The hot sun continued to beat down on the Afyon Motor Sports Center as the MXGP of Türkiye hosted the crucial 18th round of the MXGP World Motocross Championships. The track crews worked feverishly to keep the track in the best possible condition, as a brisk wind conspired with the heat to dry the dirt and bake it hard.
Race Report and Images by Infront Moto Racing
The ongoing battle for the MXGP World Championship took another turn as Jorge Prado claimed the overall win, the 47th of his career, for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, reducing the points lead of Team HRC’s Tim Gajser to just 14 points!
After a disaster at the previous round, Lucas Coenen got back to winning ways for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, as a near-perfect weekend helped him to close in on his teammate Kay de Wolf and keep his Championship hopes alive!
In the morning Warm-Up it was Prado who set the fastest time, with Andrea Bonacorsi a surprise second for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, ahead of Gajser and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing talisman Jeffrey Herlings.
The first race started explosively as Romain Febvre tangled with Herlings and Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez just out of the gate, tipping the Kawasaki Racing Team man upside-down just metres into the race! However, his teammate Jeremy Seewer rocketed across the Fox Holeshot line to claim his fifth award of the season, and a vital lead ahead of Gajser and Fernandez, as Maxime Renaux fought his way up to fourth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, and Prado also had work to do!
Renaux moved forward impressively past Fernandez, then Gajser saved a big mistake in a banked corner which let the Frenchman past into second! Prado had moved up to fourth at this point and began pressing his Championship rival, but the third rider in the Championship suffered what could be a vital blow to his title hopes. That was Herlings, who had recovered to fifth after his tangle with Febvre but crashed all on his own at the end of the pit lane straight, being burnt by his own exhaust pipe in the process! The Dutchman looked to be in immediate pain and could only recover to tenth.
Seewer, sensing that none of the big three were close to attacking him, started to streak away at the front of the field, while Prado made a solid inside pass on Gajser to take third! He looked a dead cert to quickly blitz past Renaux, but the Yamaha man was having none of it! Gajser kept a watching brief in fourth as his teammate Fernandez was passed by Bonacorsi, putting in one of the best rides of his rookie season to finish fifth at the track where he clinched the EMX250 title last year!
Glenn Coldenhoff, riding in pain for Fantic Factory Racing after a big crash on Saturday, was riding well in seventh, keeping back the recovering Febvre, who passed Alberto Forato of the Standing Construct Honda team on lap nine. Fernandez frustratingly crashed at the start of the final lap, dropping from sixth to ninth, the last rider not to be caught by Herlings. His crash lifted Coldenhoff to a hard-earned sixth, Febvre seventh, and Forato eighth.
Try as he might, Prado could not get past Renaux, and even came under pressure from Gajser in the closing laps until the Slovenian stalled just before the two-lap board came out. The Spaniard finished third but was obviously not happy as he remonstrated to his pit crew after the chequered flag!
Renaux’s second place was his best since the second race at this track last year, but Seewer cruised to take his first race win for the Kawasaki Racing Team by over four seconds at the flag.
A frustrated Prado had suffered with goggle problems from being behind Renaux for so long in race one, so there was only one thing for it in race two – a trademark Jorge Prado Fox Holeshot! It was his fifteenth of the season and he now cannot be caught for the overall trophy in that competition this year. However, Gajser, Febvre and Herlings were right on his tail, with “The Bullet” working quickly past the Frenchman to make his charge on the leading pair!
Race two was a classic case of four of the best riders in the world pushing to the absolute limit, the Acerbis Fastest Lap Award passing between them several times before Prado put in the best of all on lap twelve. That was timed to counter an attack from Gajser, who in turn had just managed to shake off the attentions of Herlings. The Slovenian hit neutral in a corner just as he was on the back wheel of the defending World Champion, and that was enough to halt his charge forward.
Most of the passing was being done further behind them. Bonacorsi, looking to match his fifth from race one, started in that position but the chasing pack of Coldenhoff, Seewer, and Forato caught him towards the final third of the race. Coldenhoff was able to move up to fifth, holding off an attack from Seewer, who had charged from outside of the top ten on the opening lap to salvage an overall podium finish.
Forato managed to get around Bonacorsi in a close battle to be top Italian in the race, which the Honda man won to finish seventh. Behind them, Jan Pancar completed an excellent weekend for TEM JP253 KTM Racing in ninth, with Mattia Guadagnini taking tenth for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.
Ultimately, no-one could catch Prado, who brought the GASGAS home for the second race win and the overall GP trophy. Gajser limited the damage by holding off Herlings for second, as the top three finished within four and a half seconds of each other, and Febvre stayed in a solid fourth, which was to be his position in the GP as well.
Renaux’s eleventh from a terrible start was enough to salvage fifth overall ahead of Herlings, Coldenhoff, Bonacorsi, and Forato, while Fernandez just did enough for tenth overall.
Herlings now sits 53 points off the top, meaning that he really needs a lot of luck to fall his way to be Champion this year. The gap between red plate holder Gajser and Prado is now 14 points, meaning that if the Spaniard wins every race left in the final two rounds, then he will be Champion again no matter what. However, Motocross is rarely so simple!
Jorge Prado: “It was a perfect second race, even though I made a little mistake, I could, let’s say, regain the position and super happy. We gained points and that’s the goal right now. Onto the next, last two rounds of the season. Last push and we’ll see how it ends. Thanks guys.
Tim Gajser: “It was a solid day again. Finishing on the podium, that’s our goal. Collecting good points for the championship. Definitely I felt that a bit better in that second race. First one, I was just struggling with the lines. My line choices were not correct and then yeah two riders passed me and it was not easy to pass. I was always there waiting for mistakes but Jorge was riding a perfect race. My speed was good so I have to be happy. Let’s see with two to go. I want to say a huge thank you to all my team, everybody around me. “
Jeremy Seewer: “Two different races, but I will take that race win above anything else. I mean, I still wanted to do a top three in race two, but start is everything here, and I got squeezed after the gate and then I had to make my way back. I almost passed Glen (Coldenhoff) in the end for P2 overall, but yeah, I take that, especially after that season. I’ve been working hard. I didn’t give up. I never quit, and it paid off today so super happy with that, and now two to go”
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), 35:47.816; 2. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:04.345; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:06.639; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:08.155; 5. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:29.523; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:36.913; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:38.009; 8. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +0:39.203; 9. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:49.743; 10. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:54.203;
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 34:53.539; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:02.565; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:04.245; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:47.236; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:49.529; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:50.845; 7. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +1:03.153; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +1:09.983; 9. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:10.906; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Husqvarna), +1:12.712
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 45 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 40 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 40 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 32 p.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 32 p.; 6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 31 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 31 p.; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 29 p.; 9. Alberto Forato (ITA, HON), 27 p.; 10. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 21 p
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 910 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 896 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 857 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 632 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 566 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 550 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 545 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 403 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 344 p.; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, FAN), 306 p
MXGP – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Honda, 927 points; 2. GASGAS, 896 p.; 3. KTM, 869 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 773 p.; 5. Yamaha, 688 p.; 6. Fantic, 587 p.; 7. Husqvarna, 294 p.; 8. Beta, 164 p.; 9. Ducati, 10 p
With Lucas Coenen setting the fastest time in morning Warm-Up for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, Ferruccio Zanchi was a good second in the session, and the Italian who celebrated his 18th birthday on Friday took those good vibes to claim his first career GP Fox Holeshot Award in race one for Team HRC!
However, his lead was short-lived as Simon Laengenfelder found amazing drive into the second corner to take the lead for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, with Coenen hot on his heels. Fastest man in Saturday’s Practice sessions, Mikkel Haarup, got up into third for Monster Energy Triumph Racing, but coming out of the fourth corner he hit the ground! Zanchi could not miss him and also went down, as did Haarup’s teammate Camden McLellan, but it was Championship leader Kay de Wolf who had a lucky escape, having to run off the track but staying upright to charge again towards the front!
Meanwhile, De Wolf’s teammate and Championship rival Coenen fired past Laengenfelder and tried to build a lead from there. RAM Qualifying Race winner Liam Everts was initially third for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, with the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 pairing of Thibault Benistant and Karlis Reisulis chasing him. Everts slid to the ground in the first corner at the start of lap three however, allowing the Yamaha riders to pass him!
Quentin Prugnieres was showing good speed for F & H Racing, and he put an aggressive pass on Everts to get into fifth! He then mounted the most impressive charge we’ve seen from him in MX2, passing both Yamaha riders in successive laps to get up to third! Everts came through with him, however, and suddenly powered past the Frenchman from Réunion Island to take back third at the halfway point of the race, the end of lap eight.
By this time De Wolf had charged up to fifth, bringing Everts’ teammate, a slow-starting Andrea Adamo with him, as Benistant crashed down the order. His teammate Rick Elzinga was rising into the top ten, but had to deal with the Triumph pairing of Haarup and McLellan, who were fighting back from their first lap crash, as well as fighting each other for much of the race!
At the front, Laengenfelder had surprised Coenen by passing him for the lead on lap seven, but the Belgian was far from done. Prugnieres fell just after being passed by Everts and dropped to an eventual tenth place finish. Elzinga passed Reisulis to put the two Yamaha men eighth and ninth, behind the Triumphs of Haarup and McLellan, who got back to sixth and seventh respectively.
Everts, De Wolf, and Adamo held station to bring home third to fifth positions, but Coenen had a sting in the tail for Laengenfelder, as the pair swapped places several times! The Belgian made the decisive move with two laps to go to take his 13th race win of the season and close the gap in the Championship to 47 points between the teammates!
Those two teammates knew that the chips were down, and the pair battled for the Fox Holeshot Award at the start of race two! The Belgian won that, only his second of the season, but De Wolf grabbed the advantage into the second corner, and it looked set to be a duel between the Championship rivals!
However, a French fly got in the mix, as Prugnieres again showed audacity by passing several riders, including Coenen with a stunning move to take second by the end of the first full lap! His pit board gave the instruction that he was already adhering to – “No Respect” for his more experienced competition! He held fast as Coenen twice tried to pass on the corner leading onto the start straight, but finally the Husqvarna man got through on lap six, quickly followed by Haarup.
Everts was the next rider along two laps later, and with a slightly aggressive move took fourth from the rookie. The retaliatory move in the next corner ended with Quentin being thrown from his bike, miraculously landing on his feet! He would eventually finish thirteenth, a scant reward for his early speed.
Laengenfelder had been pushed down the field on the opening lap and had to work back to fourth with a move on Everts through the waves. Behind them, Elzinga finished sixth ahead of Reisulis, with McLellan taking eighth, as he would do in the overall. Adamo had suffered another terrible start but made a last lap move on Zanchi to claim ninth, and seventh overall, with his countryman finishing tenth in the race.
In the overall GP it was Benistant who claimed tenth with two eleventh places, behind Reisulis in ninth. The other Yamaha of Elzinga claimed sixth overall behind Haarup, and Laengenfelder’s pass on Everts was good enough to take the final step of the podium away from the Belgian.
After getting past Prugnieres, Coenen set about the near four-second gap to De Wolf and reeled his teammate in as his pit board read “Showtime” on lap eleven! The red plate holder held on grimly to the lead, but finally with huge speed on the inside of the split-lane section, it was Lucas who took the advantage on the very last lap of the weekend! Kay spun sideways in a corner trying to take it back, and the race was done!
An ecstatic Lucas Coenen took his eighth career GP win, and seventh of the season, matching his teammate in both departments as they took a 1-2 on the overall podium. The gap between them is still a significant 44 points, but the chances of De Wolf wrapping up the title in China now look slim, and in the MX2 class anything is possible!
In both classes the fight is still very much on, and the paddock packs the flight cases to head to Shanghai for the penultimate round, The Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China next weekend! Make sure you don’t miss the final movements in the nail-biting 2024 MXGP World Motocross Championships!
Lucas Coenen: “It was a good bounce back from Switzerland where I struggled a lot and made some mistakes. But today first race I almost did the same as second race, following the lines of Simon (Laengenfelder) and then Kay (de Wolf) in the second race, a bit later in the race but it worked well for me. Track was tough so I had to make my move and let’s sent it. I made my way up to P1 in the last lap, so that’s amazing to pass like that, Now we have still two rounds to go. We’ll have fun and we’ll go back to work.”
Kay de Wolf: “it was a difficult weekend. I felt actually really good in RAM Qualifying and then something happened that could have been avoided. But yeah, today was a new day and I struggled a lot this morning in the first race as well. To pass, the track was really slippery in the beginning I turned it around amazingly and a good one for the big picture and I’m happy with it so yeah I’ll take it all in and go on to China now.”
Simon Laengenfelder: “I was feeling good. The track was really different from yesterday, but I enjoyed riding it. It was really difficult to pass, so second race was tough to get in that fourth position, and even to stay there when you’re sandwiched between two riders. But we made it happen, third overall, so we’re going to go to China happy.!”
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 34:49.525; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:05.288; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:42.197; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:52.862; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:55.253; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:55.458; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +1:00.815; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:07.687; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:11.514; 10. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:16.808;
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 34:23.346; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:03.990; 3. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:10.281; 4. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:11.457; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:11.835; 6. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:25.495; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:26.490; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:27.617; 9. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:43.661; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:44.817;
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1 . Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 50 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 40 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 40 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 35 p.; 6. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 28 p.; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 28 p.; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 27 p.; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 26 p.; 10. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 20 p
MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 873 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 829 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 774 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 727 p.; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 624 p.; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 601 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 539 p.; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 456 p.; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 368 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 338 p
MX2 – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Husqvarna, 995 points; 2. KTM, 866 p.; 3. GASGAS, 781 p.; 4. Triumph, 670 p.; 5. Yamaha, 632 p.; 6. Honda, 373 p.; 7. Kawasaki, 337 p.; 8. Fantic, 251 p.; 9. TM, 60 p
