SWEET SWISS VICTORIES FOR GAJSER AND DE WOLF AT THE MXGP OF SWITZERLAND PRESENTED BY iXS.
The blazing heat of Saturday turned into grey skies and showers at the Schweizer Zucker circuit before today’s MXGP of Switzerland Presented by iXS. Dealing with completely different circuit conditions to those of the RAM Qualifying Races, the World Championship elite nevertheless put on an amazing show of riding skill and determination.
After a difficult few rounds of the FIM Motocross World Championship, red plate holder Tim Gajser seemed to take control of the series again today with two brilliant race wins for Team HRC to rebuild his points lead and assert his authority over his pursuers.
It was a similar story in MX2 as Kay de Wolf took his seventh GP win of the season and saw his Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing teammate Lucas Coenen finish only seventh overall. Simon Laengenfelder celebrated taking the second race victory for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing and finishing second overall on the day.
As he had done in all of the practice sessions across the weekend, Gajser was again fastest in Warm-Up and looked in determined mood. However, the returning Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP star Maxime Renaux took a stunning holeshot, his first since the opening round in Argentina before the aggravation of his foot injury!
Reigning Champion and Saturday’s RAM Qualifying Race winner Jorge Prado started in second for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, with Josh Gilbert briefly in third for Gabriel SS24 KTM. Gajser was clearly on a mission though, and charged around them both to take second around the third corner! Just after the halfway point of the lap the Slovenian forced his way to the inside of the Frenchman to power into the lead, and from there he simply was not going to be caught.
The atmosphere was palpable around the Swiss circuit as the red smoke from the fans’ flares began to disperse, but it reached fever pitch as their home hero Jeremy Seewer, making the 200th consecutive Grand Prix start of his career and looking fast for Kawasaki Racing Team, put pressure on Prado, who had been unable to pick his way past Renaux. The Swiss veteran sent the crowd into raptures as he dived inside the Champ on lap six, who veered off-track momentarily in surprise!
All the time though, Jeffrey Herlings, struggling off the gate all weekend for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, was starting to make his presence felt as he moved forward on a familiar charge through the pack. With a magical show of speed at the end of lap eight, he was able to pass first Prado, then Seewer, within the space of three corners! With blistering pace he caught Renaux two laps later, dealing with him rapidly before eyeing up the near 15-second gap to the leader.
On lap 14, Prado seemed to realise that he was in danger of losing serious points to his title rivals, and with sweet moves along the back straight of the track, he passed both Seewer and Renaux on consecutive laps to keep the damage to a minimum with a third-place finish. Seewer kept the fans happy as he advanced to fourth with the aid of a Renaux mistake before the two-lap board, and that was how the top five finished.
Behind them, Romain Febvre held sixth for Kawasaki Racing Team for almost the entire race, ahead of Fantic Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff, another local favourite Valentin Guillod in eighth for Team Ship To Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR, and then Alberto Forato, who moved up to ninth for Standing Construct Honda ahead of Slovenian Jan Pancar, taking a fine top ten result for his own TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team.
Gajser managed to keep his advantage over Herlings to the flag, and as the circuit dried for race two his competitors might have worried about his all-out speed that returned with a vengeance this weekend.
Renaux had one possible answer – get the best start possible! Making it a clean sweep of Yamaha holeshots for the day (Spoiler alert – in both classes!), the Frenchman gave us a glimpse of what he might serve up in 2025 as he led the first six laps at a pace that the chasing Prado and Febvre could not live with.
Gajser was not to be denied, however, and recovered from a tenth place start to blast his way into fifth after the first half-lap, with Herlings still languishing in ninth at this stage. The Dutchman marched relentlessly forward, demoting Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez, Forato, and Coldenhoff on consecutive laps, before railing around Seewer on lap six. Just then, Prado had closed on Renaux and took the lead from the Frenchman, the Spaniard now sitting in a solid position to win the GP overall.
As Febvre and then Gajser worked past Renaux, it was Gajser’s turn to dig in as he attacked Febvre and advanced to second on lap nine, just as Herlings had also passed Renaux and was looking like a real threat. Just as “The Bullet” lost time in trying to make a pass, so Gajser made his move, jumping thrillingly alongside Prado over the Finish Line jump at the start of lap 12 and blasting around the outside of the following corner! The Slovenian was in control, and nobody had an answer for him.
Further back, there were impressive rides throughout the top ten. Andrea Bonacorsi moved forward to claim tenth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP behind Fernandez who took ninth on his own return from injury. Eighth went to Guillod’s teammate Kevin Horgmo, as Forato pounced on a tiring Renaux to grab sixth from him on the last lap.
Coldenhoff had got himself stuck in some trackside mud and would not finish, while Seewer took fifth to finish fourth overall in front of his happy local supporters. The final four laps saw a spell-binding charge from Herlings, as he finally got around Febvre for third, then pulled out all the stops to outpace Prado for second with a pass around a heavily rutted 180-degree right-hander!
Gajser kept his pace up to win by just under seven seconds, and the Sunday maximum, his first of the season, puts him up to an amazing 49 Grand Prix wins in his career. It doubles his lead from the start of the weekend to 18 points over Prado, and Herlings is now 24 further back from the Spaniard.
With Gajser approaching the MXGP of Turkiye with a two-year winning streak at that event, he has grabbed the momentum going into the final three rounds of the year. How will his chasers react at the Afyon Motor Sports Center? Join us or tune in to find out!
Tim Gajser: “it’s starting to be crucial, you know, like we are going towards the end of the championship, just three rounds to go. I lost some ground in Lommel and also in Arnhem. But anyway, I’m really looking forward to the tracks that we are going now. But today I felt really good, two solid starts, quick passes, let’s say, make a little gap and then control the race. I was really enjoying out there. The track was not easy, so you have to be smart and also pick the right lines. But yeah, we’re all super happy. I want to say a huge thank you to all my team, everybody around me, all the fans. Thank you very much! „
Jeffrey Herlings: “Both times once I got the second, the bird was gone. I had the speed, I had the speed all day to win, but it doesn’t bring me anything, you know! So anyway, two-two on a track, I’d say I don’t fancy so much, it’s not too bad. So, no, I mean, this is the track last year I struggled the most and now this year I felt like my bike setup was much better my riding was good I was really at good speed so yeah just couldn’t get out of start like almost always so you know it is like it is but looking forward to Turkey and China I think those tracks for the inside gates will suit me a bit better so looking forward to them”
Jorge Prado: “It was a tough day for me. I struggled with my health in race 1 and obviously race 2 was a bit better, let’s say health-wise, struggling still with the leg also that hurt in race one too. I don’t know today just everything was hard for me just fighting through myself. And if I need to battle these guys and I’m not 100% it’s hard to beat them. So it’s a pity we lost some points, but three rounds left. Let’s get back to 100% healthy and let’s get a championship.”
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:17.116; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:14.525; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:22.150; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:23.513; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:26.344; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:28.986; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +1:15.163; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +1:15.636; 9. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +1:28.669; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:29.815
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:24.188; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:06.943; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:16.842; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:23.172; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:26.160; 6. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +0:37.286; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:40.106; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:51.588; 9. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +1:10.788; 10. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +1:18.975
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 50 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 40 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 34 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 33 p.; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 30 p.; 7. Alberto Forato (ITA, HON), 27 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 23 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 23 p.; 10. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 20 p.
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 860 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 842 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 818 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 587 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 550 p.; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 527 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 514 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 386 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 329 p.; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, FAN), 295 p
MXGP – Manufacturers Classification: Honda, 877 points; 2. GASGAS, 842 p.; 3. KTM, 830 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 723 p.; 5. Yamaha, 649 p.; 6. Fantic, 556 p.; 7. Husqvarna, 271 p.; 8. Beta, 152 p.; 9. Ducati, 10 p
In the muddy morning Warm-Up session, Karlis Reisulis had set the fastest time for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, but it was his teammate on return from injury, Thibault Benistant, who claimed the Fox Holeshot Award at the start of race one, with De Wolf second ahead of another Monster Energy Yamaha with Rick Elzinga at the helm.
Lucas Coenen had started in a lowly 13th position and had a lot of work to do on the slippery and sloppy circuit, while WZ Racing Team’s Oriol Oliver ran as high as fourth in the opening laps. Reisulis was ahead of Laengenfelder, but Liam Everts suffered a small tip over in the first lap, which would ultimately prove to be costly for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider!
Liam made a forceful pass on Lucas which put the pair in seventh and eighth, and both moved up a spot as Team HRC’s Ferruccio Zanchi slipped off to run in ninth for most of the race. Meanwhile, De Wolf was reeling in early leader Benistant, and just past the Pit Lane straight the Frenchman lost his balance through a tricky rut and fell, allowing both De Wolf and Elzinga through into the top two places!
Two laps later, the mud master that is Liam Everts passed both Laengenfelder and Reisulis to move to fourth, the move on the Latvian being a work of art that wasn’t repeated by anybody all day! The Belgian then took just two laps to close a three-second gap to Elzinga, but the Dutchman was suffering with bike issues and just after Liam went by into second, he ground to a halt at the side of the circuit.
On the penultimate lap, Lucas Coenen made a mistake and cut out the big, cambered corner, a unique feature to this circuit, and was therefore penalised two positions. This put him eighth in the classification, ahead of F & H Racing’s Quentin Marc Prugnieres and Monster Energy Triumph Racing rider Camden McLellan.
Zanchi and Reisulis were promoted to sixth and seventh, after a strong charge from McLellan’s teammate Mikkel Haarup earned him a solid fifth from a start outside of the top ten. Laengenfelder took fourth behind Benistant, which was still an impressive ride on his return from injury, but Everts charged to the rear wheel of De Wolf with three laps to go and very nearly passed the Championship leader. The Dutchman held his nerve to take a narrow win and extend his series lead by 12 points just in that race alone!
In what was a good day for the blue bikes, Reisulis took the first Fox Holeshot Award of his MX2 career in race two, with Benistant initially behind him but jumping past in the corner after the finish line to take the lead, with Laengenfelder chasing them both! On the first full lap, Everts fell, making life difficult for the teenage Belgian, while Reisulis retook the lead from Benistant, a bold move for the team rookie against the established star!
With De Wolf in fourth and Lucas Coenen crashing in a corner on lap three, Laengenfelder was keen to capitalise on his good start and fired inside Benistant on lap five, although it would take him many laps to close in the surprising Reisulis, whose confidence was growing by the lap in much better racing conditions than the first outing.
Benistant, feeling the pace on his return to action, slipped down the order to an eventual eighth in front of Zanchi and Prugnieres. Lucas Coenen recovered to seventh at the flag, nearly catching a disappointed Elzinga for sixth. Everts had to charge again, and although he was just shy of Haarup’s fourth position, it was enough for the KTM man, in a difficult weekend for his teammates, to claim the third spot on the podium overall.
De Wolf held station in third place, but Laengenfelder finally caught and passed Reisulis on lap 13 to take his fourth race victory of the year, and the Latvian held on for his best race finish of second, and his best overall result of 4th in MX2. A strong prospect for the future!
De Wolf’s Championship lead looks very strong now at 61, meaning he will carry the red plate even after the MXGP of Turkiye no matter what happens there, as Lucas Coenen will try to bounce back at Afyonkarahisar.
It’s the return to Turkiye next, after a week’s break for the series, to begin the final three rounds of the season. The battle to clinch the Championships swung towards the series leaders in Switzerland, but it is all still far from done yet!
Kay de Wolf: “The second race wasn’t as easy as the first one. The first few guys were really fast and I was struggling with my pace a little bit but I brought it home safe and gained some massive points in the championship. So that’s what it’s all about and yeah, I’m really happy. I can’t do it without this team. They do an amazing job for me day in day out. So yeah, I really appreciate it and now on to the next one in Turkiye!”
Simon Laengenfelder: “It’s nice to bounce back after a bad weekend like this. Okay, not the best start but at least the riding was really good in the second race. I was really happy to get the Moto win and happy with the bike. I’m now looking forward to the last few races this season.”
Liam Everts: “I certainly didn’t make it easy you know also last rounds; the speed was really good but just some little tip overs. And again, today but I still managed to make it happen which is which is pretty cool. I felt great all weekend. I also want to say hi to my parents, it’s the first time that they missed a round!”
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 35:29.269; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:01.313; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:13.749; 4. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:16.506; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:36.702; 6. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:56.030; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:03.550; 8. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:50.398; 9. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:30.119; 10. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +1:41.699
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), 34:39.275; 2. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:12.029; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:15.975; 4. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:17.720; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:18.398; 6. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:22.041; 7. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:23.845; 8. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:37.770; 9. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:45.287; 10. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:50.114;
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 45 points; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 43 p.; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 34 p.; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 33 p.; 7. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 27 p.; 8. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 27 p.; 9. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KAW), 23 p.; 10. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 21 p
MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 831 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 770 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 727 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 681 p.; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 581 p.; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 570 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 511 p.; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 456 p.; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 337 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 317 p
MX2 – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Husqvarna, 936 points; 2. KTM, 820 p.; 3. GASGAS, 734 p.; 4. Triumph, 627 p.; 5. Yamaha, 599 p.; 6. Honda, 352 p.; 7. Kawasaki, 318 p.; 8. Fantic, 238 p.; 9. TM, 60
Text/Bild: Infront