The MXGP World Motocross Championships burst back into life today with the RAM Qualifying Races that provided some scintillating racing at the Liqui Moly MXGP of Germany!
Words and Images by Infront Moto Racing
Following some intense rain in the week leading up to the event, the track proceeded to dry out through the Saturday programme, until a storm washed over the circuit about thirty minutes before the gate dropped for the MX2 RAM Qualifying Race, and several showers followed it throughout the afternoon!
MXGP saw a continuation of the title fight, and represented the Championship in general, with Tim Gajser emerging victorious for Team HRC from yet another rain-affected race! Kay de Wolf battled some issues as well as his competitors to grab a narrow victory for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, his first chequered flag for nearly two months, which assures him of keeping the red plate into the next round no matter what happens tomorrow! It also puts him clearly in front of his teammate Lucas Coenen in the fight for the most RAM Qualifying Race wins of the season, the winner of which gets the use of a top-of-the-line RAM truck for six months at the end of the year!
The battle on the timesheets in both Free and Time Practice was fascinating, as Reigning World Champion Jorge Prado kept moving the bar to eventually top both sessions for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, but Gajser and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings were both right behind him, albeit a little over a second behind.
Although the holeshot went to Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing star Mattia Guadagnini, Prado took over the lead exiting the second corner, as Gajser got held up briefly in a battle with fast-starting home hero Henry Jacobi on his Sarholz KTM Racing Team machine! Herlings was quickly up into fifth, but Romain Febvre had only qualified in 27th for the Kawasaki Racing Team. The Frenchman battled hard through the pack, once more finding speed in the rain when others were floundering.
On lap six of the eventual twelve, Febvre dived past Herlings for fourth after they both got around Jacobi. The following two laps saw them both pass Guadagnini as well, but the crowd’s eyes were on the leading pair as Gajser closed in on Prado!
The Spaniard landed short on an uphill triple jump as the rain lashed down, giving the Slovenian the half-chance he wanted, and the impact of the landing had taken all of the fight out of the defending Champion.
So the big four of the series so far finished in their Championship order, while Febvre’s teammate Jeremy Seewer fought through to fifth position, and Pauls Jonass just kept his Standing Construct Honda ahead of a charging Calvin Vlaanderen, who had to fight through on his Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP machine from outside of the top twenty on lap one!
This victory puts Gajser level with Prado on three RAM Qualifying Race win each, with Febvre just behind them on two! So the fight really is on for that RAM Award this winter!
The forecast tomorrow is for better weather, and Gajser carries a six-point lead over Prado into the full Grand Prix races. It is still anybody’s guess as to who will emerge triumphant!
Tim Gajser: “It was good! I think I didn’t get the best jump out of the gate but it was helping that I was on the inside and I came out 3rd/4th. Then I make passes and I was behind Jorge (Prado) and he was riding good at the beginning but then I could sense that with the track becoming slippery that I could pass which I managed to do and thn made a little gapo to control the race. So… Yeah I’m super happy!”
MXGP – RAM Qualifying Race – Classification:
FIMMWC_MXGP_RAMQR_RaceClassification-3908_1_9_323_1_50D56ACE07DC8E14A9D0C2EDAF47AFC2
MXGP – World Championship Classification: 1 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 358 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 352 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 327 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 294 p.; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 258 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 240 p.; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 227 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 200 p.; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 145 p.; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 130 p
Series leader Kay de Wolf was fastest in Free Practice ahead of the brothers, Sacha Coenen for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, ahead of Lucas. That was until Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder, inspired by circuit-wide trackside support, leapt to the top of the Time Practice scoreboard by ninety thousandths of a second over De Wolf! Sacha was third, although a frustrated Lucas fell on his final flying lap to only go to the line in fifth!
That man De Wolf pulled a stunning holeshot from the inside gate, with Rick Elzinga challenging for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 and briefly taking the lead due to a small mistake on the first lap by his fellow Dutchman, who edged back ahead across the finish line jump! Lucas Coenen fell on the second corner, holding up his brother in the process.
Meanwhile, the crowd favourite Laengenfelder was charging into third place, but he just charged a little too hard into a corner and tipped over, not for the last time either, as he dropped sadly down to 8th position at the flag. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo of Andrea Adamo and Liam Everts were making progress, the Belgian pulling quite possibly the pass of the season on Elzinga in a sweet cutback move that was like a piece of art!
Elzinga tried to fight off Mikkel Haarup in the final laps, but ultimately the Dane on the Monster Energy Triumph Racing machine got through to finish fourth. De Wolf was battling a small technical issue and Adamo closed to within 1.2 seconds of the leader by the finish, with Everts holding on for third. It is going to be mighty close again in MX2 tomorrow, but De Wolf has the comfort of a 59 point lead over Laengenfelder heading into GP race day at the Liqui Moly MXGP of Germany!
Round eight of the 2024 MXGP World Championship is going to be tough to predict whatever the weather, and the crowd will be back louder than ever to make it something special! Don’t miss it!
Kay de Wolf: “It was a very difficult race! I struggled with clutch issues and so I didn’t have a clutch. That’s why Rick (Elzinga) passed me, I was really struggling. I’m really happy to get that win in the end! I’m still a little bit confused as there was so many things happening but this win really mean a lot to win without a clutch, so I’m very happy.
MX2 – RAM Qualifying Race – Classification: 1
FIMMWC_MX2_RAMQR_RaceClassification-3908_1_7_323_1_976C8F4A71353DD2C1160278674E15BF
MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 352 points; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 293 p.; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 287 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 276 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 266 p.; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 226 p.; 7. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 223 p.; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 217 p.; 9. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 159 p.; 10. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KAW), 129 p.
TIMETABLE
SUNDAY: 09:45 WMX Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:10 MXE Race 2, 11:55 EMX250 Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.
