As the teams and crews of the MXGP Motocross World Championships enjoy a week without travelling before the MXGP of Lombok this weekend, the track workers prepare the Selaparang Circuit to run in the opposite direction for the second Grand Prix at the venue in as many weekends, ready for round twelve to take place in the heat of Indonesia.
Words and Images by Infront Moto Racing
Jorge Prado and Kay de Wolf took the victories at last week’s MXGP of West Nusa Tenggara, named after the governmental province that contains the island of Lombok, and they will be hoping to add themselves to a tradition of double GP winners among the islands in recent years.
In the MXGP class, the winner of the first Indonesian round has always repeated the victory at the second event. MX2 has only seen this once, and it was Jorge Prado that did it back in 2019!
Prado has now won the most GPs in this part of the world with four in total, while it was De Wolf’s first win in Indonesia.
The reigning World Champion Jorge Prado performed a stunning bounce-back for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing at the first round in Lombok, hacking down the Championship lead of Team HRC’s Tim Gajser from 34 points to 22. Jeffrey Herlings, who lies third for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, also cut into the Slovenian’s advantage over him, which is now down to 58 points.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider Calvin Vlaanderen earned his first podium of the season last weekend, consolidating his fourth place in the Championship ahead of Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jeremy Seewer. Both men took their first overall GP wins in Indonesia, Seewer in 2017, and Vlaanderen in 2018.
Prado’s win at the weekend was his first here in the MXGP class, but his fourth in total after his first in MX2 in 2018, and the double in 2019. Gajser stays on three, as he took the double in 2019 plus the single event at Sumbawa in 2022. Romain Febvre won both Indonesian GPs in 2023, and Herlings a similar double in 2018.
Fantic Factory Racing MXGP star Brian Bogers has to miss this weekend’s GP after dislocating his shoulder in Saturday’s RAM Qualifying Race, he has dropped out of the series top ten as Valentin Guillod moved up for Ship to Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR. The experienced star Glenn Coldenhoff from Fantic Factory Racing MXGP find himself 7th position in the Championship and will hope to bounce back after his 9th place in the first Indonesian round.
Can Herlings, Gajser, or any of the chasing pack prevent Prado from doing the double near the equator, or is there another twist in the complex tale of the 2024 MXGP season?
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 555 Points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 533 Points; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 497 Pts; 4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 381 Pts; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 374 Pts; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 327 Points; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 327 Pts; 8. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 274 Pts; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 238 Pts; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 224 Pts.
MX2 Championship leader Kay de Wolf scored his first double race win of the season for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing at the MXGP of West Nusa Tenggara, stretching his Championship lead further to 65 points over his teammate Lucas Coenen, who in turn moved back past Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing star Simon Laengenfelder for second place. The German is still just four points further back, and will hope to have built up more resistance to the heat and humidity in his time here after suffering in the previous round.
De Wolf and Lucas Coenen are now the only two riders in MX2 who have won GPs in this part of the world, and only once in MX2 has a rider won a second straight GP in Indonesia, which was Prado in 2019. Last year, Jago Geerts took the MXGP of Lombok win in MX2 after Lucas Coenen won his first ever GP in Sumbawa the week before.
Andrea Adamo had the best weekend of his world title defence last weekend and cut the gap down to his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Liam Everts in their battle for fourth in the Championship. Monster Energy Triumph Racing star Mikkel Haarup suffered last lap crashes in both of Sunday’s GP races, only losing a podium finish on a tiebreak, so the Dane will be fired up to make amends in this weekend’s event. Although Sacha Coenen lost his GP winning streak last weekend, the Belgian took his 11th Fox Holeshot Award, giving him a 50% ratio for the season so far, so the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing man has a good chance of getting out front again!
Although the Championship gap has grown, the racing is never predictable in the ever-hectic MX2 class with multiple riders capable of battling at the front!
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 532 Points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 467 Pts; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 463 Points; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 432 Pts; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 417 Pts; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 355 Pts; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 322 Pts; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 312 Pts; 9. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 226 Pts; 10. Quentin Prugnieres (FRA, KAW). 217 Pts.
TIMETABLE (Local Timing UTC+8)
SATURDAY: 9:15 MX2 Start Practice, 9:45 MXGP Start Practice, 10:45 MX2 Free Practice, 11:15 MXGP Free Practice, 12:45 MX Open Free/Time Practice,13:20 MX2 Time Practice, 14:00 MXGP Time Practice, 14:45 MX Open Race 1, 15:25 MX2 RAM Qualifying Race, 16:10 MXGP RAM Qualifying Race.
SUNDAY: 10:00 MX Open Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 12:15 MX2 Race 1, 13:15 MXGP Race 1, 15:10 MX2 Race 2, 16:10 MXGP Race 2.
