The final month of the 2024 FIM Motocross World Championship began with the trip to Afyon and the Grand Prix of Turkey, round 18 of 20 in the series and before rushes to China and Spain to close the series. Dry and hot conditions saw Jeffrey Herlings rebound from a tough first moto to rank 6th overall. In MX2 Liam Everts was 4th by the end of the afternoon.
Herlings rues an early first moto crash to post a 10-3 and missed out on an MXGP podium for the first time since May. He is 53 points adrift of the red plate with a maximum of 120 left to win this season
Liam Everts is the standout rider for the team in MX2 with a 3-5 scorecard in Turkey and only just misses the rostrum
Top seven for Andrea Adamo thanks to moto results of 5-9 while Sacha Coenen misses the trip due to the leg injury sustained at the Swedish GP
4th for Gabriel SS24 KTM’s Cas Valk in the tenth and penultimate round of the EMX250 European Championship. The Dutchman is 3rd in the standings and 31 points with 50 left to win this season
MXGP returns to Shanghai for the first time since 2018 and for the Grand Prix of China next week
Turkey is the first of two eastern trips for MXGP, and the flat and familiar layout of Afyon staged the eighth Grand Prix in the country and brought the series back to Afyonkarahisar. The circuit was first used in 2018. Warm and predictable weather and a hard-packed and rough course were the main challenges for the riders in the MXGP and MX2 classes. The championships are narrowing, and Red Bull KTM are firmly in the fight for medal positions.
On Saturday the RAM Qualification races saw Herlings power his way to a good start and then the lead. He classified 3rd for the same choice of positions in the gate for Sunday. Liam Everts was better placed in MX2 and grabbed the win for his third Pole of 2024 and his first since the Italian Grand Prix. Andrea Adamo was 8th. Sacha Coenen did not travel to Turkey: the Belgian is recovering from a muscular injury picked up in Sweden and has still not cleared the problem. He is undergoing treatment to be back 100%.
On Sunday the heat remained high, and the track was slick in places. Herlings almost crashed after contact with Romain Febvre out of the gate of the first moto. He rallied back to the top six on the first lap but then crashed and burnt his arm. Jeffrey was able to remount and score 10th. After some treatment he throttled across the fast layout for 3rd.
In MX2 Everts was initially 3rd in the first moto, dropped to 5th but then worked his way back to the top three. He couldn’t quite make the start he needed at the second gate drop and after completing the opening lap in 5th maintained that standing all the way to the flag. Andrea Adamo could not implement podium pace in Turkey. The Italian rode well to return to 5th from outside the top ten in the first outing and then took 9th.
Two rounds and four motos remain this season. Herlings is 3rd in the championship standings and 39 points from 2nd and 53 from the red plate. Everts is 4th in the MX2 list with Adamo 6th and Coenen 8th in his second Grand Prix year. Onto China and the long trip to Shanghai.
Jeffrey Herlings, 10th and 3rd for 6th overall in MXGP: “I believe Jorge, Tim and me were the fastest guys this weekend but they both finished on the podium and I crashed in the first moto and lost a lot of time, as well as burning my arm on the exhaust. In was in quite some pain. I had to come from last for P10. I managed to be good in the second moto but it was almost impossible to pass on this track. We just followed each other. No podium today. I’m looking forward to China. The season is coming to an end and two races to go. Realistically the championship is going to be very difficult but we’ll do what we can.”
Liam Everts, 3rd and 5th for 4th overall in MX2: “A positive weekend. Winning the quali race was a good thing and then I was with the leaders in the first moto until I tucked the front. I worked my way back to P3: it was a good moto actually. In the second race I didn’t feel that comfortable in the beginning but then found a way to push later on. I just missed the podium so I’m a bit gutted about that. We need to work a bit more on the starts. If we can get that better then we’ll be on a very good way. We’ll have some fun in China.”
Andrea Adamo, 5th and 9th for 7th overall in MX2: “Not the best weekend. I compromised the GP a bit by not finding my speed on Saturday or getting my starts when the track was difficult for passing. The first moto was solid but the second one I lost a lot of time in the beginning. We will have another chance in China.’
Results MXGP Turkey 2024
- Jorge Prado (ESP), GASGAS, 3-1
- Tim Gajser (SLO), Honda, 4-2
- Jeremy Seewer (SUI) Kawasaki 1-6
- Jeffrey Herlings (NED), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 10-3
- Mattia Guadagnini (ITA), Husqvarna 12-10
Standings MXGP 2024 after 18 of 20 rounds
- Tim Gajser (SLO), Honda, 910 points
- Jorge Prado (ESP), GASGAS, 896
- Jeffrey Herlings (NED), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 857
- Mattia Guadagnini (ITA), Husqvarna, 283
Results MX2 Turkey 2024
- Lucas Coenen (BEL) Husqvarna 1-1
- Kay de Wolf (NED), Husqvarna 4-2
- Simon Laegenfelder (GER), GASGAS, 2-4
- Liam Everts (BEL), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 3-5
- Andrea Adamo (ITA), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 5-9
Standings MX2 2024 after 18 of 20 rounds
- Kay de Wolf (NED) Husqvarna, 873 points
- Lucas Coenen (BEL) Husqvarna, 829
- Simon Laegenfelder (GER), GASGAS, 774
- Liam Everts (BEL), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 727
- Andrea Adamo (ITA), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 601
- Sacha Coenen (BEL) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 456
Photocredits Ray Archer
