Home to one of the most spectacular venues on the calendar, the fourth round of MXGP that took place at the foot of the saw-toothed Dolomite mountains in Pietramurata, Italy, did not fail to deliver!
Adding a vibrant twist to the already stunning landscape, the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP and MX2 teams rocked up to the Grand Prix decked out in Yamaha's iconic white and pink anniversary livery.
Inspired by the 1993 YZs, the eye-catching design celebrating 50 years of Yamaha's championship-winning YZ brought a burst of energy and camaraderie to the paddock. "Only real men wear pink!" Calvin Vlaanderen smiled. "You look like a Barbie, a really beautiful Barbie, though," his trainer joked. Throughout the weekend, the uplifting effect of the retro livery was undeniable.
Thriving in the loud and energetic atmosphere typical of an Italian Grand Prix, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2's own Italian stallion, Andrea Bonacorsi, took everyone by surprise. "You see! You were thinking I was not fast! But I come, eh? Don't worry, eh! Be happy!" Andrea grinned. While ‘Bona’, the reigning EMX250 Champion and one of MX2's most exciting young rookies, finally showed what he is capable of with an epic third-place finish in Race Two, the biggest relief was for his teammate Thibault Benistant.
As a rider that has been pegged as a title contender, Thibault finally uncorked a bottle of prosecco after putting his YZ250FM on the box! "Finally! I had to wait too long for this one," the French star said. "Actually, I can be happy, because I didn't ride that good today. I was quite tight, so to be on the podium with such s*** riding, was not too bad."
In between the talk of all things Italian, such as pizza, prosecco and ‘dragons of the night’, Calvin Vlaanderen was FAST! "I felt so good this weekend," the South African said, "I was P1 in Free Practice, P3 in Time Practice, but crashed in the qualifying race. I cross-jumped the triple, landed off the track and went down, so I had to come from last to P7, which was actually really good."
Calvin finished sixth after another average start in Race One but bounced back in Race Two with a lively start followed by a hard-fought second-place finish. He missed the podium by a mere 3 points! "Race Two was fun," he said, "I really enjoyed running up front with the guys. At one point, I could see Jeremy (Seewer) coming, so I just focused on putting in two or three good laps, and then I saw I had a 3-second gap on him, so I was super happy with that. I just kept my focus ahead on (Jorge) Prado, to see if I can keep the pace, and we managed that. It was nice!"
The MXGP of Trentino brought together adrenaline-pumping action, colourful team spirit, and a glimpse of how fast the Yamaha boys really are. With its stunning location and some incredible moments, this round has been one for the memory bank.
PIETRAMURATA (Trentino) 14 April 2024 – One of the classic venues of the MXGPWorld Motocross Championships, the incredible Crossodromo “Il Ciclomino” near the town of Arco, hosted the fourth round of the series this weekend in front of a full crowd of exuberant fans from all across Europe! Following Saturday’s dramatic RAM Qualifying Races which saw problems for both red plate holders, the tension was mounting to see if the chasers could continue to cut back the points lead in Sunday’s Grand Prix races.
Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing team leader Jorge Prado had issues on Saturday which left him with zero point from the RAM Qualifying Race. His pursuers smelt blood and struck first as Romain Febvre for the Kawasaki Racing Team and Tim Gajser for Team HRC both overtook the reigning Champ in race one. However, a poor start for the Slovenian and a crash for the Frenchman allowed the Spaniard to win race two, and the overall for the fourth Grand Prix in a row.
In MX2, red plate holder Kay de Wolf took another dominant win in race one for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, but a first corner crash left him out of the overall picture. His chief Championship rival, Simon Laengenfelder, took the second race win from a clear holeshot for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, but it was Liam Everts who took the overall Grand Prix with a solid 3-2 scorecard, the first GP win of the year for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
Even with the 17th gate pick, there was no denying Jorge Prado the amazing start that he is so good at, and he claimed the Fox Holeshot Award for the fifth time this season, just holding off Febvre, as Gajser quickly moved past both Benoit Paturel on the De Baets Yamaha and Valentin Guillod on the Team Ship to Cycle Honda to get to third!
The reigning World Champion looked like he was making his usual swift getaway, but Febvre closed in and pressurised the Spaniard into a mistake which allowed the Frenchman through on lap seven! Gajser was not out of the equation either, and two laps later, in direct sight of the hillside packed with his travelling fans, cut inside the red plate holder in a solid move that Prado had no answer to, sending the noise level up several notches!
Behind the top three, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings took his time to get going and battled through from 9th at the end of the first lap. Passing his countryman Calvin Vlaanderen on the lone Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP machine, and finally Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jeremy Seewer with three laps to go, “The Bullet” finished the race in fourth.
In the closing stages of race one, Gajser reeled in Febvre, sending his supporters wild as he nearly made a move for the lead in the very last corner! Ultimately the Kawasaki man held on to take his first GP race win of the year, while Tim’s second place knocked the points lead down to just six going into race two!
Once again, however, the reigning Champion fired into the lead, making it six Fox Holeshot Awards for the year already, in race two, but Febvre was right with him again! Herlings span sideways and to the floor exiting turn two, and would face a long charge through the pack, ultimately finishing seventh, and sixth overall.
Vlaanderen was in a strong third, and was looking to challenge Febvre, but the Frenchman dropped his lap times to chase down Prado again, nearly passing him after the big uphill triple jump before the Spaniard closed the door! On lap six, he pushed the Kawasaki’s front wheel just too hard into a right hander and it broke away to put him on the ground!
Prado eased away, playing with the track and building his lead to a maximum of five seconds over a rapid Vlaanderen, who closed to two seconds at the flag for his best result yet on the factory Yamaha. Seewer’s third was also his best of the year so far, as Gajser and Febvre could not advance any higher than 4th & 5th respectively, and they would have to settle for the bottom two steps of the podium.
So from the difficult start to the weekend, Prado still comes away with the Grand Prix win, the 42nd of his career and his 11th in the MXGP class. More importantly, no-one else has managed to beat him to the top step all season and he now leads the Championship by 13 points from Gajser, with Febvre a further 32 behind, in third.
Jorge Prado: “Starting from P17 wasn’t easy but I’m a good starter so I had to prove it today. First race I didn’t really have a good flow, I tried but it was sketchy and the guy were riding better than myself and finished in front of me. In the second race, with a little bike adjustment that we made together with the team I felt better and everything clicked. Such a good start in second race with a good battle with Febvre until he fell. Another win and in difficult condition where we had to turn it around so great job guys!”
Romain Febvre: “I was pushing in this second because I felt I was faster. Trying to make some pass was difficult but yeah, I tried my best and also I was careful on that corner but I lost the front and went back to fifth. I was close to Tim (Gajser) sometimes when I tried to catch him but not easy to make a difference. So, a little bit disappointed of course to not win the GP as I won the RAM Qualifying and Race 1 but I’m on the podium and I scored good point over the weekend. Let’s go for the next round!”
Tim Gajser:“It’s okay, I’m happy to be on the podium and I scored good points for the Championship but I definitely wanted more. Second race I didn’t get the fastest start and almost crashed in the first corner and banged bars in the first laps as well but I managed to get back to 4th. It was not an easy race; it was not easy to pass either but anyway happy to be here. Let’s go to Agueda for the next one and I’m looking forward to it. The fans were amazing here today and a huge thank you to all to come here to support me.”
Main Photo: Jorge Prado
Bottom Photos: 1. Romain Febvre and Tim Gajser; 2. Calvin Vlaanderen
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing had taken the RAM Qualifying Race win with Andrea Adamo, but for the fifth time this season it was his teammate Sacha Coenen who fired into the lead from the start, chased by Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rider Thibault Benistant and Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s red plate holder Kay de Wolf!
An aggressive move from De Wolf put him past Benistant, but it took him until lap five to make a move on Sacha, as the young Belgian seems to be building his confidence running at the front. It wasn’t until lap 12 that Benistant got through into second, and the corner after Adamo pushed past saw the Champ argue with the bank and drop to an eventual 8th! Sadly, just as it looked like Sacha would claim a top three finish, he suffered a bike issue which left him unable to finish.
Mikkel Haarup was in a great third for Monster Energy Triumph Racing, but a strange issue slowed him dramatically on the final lap, and he dropped to an eventual 9th, leaving Liam Everts to claim third, just reward for a consistent push through the pack from outside the top ten, with Rick Elzinga a season’s best fourth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, and Camden McLellan salvaging fifth for the Triumph team.
In the end, no-one had an answer to De Wolf who won by 3.7 seconds from Benistant, and as Simon Laengenfelder could only muster 8th place for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, the championship lead stretched to 38 points for the Dutchman! His teammate, Lucas Coenen, rode through the pain of a shoulder injury to finish in 10th position.
Laengenfelder was desperate to make amends in race two, and fired into the lead to claim his first Fox Holeshot Award of the season. To help his cause further, the points leader De Wolf was picking up his bike in turn one, part of a pile-up that also involved Sacha Coenen, Elzinga, and Laengenfelder’s teammate Marc-Antoine Rossi.
The German took a leaf out of his teammate Prado’s book with a blistering display of speed that left his pursuers with no hope of catching, and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rookie Andrea Bonacorsi was a stunning second around the first lap to the delight of his home fans! It took Everts 13 minutes to get past the reigning EMX250 Champion, and the top three stayed the same from there!
De Wolf charged through to an eventual 8th, just one place ahead of his teammate Lucas Coenen, who lost third in the series by a single point to Benistant. Both of the factory Husqvarna men hit the floor in the last ten minutes, but Adamo fared little better, unable to climb any higher than sixth, behind Haarup in fifth.
Benistant’s fourth position left him second overall, his first taste of podium for more than ten months. Bonacorsi scored his first ever top three finish in a GP race, but it was Everts who enjoyed the GP victory for the fourth time in his career, and for the third time with a 3-2 card, and he will be extremely happy to climb to 7th in the table after missing the first round with his thumb injury.
Laengenfelder has closed the gap to 26 points behind De Wolf, and whilst none of the current MX2 line-up has won in Portugal, the Dutchman will draw confidence from his podium there last season as the pack try to chase him down at the next round!
Liam Everts:“I’m lost for words; I really didn’t expect to win it. I wasn’t riding the best in the second race, I felt nervous but now that is done it feels right to get that out of the way and win here in such a special venue.”
Thibault Benistant:“Finally I’m on the box. It took some time but it’s a great feeling. I had some timings on Saturday but I would still like to rider a bit freer. But I’m happy and the positive is that it’s getting better and better every weekend and I’m slowly getting where I want to be.”
Simon Laengenfelder: “The second race was great and I showed what I can do after a good start and I finally got the job done. I was feeling good and making good laps and I thught I had good speed. I was not very happy about the first one but I’m on the podium which is really good.”
Main Photo: Liam Everts
Bottom Photos: 1. Thibault Benistant; 2. Simon Laengenfelder
MX2 - Race 1 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 35:12.455; 2. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:03.750; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:19.196; 4. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:26.799; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:30.335; 6. Marc-Antoine Rossi (FRA, GASGAS), +0:34.627; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:36.018; 8. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:37.011; 9. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:41.553; 10. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +1:15.744
MX2 – Race 2 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), 35:31.370; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:09.983; 3. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:13.617; 4. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:19.384; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:21.955; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:27.684; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:31.888; 8. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:42.907; 9. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:48.663; 10. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:55.359
MX2 Overall - Top 10 Classification: 1. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 42 points; 2. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 40 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 38 p.; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 38 p.; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 30 p.; 6. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 29 p.; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 28 p.; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 26 p.; 10. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 23
MX2 World Championship - Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 213 points; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 187 p.; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 148 p.; 4. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 147 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 139 p.; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 131 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 128 p.; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 126 p.; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 110 p.; 10. Marc-Antoine Rossi (FRA, GAS), 101 p
PIETRAMURATA (Trentino) 13 April 2024 – The sun shone again for MXGP in the beautiful setting of the Garda mountains for round four, the MXGP of Trentino, and in front of the natural hillsides that were already crammed full of fans, the RAM Qualifying Race wins were taken by new riders for this season! Romain Febvre was victorious in MXGP for the Kawasaki Racing Team, with the MX2 battle being won by home favourite Andrea Adamo as he fended off a late charge from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Liam Everts to send the Italian fans home in a very happy mood!
Featuring a beautiful retrospective white, pink, and purple livery for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team this weekend, Calvin Vlaanderen topped the time sheets in Free Practice. His speed would carry into Time Practice where he grabbed third position behind Febvre in 2nd. The Frenchman’s late run brought him to within 0.816 seconds of the lead. However, with a mid-session surge that put him 1.8 seconds clear at the time, JorgePrado once more took the first gate pick for the afternoon race and looked tough to beat for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing.
As with last week, it was a green bike firing into the lead from the gate as Febvre took the holeshot this time, with Prado and Fantic Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff in hot pursuit! Valentin Guillod was up in 4th early on the Ship-to-Cycle Honda but crashed dramatically after being passed by Team HRC’s Tim Gajser! The Slovenian pleased his many fans present by then moving past the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Jeffrey Herlings.
After a fall in last year’s RAM Qualifying Race at this circuit, Prado had further issues in 2024! Losing the seat from his machine over the finish line jump, he had to do a full lap stood on the pegs and lost positions dramatically before pulling into the pits where his technicians did their work quickly!
At around half-distance, Gajser managed to leap over Coldenhoff’s head as the Dutchman couldn’t clear the big uphill triple jump after turn two, but the Fantic man held Herlings back to claim his best finish of the year so far in third.
With Prado losing his seat for a second time on the final lap, after working his way back to 17th position, it means that his championship lead over Gajser is more than halved, from 17 down to just 8 points! Febvre’s win, a repeat of the result here last year, pulls the Frenchman into 3rd ahead of Herlings and now lies 41 behind the Spaniard, who will surely look for redemption in Sunday’s main Grand Prix races – not to be missed!
Romain Febvre: “I felt good with a good start too. It’s so important and what we need because on some track we match the speed. Time practice was really close and I knew I had to get a good start. In the end we made it! I made a good gap and how they say I controlled the race. I’m happy and we mark some good points so let’s go for tomorrow! “
MXGP – RAM Qualifying Race – Top 10 Classification: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), 23:59.700; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:11.938; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:17.103; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:20.379; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:22.054; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Honda), +0:24.532; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:43.021; 8. Cornelius Toendel (NOR, KTM), +0:45.553; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +0:47.230; 10. Ben Watson (GBR, Beta), +0:49.344
MXGP - World Championship - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 174 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 166 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 133 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 132 p.; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 118 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 105 p.; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 94 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 91 p.; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 64 p.; 10. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 63 p
Main Photo: Romain Febvre
Bottom Photo: 1. Tim Gajser; 2. Glenn Coldenhoff
It was that red plate holder again in MX2, the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing machine of Kay de Wolf, who was fastest in Free Practice while his teammate Lucas Coenen struggled to just 12th. However, in Time Practice it was the turn of the series leader to taste some dirt, and he had to straighten out his machine before setting a time good enough for 5th place. A final lap dash for Thibault Benistant put the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team leader into pole position for the RAM Qualifying Race. The Monster Energy Triumph Racing riders, Mikkel Haarup and Camden McLellan, again showed great pace to go 2nd & 4th, with Marc-Antoine Rossi of Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing splitting them in 3rd.
The frantic action continued in the RAM Qualifying Race as the familiar sight of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Sacha Coenen launched into the lead from the start, with his teammate Adamo right on his case! Rick Elzinga pushed past the World Champion briefly on the opening lap, with Everts and Haarup also close behind. Adamo got back through and chased after Sacha, while Lucas Coenen suddenly started touring and pulled into the pits, so far without an obvious explanation.
De Wolf had to work from outside of the top ten and got through to 6th at the flag, but on lap 7 Adamo was able to launch the big triple jump when Sacha Coenen couldn’t, and in the following corner the young Belgian clipped the Italian’s rear wheel and hit the floor! He would eventually recover to finish 8th.
Simon Laengenfelder moved forward for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, passing Haarup in a great cutback move! Then, on the last lap, both riders went past Elzinga, who slipped from third to fifth in the space of two corners! Third for the German, with Haarup fourth, gave him a three-point gain over De Wolf to reduce the gap to 26 points in the chase for the Championship.
Everts showed his best speed so far this year to reel in his teammate in the closing laps, but in the end it was last year’s GP winner and Champion that took his first RAM Qualifying Race win of the season to pass Benistant, who finished 9th after getting stuck on the gate, for 4th in the series. Adamo’s home fans are certainly looking forward to seeing if he can repeat his 2023 victory here tomorrow!
Andrea Adamo: “It was a pretty strange race at the beginning I wasn’t feeling the best but then I went into my rhythm and I thought that it was my time. I passed Sacha as the ones behind were catching up! I’m super happy. The track is not easy to make a difference but I am super happy with my first RAM Qualifying win especially after last weekend and I’m pretty confident for tomorrow!”
MX2 – RAM Qualifying Race – Top 10 Classification: 1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 24:15.482; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:00.470; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:09.245; 4. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:09.697; 5. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:15.397; 6. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:17.791; 7. Marc-Antoine Rossi (FRA, GASGAS), +0:18.454; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:20.584; 9. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:21.137; 10. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:21.338
MX2 - World Championship - Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 175 points; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 149 p.; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 124 p.; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 110 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 108 p.; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 103 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 96 p.; 8. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 86 p.; 9. Marc-Antoine Rossi (FRA, GAS), 84 p.; 10. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 84 p
Main Photo: Andrea Adamo
Bottom Photo: 1. Liam Everts; 2. Simon Laengenfelder
