With a revised and condensed schedule due to incoming weather conditions, The Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China comprised Round 19 of the MXGP World Motocross Championships in torrid temperatures at the Shanghai International Off-Road Circuit. As befitting the penultimate round of this epic season of MXGP, both classes saw vital movements towards the destiny of the Championship medals!
Race Report and Images by Infront Moto Racing
The MXGP World Championship has a new leader, as Jorge Prado fought through the heat, humidity, and even a little illness for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing to win his 48th career Grand Prix. With Team HRC’s Tim Gajser struggling in race one, the Spaniard will now take the red plate to the final round of the season, in his home country!
The MX2 title fight continues to get closer, as Lucas Coenen took his eighth GP victory of the year for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, passing his teammate and Championship rival Kay de Wolf on track in the process!
The Time Practice session, that served to form the grid positions in the absence of the RAM Qualifying Race, was topped with a final effort from Prado to nudge Gajser off the top spot by just 47 thousands of a second! Romain Febvre took third gate pick for Kawasaki Racing Team, while Jan Pancar was a surprise fourth for TEM JP253 KTM Racing. Just behind him was the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine of Jeffrey Herlings, who turned 30 years old on the Thursday before the GP!
The first race saw the seventh Fox Holeshot of the year for Jeremy Seewer and the Kawasaki Racing Team, with Prado and Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez hot on his heels. However, between turns one and two the Championship took a major twist as Gajser jumped into the back of Glenn Coldenhoff, who was fourth for Fantic Factory Racing, and took a heavy fall as a result!
The red plate holder had his bike run over in the process but got going again towards the back of the pack. His woes wouldn’t end there, however, as the Slovenian collided with Andrea Bonacorsi, sending himself and the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider to the floor, and very soon he toured into Pit Lane. He did finish the race with a broken left footpeg, but down in 17th place by the flag.
Meanwhile, his teammate Fernandez had taken the lead on lap one and held the advantage for half the race, fending off Seewer, then Prado, before finally yielding to Febvre, who had put in a great charge to pass the reigning Champ and haul in the other Spaniard! The Kawasaki man took the lead on lap eleven with a smooth inside move, and Fernandez also had Prado come past him a lap later.
Next up came Herlings, who climbed to third with a drag race past Pit Lane, and that was the top three set from there, ahead of Fernandez in fourth and Coldenhoff in fifth.
Seewer begun to slip down the order, and Maxime Renaux recovered from an average start to claim sixth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, followed by Kevin Horgmo of Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz, who passed Pancar on the final lap. In a similar move, Mattia Guadagnini relegated Seewer to tenth at the same time to finish ninth for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.
Gajser’s troublesome race had handed the Championship lead to Prado, who held a four-point advantage heading into race two, and of course decided to both celebrate and defend that position with a trademark Fox Holeshot, his 16th of the season.
Initially in second was Valentin Guillod for Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz, but Gajser tucked inside the Swiss rider for second in turn two, this time missing the incident through the first corner, as Seewer, Renaux, Guadagnini and Standing Construct Honda’s Alberto Forato all hit the deck. Only the two Italians got back into the race, although Forato would pull in after nine laps.
Fernandez followed his teammate past Guillod, and soon Febvre, the surprising Pancar, and Herlings would follow suit. As Gajser gave chase to Prado out front, Febvre could not go with them as it took him eight laps to get around the rejuvenated Fernandez. Herlings on lap ten, and then Pancar on lap 15, would also get past the Spaniard who is working his way back to full race fitness, and would finish sixth ahead of Bonacorsi, Coldenhoff, then the recovering Guadagnini getting back to ninth ahead of Horgmo.
The heat was clearly taking its toll on the leaders, who were trying to hold on in the soaring temperatures and humidity, and try as he might Gajser could not break Prado’s hold on the race. The Spaniard pushed himself to the physical limit, barely celebrating his tenth overall GP win of the season and unable to conduct any post-race interviews. He gritted his teeth to collect the red plate atop the podium however! Febvre’s third in race two was enough for second overall ahead of Herlings, with Fernandez fourth and the amazing Pancar in fifth.
It all sets the scene for the showdown in Cozar in two weeks’ time, with just seven points separating the leading pair. Herlings has a slim mathematical chance but admitted on the podium that the title for him is realistically out of reach.
Jorge Prado: “We could finish the weekend with a red plate and seven points ahead. One round left and this makes us dream and I’m so excited for the final round in Spain. I think nobody expected to get out of this GP with a red plate. So we need to be super happy. My riding has been great. We worked hard on the bike too this weekend, like today, and they even took the RAM Quali race away and it didn’t matter, we still got points in our pocket, so super, super happy. I’m still super, super happy about the day. I still can’t believe it and yeah, happy. I’m still super, super happy about the day. I still can’t believe it and yeah, let’s get a title in Spain.”
Romain Febvre: “It was really tough. I mean, everybody gave them all I think, but yeah, first race, I think I gave a little bit too much, but I won. So I was really happy and then not so much break between the race as well, so it didn’t help. I didn’t get the start in the second one, but like good first turn and thenI had a long fight with Fernandez. I used quite a lot of energy and then the guys were gone at the front so I was third on my own. It’s a good GP, 1-3 for second overall and happy to be bsck on the box. Now let’s go Spain”
Jeffrey Herlings: “I mean the championship, already coming into this one, was kind of over. Because it was not just Tim who had to make a mistake, it was also Jorge. Unfortunately I had a big fire mark from the exhaust in Turkiye, which gives me quite some pain. And also I broke two ribs meanwhile. And today there was quite a lot of pain so I was good with any result I just did, especially the second one as I knew I was gonna be in the podium anyway even though I would gain more points nothing would have changed in the overall so I was like just, okay I just want to go home safe from this one”
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), 34:32.847; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:05.726; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:08.376; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:10.859; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:14.259; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:16.664; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:19.004; 8. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:21.709; 9. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:23.781; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:28.471
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 34:32.163; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:02.891; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:28.957; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:39.634; 5. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:42.345; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:43.523; 7. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:47.062; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:50.251; 9. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:52.963; 10. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:56.487
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 47 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 45 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 33 p.; 5. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 29 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 29 p.; 7. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 26 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 25 p.; 9. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, HUS), 24 p.; 10. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 23 p.
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 943 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 936 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 895 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 643 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 611 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 574 p.; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 550 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 428 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 359 p.; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, FAN), 319 p
MXGP – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Honda, 967 points; 2. GASGAS, 943 p.; 3. KTM, 907 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 818 p.; 5. Yamaha, 717 p.; 6. Fantic, 616 p.; 7. Husqvarna, 318 p.; 8. Beta, 164 p.; 9. Ducati, 10 p
In the morning Time Practice session of the one-day format, Simon Laengenfelder set the best time to secure first gate pick for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, just ahead of Lucas Coenen, with Liam Everts third for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
With his twin brother Sacha absent through injury, but already uncatchable in the 2024 Fox Holeshot competition, Lucas fired into the lead in race one from the very start, with Laengenfelder and Everts giving chase. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rookie Karlis Reisulis was fourth ahead of De Wolf, but on lap three the Latvian pulled a surprise out-braking move on Everts to take third place!
With Coenen and Laengenfelder streaking away out front, not to be caught, De Wolf played a waiting game in fifth place, with Reisulis’ teammate Rick Elzinga in sixth and Everts’ teammate Andrea Adamo in seventh. The two Monster Energy Triumph Racing riders, Mikkel Haarup and Camden McLellan, were up next as the positions stayed static… until the halfway point!
On lap 10, which proved to be halfway through, Everts chopped back around the outside of Reisulis to reclaim third place. A lap later, De Wolf caught the Latvian unawares by dancing through the waves brilliantly to take fourth. Adamo passed both Yamaha riders, one lap after the other, in the same left-handed corner, and ultimately the Triumph riders would both get through as well! In fact, the entire Yamaha squad finished 8th to 10th, in the order of Elzinga, Reisulis, and Thibault Benistant.
Haarup brilliantly jumped over Adamo to snatch fifth away from the outgoing World Champ on the final lap, with McLellan taking seventh. De Wolf had forced past Everts for third on lap 14 but was unable to catch Laengenfelder for second. With Lucas cruising to a five-second win, it chipped the gap down to 39 at the end of race one.
In race two, with a shortened break between races, the irrepressible Reisulis showed that he was more than ready for the fight with a stunning Fox Holeshot, his second of the season. Laengenfelder and Everts were directly in his wake, and then the two Nestaan Husqvarnas! De Wolf bolted to the inside of Coenen and was soon past Everts as well in the process. Coenen followed him past, but the two went for the same rut in a right-hander and tangled, causing Everts to crash out of the race. His social media is reporting a neck injury, so we wish him all the best for a rapid recovery.
Coenen had allowed McLellan through into fourth on lap two, with Haarup behind them both. Once more unwilling to put everything on the line immediately, several riders seemed to just hold station in the heat until it got really interesting. By lap twelve, De Wolf had caught up to Laengenfelder and just as he made a move, so Reisulis ran wide and toppled over a soft berm!
McLellan had dropped behind Adamo and battled with Fantic Factory Racing rider Kay Karssemakers. The Dutch teenager took tenth at the flag, behind Team HRC’s Ferruccio Zanchi, while McLellan claimed eighth.
After his fall, the tiring Reisulis was caught and passed by both Adamo, who took fifth, and Benistant, who took sixth, with the Latvian ultimately landing in seventh. His speed showed much more than his results this weekend!
Haarup had to settle for a lonely fourth, as the two Nestaan Husqvarna men debated the win, Coenen breezing past Laengenfelder, who was suffering with abdominal issues. As with many overtaking manoeuvres on the well-designed circuit, the leading pair went back and forth before Coenen was finally able to rail around the outside of his title rival to claim a stunning 16th race win of the season, and ninth GP win of his career.
With De Wolf settling to take the second-placed points home, it still sees the points gap at 36, not insurmountable in the chaos of the final round! We will see who prevails in Cozar!
The final round of the 2024 MXGP World Motocross Championships will take place in south-eastern Spain, near the village of Cozar, for the MXGP of Castilla La Mancha, round 20, the finale of both main adult series, the EMX 250 & EMX 125 classes too, and a whole host of scenarios mean that the final GP is not one to miss! See you there!
Lucas Coenen: “I need to push. With a temperature like this I thought it would be really difficult. The heat gets you more when you stop, but I got to fight on. I want to beat Kay (de Wolf) and I just want to win every race. I’m doing it, so let’s see on the final round if we get a win. I apologise for Liam (Everts)*. I thought he would go more outside and I hit him but I’m so annoyed =and the whole race I was not in my rhythm because of that but I hope he’s okay and best of luck to him. I apologize for Leon. I thought he would go more outside and I hit him but I’m so pissed off because I saw his father and I was like shit what did I do and the whole motor I was not in my rhythm because of that but I hope he’s okay and best of luck to him.”
Kay de Wolf: “First of all I hope Liam is okay. It’s a bummer to see someone down especially like that for so long. So yeah, I hope he’s okay. For the rest, second race felt quite good. The intensity was quite high and I just could just manage the last few laps, but for the big picture this was good and yeah, I’m happy with it.”
Simon Laengenfelder: “Well after 10 minutes I started to have so much stomach pain and I needed to just let it go and I couldn’t push anymore too much. But happy to finish in the third position at the race and to just finish in that position.
*Liam Everts crashed in the second race and was retired from the race. We wish him the best of recovery and as fast as possible
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 34:14.906; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:05.254; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:08.778; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:10.654; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:13.566; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:14.215; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:35.439; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:40.450; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:43.135; 10. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:43.409;
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 35:06.258; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:05.588; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:14.320; 4. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:19.558; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:24.841; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:25.316; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:47.565; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:53.134; 9. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:55.614; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Fantic),
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 50 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 42 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 42 p.; 4. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 34 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 27 p.; 7. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 26 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 26 p.; 9. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 21 p.
MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 915 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 879 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 811 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 749 p.; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 658 p.; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 632 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 555 p.; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 456 p.; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 395 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 359 p
MX2 – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Husqvarna, 1045 points; 2. KTM, 900 p.; 3. GASGAS, 823 p.; 4. Triumph, 704 p.; 5. Yamaha, 660 p.; 6. Honda, 394 p.; 7. Kawasaki, 337 p.; 8. Fantic, 272 p.; 9. TM, 60 p.;
