MX2

Heading into the MXGP of France, set for the undulating circuit of Villars-sous-Écot on 20-21 May, it isn’t hard to look back at the history of the French motocross riders and feel they have done their share in making the FIM Motocross World Championship a better championship.

Eight Frenchman have tasted championship champagne at the end of a MXGP season and been crowned FIM Motocross World Champion. The French have picked up 13 titles in total as many of their world champions scored more than one championship in their careers.

Back in 1986 Jacky Vimond became the first ever French rider to win a FIM Motocross World Championship. He did so in the 250cc class, and while Vimond was the pioneer of success for French riders it was Jean Michele Bayle who won 125cc and 250cc titles in 1988 and 1989 and started a frenzy of interest and success for the tri-coloured riders.

It didn’t come straight away though, and while names like David Vuillemin, Stephane Roncada and Mickael Pichon looked to become the next J.M. Bayle it wasn’t until the summer of 1996 that another amazingly talented Frenchman stole the hearts of the motocross world.

When a 16-year-old Sebastien Tortelli picked up the 125cc Motocross World Championship ahead of British rider Paul Malin a new era in French motocross was born. Tortelli added the 250cc Championship in 1998 after a season long battle with Stefan Everts and this opened the floodgates for French success.

Soon to follow came World Titles for Frederic Bolley in the 250cc class in 1999 and 2000, Mickael Pichon also in the 250cc class in 2001 and 2002, Mickael Maschio in MX2 in 2002, and Marvin Musquin and Jordi Tixier in the MX2 class in 2009 and 2010 and 2014. More recently it was Romain Febvre who won the MXGP title in 2015, a success followed by Tom Vialle and Maxime Renaux in the MX2 class in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

France have also won the FIM Monster Energy Motocross of Nations on six occasions, in 2001 at the famous Namur, Belgium circuit, Kegums, Latvia in 2014, Ernèe, France in 2015, Maggiora, Italy in 2016, Matterley Basin in England in 2017 and again in 2018 at the RedBud circuit in America.

You can be guaranteed that when the Grand Prix of France fires up on Saturday morning in a little over a week, the always large crowd will be standing as close as possible to the circuit to cheer on their local heroes, and you can be sure Romain Febvre and his fellow French riders will be be wanting more than anything to pay their countrymen back with a victory come Sunday night.

Photo Credit: Pascal Haudiquert
 

Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing's Simon Langenfelder sustained an unfortunate injury to his right arm in practice on Tuesday, May 09, and underwent surgery that night. The injury will stop him from building on the momentum that he gained at this past weekend's Grand Prix of Spain, where he stormed to 1-1 results on his MC 250F.

Langenfelder is currently fourth in the MX2 championship standings, just four points from the rider in third, and was enjoying a consistent start to the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship. '516' had not fallen from the top ten in any of the motos and won three of the twelve stints that had been run. Those triumphs were a clear sign of his exciting progress in the MX2 division.

The arm injury will, of course, sideline him. Further information on timelines is set to be published in due course. Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing wish the young star a speedy recovery. The team cannot wait to see him back in action aboard his MC 250F.

Davide De Carli (Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Team Manager): "Simon crashed in a normal training session yesterday, unfortunately, and broke his right arm. He immediately had surgery with Dr. Nannarini and his team last night. I cannot thank them enough! This is the worst part of the sport, but I am sure that Simon will come back soon and stronger."

It’s time for Acerbis Best Lap! The MXGP of Spain was held at intu-Xanadú Arroyomolinos for the sixth round of the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship and the fastest time clocked in MXGP was by the winner of the GP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings on lap 5 of Race 1 while in MX2, it was also the GP winner Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing's Simon Längenfelder who set the fastest lap on lap 6 of Race 2. 

Jeffrey Herlings set his third fastest time in a row after Trentino and Portugal to go level with leader Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing's Jorge Prado with 3 points. 

In MX2, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts is leading the MX2 Acerbis Best Lap with 3 points ahead of Simon Längenfelder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Andrea Adamo and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant all on 1 point.

Here below you have the details of Spain:

MXGP: Jeffrey Herlings on Race 1 Lap 5 with 1:52.315

MX2: Simon Längenfelder on Race 2 Lap 6 with 01:52.277
 

In order to remind fans of what the competition consists of; at the end of each event, the fastest rider in MXGP and MX2 will obtain a point. The rider with the most points in each class at the conclusion of the Championship will receive a prize from ACERBIS, which will be awarded at the MXGP Awards.

Scroll Down the main page at MXGP.com to see Acerbis Best Lap leaderboard situated directly underneath the FOX Holeshot results grid

MXGP is delighted to continue the running of the FOX Holeshot competition through the sixth round of the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship season together with MXGP Partner FOX.

The MXGP of Spain was held in intu-Xanadú Arroyomolinos and it was Monster Energy Yamaha factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer who clinched both FOX Holeshot this weekend and getting his 3rd and 4th of the season. Only Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing's Jorge Prado has more with 6. 

In MX2, Monster Energy Yamaha factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant and Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing's Simon Längenfelder took the FOX Holeshot in Race 1 and Race 2 respectively.
Längenfelder has now 3 FOX Holeshots and catches up with Monster Energy Yamaha factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts, both lead the competition in MX2.

The way it works is that 1 point is awarded per MXGP and MX2 Championship race. The first rider who crosses the white line painted on the ground at the exit of the first corner will be given a point. At the end of the season the 2 riders - one per category - with the most FOX Holeshot points will win a mega prize. 

Scroll Down the main page at MXGP.com to Check the FOX Holeshot results grid.

INTU-XANADÚ ARROYOMOLINOS (Spain) 7 May 2023 – The MXGP of Spain held all its promises with many fantastic ridings throughout MXGP and MX2. The sixth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will go down in the history of the sport with the 102th GP win of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings to consolidate his legend.

At the end of the day, Jeffrey Herlings won a back-to-back GP in front of the excellent Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Mattia Guadagnini who got his first MXGP podium of his career and home hero Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez third on the podium. Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado fourth overall keeps the Red Plate.

In MX2, Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder won with a perfect 1-1 to get his first podium and win of the season in front of Red Plate holder Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Andrea Adamo.

Spanish fans made their voices heard throughout the whole day and cheering loudly for their home heroes through all the categories and made this Grand Prix a moment to never forget for the riders as the crowd created this fantastic atmosphere.

In MXGP Race 1, we saw an eventful and great level of riding through the whole race and it was Monster Energy Yamaha factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer who took the FOX Holeshot and kept the lead for 5 laps. Then the excellent Mattia Guadagnini who has found a great rhythm this week overtook the Swiss on lap 6 but gave up the lead on lap 12 to a Jeffrey Herlings on a mission to break Stefan Everts’ ultimate GP win record. Before that Herlings went into an intense battle with Jorge Prado between lap 3 and 5 as both riders overtook each other in front of ecstatic Spanish fans. Herlings got the last word and kept charging for the win. Herlings won the race in the end.

Prado looked determined to win in front of his home fans and kept attacking first overtaking Seewer on lap 9 for 3rd and then his teammate Guadagnini with two laps to go to finish 2nd. Guadagnini settled for a good 3rd place. Seewer on his part seemed to have lost a bit of energy throughout the race and got overtaken several times until the end going from 2nd on lap 8 to finishing 8th. 

For Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff things starts to align as he showed a good performance again today. He got 5th on lap 1, and stayed consistent until he could overtake his teammate Seewer on lap 9 to finish 4th. Ruben Fernandez had a good start and found himself 6th but couldn’t find a way past Coldenhoff. He managed to capitalise on Seewer’s fading to pass him for 5th and stay there until the end.

Another consistent performance on race for SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato as he rode solidly staying 7th for most of the race until passing Seewer for 6th with 4 laps to go. It was a really similar feat for Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen who shadowed the Italian to finish 7th. 

Ship to Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Valentin Guillod gets used to ride inside the top 10 as he raced in 9th for most part of the race and made one overtake on lap 11, passing MRT Racing Team Beta’s Alessandro Lupino for 9th. Lupino deserved a good 10th place in the end as he showed a good pace throughout the whole race getting only passed once. 

Race 2 started like the first one with Seewer taking his second FOX Holeshot of the day displaying fast starts although it was Fernandez who quickly took the lead after few turns in front of Guadagnini again in 2nd. However, it was to be Herlings’ day as the ‘bullet’ found himself 4th after lap 1 making more and more good starts as the season advances. He took six laps to finally pass Seewer for 3rd. Herlings kept increasing his pace as he sets a couple of fastest laps along the way to inch closer to Guadagnini in 2nd. While Guadagnini had to defend on Herlings with an astonishing pace both riders caught up with leader Fernandez on lap 9. Herlings used that occasion to make 2 overtakes over the course of one lap showing once again his drive to win and his amazing control of his bike. Herlings edged quickly away from them to run to victory and get a perfect 1-1. This GP win was the 102th which broke the mighty record to put the Dutch rider even more into legend territory. 

On his side Fernandez kept his 2nd spot to climb on the third step of the podium in 3rd with a 5-2 giving Spanish fans what they were coming for. Guadagnini showed all his talent and looked calm and composed throughout the weekend going 2-3 for the 2nd overall. The Italian clinched his first MXGP podium of his career. 

Behind them Seewer kept a strong pace this time to finish at a very good 4th place and taking the 6th overall. Seewer also had to contain Prado most of the race. Prado, who did not make his fastest start of the season seeing himself 6th on lap 1, went on to overtake a surprising De Baets Yamaha MX-Team’s Benoit Paturel for 5th. As the compact track made it hard to pass easily Seewer, held his ground and Prado had to settle for 5th in the end, leaving him outside the podium in 4th for the first time this season. Prado keeps the Red Plate and will want to come back to his best in France in two weeks.

After making an amazing start Paturel felt very tidy on this track as he was 5th until lap 4 when he started to get passed several times by Prado first and then the solid Coldenhoff. In the end he settled for an encouraging 9th place and 13th overall. Coldenhoff had another strong race as he managed to get to 6th after passing Paturel and stayed until the end for a 5th overall. 

Behind were Forato who showed a good consistency this week and managed quite a few overtakes to get from 10th on lap 1 to finish 7th, and Vlaanderen continuing his top 10s habits and ending the race in 8th for 8th overall. 

Lupino managed the second top 10 this weekend as he finished 10th and worked hard to overtake several riders including Guillod for the 10th place on lap 9 and stayed there until the end. 

In the end, Jeffrey Herlings showed all his talent to get a perfect 1-1 for a back-to-back win and get to his 102th GP in style. First MXGP podium for the excellent performer Mattia Guadagnini who got second while Ruben Fernandez clinched his first home podium in front of his fans. 

Jorge Prado also showed that even when he is not on the podium, he is riding to high standards to keep his Red Plate.

Jeffrey Herlings: “I am super happy to break the MXGP wins record. The rest of the guys have such a high level so I did not dream to come back so quick. My starts are getting and today went very well. I managed to work my way to the front and feel physically strong until end helped me to overtake in the end of race too. The Spanish fans were also amazing. Now I am already focusing on France in two weeks”

Mattia Guadagnini: “It’s been a long time after my 2nd place in 2021. It took some time to get used to the bike to ride with the best in the world. I couldn’t be happier today. I knew that I always felt great on this track and I knew I needed two good starts. I also tried to focus on my technique and ride smart. So, it is a step in the good direction and I’m really happy. I also want to congratulate Jeffrey on his new records”

Ruben Fernandez: “I didn’t’ have the best start in the first heat and waste a bit of energy trying a lot to overtake Seewer. The second heat I managed to keep a consistent pace and keep my lines. I focus on staying as long as possible near Jeffrey (Herlings) to make sure I kept my distance with riders behind. I felt very supported on every corner of the track which gives you a bit more strength and I’m happy to get on the podium in front of Spanish fans. Thanks to all of them.”

Main Photos: Jeffrey Herlings

Bottom Photos: 1. Mattia Guadagnini; 2. Rubén Fernández

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:37.967; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:08.718; 3. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GASGAS), +0:10.484; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:13.620; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:15.972; 6. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), +0:20.263; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:22.446; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:26.130; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +0:43.243; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Beta), +0:49.538.

MXGP- Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:42.055; 2. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:08.121; 3. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GASGAS), +0:10.375; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:12.251; 5. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:13.047; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:20.042; 7. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), +0:31.799; 8. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:40.600; 9. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:45.811; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Beta), +0:48.598.

MXGP - GP Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 40 p.; 3. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 38 p.; 4. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 38 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 33 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 31 p.; 7. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 27 p.; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, BET), 22 p.; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 22 p.

MXGP - World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 294 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 288 p.; 3. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 224 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 214 p.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 202 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 191 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 190 p.; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 187 p.; 9. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 186 p.; 10. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 151 p.

MXGP - Manufacturers Classification: 1. GASGAS, 300 points; 2. Yamaha, 296 p.; 3. KTM, 292 p.; 4. Honda, 244 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 230 p.; 6. Beta, 109 p.; 7. Husqvarna, 11 p.

In MX2, race 1 started with Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant clinching the FOX Holeshot and taking the lead in front of Simon Längenfelder. However, Längenfelder’s blistering pace was too much for Benistant as the German overtook him on lap 2. Längenfelder went on to dominate the race increasing his lead the whole way and never got worried. Behind him, the battle for 2nd was really tight between Benistant, Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf and Jago Geerts. De Wolf managed to pass Benistant and forced him wide on lap 5 to go 2nd. Then on lap 6, Geerts executed a perfect move to pass his teammate Benistant for 3rd. Over the same lap Geerts powered through to pass de Wolf too for 2nd. Right after that de Wolf went off track leaving the door open for Benistant to pass and finish 3rd, de Wolf settled for 4th. 

Andrea Adamo and Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen found themselves 8th and 9th respectively on lap 1. Both riders showed impressive speed to move up the rank as Adamo manage a good 5th place and L.Coenen 6th place. They both overtook Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Liam Everts who was in front of them until lap 6. Evert kept his 7th place until the end.

The great operation of the race was for F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo who went 15th on the turn of lap 1 after an average start but the Norwegian did not shy away to overtake many riders. He also managed to overtake the good Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Sacha Coenen on lap 10 for 9th and passed Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Rick Elzinga to get to 8th in the end. S.Coenen is finding his rhythm as he managed to finish 9th while Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Roan Van de Moosdijk made a great comeback to get from 17th on lap 1 to catch the 10th place as he overtook home rider WZ Racing Team’s Oriol Oliver with two laps to go. Oliver settled for 11th. Elzinga faded at the end of the race to finish 13th. 

In race 2, Längenfelder took the FOX Holeshot and kept going with the lead never looking back;  he won an emphatic victory with perfect 1-1 for his first podium of the year and his first MX2 win since the first MXGP of 2022 in Great Britain. 

Behind Geerts kept his rank and was the best of the rest with an excellent and solid 2nd place where it stayed throughout the whole race. With a 2-2 Geerts got the 2nd overall while Adamo managed to keep a good pace to not to get worried by riders behind him and settled for 3rd for his 4th podium of the season. 

Finishing 4th and 5th were de Wolf and Benistant respectively. De Wolf put pressure on Benistant over the first three laps to finally forcing a move and muscling his way past Benistant for 4th on lap 4 until the end. Benistant settled for 5th. De Wolf missed the podium with a 4th overall while Beniastant got 5th overall. 

Everts made a good riding going from 9th on lap 1 to 6th in the end and overtaking along the way Elzinga, Van De Moosdijk and benefitting from L.Coenen crash on lap 7. L.Coenen was okay but his bike could not go back on and had to retire from the race while he was 6th and going 14th overall. Elzinga ended up on the 10th place getting a 10th overall and Van de Moosdijk 8th for 8th overall. 

Horgmo kept his momentum from race one as after a poor start, 14th on the turn of lap 1 managed an excellent 7th place for 7th overall. The other good performance of the race was for privateer TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team’s Jan Pancar who solidly took the 9th place of the race and getting 12th overall. 

For the home riders, Oliver ended up 11th overall while F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s David Braceras got a 15th overall and Racestore KTM Racing Team’s Yago Martinez could not find his rhythm unfortunately, failing to score points. 

Simon Längenfelder: “I enjoyed this track from the first moment. I think I showed everyone that I made some upgrades, it took a lot but I now finally made it. I knew I could do that again after the MXGP of Great Britain in 2022. I am so happy to have shown everyone that I was the fastest today, the training is paying off. We did an amazing job, thanks to all the team my family, and my sponsors.

Jago Geerts: “I didn’t have the best start in the first heat but came back well. In the second race I nearly took the Holeshot but Simon (Längenfelder) was a little bit faster than me so I didn’t take any risk and finished second. I’m looking forward for the next race hopefully keeping it up like that”

Andrea Adamo: “I didn’t’ have my best start today and it was not easy to overtake with riders getting to same good lines along the track. I am still third overall, very good points for the Championship, so let’s keep going on this way!”

Main Photo: Simon Längenfelder

Bottom Photos: 1. Jago Geerts; 2. Andrea Adamo
 

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), 33:57.249; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:08.839; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:10.386; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:12.843; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:15.614; 6. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:16.322; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:32.173; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:46.525; 9. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:50.659; 10. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna), +0:52.389.

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), 35:49.746; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:15.404; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:26.461; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:35.101; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:39.802; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:43.309; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:50.191; 8. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna), +1:03.428; 9. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:08.428; 10. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:13.635.

MX2 - GP Top 10 Classification: 1. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 50 points; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 44 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 36 p.; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 36 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 36 p.; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 27 p.; 8. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 24 p.; 9. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 19 p.

MX2 - World Championship Top 10 Classification 1. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 319 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 271 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 263 p.; 4. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 259 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 247 p.; 6. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 219 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 187 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 173 p.; 9. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 154 p.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 134 p.

MX2 - Manufacturers Classification: 1. Yamaha, 334 points; 2. Husqvarna, 277 p.; 3. KTM, 273 p.; 4. GASGAS, 259 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 176 p.; 6. Honda, 104 p.; 7. Fantic, 18 p.

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

You can find the complete results HERE.

MXGP OF SPAIN QUICK FACTS:

Circuit length: 1650m

Type of ground: Hard Pack

Temperature: 27° 

Weather conditions: Sunny

Weekend Crowd Attendance: 27,828

LINKS
 

Infront Moto Racing

FIM

Intu-Xanadù Arroyomolinos