the second one was perfect, taking a good start and quickly passing in the beginning. I made a comfortable lead and controlled the race. I’m really happy, I want to say a huge thank you to everybody, my team, everybody around me, and my fans! I think it’s good to have some changes. You know the track was the same since we came here in 2013. It’s a good change and a big difference, especially in the start going 180 instead of 90 degrees corner. I felt good, overall, there were more lines and I liked it”
MX2
In the first MX2 race of the day, the first Holeshot went to Tom Vialle who led Mikkel Haarup, Isak Gifting, Thibault Benistant, and Andrea Adamo.
Jago Geerts started in around 11th, while Kevin Horgmo crashed on the second lap, falling down to 26th.
Haarup then set the fastest lap of the race as he looked to get closer to the leader, though Vialle responded by the following lap to go faster than the Dane. Adamo then passed Benistant for fourth, as Mattia Guadagnini got around Rick Elzinga.
Geerts was making his way forward as he got by Benistant for fourth on lap seven, while Vialle and Haarup continued to trade the fastest laps. Just behind them, Gifting crashed out of second which allowed Adamo through to the position, as Geerts edged closer.
The Belgian managed to close in on the Italian and on lap 17 he moved up to second. Benistant was still there in fifth, while Kay de Wolf made his way up to sixth by the chequered flag.
For much of the race, we witnessed a very close battle between Vialle and Haarup, with Haarup not backing down from the regular winner. On his last push for the win during the last few corners, Haarup went off track and had to abort the mission to keep second.
Vialle won race one ahead of Haarup, Geerts, Adamo, and Benistant.
In race two, it was again Vialle with the Holeshot, this time ahead of Benistant, Elzinga, and de Wolf, while Adamo struggled out of the gate. The Italian later came into the pitlane and was left with a DNF after a very strong opening heat.
de Wolf was quick to pass Elzinga for third and then less than a lap later he was in second after getting around Benistant, though the Frenchman did not make it so easy on the Dutchman.
Geerts meanwhile made his way up the order after a top-five start, as he caught onto his teammate Benistant. Geerts may have pushed too hard as he fell out of fourth place but got going again quickly in fifth. Geerts then got caught and passed by Guadagnini and Simon Längenfelder, this pushed him down to ninth.
Geerts’ race went from bad to worse as he crashed big once again, this time retiring from the race. This was very costly for his championship lead.
While at the front, Vialle set the fastest lap of the race as de Wolf remained close. But what was impressive was Horgmo’s fastest lap of the race on lap 12 as he looked to put a strong result on his scorecard today.
With just a few laps to go, Haarup was showing incredible pace as he pushed to pass Elzinga in order to get himself on the podium. There were a couple of very close moments, and moments where Haarup almost crashed, but the Dane was able to keep it upright and also get the pass done on the final lap!
Vialle won the race ahead of de Wolf, with Benistant third ahead of Guadagnini and Horgmo.
A perfect 1-1 score gave Vialle his third back-to-back GP victory and also the red plate! De Wolf was second, securing his second podium of 2022 ahead of Haarup who continued to impress everyone with his third GP podium on the bounce.
“It was a great weekend overall,” Vialle said. “I had two good starts and two good races, for sure it wasn’t easy. In the first race, I was struggling in the beginning to find the flow and was not riding as good as the second race. But Mikkel was pushing until the last lap, I didn’t make so many mistakes and could grab the win which was nice. In the second start, I got another holeshot and again was tough, Kay was pushing but I was a little bit better in the second race. I was happy, I had a good second race and pushed until the end. It was a great weekend, I take the red plate, but the championship is still really long. I just want to do like this every weekend, try to do my own race, the start is important, especially this weekend where it was not very easy to pass so the holeshots helped me a lot”.
Vialle now leads the championship and is 14 points clear of Geerts who is second ahead of Haarup who is a further 25 points behind.
Next, we head to Kegums for the MXGP of Latvia on the 23rd and 24th of April.
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:25.634
2 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:03.684
3 Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:06.765
4 Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:18.420
5 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:20.781
6 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:22.039
7 Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Beta), +0:22.756
8 Brian Bogers (NED, Husqvarna), +0:24.648
9 Alberto Forato (ITA, GASGAS), +0:27.857
10 Mitchell Evans (AUS, Honda), +0:38.700
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:35.096
2 Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:05.170
3 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:06.048
4 Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:07.175
5 Brian Bogers (NED, Husqvarna), +0:08.067
6 Ben Watson (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:14.250
7 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:20.940
8 Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Beta), +0:27.492
9 Mitchell Evans (AUS, Honda), +0:32.925
10 Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:36.727
MXGP – GP Top 10 Classification:
1 Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 50 Points
2 Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 40 Points
3 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 38 Points
4 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 36 Points
5 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 32 Points
6 Brian Bogers (NED, HUS), 29 Points
7 Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, BET), 27 Points
8 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 24 Points
9 Mitchell Evans (AUS, HON), 23 Points
10 Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 20 Points
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1 Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 236 Points
2 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 203 Points
3 Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 184 Points
4 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 160 Points
5 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 141 Points
6 Brian Bogers (NED, HUS), 126 Points
7 Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, BET), 126 Points
8 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 125 Points
9 Alberto Forato (ITA, GAS), 94 Points
10 Jed Beaton (AUS, KAW), 82 Points
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 34:48.891
2 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Kawasaki), +0:03.039
3 Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:14.088
4 Andrea Adamo (ITA, GASGAS), +0:21.286
5 Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:25.211
6 Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:26.560
7 Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GASGAS), +0:27.995
8 Simon Längenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:33.470
9 Stephen Rubini (FRA, Honda), +0:36.048
10 Isak Gifting (SWE, KTM), +0:39.348
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 35:04.840
2 Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:04.237
3 Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:11.713
4 Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GASGAS), +0:13.537
5 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:15.172
6 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Kawasaki), +0:26.172
7 Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:27.820
8 Isak Gifting (SWE, KTM), +0:34.234
9 Stephen Rubini (FRA, Honda), +0:36.037
10 Simon Längenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:44.064
MX2 – GP Top 10 Classification:
1 Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 50 points
2 Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 37 Points
3 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, KAW), 37 Points
4 Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 36 Points
5 Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 32 Points
6 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 25 Points
7 Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 24 Points
8 Isak Gifting (SWE, KTM), 24 Points
9 Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 24 Points
10 Simon Längenfelder (GER, GAS), 24 Points
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1 Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 208 Points
2 Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 194 Points
3 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, KAW), 169 Points
4 Simon Längenfelder (GER, GAS), 154 Points
5 Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 150 Points
6 Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 138 Points
7 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 136 Points
8 Andrea Adamo (ITA, GAS), 133 Points
9 Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 116 Points
10 Isak Gifting (SWE, KTM), 111 Points
