MX2

Uddevalla (Sweden), 16th August 2026 – The rocky terrain around the Glimminge Motorstadion circuit, near the town of Uddevalla in south-western Sweden, was barely visible today as thousands of fans in horned headwear gathered to cheer on their heroes at the MXGP of Sweden! It was a record-breaking attendance figure of over 28,000 fans who created a crackling atmosphere to the Uddevalla cliffsides!

With more sunlight than yesterday, the track baked even harder than usual, and all of the riders across the classes were struggling for traction on the slick surface that demanded to be ridden with respect.

It was business as usual for Jeffrey Herlings in MXGP, who completed another perfect 1-1-1 weekend to extend his winning streak, including Qualifying Races, to 11 straight race victories for Honda HRC Petronas, taking his first Sunday race wins in the MXGP class at his venue!

Romain Febvre consolidated his second position in the Championship with second overall for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP, while Tom Vialle made it two Frenchmen and two Honda HRC Petronas teammates on the podium with third overall.

The MX2 class was won today by Sacha Coenen, claiming his first GP victory for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing since Latvia over two months ago, with perfect timing as his Championship rivals struggled with various issues. Liam Everts enjoyed his best GP of the season so far in second for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, as Camden McLellan extended his podium streak to four in a row with third overall for the Triumph Racing Factory Team.

It was a tense and tough GP on the slippery Swedish hardpack, and it tested every single rider’s skill, patience, and experience!

MXGP Start Sweden 2026

Keeping the pattern of putting his name at the top of every single session across the weekend, Jeffrey Herlings shot to the top in Warm-Up by nearly a second and a half from the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP machine of Tim Gajser, with Romain Febvre just a tenth further back in third.  There was hope for Norwegian near-home hero Kevin Horgmo with fourth place for Team Honda Motoblouz SR Motul, ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo.

It was Adamo who claimed just his second Fox Holeshot Award of the season in race one, but the two Hondas of Herlings and Tom Vialle immediately sneaked to the inside of the Italian, who also lost out to the returning Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP rider Pauls Jonass.  The Latvian, who missed two GPs after his big crash at Foxhills last month, was in a feisty mood as he cut across Vialle to take second on the exit of the left-handed third corner in front of the cliffsides of fans!

Febvre was hassling Adamo for fourth, but followed his inside line before a jump, allowing Gajser to rail around the outside and pass him for fifth, very nearly clipping Adamo’s rear wheel on the downhill landing!  Behind the top six were the third Honda HRC Petronas of Ruben Fernandez and the second Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP of Maxime Renaux.  The crowd’s attentions were on the battle for ninth, however, as home hero Isak Gifting pushed his JK Racing Yamaha towards the back wheel of Jan Pancar on his TEM JP253 KTM. The Slovenian slipped down the order with a mistake on lap two, promoting the Viking to ninth ahead of the Venrooy KTM Racing Team leader Jeremy Seewer.

The other Slovenian in the field, Tim Gajser, tried to make a move on Adamo on lap three but made a series of mistakes in trying, the last one putting him on the ground hard!  He was able to pick himself up quickly in ninth behind Gifting.  A couple of laps later, Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf, struggling with a small thumb injury from mid-week training, got past Seewer for tenth, before the Swiss veteran suffered a big crash on lap nine!  Out of the race immediately, he was unable to complete in race two despite taking the start, pulling in early on.  It was a rough weekend for the three-time Uddevalla winner.

Herlings was disappearing into the distance, but the battle for second became an eight-wheeled freight train as Jonass kept Vialle at bay on his few attempts to close the gap, while Febvre had more frequent attacks fall short against Adamo!  Fernandez held sixth to the flag, ahead of the Yamaha trio of Renaux, Gifting, and Gajser.  De Wolf rounded out the top ten.

Febvre finally forced his way past Adamo into fourth with two laps to go, on the same corner as he was famously passed on by Gifting last year!  Vialle’s third place put him within three points of Renaux for seventh in the Championship, while Pauls Jonass earned his best race finish since his 2-2 scores won him the MXGP of Portugal over two years ago!  Herlings put in a stunning 1:49.587 lap time on the very last circulation, two seconds faster than anyone else managed all race long, just to put an exclamation point on a 21-second race victory!

Race two began with a bang, which was the sound of riders hitting the floor on the entry to the first corner.  Gifting tangled with the Red Bull Ducati Factory Team rider Calvin Vlaanderen, who fell hard as a result, also bringing down Fantic Factory Racing MXGP man Brent van Doninck. The Belgian came off worse with rib injuries that still need analysing, while the South African was also sidelined but no worse than shaken up by the impact. We wish them both a speedy recovery.  Gifting fell into the barriers but was able to get back on track, the crowd urging him on at every turn. He would recover to 14th, just outside the top ten on the day with 11th overall.

At the front, Vialle took the Fox Holeshot Award, putting himself to the top of the series table with eight, one ahead of the absent Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Lucas Coenen.  However, the Frenchman also ran wide, placing sixth into turn two, as Febvre emerged with the lead ahead of Gajser, Herlings, Jonass, and Fernandez!

Herlings struck immediately, darting to the inside of Gajser on the third corner, then cutting into an inside rut to pass Febvre for the lead before half a lap was completed!  His teammate Fernandez also displaced Jonass for fourth, as De Wolf ran seventh behind Vialle but in front of Adamo, Andrea Bonacorsi on the surviving Red Bull Ducati, and Renaux.

Vialle made good progress on lap two, getting ahead of Jonass on that third corner, then making an inside pass on Fernandez in the middle of the circuit to claim fourth and put himself into podium contention.  Herlings was a little more patient in this race, setting the fastest time on the sixth lap, although it wasn’t quite as fast as his Acerbis Fastest Lap from race one. Gajser attacked Febvre briefly but was unable to make a move for second.

Jonass wasn’t quite able to hold the pace after his race one efforts, and dropped behind De Wolf, Adamo, and finally Bonacorsi, who took eighth with three laps to go.  Ninth for the Latvian was still good enough for fourth overall, his best result since that 2024 Portuguese win!  Kevin Horgmo came out on top in a fantastic back-and-forth battle with Renaux for tenth, earning him tenth overall behind the Frenchman. 

Meanwhile, Fernandez was able to hold De Wolf back, helped by a small slip-off by the Dutchman which limited him to sixth ahead of Adamo, but the Italian would finish seventh overall ahead of De Wolf.  In sixth overall, Fernandez did enough to draw level with Adamo for fifth in the Championship! 

Gajser’s third put him into fifth overall for the day behind Jonass, but that was sufficient to lift him above Coenen into third in the Championship.  Vialle’s fifth podium in the premier class raised him above Renaux for seventh in the series, but Febvre was unable to get close to Herlings, who ultimately won by over six seconds.  The Frenchman’s second place was the 200th top three race finish of his career.

The race was cut short with two laps to go by a red flag, as MX-Handel Husqvarna rider Kevin Brumann came together with the MRT Racing Team Beta of Jago Geerts on a downhill jump, and was lying still on the track for a few moments.  The Swiss rider did get up, albeit a little wobbly, but the Belgian has suffered a leg injury which has been announced as being in plaster, but still needing assessment by his doctor back home.  We all wish them both the very best in their recoveries.

Herlings’ 121st career GP victory puts him 116 points clear of reigning World Champion Febvre, and the Dutchman heads to his home GP next week with high expectations of building that lead further!  If anyone can stop “The Bullet”, it will be a remarkable achievement, but the atmosphere at Arnhem is bound to be electric!

Jeffrey Herlings: "I feel like I am riding well and I feel really good on the bike, also at tracks like this one. My whole career I struggled with starts and now they have got better again. In the first race Tom and I were both fighting into the first corner, and in the second one my jump off the gate was not the best, but I came out third, made the passes early and then had a comfortable lead. With the sun so low it felt a bit sketchy, so I did just enough. We won every session, led every lap and won both races, so I am super happy. Now I really look forward to my home GP."

Romain Febvre: "It was a good GP overall and my race speed was okay. The first race was the tricky one: my start was not bad, but I touched with another rider in the first two turns and lost places, so I had to come back through the pack. Then I was stuck behind Andrea [Adamo] for a long time, I could not find a spot and only got him with two laps to go to finish fourth. The second race was much better. I almost got the holeshot, Jeffrey passed me on the first lap and I could ride my own pace, so to finish that close to him is a really good ride. I am happy to be back on the podium."

Tom Vialle: "I had a pretty good day. I was struggling a little bit yesterday in the qualifying race, we made some changes on the bike this morning and I felt a lot better straight away. The first race was frustrating because Pauls [Jonass] was riding really good and I was stuck behind him for 35 minutes without finding one spot on the track to pass. I had a better start in the second one but went a little too wide and lost a few positions, so I had to come back through again. The track was easy to make a mistake on, but I am happy to be on the podium."

     
1. Romain Febvre; 2. Tom Vialle

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 1 - Top 10 Classification:  1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 35:13.146; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:21.392; 3. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:22.049; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:24.220; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:27.045; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:28.460; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:31.140; 8. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), +0:32.233; 9. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:33.422; 10. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:33.544

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 2 - Top 10 Classification:  1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 29:32.199; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.226; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:11.356; 4. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:15.227; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:21.246; 6. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:33.653; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:39.734; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Ducati), +0:42.304; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:45.861; 10. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:54.934

MXGP Overall - Top 10 Classification:  1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 50 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 40 p.; 3. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 38 p.; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 34 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 32 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 31 p.; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 30 p.; 8. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 26 p.; 9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 24 p.; 10. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 21 p.

MXGP - World Championship - Top 10 Classification:  1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 735 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 619 p.; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 575 p.; 4. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 566 p.; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 483 p.; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 483 p.; 7. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 454 p.; 8. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 449 p.; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 375 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 312 p.

MXGP - Manufacturers Classification:  1. Honda, 823 points; 2. KTM, 732 p.; 3. Yamaha, 661 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 648 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 408 p.; 6. Ducati, 293 p.; 7. Fantic, 281 p.; 8. Beta, 160 p.; 9. Triumph, 138 p.; 10. GASGAS, 4 p.

Sacha Coenen

Janis Reisulis showed his enjoyment of the Uddevalla circuit as he took the top time in Warm-Up for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2. Liam Everts was not far behind in second place, ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Simon Längenfelder.

Sacha Coenen got back to his old tricks of rocketing to the Fox Holeshot Award, and held it well around the early corners from Everts and Janis Reisulis, while Camden McLellan got away well in fourth ahead of Längenfelder.  From an unfavourable gate pick, Camden’s Triumph Racing Factory Team stablemate Guillem Farres was outside of the top ten, with facial scarring from his heavy crash in Saturday’s Qualifying Race.  It would be a day of pain endurance for the Championship leader.

Dutchman Kay Karssemakers had enjoyed his career-best Qualifying Race for Dixon Racing Team Kawasaki, and he made a surprise pass on Längenfelder in the opening lap to hold fifth place from the defending Champion!  Behind them came Husqvarna Scandinavia’s Norwegian rider Pelle Gundersen and the Maddii Racing Honda ABF Italia of Maxime Grau, with Farres able to climb to ninth at the end of the first full lap, ahead of home hero Nike Korsbeck for Triumph Racing Nordics!

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rider Karlis Reisulis had tangled with the Honda HRC Petronas of Valerio Lata in the third corner, putting them to the back, while Julius Mikula pushed his Osička Racing KTM past Korsbeck.  Gundersen made a mistake on lap three to drop down the order, keeping the Swede inside the top ten until Karlis caught him on lap six.

Farres recovered well from a mistake in the same second corner which caught him out on Saturday, and got up to sixth with a pass on Karssemakers on lap nine, a lap after Längenfelder had passed the Kawasaki.  The Champ and the red plate holder stayed in those positions ‘til the flag, with Grau seventh, Mikula eighth, and Karssemakers dropping to ninth ahead of Karlis Reisulis.

McLellan made several attempts to get past Karlis’ younger brother, but until the Latvian ran wide on the first corner of lap 13, he wasn’t able to get the job done.  He needed no second invitation to capitalise on that mistake! The top four circulated within three seconds of each other at one point, but Coenen kept back a spirited charge from Everts, who set the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap, making it a Belgian 1-2 ahead of McLellan and Janis Reisulis.  It was Sacha’s first race win since Latvia in June, and he was suitably pumped as he passed Pit Lane after taking the chequered flag!

The diminutive Belgian clearly fancied more of the same, and took another Fox Holeshot Award in race two, bringing his total to 13 for the year, eight clear of the next best in that table!  Längenfelder was right behind him on the first lap, and the German was expected to make a move after his Qualifying Race win and his previously perfect podium record at Uddevalla!  Everts, McLellan, and Mikula gave immediate chase, but Karssemakers passed Mikula into the second corner!

Everts did not want Sacha to get away from him again, and made an audacious sweeping move around the outside of turn five to take second from Längenfelder! Meanwhile, Farres was initially twelfth across the first timing beam, but made some inspired moves to get to sixth by the end of the first full lap!  Ahead of him was Janis Reisulis, as Mikula crashed down the order, and Karssemakers had made an optimistic passing attempt on McLellan which resulted in a dramatic crash over the handlebars!  The unfortunate Dutchman would then pull into Pit Lane with too much damage to either his bike or his body.

Farres was far from done, fighting through the pain to move inside Janis Reisulis for fifth on lap two. Lata and Karlis Reisulis ran seventh and eighth, while Noel Zanocz was ninth for Venrooy KTM Racing, ahead of local boy Korsbeck!  Both the Swede and the Hungarian would succumb to a late charge from Mikula, who got through to a fine ninth position by the flag, ahead of Zanocz, who held off Grau for tenth.  Ahead of them, Lata took eighth in the race to put himself tenth overall, behind Grau in ninth and Mikula eighth overall.

The Reisulis brothers would come home in sixth and seventh in race two, Janis in front of his older sibling, who took seventh overall.   The remarkable Farres made a sweeping pass around the outside of Längnfelder for fourth on lap three, sealing the deal with the Acerbis Fastest Lap of the day in MX2 on lap four! The positions would stay set from there as riders struggled for traction on the slick surface, and Längenfelder’s fifth put him between the Reisuli in sixth for the day, his first ever visit to Uddevalla that didn’t finish with a podium result.  Janis claimed fifth overall behind the dogged Farres, who nearly hunted down his teammate for third mid-race!

McLellan’s fourth podium in a row, and tenth in all, moved him to 16 points up on Längenfelder in the Championship, but 21 behind Sacha Coenen.  Again, Everts was frustrated in his efforts to pass his countryman finishing just under two and a half seconds behind Coenen, who simply would not buckle under pressure. It was his first ever podium in Sweden, and his eighth career GP victory!  It puts him right back in the Championship chase, nearly halving the gap to Farres from 47 points at the start of the weekend to just 24 now!

The show of bravery from Farres cannot be underestimated, but after being impaired by his injuries from the USA, Coenen looks back at full strength again, and with plenty of local support ready to get behind him at Arnhem, the MXGP of the Netherlands could give us a storming showdown between the two!  McLellan is likely to be strong in that sand as he was in Lommel, so the MX2 class should provide fireworks next weekend!

The crowds will gather for round 16 as we close off August’s GP action in some deep Dutch sand, so don’t forget to find a way to watch one of the most entertaining events of thee MXGP season!

Sacha Coenen: "I am really happy with this one. It has been a long time since I won a GP and it was not easy today, so it means a lot. I did what I needed to do in both races. Liam [Everts] was really strong behind me and pushing me the whole way, which was good for me, I was just trying to keep a small gap and I managed to do it. Two races out front made it a nice day. We have four GPs to go and I am just trying to have fun every weekend on the track and do my best, so I am looking forward to the next races."

Liam Everts: "I was there all weekend, I felt really strong and really good, and I just came up one second short. We were riding a high pace all weekend, but unfortunately for me Sacha did not make the mistake I was hoping for. I kept pushing until the end and ended up second in both races. It has been an up and down season, struggling with the bike and with myself, and with things happening outside of my control, but we made some changes on the bike and definitely improved this weekend. Now I am looking forward to Arnhem, the last sand race of the year, and I hope to make it a good one."

Camden McLellan: "It was not a bad weekend. Results wise I think there was a little bit more on the table in both races, but my riding was really good and that is the main thing. The races were pretty intense and the track was really flat and very difficult for passing. Sacha is known for his speed and Liam was very good today as well, so they were far ahead in the second race. I charged at the end but could not really do anything about it, which was a bit of a shame. Third is not too bad, some good championship points and good vibes, and this weekend shows it is not over until it is really over."

     
1. Liam Everts; 2. Camden McLellan

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 1 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 33:45.306; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:01.264; 3. Camden McLellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:11.257; 4. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:14.197; 5. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:29.037; 6. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:35.800; 7. Maxime Grau (FRA, Honda), +0:37.229; 8. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +0:38.223; 9. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +0:59.047; 10. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:11.390

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:  1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35:19.455; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:02.442; 3. Camden McLellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:09.849; 4. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:30.681; 5. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:34.913; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:39.632; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:44.675; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:45.290; 9. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +1:21.804; 10. Noel Zanocz (HUN, KTM), +1:29.257

MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification:  1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 50 points; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 44 p.; 3. Camden McLellan (RSA, TRI), 40 p.; 4. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 33 p.; 5. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 33 p.; 6. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, KTM), 32 p.; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 25 p.; 8. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 25 p.; 9. Maxime Grau (FRA, HON), 24 p.; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 23 p.

MX2 - World Championship Classification:  1. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 701 points; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 677 p.; 3. Camden McLellan (RSA, TRI), 656 p.; 4. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, KTM), 640 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 595 p.; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 552 p.; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 441 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 381 p.; 9. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 352 p.; 10. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 341 p.

MX2 - Manufacturers Classification:  1. Triumph, 807 points; 2. KTM, 798 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 608 p.; 4. Yamaha, 592 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 472 p.; 6. Honda, 439 p.; 7. Ducati, 153 p.; 8. TM Moto, 87 p.; 9. GASGAS, 65 p.; 10. Fantic, 8 p.

All the photos from the MXGP of Sweden will be available HERE.

You can find the complete results HERE.

MXGP OF SWEDEN QUICK FACTS:

Circuit length: 1645m

Type of ground: Hard Pack

Temperature: 22˚

Weather conditions: Sunny

Crowd Attendance: 28,500

LINKS

Infront Moto Racing

FIM

UDDEVALLA (Sweden) 15 August 2026 – The rocky cliffs of the Glimminge Motorstadion circuit echoed to the sounds and smoke flares from the ever-enthusiastic Scandinavian Motocross fans as the Qualifying Races took place for the MXGP of Sweden today, and Uddevalla was awash with yellow and blue smoke as some of the rowdiest fans in the sport made their presence felt!

MXGP World Championship leader Jeffrey Herlings took his sixth Qualifying Race win of the season, and third in succession, for Honda HRC Petronas, reaching the tally of 76 for his uniquely incredible career.  It was still tightly-contested, however, as his oldest active rivals chased him across the line, the top three all within 3.6 seconds of each other, as Tim Gajser took second for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP ahead of last year’s Uddevalla perfectionist Romain Febvre, who maintains second in the standings for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP.

The only former Swedish GP victor lining up in the MX2 class, reigning World Champion Simon Längenfelder, added the first Qualifying Race win to his impressive Uddevalla record with a dominating performance for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. Liam Everts also showed great hardpack technique with second for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, with Camden McLellan third for Triumph Racing Factory Team. The big news of the day was that Camden’s Championship-leading teammate Guillem Farres crashed out of the race on the opening lap, needing stitches to a facial laceration as a result. 

What the Qualifying Races told us most of all is that the GP races are tough to predict for tomorrow, and we should be in for another amazing day of action with a full-on cauldron of an atmosphere around the Glimminge Motorstadion!

Head Photo: Jeffrey Herlings; Top Photo: MXGP Start Uddevalla, 2026

The Free Practice session looked to be going the way of Tim Gajser until a trademark flying final lap from Jeffrey Herlings gave the Dutchman the top time by nearly a second.  Home hero Isak Gifting raised the hopes of his fans with the third best time on his JK Racing Yamaha!

Herlings was at it again in Time Practice with a last-ditch effort claiming the first gate pick by just over a third of a second from Gajser.  Kay de Wolf took third for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, followed by the second Honda HRC Petronas of Tom Vialle, with Romain Febvre in fifth.

The factory Hondas of Vialle and Herlings roared into the first corner clear of the rest, as Herlings carved inside his teammate to take the immediate lead, with Gajser and Febvre next along, followed by Gifting, who lost fifth on the second corner to Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Pauls Jonass, the Latvian looking good on his return to action following his big crash in the U.K.

Not willing to let Herlings streak away, Gajser and Febvre quickly got past Vialle on the first full lap, while the third Honda HRC Petronas of Ruben Fernandez also got past Gifting in a right-handed hairpin corner. De Wolf was chasing the Swede with Andrea Adamo in ninth. The Italian is the only Red Bull KTM Factory Racing man in the class this weekend, as former series leader Lucas Coenen is still too injured to race.

On lap four, De Wolf closed on Gifting, but landed short on a tabletop, bouncing sideways and sliding out on landing, bizarrely catching Gifting’s machine to tip the Swede off the bike. Although De Wolf was able to restart quickly to finish seventh, a damaged off-switch hindered Gifting’s attempts to fire up the bike, and he re-joined in 24th, recovering to 20th by the finish.

Adamo was up to eighth, and would finish there. The second Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP machine of Maxime Renaux was initially ninth, ahead of the leading Red Bull Ducati Factory MXGP Team rider Andrea Bonacorsi.  Renaux would make a small mistake with four laps to go, promoting Bonacorsi to ninth at the flag ahead of the Venrooy Racing KTM of three-time Uddevalla winner Jeremy Seewer. Renaux was frustrated to finish out of the points in 11th.

On the difficult slick surface, there weren’t any further passes in the higher order, as Gajser briefly closed on Herlings, and had Febvre close on him several times.  The leading riders were constantly fighting for traction and seemed to make mistakes whenever they got close enough to make a pass. The top three held position until the finish line, with Vialle and Fernandez making it three factory Honda riders in the top five, and Jonass matching his second-best Saturday result for the year with sixth.

Herlings’ win put him a further two ahead of the chasing Febvre, who is now 106 points behind “The Bullet”.  The start will be all-important tomorrow, and after the amazing race from Gifting last year, we know that we can never be certain of what Uddevalla will throw at us!

Jeffrey Herlings: "I just did what I had to do. The track wasn't easy and the shadows were already quite low, but I took a really good start together with my teammate, we were first and second, and I could just do my own thing. It's a strong way to start the weekend, so hopefully we can do the same thing tomorrow."

Tim Gajser: "Overall, all day I'm feeling way better. The track is not the easiest, it's quite sketchy, quite hard and slippery, and it's not easy to ride with a 450 with so much power. I managed to take a solid start. The jump was not the best, but in the first corner I went completely inside and came out third, then I made a quick pass on Tom and I was behind Jeffrey. Myself, Jeffrey and Romain were riding kind of the same pace, and it was good. Hopefully tomorrow we can do the same."

Romain Febvre: "I did a good job on the start, but even with that I was not at the front in the first turn. Then I managed to be third quite quickly and we were all top three together. I had some opportunities, I was close to Gajser at the beginning, but somehow I didn't make the pass and I was just following behind. The track was really slippery, we all made mistakes out there, but I think we had a good pace overall, so hopefully tomorrow we can fight the same way and find the opportunity."

     
1. Tim Gajser; 2. Romin Febvre

MXGP - Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 24:13.200; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:02.801; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:03.619; 4. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:24.451; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:28.386; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:30.995; 7. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:34.906; 8. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:45.939; 9. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Ducati), +0:47.343; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), +0:49.771

MXGP - World Championship Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 685 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 579 p.; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 566 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 543 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 453 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 452 p.; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 425 p.; 8. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 416 p.; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 349 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 278 p.;

Simon Längenfelder

Guillem Farres topped both the Free and Time Practice sessions to show that he was right on his normal pace, with the Honda HRC Petronas hardpack lover Valerio Lata second in the morning, but Camden McLellan slotted in behind his teammate for the second gate pick. Liam Everts was third fastest ahead of Simon Längenfelder, and the leading Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rider Janis Reisulis.

Farres shot out of the gate in the Qualifying Race to hold the inside line to lead from the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo of Sacha Coenen and Längenfelder, but the orange boys were suddenly first and second as Farres overjumped into the second corner and crashed over the inside berm!

Everts and Janis Reisulis gave chase to the KTMs, while McLellan sneaked inside the first corner from a terrible gate drop to somehow emerge in fifth place!  He was suddenly the only factory Triumph in the race, however, as Farres landed on the stricken JWR Honda of Noel Nilsson, who had crashed on the downside of a jump and left the red plate holder to cartwheel over his machine!  The Spaniard was on his feet quickly, but with blood running down his face, so he was taken to the medical centre.  Although it won’t be confirmed until the morning, we believe that he will line up tomorrow after a little treatment.

McLellan made an early pass on Janis Reisulis to take fourth, while Längenfelder hassled Coenen at the front.  The German was more patient on the throttle and pulled a nice outside to inside pass to take the lead from the Belgian, who stumbled out of a corner after a defensive entry line.  The slick, stand-up style of Everts was next along, and he pulled a sweet pass on his countryman to take second on lap five. 

Just before that, Karlis Reisulis was attempting to move into seventh for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, but tripped over the Osička Racing KTM of Julius Mikula and hit the ground, the confusion also allowing Maxime Grau to move his Maddii Racing Honda ABF Italia into eighth past Lata! 

McLellan and Janis Reisulis both got past Coenen on successive laps to take third and fourth, and although the Latvian would hassle the South African towards the end, they would finish in that order.  Coenen’s fifth position earned him a six-point hack into Farres’ Championship lead, cutting it down to 41 before tomorrow’s GP races.

Around five seconds behind Sacha, Dutchman Kay Karssemakers earned his best ever Qualifying Race result with sixth place for Dixon Racing Team Kawasaki, while Mikula’s seventh matched his career high, the third time he has reached this position!

Lata was able to get past Grau to claim eighth ahead of the Frenchman, while Pelle Gundersen got the many Norwegian fans in attendance to raise their voices with a first ever Qualifying Race point on his Husqvarna Scandinavia machine!

Even if Farres does line up tomorrow, he is unlikely to be at 100%, and today’s results have also decreased the margins between those battling for the medal positions in the series.  So tomorrow could see another major shake-up in this wide open and wild MX2 World Championship!

Be sure to tune in tomorrow as the cliffsides will shake again to the noise of the boisterous fans with the horned headwear!

Simon Längenfelder: "We made a change on the bike and I wasn't sure if it was going to work, but it worked out. I had a much better feeling on the bike than in the two sessions before, and it felt good out there. I took the qualifying race win, so I'm really happy and looking forward to the races."

     
1. Liam Everts; 2.Camden Mc Lellan

MX2 - Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 24:35.694; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:02.669; 3. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:20.149; 4. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:21.326; 5. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:28.181; 6. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +0:33.030; 7. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +0:35.169; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:52.161; 9. Maxime Grau (FRA, Honda), +0:54.653; 10. Pelle Gundersen (NOR, Husqvarna), +0:58.148

MX2 - World Championship Classification: 1. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 668 points; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 627 p.; 3. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 616 p.; 4. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 608 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 551 p.; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 519 p.; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 416 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 358 p.; 9. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 352 p.; 10. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 316 p.;

All the photos from the MXGP of Sweden will be available HERE.

You can find the complete results HERE.

TIMETABLE

SUNDAY:
09:40 EMX125 Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX250 Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.

LINKS

Infront Moto Racing

FIM

FIM Europe

MXGP Sweden