French Kawasaki ace Romain Febvre is on something of a roll at the moment, but time is running out if he’s to catch and overtake Spain’s Jorge Prado in the MXGP title chase.
The 13th round of 19 in the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship took place in the deep sands of Lommel, in Belgium, at the weekend and it was again Febvre (pictured here) who took the advantage, only slight, but enough to win the GP.
In the MXGP class, it was Kawasaki Racing Team rider Febvre who kept his winning streak going, extending it to four.
It was again in front of MXGP Red Plate Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing team’s Prado, who finished second overall with a race win, while Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff got on the podium too and confirmed his recent form.
In MX2, it was once again Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts who won a perfect Grand Prix with 60 points out of 60 in front of Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen who is back on the podium after Sumbawa while Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder continues to perform to very high standards.
The passionate Belgians fans showed up in large number during the weekend and showed amazing support to their heroes. The track of Lommel proved again that it is a special place for all motocross fans as the show delivered by the riders was simply incredible.
In MXGP race one, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer took the holeshot, but it was Coldenhoff who took the lead in front of Febvre and Seewer.
Coldenhoff was looking very good although Febvre started to close in on him.
Possibly under pressure, Coldenhoff made a slight mistake on lap four of 16 and missed a rut on a turn leaving the door open for Febvre who took the inside and the lead with it.
Febvre was the quickest on track and it showed as he pulled away quickly to lead the race until the chequered flag and win the race with a 15 seconds’ cushion.
Coldenhoff kept a really strong pace too as after getting passed by Febvre, he cruised in second position until the end.
However, the third place was disputed throughout the race. Seewer was third and looked very composed until he made a mistake and crashed on lap six.
Benefitting from this mishap was Calvin Vlaanderen and Prado. Prado got caught in the traffic at the start and found himself 6th on lap one but made his way back up quickly to 5th behind Vlaanderen on lap two.
Both riders kept following each other until an immense last lap by Prado made him overtake Vlaanderen to finish 3rd while the Dutch rider settled 4th. Seewer could only continue the race in 5th place and finished there in the end.
SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato was one rider who managed to dompt the unpredictable sand of Lommel as he stayed consistent during the race to go from ninth to sixth in the end overtaking along the way Team HRC’s Rubén Fernández and home hero and great performer of the day Standing Construct Honda MXGP’s Jeremy Van Horebeek.
Race one was not as smooth as hoped for Fernandez who made several mistakes to only be able to salvage the 11th place. Belgian Jeremy Van Horebeek on the other side showed that he was not competing at home for figuration but to make the most of it as he finished 7th.
Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Mitch Evans, from Australia, was feeling good on the track as he gained many places throughout races going from 13th to 8th after a great battle with another rider who found his flow this weekend, MRT Racing Team Beta’s Ben Watson.
British rider Watson battled well and found himself 8th on lap 14 but Evans put pressure behind and make a successful move on lap 15 which left Watson in 9th which was a good performance for Watson.
Standing Construct Honda MXGP’s Brian Bogers showed that he like this track and place as he managed a good 10th place.
Team HRC Honda’s defending world champion Tim Gajser unfortunately fell in the first lap picking himself up in 26th but showed many positives as he climbed his way to 15th in the end.
In race two, Fernandez took the second holeshot and his first of the season but it was his countryman Prado who took the lead directly after that and rode superbly. Prado never put a foot wrong during the second race and won the race comfortably.
Getting a poor start, Febvre had a mountain to climb when he found himself around the 20th place after few corners. However, the determination of the Frenchman to win was incredible to witness.
On a tough track where it is difficult to overtake, Febvre simply showed all his skills and talent to move up to 4th on lap seven of 16.
Febvre was behind Seewer and Coldenhoff and needed to pass to climb on the top step of the podium, and this is exactly what he did. He first picked up Coldenhoff on lap 10 to go third and quickly put pressure on Seewer.
Febvre kept charging and powered through Seewer a lap later to go second and finish in that place. With a 1-2 and a heroic run during race two, Febvre superbly won his 4th GP in a row.
Seewer could not contain his team-mate’s speed and Coldenhoff got a better drive on a straight to pass Seewer and finish 3rd to go 2-3 and get the 3rd overall.
Seewer had to settle for 4th and 4th overall.
Behind them Vlaanderen solidly rode in fifth. Except for one lap when Fernandez managed to pass Vlaanderen but the race winner of Loket answered quickly to take the 6th place back and finish sixth in the end while Fernandez, who crashed earlier on lap seven while he was third, had to settle for 6th.
Forato confirmed his form in race one with another good display that saw him climbing up the ranks to finish seventh and an encouraging sixth overall.
What a race it was for Harri Kullas who had a great start and rode the whole race within the top 10. Kullas in the end got his season’s best finish in 8th. Similarly to race one, Van Horebeek and Bogers stayed consistent to finish 9th and 10th respectively.
Van Horebeek got a really good 7th overall and a third top 10 in a row while Bogers took 9th overall.
With an 8-12 Watson managed to get a 10th overall which will be encouraging for next week in Finland. Gajser was 7th until lap 3 when he crashed and had to settle for 13th in the end.
“It was again a great weekend as I felt really good on the bike and the track since Saturday,” said Febvre.
“The new layout made it more technical which helped to make the difference. The first race was really good, as I made a comfortable gap at the front to win the race.
“In the second race after the bad start I worked some magic in the sand with a good pace until the end. I was exhausted in the end so I could not catch Prado. I’m very happy, four wins in a row is really something.”
Jorge Prado: “I’m happy with that performance although I could have expected a little bit better, but this track was tough. In the first race I didn’t have the best start and nearly crashed but I came back up to 3rd which was a decent race.
“I rode much better in the second race with more confidence and made few passes to take the lead and got to ride my race. We got good points for the championship, so we just need to keep going now.”
Photo courtesy Kawasaki
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RESULTS AND STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 13 OF 19:
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), 35:24.776; 2. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:13.310; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:17.629; 4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:18.909; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:24.623; 6. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), +1:19.883; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Honda), +1:22.943; 8. Mitchell Evans (AUS, Kawasaki), +1:28.790; 9. Ben Watson (GBR, Beta), +1:29.917; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, Honda), +1:32.020.
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 35:38.681; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.549; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:08.576; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:10.909; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:32.123; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:39.668; 7. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), +0:43.613; 8. Harri Kullas (EST, Yamaha), +0:44.670; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Honda), +0:59.801; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, Honda), +1:02.146.
MXGP – Grand Prix Top 10 Classification:
1. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 47 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 45 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 42 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 34 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 34 p.; 6. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 26 p.; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 25 p.; 9. Brian Bogers (NED, HON), 22 p.; 10. Ben Watson (GBR, BET), 21 p
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 665 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 566 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 506 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 481 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 480 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 444 p.; 7. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 386 p.; 8. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 331 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 276 p.; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 203 p.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), 35:17.877; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:07.597; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:25.306; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:51.511; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:54.335; 6. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:57.784; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +1:03.826; 8. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +1:08.473; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:21.219; 10. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +1:24.008
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), 35:28.603; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:20.636; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:39.030; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:50.215; 5. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:13.586; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +1:18.723; 7. David Braceras (ESP, Kawasaki), +1:35.344; 8. Isak Gifting (SWE, GASGAS), +1:41.969; 9. Ivano Van Erp (NED, Yamaha), +1:45.877; 10. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +1:50.221.
MX2 – Grand Prix Top 10 Classification:
1. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 50 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 44 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 40 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 34 p.; 5. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 29 p.; 6. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 28 p.; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 26 p.; 8. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 24 p.; 9. David Braceras (ESP, KAW), 23 p.; 10. Isak Gifting (SWE, GAS), 23 p.
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 564 points; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 551 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 501 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 487 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 462 p.; 6. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 438 p.; 7. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 433 p.; 8. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 425 p.; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 361 p.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 253 p.