Ruben Fernandez and Valerio Lata both had difficult weekends at the MXGP of Flanders (Belgium), held at the treacherous Lommel circuit, where the deep sand really tested man and machine.
Coming into the weekend, the Honda HRC duo knew it would be tough, but some training sessions during the week had given them a bit of belief that things were heading in the right direction and they could adapt to the sandy terrain. However, as always, Lommel had other ideas and made things extremely difficult for the pair, but there were positives that both riders did look better by the end of the weekend.
After the rain on Saturday, the weather was thankfully better the whole day and gave the riders a rare dry track to negotiate for the two GP-scoring motos. After his disappointing qualification race yesterday, Fernandez rocketed out of the gate in the first moto and looked to be inside the top 10, however he once again fell foul in the second corner and had to remount in last place. Knowing he had a lot of work to do, he charged as hard as he could and made a lot of passes to receive the chequered flag in 14th place.
It was a good comeback, but he was desperate to avoid those first lap mistakes, and in race two he was able to do exactly that. He started sixth and moved up into fifth for the first portion of the race and was running good laptimes. However, he wasn’t able to keep the momentum – a key to riding in the deep sand – and dropped down the field, ending up in 12th place. It wasn’t what he was hoping for, but he showed signs that he was mastering the sand, and there is belief that he can do even better when the series visits Arnhem in a couple of rounds’ time.
Lata will also hope for more improvement by the time Arnhem – the next sand venue – comes around. The Italian definitely looked better today, especially in race two when he was running in third for a couple of laps. However, the consistency was an issue all weekend and his 13-11 results for 10th overall give a good impression of where his pace was in the motos. Still, this is the Italian’s first full season in MX2 and he knew coming in that there were areas he would need to work on. The positive is that he did improve over the course of the weekend and is still fit, healthy and highly motivated to finish the season strongly, as we approach the final quarter of the championship.
MX2 Race 1
- Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 36:25.125; 2. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:28.751; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:44.137; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:55.301; 5. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:03.792; 6. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +1:11.616; 7. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +1:19.094; 8. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), +1:39.477; 9. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, Yamaha), +1:42.278; 10. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:46.968; … 13. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), -1 lap(s);
MX2 Race 2
- Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 36:32.079; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:11.405; 3. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:16.539; 4. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:18.928; 5. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:21.088; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +1:07.199; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:14.347; 8. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +1:27.314; 9. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), +1:33.069; 10. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +1:39.189; 11. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +1:48.439;
MX2 GP Overall
- Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 50 points; 2. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 42 p.; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 33 p.; 5. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 32 p.; 7. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), 25 p.; 8. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, YAM), 21 p.; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 18 p.; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 18 p.;
MX2 Championship
- Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 704 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 666 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 655 p.; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 559 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 513 p.; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 467 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 464 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 348 p.; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 324 p.; 10. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 314 p.;
Ruben Fernandez 70
Definitely more positives to take from that second moto, when I was running as high as fifth for a few laps. I showed I have the speed here, but this is such a tough track and you need to get everything right for the whole moto. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make that happen and I dropped down the field by the end of the race, so overall I’m not happy with that, however I kept fighting and I feel like I did make improvements over the course of the weekend.
Valerio Lata 18
A really difficult weekend for me, and one that has really given me a notice that I need to improve my sand skills. The second race today went a lot better and it was good to run up near the front for the first part of the moto, however, it never feels good to drop down the field and I need to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. I am proud of the effort from the whole team, to keep working and I think it shows with the second moto that it did get better, so for Arnhem I hope for even more.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager – MXGP
We always know that Lommel is going to be a tough round for the team, and it proved to be the case once again. The good thing was that Ruben and Valerio made improvements during the weekend, so that is a positive, but we know there is a lot more to come from both riders and we will do our best to help them. Now we have a weekend off, before heading to Sweden for what should be a completely different experience.
Race 1
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Time/Gap
1 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 25 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 36:05.332
2 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 22 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 0:17.718
3 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 20 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:44.854
4 Gifting Isak 517 SWE 18 JK Racing Yamaha Active 0:47.004
5 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 16 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:51.803
6 Fredriksen Hakon 427 NOR 15 Wildcard Rider 0:53.946
7 van Doninck Brent 32 BEL 14 JM Honda Racing 1:14.724
8 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 13 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:19.310
9 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 12 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 1:19.358
10 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 11 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 1:25.935
11 Watson Ben 919 GBR 10 MRT Racing Team Beta 1:26.851
12 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 9 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 1:36.750
13 Brumann Kevin 87 SWI 8 Wildcard Rider 1:44.038
14 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 7 Honda HRC – MXGP 1:47.863
15 van de Moosdijk Roan 34 NDL 6 KTM Kozak Team 1:50.637
16 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 5 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team 1:57.188
17 Talviku Jorgen-Matthias 261 EST 4 Wildcard Rider 1:57.188
18 Spies Maximillian GER 3 2:10.777
19 Koch Tom 226 GER 2 MRT Racing Team Beta 1 lap
20 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 1 Ducati Factory MX Team 1 lap
Race 2
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Time/Gap
1 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 25 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 36:28.928
2 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 22 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 0:11.007
3 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 20 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:37.638
4 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 18 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:41.082
5 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 16 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:56.500
6 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 15 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team 0:59.450
7 Fredriksen Hakon 427 NOR 14 Wildcard Rider 1:00.643
8 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 13 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:11.177
9 Gifting Isak 517 SWE 12 JK Racing Yamaha Active 1:12.078
10 Watson Ben 919 GBR 11 MRT Racing Team Beta 1:13.166
11 van Doninck Brent 32 BEL 10 JM Honda Racing 1:34.027
12 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 9 Honda HRC – MXGP 1:43.024
13 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 8 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 1:58.832
14 van de Moosdijk Roan 34 NDL 7 KTM Kozak Team 2:00.328
15 Prugnieres Quentin 319 FRA 6 Honda SR Motoblouz 2:02.682
16 Koch Tom 226 GER 5 MRT Racing Team Beta 2:10.510
17 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 4 Ducati Factory MX Team 1 lap
18 Blanken Boris NDL 3 1 lap
19 Talviku Jorgen-Matthias 261 EST 2 Wildcard Rider 1 lap
20 Sterry Adam 811 GBR 1 KTM Kozak Team 1 lap
Rider Standings
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team
1 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 734 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
2 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 725 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
3 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 534 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
4 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 467 Honda HRC – MXGP
5 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 436 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
6 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 405 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
7 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 387 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
8 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 353 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
9 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 331 Ducati Factory MX Team
10 Gajser Tim 243 SLO 305 Honda HRC – MXGP
11 Watson Ben 919 GBR 257 MRT Racing Team Beta
12 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 246 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team
13 Horgmo Kevin 24 NOR 243 Honda SR Motoblouz
14 Geerts Jago 93 BEL 242 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
15 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 229 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
16 Gifting Isak 517 SWE 220 JK Racing Yamaha Active
17 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 174 Ducati Factory MX Team
18 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 162 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
19 van Doninck Brent 32 BEL 147 JM Honda Racing
20 van de Moosdijk Roan 34 NDL 136 KTM Kozak Team
21 Sterry Adam 811 GBR 99 KTM Kozak Team
22 Koch Tom 226 GER 86 MRT Racing Team Beta
23 Guillod Valentin 92 SWI 72 Wildcard Rider
24 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 72 Honda SR Motoblouz
25 Brumann Kevin 87 SWI 61 Wildcard Rider
26 Spies Maximillian GER 39
27 Stauffer Marcel 411 AUT 38 Wildcard Rider
28 Cairoli Antonio 222 ITA 37 Ducati Factory MX Team
29 Fredriksen Hakon 427 NOR 30 Wildcard Rider
30 Gilbert Josh GBR 27
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