Prado wins MXGP of Turkey | Lucas Coenen tops MX2

2024 FIM Motocross World Championship
Round 18 – MXGP of Turkiye – Afyon

Sunny weather welcomed the MXGP of Türkiye as Round 18 of the MXGP World Motocross Championships, where the ongoing battle for the MXGP title took another turn as Jorge Prado claimed the overall win, the 47th of his career 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 his winning way, as a near-perfect weekend helped him to close in on his teammate Kay de Wolf and keep his Championship hopes alive, although a 44-point gap is a sizeable challenge.

MXGP of Turkiye Video Highlights

MXGP – Qualifying Race

Four-time Afyon winner Jeffrey Herlings was fastest in Free Practice for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, but Gajser narrowly took the first gate pick from the Dutchman in Time Practice, with reigning Champion Jorge Prado third for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing.

Out of the gate, Prado looked strong, but he swerved towards the outside of the first corner and left Gajser to take the holeshot. However, with one of his best starts of the season, Herlings carved to the inside of the Slovenian to lead heading into turn two.

Prado had to battle with Romain Febvre to get the better of the Kawasaki Racing Team rider for third, but Gajser was giving Herlings all he could handle in the battle for the lead. The circuit was fast and rough, and it caught out Gajser on the exit of a left-hander as he briefly ran off-track in his pursuit of Herlings and just held off Prado to keep second.

Meanwhile, Febvre’s teammate Jeremy Seewer was battling with Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP man Maxime Renaux for fifth position. That fight was eventually won by the Spaniard with a pass on lap nine of twelve.

Seewer just fended off Renaux for sixth, while Italians Mattia Guadagnini for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing and Andrea Bonacorsi for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP claimed points for eighth and ninth. The final point for tenth was taken by Jan Pancar, who had impressed with the fourth best lap in Time Practice for the TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team.

At the front, Gajser finally edged inside Herlings on lap seven, unnerving “The Bullet” who ran off the track as the pass was being made. He was able to recover, but a lap later Prado also found his way through to take second place and set about the leader with some of his fastest laps of the race! Herlings had to fight off Febvre to keep the top three position, which he kept by just 0.817 of a second at the finish.

Gajser managed to lift his pace to keep Prado behind him, and the winning margin was just over five seconds by the end.

MXGP – Top 10 Qualifying Race Results

MXGP Race One

The first race started explosively as Romain Febvre tangled with Herlings and Ruben Fernandez just out of the gate, tipping the Kawasaki Racing Team man upside-down just metres into the race.

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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.

Renaux moved forward 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 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.

MXGP Race One Results

MXGP Race Two

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 in ninth, with Mattia Guadagnini taking tenth.

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.

MXGP Race Two Results

MXGP 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 – P1

“I really needed this victory. I was so unlucky in the first moto, my pants opened on the first lap, and then in the last ten minutes the lens came off the frame of my goggles. It’s a shame to have so much bad luck when it was a moto think I could have made passes and gone for the win. Then I came back strong in the second moto with a strong start. I made a little mistake and Gajser passed me – but I reacted straight away to regain position. We gained more points this weekend, and that is the goal right now. Let’s go on to the last two rounds of the season – to make a last big push, and see how it ends!”

Tim Gajser – P2

“After winning the qualification race I was excited to go racing today, but I didn’t quite have the same feeling on the track today. What they did overnight didn’t really make the track better and it was very one-lined and I couldn’t make the pass in that second race. Still, I can’t be too disappointed as I’m still leading the championship with two rounds remaining and I’m confident I can get the job done. A big thanks to all the team for all their effort and we’ll keep building for China next weekend.”

Jeremy Seewer – P3

“With a start like that it always makes life easier. I’ve been feeling good all weekend but I even surprised myself today; those top-three have been so fast this year so to beat them was an achievement. I took the holeshot in race one and soon got a gap so I could relax and play with the track. I kept pushing for half the race, then I could move into cruise mode to control the race. My riding was good in the second race too but I got squeezed after the gate and had to ride through the pack. I almost caught Glenn, which would have given me P2 overall, but the most important success this weekend was that moto win; We’ve been working for this and the hard work finally paid off.”

Romain Febvre – P4

“At the start of the first race another rider hit me and I crashed in the start straight; I was dead-last and came back pretty well with a good speed, but on this track it’s so difficult to pass that I lost time just to come back in the top-ten. Then it was more difficult, even if my lap times were just one second slower than the leaders even while I was behind other riders. It’s a shame as I was sure that a good result was possible, and I used a lot of energy in this comeback. Second moto my start was good; I was immediately fourth and I was able to follow the leaders for the first ten minutes but then they made the gap.”

Maxime Renaux – P5

“It was a bittersweet day for me today. I had a very good first race to finish second, but then early on in Race Two I fell and my chance for a podium was gone. But overall, I’m happy about my weekend and finishing second in the first race is really positive. Now its onto China next weekend.”

Jeffrey Herlings – P6

“I believe Jorge, Tim and me were the fastest guys this weekend but they both finished on the podium and I crashed in the first moto and lost a lot of time, as well as burning my arm on the exhaust. In was in quite some pain. I had to come from last for P10. I managed to be good in the second moto but it was almost impossible to pass on this track. We just followed each other. No podium today. I’m looking forward to China. The season is coming to an end and two races to go. Realistically the championship is going to be very difficult but we’ll do what we can.”

Andrea Bonacorsi – P8

“I’ve had a really good weekend here in Turkey. I felt good on the bike and my riding was good, so it’s been quite decent. I had a great first race to finish fifth and then I was running fifth for a long time in Race Two until my footpeg hit a rock in a deep rut and it damaged it. I could still ride but not how I would have liked, so I dropped to eighth for eighth overall.”

Ruben Fernandez – P10

“Difficult day today, although I had some good speed in that first race before the crash, riding in sixth place until the very last lap. That was disappointing and I think that affected me a bit in race two but I kept fighting as much as I could and 10th overall is still okay and something I can build upon. Without that crash, it would have been a really good day, but even with it, I can take a lot of positives from the weekend and I am looking forward to China and seeing what I can do there and trying to finish this season strong.”

Mattia Guadagnini – P11

“This weekend was all about staying consistent and pushing through. In the first moto, I struggled a bit to break into the top 10 but managed a solid 12th place, earning important points. I knew I had to step it up in the second moto, and I was able to improve, finishing 10th. It’s not where I wanted to be, but I’m happy with the progress and points. Now, I’m looking forward to giving my all in China and finishing the season strong!”

MXGP Round Overall

MXGP Championship Points – Top 20

MX2 – Qualifying Race

Mikkel Haarup was the master of putting in the fastest lap at the end of both Practice sessions to earn himself the first gate pick for Monster Energy Triumph Racing, but the times were incredibly close with 1.5 seconds covering the top seven riders. Simon Laengenfelder in second and Liam Everts in third were both within a third of a second of the Dane.

Championship chaser Lucas Coenen took the holeshot, with his twin brother Sacha Coenen absent through injury. Haarup and Everts were right with him, though, and the Belgian fired past the Triumph man on the run to the third corner. Haarup also had Thibault Benistant edge past him but by the end of the first lap he was back into third.

As they battled, Everts made a brilliant move into the wave section to take the lead from Coenen, whose teammate Kay de Wolf was building his challenge, passing Benistant for fourth on the second lap. Laengenfelder was behind them, but got caught out by Ferruccio Zanchi, who turned 18 on Friday.

The German would take until lap seven to get back past the Honda man, but on the same lap he also pulled a stunning outside move on Benistant to take fifth. The Frenchman then slipped behind Zanchi on lap nine, as Haarup’s teammate Camden McLellan and Everts’ teammate Andrea Adamo also moved past Karlis Reisulis for eighth and ninth.

The top three of Everts, Coenen, and Haarup were set for the race, although Coenen closed to within a second of his Belgian compatriot at the finish line jump. The big move on the final lap came from Laengenfelder, who drove up the inside of De Wolf to try and grab fourth place.

He succeeded, but only after the pair had to pick their bikes up due to the collision as their lines came together. De Wolf was thrown off the side of the track, very lucky to be uninjured but losing the most time.

Zanchi, Benistant, McLellan, and Adamo all moved up at the Championship leader’s expense to finish in fifth to eighth, with De Wolf salvaging two points for ninth ahead of Reisulis.

MX2 – Qualifying Race Results

MX2 Race One

Ferruccio Zanchi claimed 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, 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, 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 for 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.

MX2 Race One Results

MX2 Race Two

De Wolf and Coenen battled for the Fox Holeshot Award at the start of race two, the Belgian winning only his second holeshot 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.

MX2 Race Two Results

MX2 Overall

The gap between Lucas Coenen and Kay de Wolf 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. Simon Laengenfelder is a more distant third on 774 points to de Wolf’s 873 and Lucas’s 829. Next closest is Liam Everts on 727 and Mikkel Haarup on 624 for Triumph.

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.

Lucas Coenen – P1

“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 – P2

“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 – P3

“I have been feeling good all weekend here in Türkiye. The track changed a lot from Saturday to Sunday, but I enjoyed both conditions. It was really difficult to pass. The second moto, in particular, was tough to get that fourth position and keep it when you’re sandwiched between two riders. But we made it happen; third overall, which feels really good. We’re going to head to China happy and ready to fight for more!”

Liam Everts – P4

“A positive weekend. Winning the quali race was a good thing and then I was with the leaders in the first moto until I tucked the front. I worked my way back to P3: it was a good moto actually. In the second race I didn’t feel that comfortable in the beginning but then found a way to push later on. I just missed the podium so I’m a bit gutted about that. We need to work a bit more on the starts. If we can get that better then we’ll be on a very good way. We’ll have some fun in China.”

Rick Elzinga – P6

“Overall, the weekend was OK although Saturday was not so good. With the team I turned things around for today and felt better and better as the day went on. I had a poor start in the first race but came through to eighth so that was not too bad. Then in Race Two I had a great start, but in turn three, I got blocked off and dropped down the field. I managed to get back to sixth, which was good and I was happy with my riding, but I should have been closer to the front.”

Andrea Adamo – P7

“Not the best weekend. I compromised the GP a bit by not finding my speed on Saturday or getting my starts when the track was difficult for passing. The first moto was solid but the second one I lost a lot of time in the beginning. We will have another chance in China.”

Karlis Reisulis – P9

“My first race was going pretty good, battling with Thibault early on, but I seemed to lose my rhythm and that made the race quite tough. It was quite a difficult track to make passes on and in Race Two I moved from eighth to seventh and that was it although I did close in on Rick near the end so my fitness is good, but overall I should have been better today.”

Thibault Benistant – P10

“This weekend was quite difficult for me. I struggled with arm pump a lot and that meant I couldn’t ride like I know I can. The goal is to ride freely and enjoy the races, but unfortunately that didn’t happen this weekend.”

Ferruccio Zanchi – P14

“After yesterday I was very excited to ride today, but things didn’t quite go to plan. I did manage to get my first holeshot in the first moto so that was great and really good for the team because they work so hard and getting the holeshot shows that my Honda CRF250R is competitive. From there though, it didn’t go so well as another rider then crashed right in front of me and I had nowhere to go. I got back to 11th but then crashed near the end and finished 17th. Race two was better but I hoped to be higher than 10th but I’m determined to improve and put in two good final rounds of the season.”

MX2 Round Overall

MX2 Championship Standings