PRADO AND L.COENEN EMERGE AS KINGS OF THE MXGP OF SWEDEN!
Under beautiful Scandinavian sunshine, the MXGP of Sweden provided some incredible action at the Glimminge Motorstadion circuit near Uddevalla, as a constantly drying track provided a totally different challenge than the previous GP, as well as the one to come!
With temperatures unusually high for the northernmost MXGP event of the season, the event was to be a test of mental fitness and concentration on the hard-packed, loose surface, and fans from all over Scandinavia and Europe created a stunning atmosphere as the smoke flares and the noise machines cranked up around the rocky valley! A special mention has to go to home hero Isak Gifting, who wore a toy Viking helmet over his race one, as well as a Swedish flag cape, for the sighting lap of each race on his JK Racing Yamaha, provoking a wonderful response from the crowd that obviously inspired him for when the gate dropped!
The MXGP class delivered amazing racing again, and it was the turn of Jorge Prado to show his overtaking prowess as he took a double victory for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing to further close the gap at the top of the Championship between himself and Team HRC’s Tim Gajser.
The momentum in the MX2 World Championship shifted again, as Lucas Coenen delivered an imperious performance for a 1-1 scorecard for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, withhisChampionship leading teammate Kay de Wolf missing the podium to make that points gap smaller as well!
After Saturday’s RAM Qualifying Race proved that the start would be vital on a tough hard-pack circuit, none of the Championship contenders were in the top three as the riders charged into the opening few corners! Instead, although Romain Febvre grabbed the Fox Holeshot Award for Kawasaki Racing Team, it was that home hero Isak Giftingwho took the lead as they headed into turn two! The noise from the Swedish fans was deafening as Isak enjoyed a glorious few laps at the front of the pack!
Jeremy Seewer, winner of the last two GPs at this circuit, had pushed past his teammate Febvre to run second, but Gifting was on a mission to keep the lead for as long as possible! Meanwhile, RAM Qualifying Race winner Gajserhad clashed with Jeffrey Herlings inthe second corner, forcing the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing man wide! Just as on Saturday, “The Bullet” would have to fight through the pack to limit the damage to his Championship challenge, although Pradohad not helped his cause with an uncharacteristically average start, battling his way to fifth before the end of the first full lap.
It took until lap four for Seewer to finally demote Gifting from the lead of the race, and the next couple of laps saw Gajser, Prado, and Febvre also move past the Swede. Prado pulled a nice move into the corner at the end of the Pit Lane straight, and was in prime position when Gajser had to make a forceful move on Seewer to take the lead! Following the Slovenian past the Swiss, the reigning Champ advanced on the red plate holder, and suddenly pulled the same pass as he had on Gifting to take the lead from the surprised Gajser at the end of lap 13!
Herlings was making a slow recovery at this time, having passed Gifting for sixth on lap eight, but it took him another seven laps before he could get around Calvin Vlaanderen, the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider who had fallen in front of him on Saturday. “The Bullet” made a late run at Seewer for fourth, but stalled on the final lap and had to settle for fifth ahead of Vlaanderen, with Gifting a very popular seventh!
Gajser continued to press Prado for the lead but could not prevent the Spaniard from taking his 13th GP race win of the season, with the GASGAS man celebrating the fact that he won by passing several riders, which is not his normal method!
In race two, it was back to his usual tactics. Beaten to the Fox Holeshot Award by a tyre’s width to Fantic Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff, the reigning Champ was instantly in control, although again the crowd bellowed their support for Gifting, who was in second by turn two, although the time up front was to be much more short-lived for the Swede.
Herlings eased passed Gifting on the run down to the fourth corner after the start, and looked like he was setting up to chase Prado down again. Gajser had to go with his Championship rivals and was also past the Swede early on, but then after a pitched battle with Schmicker Racing KTM’s Cornelius Toendel, Isak held on to fourth all the way to lap twelve, when finally the pressure of the factory riders took its toll.
Vlaanderen, Febvre, and Coldenhoff all went past the JK Racing man on lap twelve, and the Swede would eventually claim tenth place to secure eighth overall. Febvre quickly snatched fourth from Vlaanderen in that Pit Lane corner, and the top six would stay that way until the chequered flag, with Team Ship to Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR teamsters Kevin Horgmo and Valentin Guillod finishing seventh and ninth, sandwiching a disappointed Seewer. Jan Pancar finished eleventh in the race to secure tenth overall for the TEM JP253 KTM team.
Herlings couldn’t make any inroads into Prado’s lead, with a late charge curtailed by a near crash that bruised his hand, and his second place secured a podium finish behind Gajser and Prado, who was over 14 seconds clear as he began celebrating his first ever GP win in Sweden!
They return to Herlings’ home sand next weekend at Arnhem, with Prado now 17 points behind Gajser in the standings, while “The Bullet” faces a 48-point deficit to the Slovenian with five Grands Prix remaining. Anything is still possible, and the fight is very much still on!
Jorge Prado: “It was a great weekend for me. I knew I had to be right on my 100% to get overall here, and that’s what I did. I made it tough for myself in that first race with a very bad start, but the second race I managed to get out of the gate in a good way and break hard into the first corner, then had good opening laps and managing the race. Track was very tough, we were riding on a good pace so super happy. Let’s move on to the sand and hopefully get another win over there”
Tim Gajser: “I mean, I felt solid today, you know. I had a good first race, but there was just one mistake that I made and I just left the door so open when Jorge (Prado) passed me. That was my mistake, but anyway, the pace was good. The second race was sketchy, also the lappers, you know, like a couple of times I had to slow down. But anyway, you know, a solid weekend, good points for the championship and I’m really looking forward to the next one!”
Jeffrey Herlings: “I think I’m okay on the last lap, just a table top before the waves, I came out of the turn, there was a lot of big kickers in there and I was with my hand between the handlebars so it’s quite swollen out. But race-wise it was OK, I had a lot of bad luck with Calvin (Vlaanderen) crashing in the RAM Qualifying heat right in front of me and nowhere to go. First race had a really good start and got pushed out of the track and again I lost many positions so definitely the luck wasn’t on my side. But the second race, the speed was good and I come out with another podium but for the championship it was not the best”
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 35:08.557; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:00.809; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.860; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:09.811; 5. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:13.203; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:31.367; 7. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), +0:37.674; 8. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:39.113; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:40.347; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +0:41.563
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 34:35.275; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:14.445; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:18.918; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:54.273; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:56.586; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +1:00.561; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +1:02.431; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +1:04.136; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +1:19.134; 10. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), +1:20.054
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 50 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 42 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 38 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 31 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 31 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 27 p.; 8. Isak Gifting (SWE, YAM), 25 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 23 p.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 23 p
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 757 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 740 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 709 p.; 4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 538 p.; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 516 p.; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 451 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 447 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 335 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 301 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 274 p
MXGP – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Honda, 774 points; 2. GASGAS, 740 p.; 3. KTM, 721 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 640 p.; 5. Yamaha, 581 p.; 6. Fantic, 484 p.; 7. Husqvarna, 228 p.; 8. Beta, 149 p
While Kay De Wolf had looked imperious on Saturday, events were not to give him such an easy ride on Grand Prix Sunday, as the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing machine of Simon Laengenfelder powered to the Fox Holeshot and led from Lucas Coenen and Monster Energy Triumph Racing’s Mikkel Haarup. De Wolf made his own mistake in the second corner and ran off the track, putting himself back to around 15th position and with a fight on his hands!
Meanwhile, Lucas Coenen was in no mood to hang around. With a glorious retro livery to pay homage to the Swedish heritage of the Husqvarna brand, he fired up the inside of Laengenfelder around the first corner at the start of the second full lap and was never caught by anyone from there. Meanwhile, De Wolf crashed down the order on his second lap to make matters even worse for the red plate holder.
The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo of Liam Everts and Andrea Adamo held down fourth and fifth throughout the race, with Camden McLellan putting a second Monster Energy Triumph into the top six. His teammate Haarup carried over his speed from Saturday and moved past Laengenfelder for second on lap ten.
De Wolf had to work hard on a tough circuit and fought past the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 pairing of Rick Elzinga and Karlis Reisulis to claim seventh at the flag and lose 11 points to Lucas, whose brother Sacha Coenen was detuned after a big crash in Warm-Up and finished in tenth spot. Lucas’ winning margin was a solid seven seconds from a delighted Haarup and last year’s Uddevalla winner Laengenfelder.
The German GASGAS man again launched into the lead to claim his seventh Fox Holeshot Award of the year, and after fighting past a spirited Adamo, Lucas Coenen again set his sights on utter domination, snapping past Laengenfelder at the end of lap two this time. Adamo moved up to second a couple of laps later, while De Wolf was in fifth position, trying to chase down Everts.
The track seemed to be giving the riders a few problems and there were an unusually low number of passes being attempted throughout the top ten. Even getting past lapped riders was proving to be an issue, as Lucas Coenen had his scariest moment avoiding one who had stalled on the first corner, and De Wolf had to reach out an arm in mid-air to avoid a collision with one over a huge tabletop jump in front of the packed hillsides!
De Wolf was finally able to drive past Everts for fourth on lap twelve of nineteen, as Haarup could not advance from sixth to leave himself off the podium in fourth overall. Ferruccio Zanchi took seventh for Team HRC after a DNF in race one, McLellan eighth, and Elzinga fought off his younger teammate Reisulis as they came home ninth and tenth.
It was all about Lucas Coenen, however, as he took home his fifth GP win of the year to rebuild his momentum and slash De Wolf’s points lead from 67 before today to 49. After missing Lommel due to his Loket injuries, Adamo showed true grit to claim second overall ahead of Laengenfelder, who climbed his third straight podium to consolidate his third place in the series.
Lucas Coenen: “Of course, it was a good weekend! I needed to bounce back and I did it. So it was perfect. Won the two races. I was just riding smooth out there and had a lot of fun on the track. So yeah, it was better than yesterday, so very positive. Now we keep on building for the Netherlands and we’ll see you guys there.”
Andrea Adamo: “I did struggle so much in RAM Quali race, and I had completely no fire to ride well but today in the first race it was already better. Then in the second one, it was a long time I think since I was riding this smooth and this fast so I’m really really happy. Lucas (Coenen) was fast. I had a good battle with Simon (Laengenfelder), but then the race stayed pretty static. because I was in second and quite far from the lead and also Simon was quite far behind me. So that was nice and I hope to keep going on this on this way”
Simon Laengenfelder: I think this one was a tough one, especially to find all the good lines, to be always perfect, and make no mistakes because you needed to hit the lines perfectly straight. Otherwise, with that stony ground, it’s really easy to make a mistake but I could avoid that in the end. straight. I didn’t have the speed to win but I think I was consistent and I’m happy about that”
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 34:58.112; 2. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:07.163; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:12.891; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:14.217; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:47.235; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:50.887; 7. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:52.471; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:08.937; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:15.671; 10. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +1:27.442
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 34:39.588; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:05.003; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:06.761; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:07.375; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:22.323; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:27.740; 7. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:33.660; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:34.783; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:40.382; 10. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:42.612
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 50 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 40 p.; 4. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 37 p.; 5. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 32 p.; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 32 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 28 p.; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 25 p.; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 23 p.; 10. David Braceras (ESP, FAN), 20 p
MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 725 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 676 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 653 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 594 p.; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 511 p.; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 498 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 457 p.; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 415 p.; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 274 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 273 p
MX2 – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Husqvarna, 821 points; 2. KTM, 725 p.; 3. GASGAS, 660 p.; 4. Triumph, 546 p.; 5. Yamaha, 518 p.; 6. Honda, 308 p.; 7. Kawasaki, 278 p.; 8. Fantic, 215 p.; 9. TM, 52 p
Text/Bild: Infront