Foxhills was resurrected at the weekend for its return to the FIM Motocross World Championship calendar, and the awesome atmosphere that was last seen 26 years ago was back.
Both classes saw massive changes in their championship pictures, unfortunately almost directly as a result of problems for the incumbent red plate holders on the British track.
At this 12th round of the season, Dutchman Jeffrey Herlings made it a 50% GP win record for himself with the Honda HRC Petronas team by taking his sixth GP win, in almost unique fashion for him with two consecutive holeshots helping him on his way.
Defending world champion Romain Febvre gave chase all day long to claim second for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP, while Slovenian Tim Gajser broke his three-month podium drought with third overall for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP.
In the MX2 class, Spaniard Guillem Farres claimed his third consecutive GP victory for the Triumph Racing Factory Team, with another perfect Sunday score, while Simon Längenfelder battled hard for second overall on his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine, ahead of the second factory Triumph of Camden McLellan.
Both of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing twins Lucas Coenen and Sacha Coenen battled injury issues, and Lucas saw his MXGP series lead cut drastically to 11 points, while Sacha lost the MX2 red plate to Farres despite struggling through the pain of a collarbone injury.
Everything looks massively different as we head to the MXGP of Czech Republic next weekend.
Gajser confirmed his pace from Saturday to top the table in the morning Warm-Up, by just 24 hundredths from Herlings. Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Pauls Jonass took the third fastest time.
It was Herlings who shot to the lead in race one to claim just his second holeshot of the season, just out-dragging his Honda HRC Petronas team-mate Tom Vialle, although Gajser tucked into second down the next jump-filled straight of the circuit.
Febvre was fourth ahead of the TEM JP253 KTM of Jan Pancar, although the third Honda HRC Petronas machine of Ruben Fernandez would squeeze into the top five by the end of the first full lap.
Swiss rider Jeremy Seewer restarted his season with Venrooy KTM Racing in seventh place, ahead of the second Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP of Frenchman Maxime Renaux.
Lucas Coenen, having started from the extreme outside of the gate after not finishing the qualifying race, was initially just inside the top ten, battling with his fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Andrea Adamo, but he clearly was not his usual self.
Dropping to twelfth on the following lap, he then retired from the race in obvious physical discomfort.
Adamo himself did make progress, and lifted himself to sixth by lap four, running ahead of the non-factory KTMs of Pancar and Seewer.
The Slovenian and the Swiss would finish seventh and eighth, with Seewer getting there with a last lap pass on Team Honda Motoblouz SR Motul’s Norwegian Kevin Horgmo. Gabriel SS24 KTM rider Oriol Oliver had an up and down race to take tenth on the final lap from wildcard British rider Taylor Hammal on the Dixon Racing Team Kawasaki, who still took a credible eighth in his first MXGP class Sunday race.
Up front, Gajser kept hounding Herlings, but could not break the Dutchman. Vialle was also holding Febvre at bay, but he suffered a massive crash as he got cross-rutted and slammed into the face of a jump on lap 14.
With a seriously twisted bike, the Frenchman limped home to 14th at the flag.
Fernandez had lost fifth to Adamo with a mistake, but he fought back past along the main valley on lap 13, and that became fourth, behind Febvre, with Vialle’s crash.
Herlings’ win was enough to cut Coenen’s points lead to 36 before race two, with the Belgian’s very participation in question for race two.
For the first time in many years, Herlings made it two holeshots in one day as he fired into the lead of race two, with Vialle being passed almost instantly by Gajser and then Febvre who chased after Herlings from the start.
Seewer was also initially in the top five, but he was also overhauled by Fernandez and Adamo, as well as by Jonass, to sit eighth at the end of the first full lap. Isak Gifting also ran in the top ten on his return to racing for JK Racing Yamaha.
Coenen had again attempted to race, but pulled up on lap four in obvious pain, and limped off the bike. There would be no points from Foxhills for the Belgian, and we await news of his condition while wishing him the very best of health.
There was sadly a bad crash for Jonass on one of the steepest downhill sections, exiting the race from seventh, although he was fortunately diagnosed with little more than bruising after the race. Seewer was therefore promoted to seventh, good enough for sixth overall the day after his 32nd birthday.
Horgmo claimed eighth in the race for seventh overall, while Belgium’s Jago Geerts scored his best result of the season for MRT Racing Team Beta with a fine ninth, while Brent van Doninck rounded out the top 10 for Fantic Factory Racing MXGP.
Vialle held steady to take sixth in race two, good enough for tenth overall behind Renaux in ninth and Pancar in eighth.
The top five in race two stayed set for most of the race, but Gajser and Febvre continued to press Herlings for the lead to keep the fans on their feet throughout.
On lap 11, Gajser tipped over in a corner at the top of one of the hills, losing second to Febvre in a fall that put him third overall for sure. Fernandez and Adamo held on for fourth and fifth in both race two and the overall, meaning that the Spaniard passed the Italian for sixth in the championship over the course of the weekend.
Febvre still got close to the front, but Herlings would not budge, claiming his 118th career Grand Prix victory with a perfect 1-1 day, his fifth in the UK. It closes him to within 11 points of Coenen in their battle for the championship.
The Belgian has only explained things to the extent of saying that he hurt his leg, but will try again in Loket, where he won in MXGP last year.
This could lead to a fascinating end to the season.
Jeffrey Herlings: “Another perfect weekend, two holeshots and I led every single lap. But I don’t like gaining fifty points this way. My thoughts go out to Lucas; even though we’re rivals, you never want to gain points like this, it’s a shame, and I’d rather he’d just broken his bike than hurt himself.
“I hope he’s back healthy as soon as possible and I’m looking forward to more good battles with him. Coming back to my day though, I’m super pumped about how I rode — this one felt like a little gift to myself.
“One-one, two holeshots, the timing couldn’t have been better from a personal point of view. Looking forward to Loket. Big thanks to Honda HRC Petronas for the great job they’ve done. Seven rounds to go.”
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RESULTS AND STANDINGS:
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 34:43.207; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:03.121; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:07.806; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:37.346; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:47.685; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:54.269; 7. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:57.973; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), +1:01.452; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +1:02.822; 10. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +1:05.452
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 34:38.594; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:01.299; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:18.247; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:22.436; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:26.442; 6. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:29.019; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), +0:53.253; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:54.738; 9. Jago Geerts (BEL, Beta), +1:01.252; 10. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Fantic), +1:02.237
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 50 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 42 p.; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 42 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 36 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), 27 p.; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 25 p.; 8. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 24 p.; 10. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 22 p.
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification:
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 566 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 555 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 494 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 452 p.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 392 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 378 p.; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 375 p.; 8. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 317 p.; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 273 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 273 p.;
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), 35:02.322; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:01.268; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:16.938; 4. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:26.891; 5. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:33.323; 6. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +0:43.509; 7. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:43.757; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:11.737; 9. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), +1:20.566; 10. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +1:26.329.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), 35:13.772; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:05.835; 3. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:07.225; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:09.392; 5. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:44.771; 6. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:51.235; 7. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +0:55.297; 8. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:01.368; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +1:04.119; 10. Maxime Grau (FRA, Honda), +1:06.456.
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 50 points; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 38 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 38 p.; 5. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 29 p.; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 29 p.; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 28 p.; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 27 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 26 p.; 10. Maxime Grau (FRA, HON), 21 p.
MX2 – World Championship Classification:
1. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 563 points; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 552 p.; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 521 p.; 4. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 501 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 477 p.; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 434 p.; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 352 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 336 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 307 p.; 10. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 253 p.