Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing shines at Lombok scorcher

The 2024 FIM World Motocross Championship roared back into action on the picturesque island of Lombok in Indonesia on the 7th of July, for round 12, and what formed the second half of the fly away portion of the 2024 MXGP and MX2 season.

Better yet, as the temperatures peaked into the high 30s (°C), so too did the results for the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing Team. Last time out Kay de Wolf scored 1-1, to secure a perfect result to reaffirm his place at the top of the MX2 standings. This time, however Lucas Coenen used his FC250 to maximum effect on the reversed 1640m hard pack Selaparang circuit to strike back against his team mate, and also score a 1-1 winning result.

After securing his fourth RAM qualifying win, Coenen rolled into Sunday in dominant form. During the opening moto Coenen quickly battled to the front from the gate drop, overtaking his teammate by the end of the first lap and steadily increasing his lead to a commanding 9.4 seconds by lap eight. Maintaining control throughout, Coenen finished first to net a full 25-point haul. In the second moto, Coenen again took the lead early, extending his advantage to 12.9 seconds by lap eight this time, and took the chequered flag unchallenged; securing a 1-1 victory and the overall win for the weekend.

Meanwhile Kay De Wolf showed superb speed and style despite finishing just off the podium in fifth position. The current Red Plate holder fought hard to move up to third from the gate drop of the opening moto briefly holding second place before a setback dropped him to 3rd at the finish. Moto two saw De Wolf back at the sharp end, battling for top positions early on. However a crash on lap nine pushed him to 6th; where he remained until the final flag. Despite the challenges, De Wolf still finishes the weekend in control of the championship standings.

In MXGP Mattia Guadagnini made further positive steps on and off track, securing another top ten finish. After a 12th place qualifying race finish, Guadagnini made a solid start to Sunday, battling to eighth position in the day’s 17 lap opening moto. The Italian kicked it up a gear further for the second moto, where he rocketed up to third place after the gate drop. Unfortunately a crash on lap two dropped him to 7th, and by lap five, he had fallen to 15th. Guadagnini managed to climb back to 14th by lap 10 and made up two more places to finish 12th, securing nine points. Overall, Guadagnini finished 10th for the weekend with a total of 22 points, moving up a place in the championship standings.

Next up, the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Team now takes aim at round thirteen, hosted at the MXGP of Czech Republic on the technical Loket circuit on July 20/21.

#101 – Mattia Guadagnini: “Despite the challenges, I’m proud of the progress we made this weekend and securing another top ten finish. The first race went well, and although the crash in the second moto was frustrating, I managed to fight back and make up several places. Crashes are part of racing, but I’m focused on building speed and aiming for even better results in the next one at Loket.”

#74 – Kay de Wolf: “It was a tough day – I really struggled with finding a good flow out on track. I made some mistakes, which I can only blame myself for. But still, I came away from this Indonesian trip with gaining one point overall in the championship; so it’s important to focus on the positive. I still have the Red Plate, and I’m looking ahead to Loket now; and I’m focused on two weeks of hard training to prepare for this. Let’s go!”

#96 – Lucas Coenen: “The second moto was way easier than the first moto. The temperatures have been really high – and I felt like people were really suffering with it. I cooled down pretty well in the break between the two races. I just tried to do my own thing in the second moto, pushing where I needed to, but trying to control the pace. I feel really good about this result, and I’m looking forward to keeping on going at this level!”