MX2

SHANGHAI (China) – Due to an impending Typhoon forecasted to affect the region around Shanghai on Monday, the Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China in Shanghai have announced a change in the race schedule to ensure the safety of all participants, staff and spectators.

To avoid the severe weather conditions, the main racing day, originally planned for Monday, will be moved to Sunday. The time table will be adapted accordingly to accommodate this new schedule.

As a result of this adjustment, the RAM Qualifying Race has been cancelled. Instead, the Time Practice session on Sunday morning will now determine the gate pick for the main races.

Please find the revised schedule HERE.

For further updates and detailed information on, please visit MXGP-TV.com or follow our official social media channels.

LINKS

Infront Moto Racing

FIM

Shanghai
 

SHANGHAI (China) 12 September 2024 – The penultimate round of the 2024 FIM Motocross World Championships will take place this Sunday and Monday at the most eastern point of the series, the Magic City of Shanghai for The Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China!

The Shanghai International Off-Road Circuit is the venue for only the second MXGP event ever to be held in the country, within a city that is the third most populous in the world behind only Tokyo and Delhi.  The track is in the Fengxian district just three kilometres north of Hangzhou Bay, the gateway to the East China Sea that leads to the Pacific Ocean.

The World Championships return to China for the first time since a hot and humid event in 2019, when it was the final round of the series and both MXGP and MX2 had already seen its Champions crowned.  The situation is a very different one five years later!

There are still three riders with a chance of the MXGP world title, although Jeffrey Herlings, winner of the 2019 event here for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, now has a 53-point mountain to climb and needs misfortune for his rivals.  Team HRC’s Tim Gajser holds a 14-point advantage over reigning World Champion Jorge Prado, and the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing rider, who won the MX2 class in the 2019 Chinese race, comes in hot after winning the MXGP of Türkiye. Momentum has counted for very little this series, however, as nobody has won consecutive GPs since Prado won the first four rounds of the year!

The MX2 class has seen an internal team battle all season long between Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing riders Kay de Wolf and Lucas Coenen. Although Dutch flyer De Wolf has held the red plate since winning the opening GP, the pair have each won seven rounds this season, and Belgian Coenen, whose twin brother Sacha has also won two GPs but is absent from China through injury, narrowed the points gap to 44 after a dominant victory at Afyon.

Both classes have plenty of excitement in store for us at the vital penultimate round of what has been an incredible season of World Championship Motocross racing!

The Championship battle at the top of MXGP has continued to swing between the big three at the top of the standings, leaving the question of who will win the 14^th World Championship between them still very much open to question! Since Pauls Jonass won the fifth round of the series in the Portuguese mud, the title contenders had won four GPs each until Prado added a fifth in Türkiye, and none of them have won back-to-back GPs in that time.

The Slovenian points leader was already World Champion for the third time before the 2019 event in China and was just edged off the podium with 3-4 finishes.  With a two-day maximum, Gajser would be Champion if Prado scored less than 14 points over the weekend and Herlings was anything less than second each time.

For his own part, Prado might have noticed that if he wins every single race left in the calendar, including the RAM Qualifying Races, then he will be Champion at the final round even if Gajser finishes second to him in all six of those races! Those results would lead to a tie-break situation which would go in the Spaniard’s favour if that were the case! The #1 plate holder was also already Champion in 2019 before arriving at Shanghai, but he still won both races in MX2 that day to further cement his dominant second world title.

Herlings’ first race crash at Afyon, and painful recovery to tenth, made an already difficult task of catching Gajser look almost impossible. The all-time GP win record holder, who turns 30 years old on the Thursday before China, won his 86^th GP in 2019 with a 2-1 scoreline to set up a strong finish to an injury-affected season.

He would of course go on to be part of his country’s first ever Monster Energy Motocross of Nations winning team that year, and his usual Team Netherlands partner in crime also shared the top positions in China back in 2019, as Glenn Coldenhoff won the Qualifying Race and the first GP race, only losing the overall on the second race tie-break. The Fantic Factory Racing rider lies seventh in the 2024 standings, five points behind the injured Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP pilot Calvin Vlaanderen.

Jeremy Seewer became the fifth rider to win an individual race in Türkiye and sits fourth in the Championship ahead of his Kawasaki Racing Team stable-mate Romain Febvre. Seewer completed the podium here in 2019 with 4-3 finishes, confirmed as 2^nd in points that year, ahead of Coldenhoff.

Four other riders are making a return to China after also competing in 2019.  Maxime Renaux, currently of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP and enjoying a strong return from injury, was sixth in MX2, while Alberto Forato, now with Standing Construct Honda, was tenth in the same class. Just behind him was current Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing star Mattia Guadagnini. Also eleventh overall, but in MXGP, was today’s Fantic Factory Racing rider Brian Bogers.

The MXGP class will be joined by Australian riders Todd Waters, who previously raced in MXGP and reached ninth in the series in 2015. He lines up in China for the Raceline Husqvarna Racing Team, while Kirk Gibbs, twice member of the Australian MXoN team, will ride for the GASGAS Racing Team, also making the slightly shorter journey than the European riders have.

It will be a fascinating confrontation in MXGP, with many riders capable of getting amongst the top three in the series and bringing a brilliantly chaotic finish to this classic season!

MXGP - World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 910 Points;   2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 896 Points; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 857 Pts; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 632 Pts; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 556 Points; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 550 Pts; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 545 Pts; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 403 Pts; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 344 Pts; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, FAN), 306 Pts.
 

Main Photo: Start MXGP Shanghai 2019

Bottom Photos: 1. Jorge PRado ; 2. Tim Gajser

The battle at the top of MX2 is more of a two-man fight than in MXGP, but these two have won each of the last eight rounds between them, and four each, in an almighty tussle between teammates that is a treat to watch, especially when it comes to a last-lap duel as it did in Türkiye!

The biggest difference is that old saying, “you win on your bad days”. The non-winning GPs for De Wolf in those last eight rounds have been two seconds and two fifth places overall. In contrast, Coenen has been twice third, but also twice seventh in his off weekends.

That said, the Belgian has won 14 individual races to De Wolf’s 11, so a points tie would favour him. He just has a 44-point deficit to claw back first, and for sure will push all the way to get there!  If the Dutchman gains 17 points on his teammate in China though, then he will be crowned World Champion a round early! 

Of course, it’s not just about those two when it comes to the races. Third in the Championship for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing is Simon Laengenfelder, who has taken four race wins this season but still not climbed the top step of the podium. He is certainly desperate to do so.

Liam Everts won the RAM Qualifying Race in Türkiye for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and will want a third GP win of the season to cement fourth in the series.  Just behind him, Mikkel Haarup has shown some amazing speed for Monster Energy Triumph Racing but has been unable to convert that into his first race or GP win that would add a brilliant shine to the team’s debut season.

Reigning MX2 World Champion Andrea Adamo is another one who has a had a frustrating year for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, but with two hard-pack circuits to come he will be a contender for victory, especially in the heat that we’re expecting in China.

The three-pronged attack from Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, of Rick Elzinga, Thibault Benistant, and hot rookie Karlis Reisulis, have all been starting well and could also be a factor in the deliciously unpredictable maelstrom of MX2!

MX2 - World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 873 Points; 2.  Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 829 Pts;  3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 774 Points;  4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 727 Pts; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 624 Pts; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 601 Pts;  7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 539 Pts; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 456 Pts; 9. Camden McLellan (RSA, TRI), 368 Pts; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 338 Pts.

Top Photo: Start MX2 Shanghai 2019

Bottom Photos: 1. Lucas Coenen ; 2. Thibault Benistant
 

Don’t miss your chance to watch The Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China this weekend. Get your tickets HERE!

All the photos from The Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China will be available HERE.

You can find the complete results HERE.

TIMETABLE 

SUNDAY: 9:15 MX2 Start Practice, 9:45 MXGP Start Practice, 10:45 MX2 Free Practice, 11:15 MXGP Free Practice, 13:20 MX2 Time Practice, 14:00 MXGP Time Practice, 15:25 MX2 RAM Qualifying Race, 16:10 MXGP RAM Qualifying Race.

MONDAY: 10:00 MX2 Warm-up, 10:20 MXGP Warm-up, 12:15 MX2 Race 1, 13:15 MXGP Race 1, 15:10 MX2 Race 2, 16:10 MXGP Race 2.

LINKS

Infront Moto Racing

FIM

Shanghai
 

Get ready for an exhilarating deep dive into the latest episode of Behind the Gate - Numbers Game on MXGP-TV.com!

Behind the Gate EP.17 | Numbers Game is all about the MXGP of Switzerland Presented by iXS that took place in Frauenfeld.

The episode features an exclusive in depth analysis with the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 trio: Rick Elzinga, who is getting more and more consistent race by race, Karlis Reisulis, the rookie who is impressing everybody, and Thibault Benistant, in his first race back from the injuries he sustained in France;

The episode also features an interview with Tim Gajser, 5 times World Champion and MXGP Red Plate holder who is fighting to win his 6th World Title!

Last but not least the episode features an emotional focus on the MXGP of Turkiye with the WMX World Title being won by rising Dutch star Lotte Van Drunen, 17 years old and already realising her life’s ambition at Afyon!

The episode also features full race and rider analysis throughout, with Paul Malin, MXGP Commentator, Lisa Leyland, MXGP Presenter, and Ben Rumbold, MXGP Journalist;

Join us as we continue to follow these incredible athletes on their journey to greatness. Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes action and exclusive insights on MXGP-TV.com

MONACO (Principailty of Monaco) 10 September 2024 – The 19th round of the 2024 FIM Motocross World Championship arrives in Shanghai for The Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China.

Checkout the Timetable and Entry Lists for The Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China below:

TIMETABLE

MXGP ENTRY LIST

MX2 ENTRY LIST

There is no doubt which team has been owning the 2024 MX2 championship and that team is the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing team. With two rounds remaining in the MX2 championship, set for next weekend in China and then the final round in Spain, their two riders, Kay de Wolf and Lucas Coenen sit first and second in the championship points and are in complete control of who will be crowned World MX2 champion either next weekend, or in the final round in Spain.

With de Wolf leading the championship, with 873 points and Coenen some 44 points back on 829 points, this coming weekend in China will be a very important round for both riders. De Wolf can make sure it is nearly impossible for Coenen to catch him and Coenen can try and close that 44 points to even less and keep his slim chances still alive.

Last weekend in Turkiye, de Wolf went 4-2 and while it wasn’t a horrible day, he still lost valuable points and the pressure continues to rise as he tries to be the first Dutch World Champion (outside Jeffrey Herlings), since Pedro Tragter in 1993. The toughest moment for the Dutchman was in the Saturday qualification race when he was taken out by Simon Langenfelder and finished back in ninth, which cost him a handful of points.

"It was a challenging weekend in some respects. I felt great in qualifying, but something happened that I shouldn't have. Today was tough, especially this morning. In the first race, the track was really slippery, making passing difficult. However, I turned things around in the second race. It was a good step forward for the overall picture. Now we head to China, ready to fight for another win."

As for Coenen he went 1-1 in Turkiye and his 50 points for the Sunday went a long way with his confidence growing and a belief that it is possible to be the first Belgian World Champion (in MXGP or MX2), since Steve Ramon in 2007.

"It was a strong comeback after struggling in Switzerland. I made fewer mistakes here in Turkey. The first race was slower to start, as I followed Simon Längenfelder’s lines, learning where to gain speed and make passes. In the second race, I was behind Kay, and even though the track was tough to pass on, I went for it and took P1! I'm thrilled with the result, and with two rounds left, I’m excited to keep pushing for more fun and good results."

So now, de Wolf with the red plate, Coenen with the momentum, both these Nestaan Husqvarna factory riders will feel the pressure when we return to Asia for what is going to be a huge celebration of the sport. China was kind to us in 2019, the last time we visited and there is no doubt that whatever happens, we can expect a sensational MXGP of China. Will we also celebrate a brand-new MX2 World Champion next weekend? That is the question..

Photo Credit: Fullspectrum

AFYON (Türkiye) 08 September 2024 – The hot sun continued to beat down on the Afyon Motor Sports Center as the MXGP of Türkiye hosted the crucial 18th round of the MXGP World Motocross Championships.  The track crews worked feverishly to keep the track in the best possible condition, as a brisk wind conspired with the heat to dry the dirt and bake it hard.

The ongoing battle for the MXGP World Championship took another turn as Jorge Prado claimed the overall win, the 47th of his career, for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, reducing the points lead of Team HRC’s Tim Gajser to just 14 points!

After a disaster at the previous round, Lucas Coenen got back to winning ways for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, as a near-perfect weekend helped him to close in on his teammate Kay de Wolf and keep his Championship hopes alive!

In the morning Warm-Up it was Prado who set the fastest time, with Andrea Bonacorsi a surprise second for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, ahead of Gajser and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing talisman Jeffrey Herlings.

The first race started explosively as Romain Febvre tangled with Herlings and Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez just out of the gate, tipping the Kawasaki Racing Team man upside-down just metres into the race!  However, his teammate Jeremy Seewer rocketed across the Fox Holeshot line to claim his fifth award of the season, and a vital lead ahead of Gajser and Fernandez, as Maxime Renaux fought his way up to fourth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, and Prado also had work to do!

Renaux moved forward impressively past Fernandez, then Gajser saved a big mistake in a banked corner which let the Frenchman past into second!  Prado had moved up to fourth at this point and began pressing his Championship rival, but the third rider in the Championship suffered what could be a vital blow to his title hopes.  That was Herlings, who had recovered to fifth after his tangle with Febvre but crashed all on his own at the end of the pit lane straight, being burnt by his own exhaust pipe in the process!  The Dutchman looked to be in immediate pain and could only recover to tenth.

Seewer, sensing that none of the big three were close to attacking him, started to streak away at the front of the field, while Prado made a solid inside pass on Gajser to take third!  He looked a dead cert to quickly blitz past Renaux, but the Yamaha man was having none of it! Gajser kept a watching brief in fourth as his teammate Fernandez was passed by Bonacorsi, putting in one of the best rides of his rookie season to finish fifth at the track where he clinched the EMX250 title last year!

Glenn Coldenhoff, riding in pain for Fantic Factory Racing after a big crash on Saturday, was riding well in seventh, keeping back the recovering Febvre, who passed Alberto Forato of the Standing Construct Honda team on lap nine.  Fernandez frustratingly crashed at the start of the final lap, dropping from sixth to ninth, the last rider not to be caught by Herlings. His crash lifted Coldenhoff to a hard-earned sixth, Febvre seventh, and Forato eighth. 

Try as he might, Prado could not get past Renaux, and even came under pressure from Gajser in the closing laps until the Slovenian stalled just before the two-lap board came out.  The Spaniard finished third but was obviously not happy as he remonstrated to his pit crew after the chequered flag!

Renaux’s second place was his best since the second race at this track last year, but Seewer cruised to take his first race win for the Kawasaki Racing Team by over four seconds at the flag.

A frustrated Prado had suffered with goggle problems from being behind Renaux for so long in race one, so there was only one thing for it in race two – a trademark Jorge Prado Fox Holeshot! It was his fifteenth of the season and he now cannot be caught for the overall trophy in that competition this year.  However, Gajser, Febvre and Herlings were right on his tail, with “The Bullet” working quickly past the Frenchman to make his charge on the leading pair!

Race two was a classic case of four of the best riders in the world pushing to the absolute limit, the Acerbis Fastest Lap Award passing between them several times before Prado put in the best of all on lap twelve.  That was timed to counter an attack from Gajser, who in turn had just managed to shake off the attentions of Herlings. The Slovenian hit neutral in a corner just as he was on the back wheel of the defending World Champion, and that was enough to halt his charge forward.

Most of the passing was being done further behind them. Bonacorsi, looking to match his fifth from race one, started in that position but the chasing pack of Coldenhoff, Seewer, and Forato caught him towards the final third of the race.  Coldenhoff was able to move up to fifth, holding off an attack from Seewer, who had charged from outside of the top ten on the opening lap to salvage an overall podium finish.

Forato managed to get around Bonacorsi in a close battle to be top Italian in the race, which the Honda man won to finish seventh. Behind them, Jan Pancar completed an excellent weekend for TEM JP253 KTM Racing in ninth, with Mattia Guadagnini taking tenth for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing. 

Ultimately, no-one could catch Prado, who brought the GASGAS home for the second race win and the overall GP trophy.  Gajser limited the damage by holding off Herlings for second, as the top three finished within four and a half seconds of each other, and Febvre stayed in a solid fourth, which was to be his position in the GP as well. 

Renaux’s eleventh from a terrible start was enough to salvage fifth overall ahead of Herlings, Coldenhoff, Bonacorsi, and Forato, while Fernandez just did enough for tenth overall.

Herlings now sits 53 points off the top, meaning that he really needs a lot of luck to fall his way to be Champion this year. The gap between red plate holder Gajser and Prado is now 14 points, meaning that if the Spaniard wins every race left in the final two rounds, then he will be Champion again no matter what. However, Motocross is rarely so simple!

Jorge Prado: “It was a perfect second race, even though I made a little mistake, I could, let's say, regain the position and super happy. We gained points and that's the goal right now. Onto the next, last two rounds of the season. Last push and we'll see how it ends. Thanks guys.

Tim Gajser: “It was a solid day again. Finishing on the podium, that's our goal. Collecting good points for the championship. Definitely I felt that a bit better in that second race. First one, I was just struggling with the lines. My line choices were not correct and then yeah two riders passed me and it was not easy to pass. I was always there waiting for mistakes but Jorge was riding a perfect race. My speed was good so I have to be happy. Let's see with two to go. I want to say a huge thank you to all my team, everybody around me. "

Jeremy Seewer: “Two different races, but I will take that race win above anything else. I mean, I still wanted to do a top three in race two, but start is everything here, and I got squeezed after the gate and then I had to make my way back. I almost passed Glen (Coldenhoff) in the end for P2 overall, but yeah, I take that, especially after that season. I've been working hard. I didn't give up. I never quit, and it paid off today so super happy with that, and now two to go”

Main Photo: Jorge Prado

Bottom Photos: 1. Tim Gajser; 2 Jeremy Seewer

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 1 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), 35:47.816; 2. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:04.345; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:06.639; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:08.155; 5. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:29.523; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:36.913; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:38.009; 8. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +0:39.203; 9. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:49.743; 10. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:54.203;

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 2 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 34:53.539; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:02.565; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:04.245; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:47.236; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:49.529; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:50.845; 7. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +1:03.153; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +1:09.983; 9. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:10.906; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Husqvarna), +1:12.712

MXGP Overall - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 45 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 40 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 40 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 32 p.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 32 p.; 6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 31 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 31 p.; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 29 p.; 9. Alberto Forato (ITA, HON), 27 p.; 10. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 21 p

MXGP - World Championship - Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 910 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 896 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 857 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 632 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 566 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 550 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 545 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 403 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 344 p.; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, FAN), 306 p

MXGP - Manufacturers Classification: 1. Honda, 927 points; 2. GASGAS, 896 p.; 3. KTM, 869 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 773 p.; 5. Yamaha, 688 p.; 6. Fantic, 587 p.; 7. Husqvarna, 294 p.; 8. Beta, 164 p.; 9. Ducati, 10 p

With Lucas Coenen setting the fastest time in morning Warm-Up for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, Ferruccio Zanchi was a good second in the session, and the Italian who celebrated his 18th birthday on Friday took those good vibes to claim his first career GP Fox Holeshot Award in race one for Team HRC!

However, his lead was short-lived as Simon Laengenfelder found amazing drive into the second corner to take the lead for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, with Coenen hot on his heels.  Fastest man in Saturday’s Practice sessions, Mikkel Haarup, got up into third for Monster Energy Triumph Racing, but coming out of the fourth corner he hit the ground! Zanchi could not miss him and also went down, as did Haarup’s teammate Camden McLellan, but it was Championship leader Kay de Wolf who had a lucky escape, having to run off the track but staying upright to charge again towards the front!

Meanwhile, De Wolf’s teammate and Championship rival Coenen fired past Laengenfelder and tried to build a lead from there. RAM Qualifying Race winner Liam Everts was initially third for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, with the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 pairing of Thibault Benistant and Karlis Reisulis chasing him. Everts slid to the ground in the first corner at the start of lap three however, allowing the Yamaha riders to pass him!

Quentin Prugnieres was showing good speed for F & H Racing, and he put an aggressive pass on Everts to get into fifth! He then mounted the most impressive charge we’ve seen from him in MX2, passing both Yamaha riders in successive laps to get up to third!  Everts came through with him, however, and suddenly powered past the Frenchman from Réunion Island to take back third at the halfway point of the race, the end of lap eight.

By this time De Wolf had charged up to fifth, bringing Everts’ teammate, a slow-starting Andrea Adamo with him, as Benistant crashed down the order.  His teammate Rick Elzinga was rising into the top ten, but had to deal with the Triumph pairing of Haarup and McLellan, who were fighting back from their first lap crash, as well as fighting each other for much of the race!

At the front, Laengenfelder had surprised Coenen by passing him for the lead on lap seven, but the Belgian was far from done.  Prugnieres fell just after being passed by Everts and dropped to an eventual tenth place finish. Elzinga passed Reisulis to put the two Yamaha men eighth and ninth, behind the Triumphs of Haarup and McLellan, who got back to sixth and seventh respectively.

Everts, De Wolf, and Adamo held station to bring home third to fifth positions, but Coenen had a sting in the tail for Laengenfelder, as the pair swapped places several times! The Belgian made the decisive move with two laps to go to take his 13th race win of the season and close the gap in the Championship to 47 points between the teammates!

Those two teammates knew that the chips were down, and the pair battled for the Fox Holeshot Award at the start of race two!  The Belgian won that, only his second of the season, but De Wolf grabbed the advantage into the second corner, and it looked set to be a duel between the Championship rivals!

However, a French fly got in the mix, as Prugnieres again showed audacity by passing several riders, including Coenen with a stunning move to take second by the end of the first full lap! His pit board gave the instruction that he was already adhering to – “No Respect” for his more experienced competition!  He held fast as Coenen twice tried to pass on the corner leading onto the start straight, but finally the Husqvarna man got through on lap six, quickly followed by Haarup. 

Everts was the next rider along two laps later, and with a slightly aggressive move took fourth from the rookie.  The retaliatory move in the next corner ended with Quentin being thrown from his bike, miraculously landing on his feet! He would eventually finish thirteenth, a scant reward for his early speed.

Laengenfelder had been pushed down the field on the opening lap and had to work back to fourth with a move on Everts through the waves.  Behind them, Elzinga finished sixth ahead of Reisulis, with McLellan taking eighth, as he would do in the overall.  Adamo had suffered another terrible start but made a last lap move on Zanchi to claim ninth, and seventh overall, with his countryman finishing tenth in the race.

In the overall GP it was Benistant who claimed tenth with two eleventh places, behind Reisulis in ninth. The other Yamaha of Elzinga claimed sixth overall behind Haarup, and Laengenfelder’s pass on Everts was good enough to take the final step of the podium away from the Belgian.

After getting past Prugnieres, Coenen set about the near four-second gap to De Wolf and reeled his teammate in as his pit board read “Showtime” on lap eleven!  The red plate holder held on grimly to the lead, but finally with huge speed on the inside of the split-lane section, it was Lucas who took the advantage on the very last lap of the weekend! Kay spun sideways in a corner trying to take it back, and the race was done!

An ecstatic Lucas Coenen took his eighth career GP win, and seventh of the season, matching his teammate in both departments as they took a 1-2 on the overall podium. The gap between them is still a significant 44 points, but the chances of De Wolf wrapping up the title in China now look slim, and in the MX2 class anything is possible!

In both classes the fight is still very much on, and the paddock packs the flight cases to head to Shanghai for the penultimate round, The Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China next weekend!   Make sure you don’t miss the final movements in the nail-biting 2024 MXGP World Motocross Championships!

Lucas Coenen: “It was a good bounce back from Switzerland where I struggled a lot and made some mistakes. But today first race I almost did the same as second race, following the lines of Simon (Laengenfelder) and then Kay (de Wolf) in the second race, a bit later in the race but it worked well for me. Track was tough so I had to make my move and let’s sent it. I made my way up to P1 in the last lap, so that's amazing to pass like that, Now we have still two rounds to go. We'll have fun and we'll go back to work.”

Kay de Wolf: “it was a difficult weekend. I felt actually really good in RAM Qualifying and then something happened that could have been avoided. But yeah, today was a new day and I struggled a lot this morning in the first race as well. To pass, the track was really slippery in the beginning I turned it around amazingly and a good one for the big picture and I'm happy with it so yeah I'll take it all in and go on to China now.”

Simon Laengenfelder: “I was feeling good. The track was really different from yesterday, but I enjoyed riding it. It was really difficult to pass, so second race was tough to get in that fourth position, and even to stay there when you're sandwiched between two riders. But we made it happen, third overall, so we're going to go to China happy!”

Main Photo: Lucas Coenen

Bottom Photos: 1. Kay de Wolf; 2. Simon Laengenfelder

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 1 - Top 10 Classification:  1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 34:49.525; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:05.288; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:42.197; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:52.862; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:55.253; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:55.458; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +1:00.815; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:07.687; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:11.514; 10. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:16.808;

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 34:23.346; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:03.990; 3. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:10.281; 4. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:11.457; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:11.835; 6. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:25.495; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:26.490; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:27.617; 9. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:43.661; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:44.817;

MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1 . Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 50 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 40 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 40 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 35 p.; 6. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 28 p.; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 28 p.; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 27 p.; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 26 p.; 10. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 20 p

MX2 - World Championship Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 873 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 829 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 774 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 727 p.; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 624 p.; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 601 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 539 p.; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 456 p.; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 368 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 338 p

MX2 - Manufacturers Classification: 1. Husqvarna, 995 points; 2. KTM, 866 p.; 3. GASGAS, 781 p.; 4. Triumph, 670 p.; 5. Yamaha, 632 p.; 6. Honda, 373 p.; 7. Kawasaki, 337 p.; 8. Fantic, 251 p.; 9. TM, 60 p

WATCH MXGP OF TURKIYE HIGHLIGHTS (MXGP/MX2)

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

You can find the complete results HERE.

MXGP OF TURKIYE QUICK FACTS:

Crow Attendance: 31,500

Circuit length: 1800m

Type of ground: Hard Pack

Temperature: 30°

Weather conditions: Sunny

LINKS

Infront Moto Racing

FIM

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