A hot weekend in Spain made for fierce racing at round nine of the FIM Motocross World Championship and two Frenchmen dominated proceedings.
When the dust had settled, it was Maxime Renaux and Tom Vialle who stood on the top step of the MXGP and MX2 podiums respectively.
It was a perfect weekend for both riders, who both went 1-1 in their respective MXGP and MX2 races, showing their strength as they prepare to head to their home GP in France next weekend.
There was more to celebrate as Simon Längenfelder made his much-anticipated return to the podium since round one at Matterley Basin, in the United Kingdom, while Glenn Coldenhoff celebrated a back-to-back podium and Brian Bogers secured his second GP podium of the season.
Home town hero Jorge Prado suffered heartbreak as he failed to make it to the podium on home soil.
In the first MXGP race, the holeshot went to Prado as Renaux followed in second ahead of championship leader Tim Gajser.
Renaux was not looking to hang around as he swiftly moved into the lead as Gajser began to come under pressure from a hard-charging Bogers.
It looked like Prado was getting ready to launch an attack on Renaux for first place but found himself in hot waters when Gajser began to edge closer and apply the pressure too. Prado then made a mistake, which allowed Gajser down the inside and into second place.
Renaux then set the fastest lap of the race as he gapped Gajser by 2.125 seconds, all while Prado was being pressured by Bogers. Coldenhoff was also there in fifth.
Jeremy Seewer then crashed out of seventh and got going in 12th as Prado also made a mistake but managed to keep it on two wheels.
Seewer then fought his way back up to 11th after passing Team HRC’s Mitch Evans who dropped a few positions by the end.
Despite closing down the gap on several occasions, Gajser could not find an opportunity to pass Renaux, with the Frenchman going on to win the race. Gajser crossed the line in second, ahead of Prado, Bogers, Coldenhoff, and Ruben Fernandez who placed sixth.
In the second race, the Holeshot went to Prado once again as he led Renaux, Coldenhoff, Bogers, and Mattia Guadagnini, while Gajser got squeezed.
In the opening lap, Coldenhoff took second from Renaux, who responded immediately to take back the position.
This allowed Prado to edge out by a couple of seconds as Renaux and Coldenhoff continued to battle it out.
Prado then set the fastest lap of the race on lap five before going down shortly after. The Spaniard got going fairly quickly as he re-joined the race just ahead of Gajser, though the Slovenian was able to pass him very quickly as he carried better momentum.
This meant that Renaux led the way, with Boger’s third, separating the three Yamaha riders, as Seewer was running well in fourth. Guadagnini then began to close in on Seewer, as Gajser continued to struggle to find an opportunity around the Italian.
There was not much change inside the top 10 as riders settled in to their positions, with Renaux keeping a cool head ahead of his team-mate who remained close throughout.
In the final few laps, we saw Prado battle with Fernandez, though the Honda rider was able to keep his fellow countryman at bay, as Prado crashed again and finished 11th.
Renaux went on to win the race ahead of Coldenhoff, Bogers, Seewer, Guadagnini, and Gajser, winning his third MXGP race of the year.
A 1-1 result gave Renaux a fast-track ticket to the top step of the podium, as the rookie celebrated his first-ever MXGP overall victory.
Coldenhoff placed second after going 5-2 in the races, ahead of Bogers who made his return to the box since Portugal for third overall.
Gajser failed to mount the podium after another tough weekend, though remains the championship leader in MXGP with a 66-point advantage over Renaux, while Seewer remains third in the standings.
“It’s really great for me,” Renaux said. “First overall win in MXGP with a double race win and like you said, it’s a nice [birthday] gift for my mum. Actually, the deal was to get the holeshot for her but I couldn’t unfortunately.
“But the day was great, I felt great on the track, had a good feeling from Saturday, and then some good starts today. Two consistent races, no mistakes, and yeah took the race wins. So, I’m really happy and waiting for my home GP next week!.”
MX2 CLASS
In the first MX2 race of the weekend, it was Rick Elzinga who took the holeshot from the far outside gate. Though Jago Geerts was quick to get himself into the lead.
Mike Gwerder also started well as he was right there in the mix with the leaders before dropping to fourth and the further down the order.
By the end of the opening lap, Tom Vialle was already up to second, as Liam Everts went off track and into the banners. He got going again in 23rd.
Moments later, Geerts had a big crash, which was a gift to Vialle who moved into the lead. Kevin Horgmo then fought his way up to second after getting by Elzinga, but he had to work for it, as the Dutchman was not backing down easily.
Geerts got going again in 21st, as Stephen Rubini got by Isak Gifting for fourth, as Simon Längenfelder was looking to do the same.
Horgmo then crashed as did Gifting, twice, which allowed Längenfelder into third by the eighth lap, as Rubini moved up to second.
Further down the field, Everts was making a stellar comeback after crashing on the opening lap. He passed Spain’s David Braceras to move up to eighth, and then made some more impressive moves to eventually climb up to sixth.
Horgmo looked to fight back after the mishap of lap seven as he caught back onto the rear wheel of Elzinga and passed him in the same place as he did in the beginning of the race. This got him up to fourth. Meanwhile, Geerts was up to 12th.
On lap 10, Rubini got passed by Längenfelder who was already too far behind the race leader to be able to challenge for the win and in the end Vialle won the race by 14.280 seconds.
Rubini held on to third ahead of Horgmo and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Thibault Benistant who fought his way from outside of the points to fifth.
In the second race, the holeshot went to Liam Everts, but again, Geerts was fast to make a move into the lead, with Vialle third, Jorgen-Mathias Talviku of Sahkar Racing fourth, ahead of Längenfelder and Horgmo.
Vialle got a good run as he tried to pass Everts, though the Belgian didn’t make it easy and forced Vialle to work for it for almost three laps. In the end by the third lap, Vialle was in second.
Benistant had another unlucky start to the race, though despite being down in 20th in the early stages of the race, he set the fastest lap of the race. Down the order was also Horgmo who struggled in the first few laps to make any big passes.
Guillem Farres was running well in sixth after passing Talviku and then continued to challenge inside the top 10 until the end of the race.
Back with the leaders, Everts found himself coming under fire from Längenfelder for third. The German pushed hard, and a couple of small mistakes almost saw him crash, though he held on and continued his fight with Everts.
The pair battled for a few laps before Längenfelder moved into third on the sixth lap.
Geerts was looking good in the lead for six laps too, before crashing once again. This allowed Vialle to take over control of the race, but the Belgian got up quickly and was able to remain in second.
In the closing stages of the race, we saw Mikkel Haarup going after Everts for fourth. But again, the Belgian put up a strong fight and managed to keep hold of the position until the chequered flag.
Vialle went on to win the race with a 10.923 advantage over Geerts, while Längenfelder crossed the finish line third ahead of Everts and Haarup.
A perfect 1-1 scorecard gave Vialle his fifth GP win of the season, with Längenfelder finally getting back on the box for second overall ahead of Geerts who finished third.
After a tough first race, Geerts lost valuable championship points which has allowed Vialle to take the red plate as we head into the MXGP of France next weekend. Vialle now leads by 10 points. Längenfelder remains third.
“Was definitely a great weekend for me,” Vialle said.
“In the first race, Jago had a massive crash, kind of the same as me in Mantova which was quite scary so I’m glad he’s okay. But I just controlled the race and had quite a gap on Simon, something like 15 seconds, so I just controlled the race.
“In the second race, Jago had a small crash and I could pass for the lead. I felt really good on the track and also on the bike. It was a great weekend before the French GP and I’m really looking forward to that as I think it’s going to be nice race for me.”
Photo courtesy Media Infront Moto
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RESULTS & STANDINGS:
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), 34:36.213
2 Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:03.516
3 Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:08.922
4 Brian Bogers (NED, Husqvarna), +0:11.735
5 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:14.871
6 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:17.983
7 Alberto Forato (ITA, GASGAS), +0:25.326
8 Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GASGAS), +0:32.390
9 Pauls Jonass (LAT, Husqvarna), +0:40.127
10 Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:46.691
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), 34:39.757
2 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:03.196
3 Brian Bogers (NED, Husqvarna), +0:06.772
4 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:12.229
5 Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GASGAS), +0:13.918
6 Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:15.944
7 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:25.423
8 Mitchell Evans (AUS, Honda), +0:28.688
9 Pauls Jonass (LAT, Husqvarna), +0:30.886
10 Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:33.478
MXGP – GP Top 10 Classification:
1 Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 50 Points
2 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 38 Points
3 Brian Bogers (NED, HUS), 38 Points
4 Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 37 Points
5 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 30 Points
6 Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 29 Points
7 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 29 Points
8 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 28 Points
9 Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 24 Points
10 Alberto Forato (ITA, GAS), 23 Points
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1 Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 404 Points
2 Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 338 Points
3 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 292 Points
4 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 290 Points
5 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 272 Points
6 Brian Bogers (NED, HUS), 243 Points
7 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 242 Points
8 Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 196 Points
9 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 194 Points
10 Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, BET), 189 Points
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 35:50.123
2 Simon Längenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:14.280
3 Stephen Rubini (FRA, Honda), +0:17.620
4 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:24.812
5 Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.915
6 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:40.371
7 Andrea Adamo (ITA, GASGAS), +0:45.282
8 Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:54.675
9 Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:55.292
10 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Kawasaki), +1:03.585
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 35:10.641
2 Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:10.923
3 Simon Längenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:18.624
4 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:21.288
5 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Kawasaki), +0:23.544
6 Andrea Adamo (ITA, GASGAS), +0:29.089
7 Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:31.328
8 Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:32.096
9 Stephen Rubini (FRA, Honda), +0:47.351
10 Guillem Farres (ESP, KTM), +0:53.364
MX2 – GP Top 10 Classification:
1 Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 50 Points
2 Simon Längenfelder (GER, GAS), 42 Points
3 Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 34 Points
4 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 33 Points
5 Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 32 Points
6 Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 30 Points
7 Andrea Adamo (ITA, GAS), 29 Points
8 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, KAW), 27 Points
9 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 26 Points
10 Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 22 Points
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1 Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 382 Points
2 Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 372 Points
3 Simon Längenfelder (GER, GAS), 287 Points
4 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, KAW), 266 Points
5 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 259 Points
6 Andrea Adamo (ITA, GAS), 227 Points
7 Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 211 Points
8 Isak Gifting (SWE, KTM), 210 Points
9 Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 207 Points
10 Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 183 Points