Podium glory and championship points highlight round nine in the treacherous sand of the Motocenter “Zelta Zirgs” at Kegums
The Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing Team concluded the ninth round of the FIM World Motocross Championship with their heads held high, securing two top-five positions, including a P2 podium in MX2, as well as a further top-ten finish in MXGP.
Current Red Plate MX2 championship leader Kay de Wolf demonstrated why he is widely regarded as the sand specialist by delivering a blistering display of speed and style in Sunday’s opening moto. Having won Saturday’s qualifying race, the Dutch rider was in superb form. Not even a small spill mid-race on lap seven, which briefly dropped him to third, could hinder his winning charge. Lucas Coenen was right alongside de Wolf for much of the race also; having battled up from fourth place at the race start. Lucas took the flag two seconds behind de Wolf, securing a Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing Team 1-2 finish.
In the second moto, the tables turned slightly, with Lucas Coenen leading the charge for the team. De Wolf made a handful of uncharacteristic mistakes, dropping him to 17th initially. Despite this, de Wolf fought back to 9th, completing a 1-9 score and a fourth overall. Meanwhile, Lucas Coenen blasted through to finish third, marking his fourth Grand Prix podium in a row and securing his P2 position in the world championship standings.
In MXGP, Mattia Guadagnini showed further improvement, continuing his upward trend of results with each event. A fifth-place finish during Saturday’s qualifying kicked off the weekend in solid style. On Sunday, Guadagnini showed true grit, battling back from an early crash in the first moto to finish 13th at the chequered flag. In the second moto, Guadagnini scored his best performance of race day, improving on his start and securing ninth position, only 0.4 seconds behind sixth at the final flag.
Next weekend, June 16th, sees the MXGP of Italy at the fan-favourite Maggiora, concluding a run of three events in as many weekends.
#101 – Mattia Guadagnini: “Overall, I’m quite happy. Saturday was great, and I managed to find a really good rhythm in the sand. I’ve put a lot of effort into training, and I think this is paying off. I got a good start during the qualifying race, and then was riding in third for almost all the moto. I just couldn’t quite hold that pace until the end, so some riders passed me, and I finished fifth. Then on Sunday, I didn’t have the best start in the first moto, and I crashed on the second lap, so I was far back. I tried to fight back, but it wasn’t easy. I think I dropped to 20th or more, but then I got to 13th. Then in the second moto, the start was better, and I made up a few positions in the first lap. I could not quite find as good a rhythm as before, but I finished ninth.”
#74 – Kay de Wolf: “I had a mixed weekend, but I think there are still lots of positives to take from it. I had a really good Saturday, and the first moto on Sunday was super positive with a win. But in the second moto, I just made too many mistakes. I had two stupid crashes and should not have made them. I threw away a possible GP win and finished fourth overall instead. So, I’m quite upset about that, but I’ll work on it and will come back stronger in Italy. We are making progress every weekend, so this is the most important thing!”
#96 – Lucas Coenen: “I’m super pumped for my brother to get the win. All those hard moments he went through, it’s great to see him up there. Of course, as a competitor, I want to do better though. I took some big hits (crashes) in the second moto, so I think it could have gone better from my perspective. I struggled the whole weekend, let’s say, so I think we need to build on this and look ahead to fighting again in Italy.”
Results – 2024 FIM Motocross World Championship, Round Nine
MXGP – Overall:
1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 45pts; 2. Tim Gajser (Honda) 44pts; 3. Jorge Prado (GASGAS) 39pts; 11. Mattia Guadagnini (Husqvarna) 20pts
MXGP – Moto One:
- Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 36:13.461; 2. Tim Gajser (Honda) 36:28.267; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (Fantic) 36:37.270; 7. Jorge Prado (GASGAS) 37:09.695; 13. Mattia Guadagnini (Husqvarna) 37:49.954
MXGP – Moto Two:
1. Jorge Prado (GASGAS) 35:31.669;2. Tim Gajser (Honda) 35:33.334; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 35:35.072; 9. Mattia Guadagnini (Husqvarna) 37:00.483
MXGP – Standings:
- Tim Gajser (Honda) 454pts; 2. Jorge Prado (GASGAS) 450pts; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 386pts; 18. Mattia Guadagnini (Husqvarna) 97pts
MX2 – Overall:
- Sacha Coenen (KTM) 45pts; 2. Lucas Coenen (Husqvarna) 45pts; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GASGAS) 40pts; 4. Kay de Wolf (Husqvarna) 37pts; 5. Liam Everts (KTM) 34pts; 9. Andrea Adamo (KTM) 21pts
MX2 – Moto One:
- Kay de Wolf (Husqvarna) 35:07.196;2. Lucas Coenen (Husqvarna) 35:10.049;3. Sacha Coenen (KTM)35:27.223; 4. Simon Längenfelder (GASGAS) 35:42.691; 5. Liam Everts (KTM) 35:54.647; 13. Andrea Adamo (KTM) 36:55.671
MX2 – Moto Two:
- Sacha Coenen (KTM) 34:26.176; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GASGAS) 34:41.931; 3. Lucas Coenen (Husqvarna) 34:51.680;4. Liam Everts (KTM) 34:52.480; 8. Andrea Adamo (KTM) 35:16.532; 9. Kay de Wolf (Husqvarna) 35:35.958;
MX2 – Standings:
- Kay de Wolf (Husqvarna) 443pts; 2. Lucas Coenen (Husqvarna) 388pts; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GASGAS) 381pts;4. Liam Everts (KTM) 341pts; 5. Andrea Adamo (KTM) 327pts; 9. Sacha Coenen (KTM) 228pts;14. Marc-Antoine Rossi (GASGAS) 122pts
