Herlings celebrates his 100th GP win in Sardinia while Geerts is back to back winner!
And like that, the MXGP of Sardegna is over!
What a sensational weekend it has been in the tough sand of Riola Sardo.
The 3rd edition of the MXGP of Sardegna hold all its promises with an amazing fight for the podium in both MXGP and MX2. In the end it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings who celebrated his 100th win in MXGP in spectacular fashion in front of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff and Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado.
In MX2, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts won a back-to-back GP after his victory in Argentina while Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf clinched the second place of the podium in front of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant.
In the first MXGP race in Sardinia, the FOX Holeshot was taken by Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer after a great start although Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado quickly took the lead. Prado would go on to dominate the race pushing his lead to 10 seconds at time giving him some nice cushion until the end of the race.
Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen who was 8th on lap 1 made a charge early on to see the back Herlings on lap 4. Herlings 4th and Vlaanderen 5th at that time would follow each other until the end. They both capitalised on Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff who was 3rd until lap 9 when he made a mistake to move down behind them to 5th.
Few laps later it was the turn of another Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team rider Jeremy Seewer who was 2nd since lap 1 to crash on lap 11 and move down to 6th until the end. Herlings and Vlaanderen would go on to 2nd and 3rd to keep those places until the end as Herlings managed to keep Vlaanderen attacks unsuccessful.
Coldenhoff down in 5th position on lap 9 found himself just in front of his teammate Maxime Renaux who was 6th since lap 5. With Seewer’s crash on lap 11 the three Monster Energy Yamaha riders stuck together with Coldenhoff 4th, Renaux 5th and Seewer 6th. This didn’t stop Renaux to make a clever move on Coldenhoff over 3 turns. Renaux and Coldenhoff, 4th and 5th respectively would keep this order until the end.
Standing Construct Honda MXGP’s Brian Bogers made a solid race going from 9th on lap 1 to 7th without being overtaken along the way. SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery’s Alberto Forato was another rider oscillating around the 10th place until lap 12, but got to 8th when JM Honda Racing’s Brent Van Doninck 7th at the time made a mistake to lose few places down to 9th. Forato and Van Doninck would settle for 8th and 9th respectively.
Red Bull GASGASG Factory Racing’s Mattia Guadagnini was 9th on lap 1 and moved down just outside the top 10 from lap 10 until the very last lap when passed Romain Febvre (11th in the end) for the 10th position.
MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina winner Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez unfortunately crashed and would not finish the race.
Race 2 was one of the most eventful races so far. While Febvre took the FOX Holeshot, it was Coldenhoff who made a magnificent first lap to get himself in front and would never let the second too close to him.
The second place looked promised to Febvre as he overtook Seewer on lap 2 to keep this position for 14 laps. However Jeffrey Herlings had other plans. The ‘bullet’ made a heroic race. After a bad start, he was 14th after few turns but he was on a mission overtaking nearly everyone in front of him. He quickly found himself 7th behind Prado 6th on lap 3 and finally found an opportunity on lap 9 to overtake Red Plate holder on lap 9.
No one could resist Herlings as lap after lap he overtook Vlaanderen on lap 9 to get 5th, on lap 11 he got the better of Seewer for 4th. This is when things spiced up with 2 laps to go as Herlings closed on Renaux in 3rd and Febvre 2nd.
A three-way battle ensued when in turn the three riders tried to make a charge on the other two with Renaux passing Febvre and Herlings passing Renaux for few turns to see Febvre not giving up easily and took back the 2nd place. All of this in a matter of one lap. Eventually Herlings got the better of the two Frenchmen and even push for the 1st place but it was too late and settled for 2nd.
Renaux got also the better of Febvre at the same time of Herlings and finished 3rd while Febvre ende up 4th.
Vlaanderen made another solid race and was constantly into the top 6 to finally finishing 5th just in front of Prado and Seewer, 6th and 7th respectively. While Prado hovered over the 6th place throughout the race, Seewer was 4th between lap 3 and 11 and after few mistakes moved down the leaderbord to finished 7th.
Van Doninck was similarly to the first race did manage to stay in the top 10 throughout the whole race and got to 8th on lap 3 to ride in this position until the finish line. Forato, stayed also consistent to end up 9th while Standing Construct Honda MXGP’s Pauls Jonass managed to stay in the top 10.
Ruben Fernandez was one rider that didn’t capitalise on his first win in Argentina as the Team HRC’s rider crashed few times and could not get his flow over the weekend, and finished 16th overall.
In the end, Jeffrey Herlings with his showing in race 2 grabbed his first GP win since 2021 reaching his 100th GP win. Glenn Coldenhoff on the second march of the podium with his win on race 2 while Prado maintains his Red Plate with 100 points thanks to his 3rd place on the podium coupled with his RAM Qualifying Race win. Herlings second in the Championship with 93 points while Maxime Renaux is 3rd level with Febvre on 78 points.
Jeffrey Herlings: “I’m very happy with this win! I didn’t have the best starts but I push myself and it was tough because the track was very fast but I was feeling good and I kept pushing. I managed to get up to second in race 2. I want to improve on my starts as well to be even better for the next round”
Glenn Coldenhoff: “Since the moment I went on the new bike I felt so good. The bike is fast and rides well over the whole track. I’m happy with getting the podium after a rough start in Argentina. I felt very good here the whole weekend. The second race went well as I pushed at the start to get in front and then I felt comfortable. 2nd in the GP overall and 1st podium so I’m very happy how it went”
Jorge Prado: “I am happy with this weekend. Winning the RAM Qualifying Race and the first race is really good, and of course I would have liked to win the second race too but I’m very happy to have the Red Plate. Hopefully I will hopefully get a good result in Switzerland.”
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 34:20.164; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:01.706; 3. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:02.831; 4. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:03.784; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:27.257; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:36.901; 7. Brian Bogers (NED, Honda), +0:37.947; 8. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), +0:41.731; 9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Honda), +0:44.403; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GASGAS), +0:45.384;
MXGP- Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), 34:44.339; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:01.965; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:04.293; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:13.048; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:14.860; 6. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:20.500; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:26.569; 8. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Honda), +0:54.079; 9. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), +1:02.813; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Honda), +1:08.066;
MXGP – GP Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 44 points; 2. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 41 p.; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 40 p.; 4. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 38 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 36 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 29 p.; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 28 p.; 8. Brent Van doninck (BEL, HON), 25 p.; 9. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 25 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 20 p.;
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 100 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 93 p.; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 78 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 78 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 75 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 65 p.; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 63 p.; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 57 p.; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 56 p.; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 55 p.
MXGP – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Yamaha, 102 points; 2. GASGAS, 100 p.; 3. KTM, 93 p.; 4. Honda, 82 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 78 p.; 6. Beta, 30 p.;
In MX2, Jago Geerts took the FOX Holeshot and took the lead quickly. The top three riders, Geerts, Laengenfelder and De Wolf took off to increase the gap behind them.
On lap 2 Geerts made a mistake and found himself 3rd as Laengenfelder took the lead in front of De Wolf for 4 laps. However, De Wolf as a sand specialist did manage to take the lead on lap 5 as Laengenfelder made a mistake and he kept it until the end to win the race.
Laegenfelder went down to 3rd after his mistake with Geerts 2nd. But Another mistake on lap 6 from Geerts meant that Laengenfelder could sit 2nd. But Geerts picked up the pace and made a move on lap 11 and kept his advantage until the end with Laengengfelder staying 3rd.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant displayed a solid racing throughout the whole race after turning lap 1 in 6th. He never got overtaken and continuously pushed forward behind Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Liam Everts. They both overtook on lap 7 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo who was 4th. Benistant 5th passed Everts too on lap 11 to finish 4th.
Everts was unfortunate to crash on lap 13 while he was 5th and ended up 9th. Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen also went up the leaderboard after getting to 9th over the first two laps. He made his way up to an encouraging 6th place for the rookie.
Behind him F&H Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo and Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Roan Van de Moosdijk found themselves 7th and 8th respectively on lap 1 and would oscillate to finish the race at the same place.
Finally WZ Racing’s Oriol Oliver kept his 10th position the whole way through.
In Race 2, was actually Oriol Oliver who took the FOX Holeshot, then Jago Geerts made his way to the top on lap 1 passing Kay De wolf and showed great control to keep De Wolf 2nd the whole race too at bay.
Benistant also managed to grab the 3rd spot during the whole race although he had to battle with Lucas Coenen towards the end. However, several mistakes from Coenen meant that Benistant could ride away without much trouble over the last part of the race. Coenen kept his 4th place until the end too.
The 5th place was completely open with Van de Moosdijk, Adamo and Laengenfelder fighting for the spot over the full race. Everts who finished 8th in the end was also involved in that battle until lap 5 when he moved down to 8th and stayed in that place until the end.
Laengenfelder took an option on the 5th place between lap 5 and 13 but it was the determination of Van de Moosdijk that paid off in the end as he put pressure on Laengenfelder who stalled on a turn on lap 14. Van de Moosdijk and Adamo would pass the German to finish 5th and 6th respectively while Laengenfelder had to settle for 7th.
Horgmo had another good race and showed that he can compete in the top 10 as he only had to battle with Oriol over the laps 3 and 4 and kept his 9th place until the end. Oriol ended up 11th after TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team’s Jan Pancar overtook him on lap 10 and kept the 10th position until the end.
Jago Geerts: “It was a good start again and after the first lap I moved up to the lead and De Wolf was pushing me the whole race but I managed to keep my lines the whole race. It is now 2 GP wins now so it I’m happy.”
Kay de Wolf: “We came here to get a podium, and I felt very good. In the first race it was great to get the win. In the second I kept pushing until the end so it was a shame to finish behind Jago as we came for the podium, I am second so overall I am very happy.”
Thibault Benistant: “Today was good even if the riding was not easy on this sand. I tried to follow the guys upfront but they were very quick but I tried to push and in the end I’m satisfied to be on the podium.”
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 34:13.404; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:02.473; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:15.579; 4. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:42.062; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:51.410; 6. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:54.170; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:55.123; 8. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna), +0:58.282; 9. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +1:23.188; 10. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +2:13.058.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), 33:46.970; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:01.314; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:41.473; 4. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:43.781; 5. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna), +0:59.753; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +1:06.498; 7. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +1:10.510; 8. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +1:17.513; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +1:21.210; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), -1 lap(s).
MX2 – GP Top 10 Classification: 1. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 47 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 47 p.; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 38 p.; 4. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 34 p.; 5. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 33 p.; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 31 p.; 7. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 29 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 26 p.; 9. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 25 p.; 10. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 21 p.
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 117 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 87 p.; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 86 p.; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 83 p.; 5. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 79 p.; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 68 p.; 7. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 67 p.; 8. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 61 p.; 9. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 52 p.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 40 p.
MX2 – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Yamaha, 117 points; 2. Husqvarna, 93 p.; 3. KTM, 85 p.; 4. GASGAS, 79 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 68 p.; 6. Honda, 36 p.; 7. Fantic, 12 p.
Text/Bild: Infront