Prado goes 1-1 at MXGP of Sardegna

2024 FIM Motocross World Championship
Round Three – MXGP of Sardegna
Crossodromo Comunale “Le Dune”

The season’s first taste of sand greeted the MXGP World Motocross Championship at round three at the “Le Dune” or “Riola Sand” of Sardegna in the local lingo. As well as a tough, ever-shifting surface that carved up throughout the weekend, the challenge was amplified by temperatures close to 30 degress.

Reigning MXGP World Champion Jorge Prado took a dominant win for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing in Saturday’s RAM Qualifying Race, as did his fellow red plate holder Kay de Wolf in the MX2 class for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.

Both of the Championship leaders continued their perfect winning records with their third overall victories in a row, although classic challengers were on hand to give notice that they are ready to catch them if they slip up.

MXGP – Qualifying Race

After a collision with another rider caused a crash in Free Practice for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s red plate holder Jorge Prado, he came back to top the table in Time Practice to grab first gate pick for the RAM Qualifying Race, but only by seven-hundredths of a second from Jeffrey Herlings, who was showing his pace for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing in second.

For once, Prado was beaten to the first corner, this time by Kawasaki Racing Team pilot Jeremy Seewer, who bolted into the lead ahead of the reigning champ as Tim Gajser slotted his Team HRC Honda into third. Seewer’s teammate Romain Febvre was less fortunate and crashed in turn one, then suffered a technical issue as he fought back, coming to a halt after eight minutes of the race.

Seewer made a small mistake halfway round the first lap, allowing Prado to pounce just as Gajser was starting to threaten him. Tim got past the Swiss rider on the following circulation and tried to prevent Prado from pulling away. Calvin Vlaanderen started to challenge Herlings for 4th but spun sideways by the Pit Lane , allowing the Standing Construct Honda of Pauls Jonass through into a 5th place which he kept to the flag.

At half distance, Herlings got onto Seewer’s back wheel and the Kawasaki man jumped too far into a long-left hander, giving “The Bullet” his chance to move into third.

Prado was able to stretch his lead to over eight-seconds from Gajser at one point, and despite a late tangle with a lapped rider he kept it all under control to win yet again.

MXGP – Qualifying Race Results

MXGP Race One

As in Saturday’s RAM Qualifying Race, Jorge Prado was beaten to the Fox Holeshot Award of race one by Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jeremy Seewer, but a quick inside move into the second corner saw the reigning World Champion back in his usual leading position.

Team HRC’s Tim Gajser made a quick move past the Swiss rider in turn four and Pauls Jonass took his Standing Construct Honda through into third at the same time.

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The two Honda men set after chasing the Red Plate Holder, while last year’s winner, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings, had started outside the top five and had to haul his way through the pack. This he did to great effect, reaching third place by lap six, but at that point the leading pair were far off into the distance.

Seewer fell dramatically after five minutes, but would recover to finish 11th, while his teammate Romain Febvre, consigned to the far outside of the start gate after being unable to finish Saturday’s race, worked his way up to sixth place with a series of passes. Jonass slipped to fifth behind the Fantic Factory Racing pilot Glenn Coldenhoff in the closing laps.

At this time it looked like Gajser was closing in on Prado, getting to within two seconds of the Spaniard, but was never allowed to get closer as the champ took yet another race win. Herlings a distant third, Coldenhoff fourth and Jonass fifth.

MXGP Race One Results

MXGP Race Two

Race two again saw Seewer fast out of the gate, but Prado was right there immediately to just edge ahead over the Fox Holeshot Award line. Herlings railed around the Kawasaki man in turn two and now it was “The Bullet” who had the task of challenging Prado.

Behind him, JM Racing Honda stand-in Tim Edberg was briefly up into fourth, before Jonass and Gajser pushed past early on. Febvre had to charge once more, nearly crashing in a dramatic moment where he nearly collided with JK Racing Yamaha’s Isak Gifting on the take-off of one of the biggest jumps on the track.

After 16 minutes, Herlings had got to within striking distance of Prado and was hoping to uncork some of his old magic, but the Dutchman just pushed the front end too hard into a left-hand corner and was suddenly on the ground. Gajser accepted the gift of second place, which kept the Championship damage to a minimum, but the leader was off the hook and cruised to his fourth straight GP race win.

The Slovenian fell on the final lap, but he had enough time to pick himself up and still claim second ahead of Herlings, Jonass, Febvre, and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Calvin Vlaanderen. Calvin’s guest teammate for the weekend, FIM World Sand Races Champion Todd Kellett, ran as high as 13th before a small crash put him back to 16th at the flag for his first Grand Prix points since 2021.

Jorge Prado – P1

“I’m in a good moment right now, I’m feeling very good on the bike and we do a great work with the team. I’m so happy to be winning here in the sand again as it’s been a long time since I got an overall in the sand. I was very close last year few times but I guess now you can call me the ‘Sand Man’ again!”

Tim Gajser – P2

“I mean it was a consistent weekend so I have to be happy with that. We take quite good points for the championship. I didn’t feel that good the whole weekend as I was struggling a bit with the bike set up but anyway, I’m happy to finish on the podium. Now sand is done and we go to Arco (Trentino) and I’m looking forward to be there with so many fans. I want to say a huge thank you to all my team as everybody is working super hard and I thank everybody around me and all the fans!”

Jeffrey Herlings – P3

“It’s good as every GPs it’s getting better. From Argentina to Sardegna I improved every time. Especially after the crash of yesterday in the warm-up and my sore ribs but I make no excuses, third was all I had for today but I feel like we’re getting better and better so let’s keep on going.”

MXGP Race Two Results

MXGP Overall

Prado took the round win, on a perfect 50-points, Tim Gajser the runner-up on 44 and Herlings third on 40-points. Jonass and Febvre rounding out the top five.

Prado’s 41st career Grand Prix win now puts him 17 points clear of Gajser, and Herlings’ first podium of the season has moved him up to third in the standings. Will the strong fan support that Gajser always gets at the MXGP of Trentino spur him on to challenge the Champion next weekend? He certainly needs to start clawing the points back, as does anyone else with eyes on his title!

MXGP Round Overall

MXGP Championship Points – Top 20

MX2 – Qualifying Race

Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing teammates, Lucas Coenen and series leader Kay de Wolf, were over a second clear of everybody in both Practice sessions, with the Belgian holding the edge over the red plate holder.

However, as brother Sacha grabbed the holeshot for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Lucas hit the floor in turn one alongside reigning Champion and Sacha’s teammate Andrea Adamo.

The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 pairing of Rick Elzinga and Thibault Benistant pushed past Sacha in the second corner, with De Wolf following them through into third. Elzinga held off his more experienced teammate and was enjoying the sand, as was De Wolf who passed Benistant on his second attempt to run second at the end of the first full lap.

It took Kay just one more lap to dive inside the line of his countryman in a slick move, from which he instantly powered away from the opposition. Meanwhile, Camden McLellan had a great start for Monster Energy Triumph Racing and moved past Sacha Coenen into fourth at half-distance. At one point the South African ran up the banking of the final corner in an attempt to pass Elzinga, who had just been overtaken by Benistant, but stayed in fourth to the finish for his best result of the year so far.

Benistant did all he could to keep De Wolf honest, and the gap was 3.3 seconds at the close. Elzinga also had his best finish yet in a great third from McLellan and a charging Simon Laengenfelder, as the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing man took fifth place ahead of Liam Everts.

MX2 Race One

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Sacha Coenen took his third Fox Holeshot Award of the season in race one on Sunday, and looked intent on keeping the lead for longer than before, but he couldn’t resist the unstoppable force of De Wolf who launched his machine off the finish line jump further than Sacha to lead at the start of lap three.

It was starting to look ominous for the rest, until Lucas made a swift pass on his brother during lap four, and proceeded to reel in his teammate. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo battled with the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing team leader Simon Laengenfelder, as Sacha Coenen fell from third on lap nine.

The position was gratefully taken by Camden McLellan, having his best weekend yet for Monster Energy Triumph Racing.

Twenty minutes into the race saw some mistakes creeping into the leader’s riding as his teammate drew near, and on lap thirteen De Wolf ran slightly high on the Pit Lane corner, giving Lucas the half-chance he needed to fire past without a second invitation.

He then set some blazing lap times to score his first GP race win of the season. McLellan stayed in third, holding off the charge from Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rider Thibault Benistant. The Frenchman dropped the bike on the last lap, however, and would finish 10th, as Adamo and Laengenfelder inherited fourth and fifth.

MX2 Race One Results

MX2 Race Two

De Wolf looked a little more concerned on the start line of race two, but while Sacha Coenen again grabbed the Fox Holeshot Award ahead of Adamo and Laengenfelder, Kay pulled a stunning move around turn two to catapult himself past all of them and into the lead. Haarup was having no such fun, however, picking up his Triumph in the first corner, just as he did in race one. The Dane would recover well to an eventual ninth.

Lucas Coenen saw his teammate start to disappear, and swiftly dispatched both his brother and Laengenfelder to move into second by the start of the first full lap, although the German did resist by briefly moving back ahead. Sacha dropped the bike from fourth at the ten minute mark, promoting Adamo, who chased after Laengenfelder again.

Incredibly, Lucas got close to Kay, but finally pushed just a little too hard and hit the floor in a banked right-hand corner. Laengenfelder was promoted briefly, but again got passed by the Belgian before the finish.

He would also lose third to the charging Adamo, but the Italian made a mistake on the corner before Pit Lane, and blasted down the back of the mechanics’ area to maintain his position. The rules state that a rider must come to a stop at some point in Pit Lane, so this move led to a disqualification for the reigning World Champion, costing him an overall podium position.

This left Laengenfelder third in the race ahead of Adamo’s teammate Liam Everts and McLellan, whose fifth place was enough for third overall, making it the second podium for the Triumph team in their first three rounds.

Kay De Wolf – P1

”Lucas was doing also an amazing job in the second race. He really kept me . Three in a row is amazing and hopefully we can keep this momentuk going into next week and we just keep aiming for a podium that’s the main goal. I l;ook forward for Trentinoand I can’t thank the team enough for this one!”

Lucas Coenen – P2

”First race was perfect as I managed to get Kay in the end. In the second race I had a bad start but managed to get back in his wheel but I made a stupid tipover, I wanted to follow him like I did in race one but this mistake put me to where I am now. The win is coming though and the first podium of the season is not bad.”

Camden McLellan – P3

“I’m not feeling very great right now but I’m very happy and I can’t thanks Monster Energy Triumph Racing crew enough. They took a chance on me and it’s paying off as I’m getting better every weekend. I want to thank also Vinc (Bereni), my two mechanics. It was a long long weekend and long second race and I’m feeling it but I’m happy.”

MX2 Race Two Results

MX2 Overall

De Wolf took the chequered flag in race two by 11 seconds, which gave him the overall victory once more. Lucas Coenen had to be satisfied with his first overall podium of the season, tying on equal points but second. Camden Mc Lellan closed out the round podium in third for Triumph. Rounding out the top five was Langenfelder and Everts.

Kay de Wolf has extended his lead to 170-points, 29-clear of Langenfelder, who is 17-points clear of Lucas Coenen in third. Thibault Benistant and Andrea Adamo rounding out the top five overall.

MX2 Round Overall

MX2 Championship Standings