Round 17 of the MXGP World Motocross Championships kicked into life today at the Schweizer Zucker circuit in Frauenfeld for the MXGP of Switzerland Presented by IXS, and with beautiful blue skies the conditions were on the hot side for the afternoon’s RAM Qualifying Races.
Race Report and Images by Infront Moto Racing
The battle at the top of the MXGP World Championship continues to tighten up as Jorge Prado took the win for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, narrowing the gap to just eight points behind Tim Gajser, who took second for Team HRC. He also closed the gap in the race for the RAM Driving Experience as well, taking his fifth Black Plate of the year compared to the seven of Gajser!
The MX2 class again saw a battle between the Championship rivals from the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing team, with Lucas Coenen emerging triumphant after a big crash for Kay de Wolf left him lucky to still pick up second place.
Tim Gajser showed his pace on the Swiss grassland surface with the fastest time in both Practice sessions, just ahead of Prado in Time Practice, with home hero Jeremy Seewer getting amongst the top men with third for the Kawasaki Racing Team ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing star Jeffrey Herlings.
There was a strong return to racing for Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez as he launched around the first corner in the lead, just ahead of Seewer who got the banks of Swiss fans screaming for their man! Another rider back from injury, Maxime Renaux of the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP team, was a good fourth at the start behind Prado, while Herlings and Gajser were down in eighth and ninth!
On the third lap Seewer, who had made several attempts to pass Fernandez for the lead, tipped over in a deep rut and dropped to seventh. On the same lap, Renaux got passed by Gajser and Herlings as the Slovenian had sneaked past “The Bullet” on the opening lap. The three title contenders then took their turns to get past Fernandez and stayed in those positions for the final ten laps!
The crowd were kept entertained by the recovery of Seewer, who skipped deftly past Fernandez on lap eight and chased after Renaux. Meanwhile, Romain Febvre, having recently renewed his contract with the Kawasaki Racing Team, recovered from a poor start and passed Alberto Forato for ninth in the closing stages after the Standing Construct Honda man fell from sixth, but would claim the final point.
Fernandez dropped to eighth as the early pace and heat wore him down. Glenn Coldenhoff took sixth for Fantic Factory Racing, and Kevin Horgmo a charging seventh for Team Ship To Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR.
Seewer took one final lunge at Renaux but nearly fell again on the last lap, having to settle for fifth behind the Frenchman and console himself with his move up to fourth in the Championship ahead of Renaux’s absent teammate Calvin Vlaanderen.
Prado led his fellow title contenders as Gajser and Herlings took second and third. Herlings is now 36 behind the Slovenian, but the reigning Champ continues to reel in the leader with the deficit now down to just eight points!
Jorge Prado: ”I mean it’s very warm today yeah especially now I think it was way warmer than this afternoon. About the race, I made good passes and got the lead and got another qualifying race win. It’s good for the championship so let’s go get it!”
MXGP – RAM Qualifying Race – Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 24:23.958; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:01.569; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:11.492; 4. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:22.152; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:24.277; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:32.957; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:35.355; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:40.358; 9. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:48.526; 10. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +0:49.545; (BEL, Honda), +0:38.225; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:39.200
MXGP – World Championship Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 810 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 802 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 774 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 553 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 550 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 500 p.; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 494 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 363 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 306 p.; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, FAN), 283 p.
Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing star Simon Laengenfelder was fastest in the first Free Practice session, but the advantage was grabbed by Kay de Wolf in Time Practice as the red plate holder took first gate pick ahead of the German, with Lucas Coenen not far off in third.
Lucas Coenen bolted into the first corner in front, but there was confusion at the starting line as several gates appeared not to drop evenly. Further investigation revealed that the issue was caused by riders hitting the gate, so the race was allowed to continue.
Andrea Adamo had started up in second, but De Wolf was quickly past the man he intends to succeed as World Champion and took up the chase on his teammate. Laengenfelder fired around Adamo for third on lap four but could not get close to the flying Husqvarna men out front.
Adamo’s Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Liam Everts was right up there in fourth to begin with but made a stunning pass on the Italian on lap seven, cutting from outside to inside on the fast approach to the finish line!
Rick Elzinga held down a solid sixth place for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, just ahead of his teammate Thibault Benistant, the winner here last year who was in his first race back from injury. Monster Energy Triumph Racing star Mikkel Haarup fought past the Frenchman on lap nine and would also pass Elzinga for sixth as time expired. Elzinga would claim seventh, ahead of his other teammate Karlis Reisulis, who passed Benistant with three laps to go for eighth. The second Triumph of Camden McLellan took the final point in tenth.
Meanwhile, the tension was building at the front, as using some dazzling lines around the roughening Frauenfeld circuit, De Wolf closed to within a second of his teammate. It was looking like a showdown between the top two with three laps to go, but just as they caught a bunch of lapped riders, De Wolf’s rear wheel skipped sideways on the face of a jump and he suffered a spectacular crash in front of the fullest bank of fans!
With the bike looking twisted he was able to remount still in second place, and just managed to hold back Laengenfelder for second to the flag. Everts came home in fourth ahead of Adamo. It was Lucas Coenen, however, who won the RAM Qualifying Race for the seventh time this year!
All of the riders were feeling the heat from the hot Swiss sun today, but the weather is due to be cooler tomorrow with the possibility of rain on the horizon. It could be a completely different challenge for everybody on Grand Prix Sunday and should make for some fascinating racing as the sharp end of the Championship draws near!
Lucas Coenen: “It was a good race. The start was not bad. I had a good jump and I made my way up to the lead, so I was happy about that. And then I just did my own race, not really pushed on the limit because this track is quite sketchy. So I just went, not cruise mode, let’s say, but just riding smooth, because it was difficult to find the rhythm this morning. So, I mean, it’s good to kick the weekend like this. So tomorrow is another day, and we will see.”
MX2 – RAM Qualifying Race – Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 24:14.196; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:09.052; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:09.670; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:13.130; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:25.943; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:29.791; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:31.863; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:33.395; 9. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:43.189; 10. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:56.963
MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 786 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 743 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 684 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 643 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 551 p.; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 547 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 496 p.; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 444 p.; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 316 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 290 p
TIMETABLE
SUNDAY: 09:45 EMX125 Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX250 Race 2, 12:20 MXe Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2
