Fantic Factory Racing MXGP lined up at the MXGP of Flanders with a one-off special livery during its home Grand Prix. On the demanding sand circuit of Lommel, Jörgen-Matthias Talviku made his debut aboard the Fantic XXF 450 alongside Brent Van doninck. The Belgian rider completed his home Grand Prix in 14th overall.
With thousands of fans, glorious weather, and one of the toughest sand tracks on the calendar, Lommel once again delivered one of the most spectacular events of the season. The weekend held extra significance for Jacky Martens’ Fantic Factory Racing MXGP team, whose headquarters are located just a short distance from the legendary Belgian circuit.
To celebrate the home event, Van doninck and his new teammate Talviku raced with a special livery inspired by the Belgian flag. Between on-track sessions, friends and partners were welcomed in the team’s dedicated hospitality area.
Van doninck arrived in Lommel highly motivated after securing his best moto result of the season one week earlier in Loket. However, the weekend proved more difficult than expected. Several mistakes and crashes on Saturday prevented him from finishing the qualifying race, leaving him with an unfavourable gate pick for Sunday’s races.
In the opening moto, Van doninck fought his way back to 15th place before crossing the line in 16th in race two. Those results earned him 14th overall for the Grand Prix.
Talviku was called up to replace the injured Alberto Forato. The Estonian made a promising start to his stint with the team by finishing 14th in Saturday’s qualifying race. Despite having very limited time on the bike, he demonstrated encouraging potential. Sunday’s results did not fully reflect that progress. After a crash at the start of the second moto, Talviku finished 19th and 18th, placing him 20th overall.
Following an intense run of three consecutive Grand Prix weekends, the team now has a weekend off before the FIM Motocross World Championship resumes with the MXGP of Sweden.
Brent Van doninck:
“Lommel is always a special Grand Prix. Racing with the Belgian-inspired livery and having so much support from friends and family made it even more special. After my result in Loket, I was determined to put together another strong weekend, but unfortunately things didn’t go as planned. It was a difficult weekend from the start. I made too many mistakes and had too many crashes on Saturday. By Sunday, I felt like I had no energy left and couldn’t give anything extra. We have to put this Grand Prix behind us. After three demanding race weekends in a row, it’s good to have a weekend off to recover, reset, and come back stronger in Sweden.”
Jörgen-Matthias Talviku:
“It’s been a busy few days. On Sunday, I had to battle with myself more than anything. In these demanding conditions, I still don’t have enough confidence on a bike that is very new to me. I’m definitely not satisfied with the results, but at the same time I’m trying not to be too hard on myself. We did everything that was possible in such a short period of time. Now I’m looking forward to spending more time on the bike and becoming more comfortable. Once again, a big thank you to Fantic and the team for giving me this amazing opportunity.”
