It was all green at the top of the morning Warm-Up time charts as the Kawasaki Racing Team saw Romain Febvre and Jeremy Seewer take the first two positions, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings in third, and yesterday’s RAM Qualifying Race winner Tim Gajser in a lowly ninth. 

The green trend continued in the opening MXGP race, as Seewer fought off the challenge from Jorge Prado to claim his fourth Fox Holeshot Award of the year, with De Baets Yamaha man Benoit Paturel running in third early on! While the Frenchman was quickly pounced on by both Gajser and Herlings, Seewer led for several corners before the reigning Champ took control for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing with a forceful move at the bottom of the circuit!  Behind them, Herlings passed Gajser to move into third halfway around the lap, then muscled his way past Seewer to claim second and give chase to Prado!

On the second lap, Gajser also made a move on Seewer, so the big three were out in command once more.  As we have seen before this season, Prado is amazing at riding under pressure, not making a mistake to allow his rivals an easy overtake.  Herlings was finding this as he tried time and again to pass the reigning World Champion.

Their efforts to better each other left Gajser a lonely third, and Seewer a similarly solitary fourth in a consistent ride.  Paturel had to yield to Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider Calvin Vlaanderen and Febvre in the second half of the race, but still scored a fine 7th place finish, his best since October 2021!

As for the leaders, Herlings generated one of his piercing bursts of speed to fire alongside Prado and make the Spaniard back off into the next left-hander, after which “The Bullet” then powered away to win by over 8 seconds at the chequered flag.  In his first visit to the track since 2018, he looked to be in dominant form.

The second race started disastrously for the Dutchman, however, as a poor jump from the gate left him having to avoid a first corner crash, then in turn two a domino effect of collisions saw him on the floor!

His main rivals were soon first and second, as Prado rediscovered his starting touch to claim his twelfth Fox Holeshot Award of the year, and Gajser soon moved past Vlaanderen to grab second! Febvre was a solid fourth ahead of Fantic Factory Racing’s Brian Bogers, back from his Indonesian shoulder dislocation, and Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz veteran Valentin Guillod.

All eyes were on Herlings, however, as he sliced through to twelfth on the second lap, before tripping over the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP machine of a sliding Andrea Bonacorsi, clipping the Italian’s back wheel and tipping over again!

Undaunted, the Dutchman was back with the same rider two laps later, and continued to advance this time! As Seewer recovered from his poor start, he clashed with Bogers, who fell from fifth as a result, and suddenly Herlings was up to sixth spot and getting a pit board of “17 seconds to the leader!”  He passed Seewer on lap seven, then crossed the gap to Febvre by lap 14 and made an easy pass for fourth as the Frenchman struggled with a bike problem. 

Meanwhile, Gajser had taken the lead, after out-foxing his rival with an inside pass on the cambered corner before the Pit Lane, then actually banging bars as they passed their pit boards! The Slovenian held the inside line and took the lead, to the roar of the many fans who had made the trip up from his homeland! Prado seemed to have no answer, and on a circuit where he had never had overall success before, “Tiga” won the race by three seconds to secure his 48th career Grand Prix victory!

Once more, Herlings stole the limelight as he attacked Vlaanderen on the final two laps, raising excitement with two near crashes as he closed to within striking distance! Ultimately, the Yamaha man held on for third in the race to give him fourth overall, and Herlings had to settle for third on the podium behind Prado and winner Gajser.  It was a stunning Grand Prix all around that anyone present will remember for a long time to come.

They now head to the MXGP of Flanders, where Prado and Herlings will dispute that “King of Sand” title once again, but Gajser now has a 36-point lead over the Spaniard and is no slouch in the soft stuff himself!  What will happen next in this titanic battle for the world title?!

Tim Gajser: “It’s a big one! Especially when you do it on a track where you always struggle you know. Since I’m coming here, I never enjoyed riding that track due to its characteristics. But this first win in many times trying is special. A big thank you to the team as we made many changes to the bike, and it was working great. I was feeling good. Again huge thank you to all my team and everyone around me and yeah it’s a special one!”

Jorge Prado: “I mean, I would say three P2s this weekend starting from Saturday so pretty consistent result-wise. I know I’ve been struggling here a lot with traction and stuff. I didn’t ride very comfortable but tried my best and give it all. I finished P2 and that’s the best I could manage with good points in the Championship. But of course I’m not super happy because w want to catch up on Tim (Gajser) and we lost some points again but it is what it is and the sand riding is coming up. I trained on the sand and grew up riding sand so I’m really looking forward to Lommel next weekend and make a good bounce back.” 

Jeffrey Herlings: “The first lap for me was maximum chaos. I mean, Gudagnini crashed in the first turn and I went over him and was still in it in tenth or something and then on the second turn somebody braked and suddenly I hit his rear wheel and crashed. I was dead last and made up 15 places I think and then Bonacorsi got a high-sider line and I turn to go inside and hit his rear wheel again, went over the bar again. But I came back from last again but and nearly made it to third. I got this close. Third overall in the end today which is okay but next one is Lommel and look forward to it!”

MX2

It looked like reigning Champion Andrea Adamo was going to get a confidence lift with the fastest time in Warm-Up, until RAM Qualifying Race winner Lucas Coenen dropped the hammer, and his lap time, on his very last run to claim the top time by 1.9 seconds.  It was an ominous notification of what the teenage Belgian had in his locker heading into the afternoon’s races.

The first race began with Sacha Coenen taking yet another holeshot, in front of his two Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammates, Adamo and Liam Everts! Sadly though, at the start of the second lap, Bike It MTX Kawasaki rider Jack Chambers crashed in front of the Pit Lane and the race had to be stopped as he was treated for concussion.  We all wish him the best for a speedy recovery.

On the restart, Sacha Coenen once more emerged in front to claim his twelfth Fox Holeshot Award of the season, this time with his brother Lucas, who had been buried in the pack before the restart, right in his wheel tracks in second. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 star Rick Elzinga was up into third and looking good on a surface which is not his usual favourite.

On the third lap, Lucas Coenen moved past Sacha into the lead, then the KTM-mounted twin hit the floor to lose second place to Elzinga!

Simon Laengenfelder held third for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, urged on by his many fans who had made the short trip over the nearby German border!  However, Everts battled past him after a couple of attempts, before making a particularly sweet pass on Elzinga! Sadly, the Belgian fell a lap later, and would have to settle for fifth at the flag. Elzinga slipped back to sixth as Sacha Coenen crashed out of the race on lap 12!

In the frantic battle, Mikkel Haarup had worked his way up to third for Monster Energy Triumph Racing, behind Laengenfelder, but a late charge from Kay de Wolf led to a last lap pass by the red plate holder. Nobody could stop Lucas Coenen, however, who won by nearly ten seconds at the flag.

Race two was like a representation of the whole MX2 series so far, with frantic action all through the pack! Passes and crashes were taking place almost every lap, but somehow the series leader prevailed to take the victory again!

The first strange occurrence was no holeshot for Sacha Coenen. Instead, it was Everts who claimed the Fox Holeshot Award this time, only his third of the series, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 new boy Karlis Reisulis held second early on, before being passed by Haarup on the first lap.  Everts suddenly fell on the first corner of the second lap, but recovered quickly enough to re-pass Haarup on the big right-hander alongside the start straight!

That corner would be a problem for Haarup, as he was later passed there by both Laengenfelder and Lucas Coenen, on his way to a fifth-place finish.  De Wolf had advanced steadily, past an impressive Reisulis on lap six, then Haarup a lap later.  He had pressure from his teammate, who had started poorly, until Lucas collided with the bank coming out of turn two and crashed heavily!

Laengenfelder reeled in Everts, to take a loudly cheered leading position from lap eight, and he looked in control on his favoured hard-pack, but De Wolf suddenly lit the afterburners, battling back and forth with Everts for second place! Finally getting the pass to stick on lap 13, their battle had brought them to Laengenfelder’s rear wheel, and with a stunning move on lap 15 the Dutchman took a convincing win in brilliant style, depriving the German of his first GP victory of the year in the process!

With Everts third, Lucas took fourth from Haarup to finish third overall. With the deep sand track of Lommel on the horizon, the battle between the top two in the series, the battling Nestaan Husqvarna teammates, could prove to be sensational in what is the Belgian’s home GP!  With 46 points between them the fight is still far from over!

The MXGP of Flanders is a mouth-watering prospect, and with the two Championship scraps finely poised, you do not want to miss a single wheel turning! Tune in, or better still join us in person, on the 27th & 28th of July!