HERLINGS & DE WOLF CROWNED AS LORDS OF LOMMEL AT THE MXGP OF FLANDERS.
The MXGP of Flanders ran in much hotter conditions than on Saturday, making the arduous Stedelijk Motocrossterrain Lommel circuit even more physically demanding, and it saw a stupendous battle in both Grand Prix classes that had the packed spectator banks in raptures throughout the day’s racing!
Even though it was overcast on Saturday, the circuit was tough enough for the riders in the shorter RAM Qualifying Races, so the full-length GP confrontations held in strong sunshine added even more of a physical challenge, but it was one that the very best relished as they sought to not just survive, but thrive!
The MXGP class was expected to be a battle of the sand masters, between Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s reigning World Champion Jorge Prado and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s record GP winner Jeffrey Herlings. And it certainly delivered that battle! With some incredible riding, Herlings delivered a knockout punch to record a perfect 1-1 day, make a statement about his speed in the soft stuff, and close in further on the World Championship lead!
A similar battle was expected in MX2, but in two highly eventful races that saw most riders fall from their bikes at one point or another, it was Championship leader Kay de Wolf who claimed his sixth GP win of the season for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing and extended his advantage in the World Championship over his teammate Lucas Coenen by some margin!
The psychological warfare between the two men bidding for the “King of Sand” title, Prado and Herlings, continued in morning Warm-up as RAM Qualifying Race winner Prado was only just bested by the Dutchman, although the 0.130 second difference told Jeffrey that Jorge would be right there in the races!
The first MXGP race was, quite simply, incredible. Fans, commentators, even seasoned professionals in the crew and those who have spent a lifetime around the sport were astounded at what they saw.
It looked like Prado was the one putting his marker down at the start of the race, with a scorching pace from a typical Fox Holeshot that nobody could live with. As Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jeremy Seewer and Calvin Vlaanderen for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP put themselves between Prado and Herlings initially, red plate holder Tim Gajser started in sixth for Team HRC and looked a little off the pace, being briefly passed by the Fantic Factory Racing machine of Brian Bogers.
Vlaanderen soon pounced on Seewer, and Herlings went through as well before the end of the first full lap, then “The Bullet” moved into second at the end of lap two. Looking up the track, he had about five seconds to make up, but Prado put the hammer down to extend the distance between him and the Dutchman. On lap four there were ten seconds between each of the leading four riders, as Romain Febvre caught his teammate Seewer, and made a pass that forced the Swiss rider to run wide and allow Gajser through, putting the two ex-Champions into fourth and fifth, where they would stay to the flag.
As if the 15-minute mark was his signal to go, Herlings started to close the gap to Prado, but then disaster struck in front of the packed gallery of fans as he collided with a lapped rider and hit the floor! With Prado still on a good pace, and the gap up to 17 seconds after Herlings remounted, the battle looked like it would never materialise.
What followed was one of the greatest recoveries from adversity in Motocross history, as somehow “The Bullet” started to claw back the lead, putting in the fastest lap of the entire race on lap 12 of 16, taking a five-second chunk out of Prado’s advantage! Carving through lapped riders, he caught the Spaniard less than a lap later, nailed a double-dune section that few had perfected all day, and flew into the lead before anyone could believe what they were seeing!
Barely relenting his speed in the final laps, Herlings himself pulled out a ten-second lead in the last three laps to claim yet another famous victory in his already incredible career.
Behind Prado was a lonely Vlaanderen, who put in another sterling ride for third. Behind Febvre and Gajser was Glenn Coldenhoff, another Dutchman on a great late charge and sixth for Fantic Factory Racing, then Kevin Horgmo backed up Saturday’s good result with seventh for Team Ship to Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz. Vlaanderen’s teammate Andrea Bonacorsi claimed eighth ahead of Bogers and Seewer.
Unfazed by the pace of Herlings towards the end of race one, Prado went for the same tactic again in race two, the one that has served him so well in recent years, taking yet another Fox Holeshot Award, his 14th of the year, and scampering away at the head of the field. Herlings did well to come out of turn two in fourth place behind the Kawasaki men, with Febvre passing Seewer for second into turn three.
After putting a pass on Seewer before the end of the first lap, Herlings had Febvre fall from second place and leave him a clear path to the leader. This time it was a simple eight-second gap that he had to haul in, but with a couple of rare errors from Prado as he struggled to find his line in a right-hand corner, “The Bullet” once more pounced and led from the halfway point onwards.
Behind them, Gajser had moved forward in the first full lap to reach fourth place and benefit from Febvre’s tip-over. The two former Champions fought hard, but the Frenchman, after many attempts, eventually took over third on lap twelve – a move that put him back onto the podium for the first time since his injury in France, and helped out the leading two by taking points away from the red plate holder!
Meanwhile, Vlaanderen was having a nightmare with two crashes that left him in twelfth at the finish, while Seewer held off a late charge from Coldenhoff. The Dutchman had crashed in the RAM Qualifying Race and had to fight from poor starts all day, thoroughly deserving his hard-fought fifth overall, helped by Horgmo running wide in the later laps with a slight throttle issue.
JM Racing Honda’s local man Brent van Doninck took a solid eighth ahead of Bonacorsi and Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing star Mattia Guadagnini.
Out front, Herlings cruised on the last lap but still won by over ten seconds from Prado, executing his game plan of maintaining a solid pace throughout the race and still having enough left to overhaul Prado’s initial burst of speed. It brings “The Bullet” to totals of 106 Grand Prix victories and 202 GP race wins. More importantly for him, it brings him to within 14 points of Prado, and 38 points behind Gajser at the top of the field as they head to the MXGP of Sweden in two weeks’ time. With six rounds to go, any one of the top three could still take the title and they will all give their maximum to have it their way!
Jeffrey Herlings: “I really need to bring my starts. Once I get 1-2 good starts then it’s okay. If we can improve on them that could be great. I think once I can get top start we can always fight for first, second or third and that’s my goal. Still 6 race to go, we came from a long way. Even if I have one DNF, I’m only 36 points behind I believe so we’ll see. For now we’re just go race by race and let’s see where it will bring me””
Jorge Prado: “I mean it’s been a good weekend, yesterday winning the RAM Qualifying, and today twice second. I had a veery good speed all day long but at the end of the race the ‘bullet’ was coming and on such a heavy track I was struggling to keep the same flow the whole race. I did my best to try to beat Jeffrey (Herloings) but he was quicker today and I’m very happy with my second place. Good points for the championship too. Next round ids Sweden so see you guys there!”
Romain Febvre: “I didn’t start well yesterday but we made some changes last night. Then physically I am not where I would like to be because it was always going to be a tough race. Somehow today I felt very good and simply plaedy with the track for 4-3 andto get back on the podium after only two GPs is amazing. I’m very happy.“
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:19.995; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:10.374; 3. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:34.563; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:47.677; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:53.164; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +1:05.943; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +1:12.435; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +1:17.903; 9. Brian Bogers (NED, Fantic), +1:21.842; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +1:23.448
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:30.084; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:10.375; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:21.152; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:34.283; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:42.595; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:43.548; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:58.244; 8. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Honda), +1:14.626; 9. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +1:22.102; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Husqvarna), +1:22.995
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 44 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 38 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 34 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 30 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 29 p.; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 28 p.; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 27 p.; 9. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 25 p.; 10. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), 20 p
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 705 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 681 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 667 p.; 4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 507 p.; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 479 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 419 p.; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 405 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 317 p.; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 274 p.; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 273 p
MXGP – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Honda, 722 points; 2. GASGAS, 681 p.; 3. KTM, 679 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 594 p.; 5. Yamaha, 548 p.; 6. Fantic, 450 p.; 7. Husqvarna, 221 p.; 8. Beta, 149 p
As in MXGP, the second-placed rider from Saturday’s RAM Qualifying Race switched the order around in the Warm-up, as Lucas Coenen out-paced Kay de Wolf by exactly nine-tenths of a second, with Liam Everts also showing good speed in third for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
Nothing could quite prepare us for the wild ride of MX2 at Lommel! Race one began, as many have this year, with a Fox Holeshot Award for Sacha Coenen and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, although his brother Lucas was right with him during the first lap, and Team HRC rookie Ferruccio Zanchi was showing great pace in third! De Wolf took a couple of attempts to get past the young Italian, but with Lucas unable to get past Sacha, the tall Dutchman cruised up to his teammate’s rear wheel and skipped past in a long right-hand corner. On lap two, Lucas made the first of several mistakes on the day, and De Wolf ripped past Sacha with sheer pace through the unending depth of the sand.
Another Dutchman, Rick Elzinga, was riding well for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, but Sacha’s teammate Everts was also on the move. On a frantic lap six, De Wolf fell from the lead, handing it back to Sacha, as Everts slotted past Zanchi for third. However, on the next lap, Everts went down around the same corner that claimed De Wolf, the red plate holder took the lead back, and then Lucas was back up to third behind Zanchi!
It all changed again on lap eight, as Lucas hit the ground for the second time, leaving Elzinga in third ahead of charging Monster Energy Triumph Racing star Camden McLellan! The South African battled through the race with his teammate Mikkel Haarup, and they both benefitted from another crash for Everts and a last lap heartbreaker for the previously rock solid Zanchi! Elzinga had already moved up to second by that point to match his best race result of the year, and McLellan held his teammate back to claim third and fourth for the Triumph team!
Amazingly, Lucas recovered to fifth ahead of Everts and Zanchi at the finish, with the top ten being completed by Simon Laengenfelder, eighth for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, Karlis Reisulis taking ninth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, and Sacha Coenen eventually in tenth.
The diminutive Belgian took his 14th Fox Holeshot Award in race two, making it a clean 50% strike rate for the 2024 season! Yamaha men Reisulis and Elzinga chased after him to begin with, the Dutchman passing the Latvian into the third corner as De Wolf worked past Laengenfelder into fourth!
The series leader appeared to be taking his time, patiently picking off riders to take the lead from Sacha on lap five. Lucas had already fallen and had to come into Pit Lane for fresh goggles. The home favourite had to work through the pack to get into the top ten at the close.
What was looking like an easy race for De Wolf turned out to be anything but, as a crash on lap eight put him back to third briefly, and he had to pass Sacha for the lead again on lap nine! Elzinga followed him through, putting in a great ride to make it a Dutch 1-2. On lap eleven, the chasing duo of Everts and Laengenfelder moved forward into second and third, and they were chasing Elzinga, who had become the first Yamaha rider to lead in MX2 since the injury for Thibault Benistant, as De Wolf misjudged a sand dune to send his bike off the track and himself, in a hole, on it!
Tasting victory in his grasp for the first time since Trentino in April, Laengenfelder nailed a section of the circuit near the spectator banks, and first got past Everts for second, then taking advantage of an issue for Elzinga, who seemed to be nursing a hot motor, swept into the lead on lap 13 of 16! De Wolf wasn’t done yet, however, as he followed Everts past Elzinga, and passed the tiring Belgian with a beautiful, feet-up move around the outside of a huge berm as the two-lap board beckoned!
A first corner crash had limited Zanchi’s race to a twelfth-place finish, leaving him out of podium contention, and Lucas Coenen got up to eighth on the final lap, passing McLellan who took ninth ahead of SB Racing KTM’s Jens Walvoort. Haarup had to settle for seventh, Sacha Coenen sixth, and Reisulis fifth, as Elzinga managed to nurse the bike home for fourth to cement a fine second place overall!
De Wolf had one late charge on Laengenfelder’s lead, but ran off-track with a lap to go to end his charge in second. The German’s third race win of the season was enough to put him onto the third step of the podium, but De Wolf clinched his sixth GP win of the year, the seventh of his career, and extended his lead over Lucas Coenen to a mighty 65 points. Laengenfelder is also back in play for second, lying just 12 points back of the second Husqvarna rider.
With five of the last six rounds due to take place on hard pack, the GASGAS man could still be a force to be reckoned with, and the unpredictable nature of the class means that big points swings are always possible, so the entertainment from MX2 is sure to continue to the very last lap of the season!
For now the teams will rest up with a weekend off before a three-week run of GPs in Sweden, The Netherlands, and Switzerland. Join us in the Nordic North at Uddevalla for the MXGP of Sweden on the 10th & 11th of August!
Kay de Wolf: “I’m extending my championship lead once again so I’m really happy with that. I’m not really happy about that second race but I won the overall for the 6th time so I’m very with that now. It’s so nice to do it for this team. We’re only two minutes away from the workshop here so the whole team is here, so I’m sure they really enjoy this one.
Rick Elzinga: “I honestly could cry from happiness now. You work so hard for this. Mentally it is hard and I had to get over it this season that is why I’m a bit emotional. It was a perfect moment to win but then there was a technical issue somewhere so I had to rode out until the end bring it home in 4th place in the second race. The all team put so much work into it and thank all the people behind me to believe in me.”
Simon Laengenfelder: “I’m really happy after the second race. Unfortunately, we had some difficulties to get the right settings for my bike but finally everything was much better in the second race and I could ride like myself. I showed some good speed and with that race win I’m very happy as I love the sand!”
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 35:52.969; 2. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:04.057; 3. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:07.207; 4. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:12.249; 5. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:13.053; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:16.611; 7. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:23.491; 8. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:26.859; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:42.011; 10. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:45.760
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), 35:33.487; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:07.317; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:19.423; 4. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:31.202; 5. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:35.897; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:44.840; 7. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:53.794; 8. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +1:12.130; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +1:14.644; 10. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), +1:15.744
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 47 points; 2. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 40 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 38 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 35 p.; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 32 p.; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 32 p.; 7. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 29 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 28 p.; 9. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 26 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 23 p
MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 683 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 618 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 606 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 556 p.; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 465 p.; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 457 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 429 p.; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 391 p.; 9. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 255 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 254 p
MX2 – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Husqvarna, 761 points; 2. KTM, 679 p.; 3. GASGAS, 613 p.; 4. Triumph, 500 p.; 5. Yamaha, 490 p.; 6. Honda, 289 p.; 7. Kawasaki, 261 p.; 8. Fantic, 195 p.; 9. TM, 39 p
Text/Bild: Infront