Changeable conditions with sunshine and showers couldn’t dampen proceedings in south-western France, as the glorious Circuit du Puy de Poursay hosted the MXGP of Europe, round three of the FIM Motocross World Championships.
The passionate Saint Jean d’Angely crowd had plenty to shout about with podium results for French favourites Romain Febvre and Thibault Benistant, but ultimately their heroes were denied by two former world champions at the top of their game.
Slovenian Tim Gajser, winner of the last three GPs here for Honda HRC in MXGP, made it four in a row at St Jean with two brilliant race wins, although he was nearly hunted down by Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP star man Febvre in race one.
The Frenchman took second overall ahead of Lucas Coenen, who celebrated his first podium result in the premier class for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
2023 MX2 world champion Andrea Adamo had gone 20 long months since his most recent Grand Prix victory, but a stirring ride to wrestle the second race win away from the loudly-cheered Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rider Benistant broke the drought for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider.
Simon Laengenfelder took second on the day, ahead of Benistant, after winning the opening race for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, and now lies second in the series, three points down on new championship leader Liam Everts, who keeps the red plate he gained yesterday from his Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing team-mate, Kay de Wolf.
The reigning champion had a difficult day in France and is now third in points behind Laengenfelder.
French favourite Febvre filled his fans with hope by setting the fastest time in morning warm-up for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP, with Gajser in second ahead of Febvre’s team-mate Pauls Jonass.
The holeshot winner had many spectators searching through their programmes for KTM Sarholz Racing Team rider Noah Ludwig, who led the world across the holeshot line until Gajser took control into the second corner.
Tech 32 Racing Triumph rider Tom Guyon, making both his and the manufacturer’s MXGP debut, was behind the five-time world champ for the first few corners, before Coenen and Febvre cut through to give chase to the leader.
After a tough MXGP of Castilla La Mancha, the Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team were happy to see Mattia Guadagnini fire into fourth place from an outside gate pick.
Early championship leader Maxime Renaux suffered a terrible start for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, and crossed the line in 15th at the end of the first full lap.
As the sun came out, his countryman Febvre was faring better, however, and urged on by the passionate hillside of eager fans, he worked his way past Coenen into second place on lap six.
Valentin Guillod was again exceeding expectations on his private Yamaha, holding down seventh for the entire race, holding off a charge from Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP man Calvin Vlaanderen, who took eighth ahead of Team Honda SR Motoblouz Motul rider Kevin Horgmo.
Renaux fought past the two Fantic Factory Racing men Glenn Coldenhoff and Brian Bogers to take tenth at the flag.
At about half distance, Jonass fell over the back wheel of Guadagnini and lost fifth to Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez.
The excitement was brought by the irrepressible Febvre, who closed to within a second of Gajser on the final laps even with a steaming machine beneath him! The Slovenian held on to take his 94th career GP race win by nearly four seconds.
The plucky privateer Ludwig was right at the front again at the start of race two, but it was Coldenhoff who claimed the holeshot despite feeling beaten up from a crash in practice on Saturday.
Coenen swiftly moved up to second place, with Isak Gifting sticking his JK Racing Yamaha into third early on.
Gajser soon started to work forward, in a similar fashion to his early moves in Cozar the weekend before. The GP win looked good for him as Febvre was nearly involved in a first corner pile-up that claimed Vlaanderen, Fernandez, Bogers, and the Lexa MX Honda of Briton Josh Gilbert. None of those riders finished, but Febvre pressed forward, up to seventh by the end of the first full lap.
It took Gajser until the end of lap two to get past Gifting, but then the Slovenian immediately charged to the back wheel of Coenen and was second by the end of lap four.
Febvre was inspired by the home support and banged elbows to get past Gifting, and then nipped to the inside of Coenen at the top of a fast uphill section.
By that time, Gajser had made a move on the suffering Coldenhoff, and set the Acerbis Fastest Lap of the entire day on lap seven to make the race his own.
Febvre blasted to the inside of Coldenhoff down the start straight, to the roar of his fans, on lap 10, and Coenen followed past a lap later. Glenn bravely held on for fourth place and sixth overall in the Grand Prix.
Behind him, Renaux fought through from another average start to claim fifth in the race for seventh overall, with Jonass moving past Guadagnini this time for sixth with three laps to go. The Ducati man held on for seventh to secure fourth overall for the second time this season.
His team-mate, Swiss rider Jeremy Seewer, soldiered on through a difficult day to finish tenth in race two behind Gifting in ninth, as Horgmo forced past the Swede on the final lap to take eighth.
Gajser got the crowd momentarily excited with a ragged jump in the final laps, but otherwise the Slovenian again sealed a perfect Sunday to take his 51st career victory and advance his championship lead to 29 points, with Febvre moving back up to 2nd overall. Coenen was delighted with his first MXGP podium at a circuit where he has always excelled. He is now fourth in the standings and 60 points behind Gajser as the series moves to Sardegna.
Tim Gajser: “It was a good day of racing for me. I felt really comfortable on the bike, even though the track was quite sketchy with deep ruts, bumps, and tricky acceleration points – it definitely wasn’t easy to ride. The start was really important, so I was glad to get out front early and take the lead quickly in Race 1.
“Lucas pushed hard at the beginning and then Febvre closed in near the end, but I managed to stay in control. In the second race, I had a solid start, made some good early passes, found my lines, and built a gap that I could manage.
“Overall, I’m really happy with how I rode. Now I’m looking forward to Riola—we’ve spent a lot of time there and I really enjoy the track, so it should be a good weekend ahead.”
RESULTS & STANDINGS:
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 33:57.468; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:03.930; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:30.497; 4. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Ducati), +1:15.133; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +1:24.811; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +1:31.140; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +1:47.480; 8. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +1:51.615; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +1:52.557; 10. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +1:53.523.
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 35:14.666; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:19.307; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:21.551; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:24.254; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:24.412; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:30.457; 7. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Ducati), +0:32.732; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:33.436; 9. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), +0:37.974; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Ducati), +0:45.464.
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 50 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 44 p.; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, DUC), 32 p.; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 30 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 28 p.; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 27 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 25 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 24 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 19 p.
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 167 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 138 p.; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 121 p.; 4. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 107 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 107 p.; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 86 p.; 7. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, DUC), 84 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 81 p.; 9. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 77 p.; 10. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 63 p.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 35:28.696; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:03.930; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:19.095; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:22.976; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.003; 6. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:28.436; 7. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:45.809; 8. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:50.146; 9. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KTM), +0:56.271; 10. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:57.210.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification 1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 35:08.618; 2. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:00.568; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:06.135; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:17.832; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:22.113; 6. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:30.180; 7. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:37.816; 8. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:43.088; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:48.596; 10. David Braceras (ESP, Honda), +1:00.126.
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 47 points; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 38 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 36 p.; 5. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 33 p.; 6. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 28 p.; 7. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 25 p.; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 23 p.; 9. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 21 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 20 p.
MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 135 points; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 132 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 130 p.; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 124 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 111 p.; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 101 p.; 7. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 91 p.; 8. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 74 p.; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 72 p.; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 65 p.
Photo courtesy Honda
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