The battle turned brutal near the Baltic this weekend for the MXGP of Latvia, near Kegums, and the sandy circuit served up a tough challenge which resulted in some nail-biting racing.
An important and emotional moment was the one-minute of silence observed before MXGP race one, in memory of Former FIM-Europe President and FIM Motocross Commission President Dr Wolfgang SRB, who sadly passed away in the week leading up to the race.
The day started dry, but once more the rain came for the championships as a deluge hit the area at the end of MX2 race one, making the circuit very wet for the start of MXGP race one.
However, due to some amazing work from the track crews, the venue was in near perfect condition for the second races of both classes.
In MXGP, it was at last the time for five-time world champion Jeffrey Herlings to break the 12-month-and-five-day drought since his last Grand Prix victory for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, which was at this very same circuit last year.
A stirring win in race one’s soggy conditions and a charging third in race two gave the man they call “The Bullet” his 104th Grand Prix win, extending his record total and collecting his 197th individual race win in the process.
For the fifth straight Grand Prix, the red plate in MXGP changes hands after the results from Latvia, as Jorge Prado’s second race win for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing couldn’t prevent Team HRC’s Tim Gajser from moving four points ahead after solid second places in both of the very different MXGP races.
Just before his senior team-mate added to his record tally, the one rider on the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team that had yet to even reach a podium, 17-year-old Belgian Sacha Coenen, broke his series by not only taking his first top three finish in race one, but also his first race win and the overall Grand Prix honours in a brilliant display of controlled riding.
With his twin brother Lucas Coenen taking second overall, it was the first time in 27 years that a pair of brothers had finished 1st and 2nd in a Motocross Grand Prix, dating back to New Zealanders Darryl and Shayne King at the French 500cc Grand Prix in 1997.
Qualifying race winner Gajser took to the starting line first as the rain poured down, and all of the leading contenders knew the start would be more vital than ever with the amount of water on the circuit, and just one point separating the Championship leaders.
The holeshot was fiercely contested, just taken by Prado for the tenth time this season, but Herlings had started with him and was on the case immediately.
Making an aggressive pass around the corner after the finish line, he wrestled the early lead from the defending Champion.
Gajser had been beaten into third by Glenn Coldenhoff of Fantic Factory Racing, but the Slovenian didn’t wait around, and knowing that Prado has only had issues this year in wet weather, he fired back into third and instantly attacked the Spaniard to take second place.
Brian Bogers also moved up past his team-mate Coldenhoff into third by the end of the first full lap, and actually started to pressure Prado. It paid off, as on lap three the GASGAS man again had problems in the rain and slid to the floor on the face of a jump.
He dropped to eighth position behind the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP machine of Calvin Vlaanderen.
Coldenhoff got back past Bogers for good on lap five for third spot, and the two Fantic men stayed there until the chequered flag. Despite a few mistakes by Herlings, Gajser couldn’t get near Herlings, who took his third race win of the season and hacked a few points off of his deficit to the leaders.
With a lap 11 fall for Schmicker Racing KTM’s Cornelius Toendel, Prado managed to get into seventh ahead of the Norwegian, nearly gaining a further position when Vlaanderen fell with two laps to go! However, as Kevin Horgmo held on to a season-best fifth for Team Ship to Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR, the champ had to console himself with 14 points, meaning that Gajser led the championship again heading into race two.
The holeshot once more went the way of the #1 plate holder, but again Herlings was right with him, until Gajser dived up the inside of the Dutchman into the second corner.
Desperate to prevent Prado from escaping at the front, the Slovenian gave chase and Herlings was unable to match the pace of the leading two in the first 10 minutes.
Again the Factory Fantics packed out the top five, especially as Vlaanderen dropped the bike in a tight left-hand corner and eventually came home in seventh.
He will have to console himself with climbing to fifth in the Championship ahead of Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jeremy Seewer and the unfortunately absent Pauls Jonass.
Seewer was to take sixth in race two after a crash-affected fourteenth in race one. Coldenhoff held on to fourth, and Bogers fifth, which was also their final positions for the overall GP.
The gaps between the leading three riders got tantalisingly close on occasions, but Herlings got the closest to making a move as he caught Gajser with four laps to go, but again the Slovenian turned the screw.
Ultimately, Prado held on to win by 1.6 seconds from Gajser, with Herlings just another 1.7 seconds further back.
It was enough for Herlings to register Grand Prix win number 104, and move to within 68 points of the series leader, which is now Gajser by just four points from Prado.
They head to Maggiora, in Italy, where Prado will have sweet memories of becoming champion last year, and his competition will most likely be praying for rain again.
Jeffrey Herlings: “I’m definitely super happy. Yesterday I drove to my hotel and I thought … what am I doing? I need to do more! But today I came back to show that I can still do it you know. So, already a podium was good but to get the win is really really amazing.
“I did two good starts too, with the first race where I was the fastest, second race I couldn’t get the pace to overtake them (Prado and Gajser) but I kept them within my sight and in the end close them down but couldn’t pass as they were very fast too. I’m very happy with the win and looking forward to the next one”
Tim Gajser: “I’m very happy and it’s nice to have the red plate back! Also with both races, the speed was there but maybe my starts were not the best. I would definitely wish to start like yesterday in Quali race with a holeshot because it wasn’t easy after that.
“Second race I was a bit in between, pushing for Jorge and got some pressure from Jeffrey. I was searching for the lines but couldn’t open the door for Jeffrey so it was a good race in the end and very happy. Huge thank you to all the team because they work very hard and everybody around me. I’m already looking forward to the next one”
Jorge Prado: “It was a pity because today I was feeling super good on the bike but just couldn’t make the pass on Tim (Gajser) in the qualifying race. Today in the first race, I actually got a good start and I was feeling very good behind Tim and then I got in the face of the jump and went off the line and yeah … crashed so not the best to finish 7th.
“In second race, in dryer conditions I took the holeshot and lead until the end. I’m happy with riding, and hopefully we can get that red plate back as soon as possible.”
Photo courtesy KTM
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RESULTS & STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 9:
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 36:13.461; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:14.806; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:23.809; 4. Brian Bogers (NED, Fantic), +0:28.396; 5. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:33.427; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:50.478; 7. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:56.234; 8. Cornelius Toendel (NOR, KTM), +1:01.587; 9. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +1:15.559; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +1:30.619.
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 35:31.669; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:01.665; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:03.403; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:51.510; 5. Brian Bogers (NED, Fantic), +0:53.356; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:55.082; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:57.615; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +1:28.335; 9. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Husqvarna), +1:28.814; 10. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +1:29.866.
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 45 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 44 p.; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 39 p.; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 38 p.; 5. Brian Bogers (NED, FAN), 34 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 29 p.; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 27 p.; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 24 p.; 9. Cornelius Toendel (NOR, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 22 p.
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 454 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 450 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 386 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 327 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 299 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 289 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 277 p.; 8. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 274 p.; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 188 p.; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 175 p.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 35:07.196; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:02.853; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:20.027; 4. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:35.495; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:47.451; 6. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +1:04.675; 7. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +1:11.179; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:21.322; 9. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:22.884; 10. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +1:30.275.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 34:26.176; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:15.755; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:25.504; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:26.304; 5. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:27.044; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:35.945; 7. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:37.074; 8. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:50.356; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +1:09.782; 10. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), +1:11.423.
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 45 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 42 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 40 p.; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 37 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 34 p.; 6. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 29 p.; 7. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 29 p.; 8. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 29 p.; 9. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 21 p.; 10. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), 21 p.
MX2 – World Championship Classification:
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 443 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 388 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 381 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 341 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 327 p.; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 287 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 278 p.; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 228 p.; 9. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 226 p.; 10. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KAW), 174 p.