The MXGP of Flanders in Lommel – the most iconic sand track on the calendar – lived up to expectations, delivering a tough challenge. Fantic came close to another podium finish, with Glenn Coldenhoff and Andrea Bonacorsi placing fourth and fifth overall.
Lommel feels like a home GP for the Fantic Factory Racing MXGP team, and it showed right from the get-go – a third place for Glenn Coldenhoff in free practice was followed by a 3-4 in time practice, this time with Brian Bogers leading the charge for the Italian brand.
Rain showers throughout Saturday made the sand even heavier and the challenge even bigger, but a solid start to the qualifying race allowed “The Hoff” to battle for the top 5 once more. The experienced Dutchman crossed the line in fifth, earning a good gate pick for Sunday’s races along with some valuable championship points, while Andrea Bonacorsi put a second Fantic XXF 450 in the top 8. Brian Bogers was well placed in the opening laps, but a small mistake dropped him back a couple of positions, and he eventually crossed the line in 13th.
The sun was out on Sunday, and all three Fantic Factory Racing MXGP riders posted top-10 times in the warm-up session – a promising sign. Things quickly took a turn in the first corner of race 1, though, as both Bonacorsi and Bogers were involved in separate incidents. From the back of the field, they pushed hard to climb back through the pack. “Bona” showed impressive pace and broke into the top 10 to finish ninth, while Bogers crossed the line in twelfth. Coldenhoff didn’t get the best start either, but it was good enough to place him inside the top 10 from the beginning. Lap after lap, he found his rhythm, and with a strong finish, he crossed the line in fifth.
Bonacorsi nailed the start in race 2 and was briefly as high as third, before settling into fourth. The Italian was perfectly placed to capitalize on a mistake of another rider to reclaim third and held that position until the finish. Coldenhoff worked his way up steadily, closing in on his teammate in the final stages and crossing the line in fourth – a result that also gave him fourth overall, just two points short of the podium. With his impressive third place, Bonacorsi secured fifth overall for the day. Unfortunately, Bogers was forced to retire from race 2 due to a technical issue, and 15th overall clearly didn’t reflect the full potential of the former Lommel GP winner.
15 rounds into the season, Coldenhoff strengthens his third place in the MXGP World Championship standings, with Bonacorsi sitting in sixth. Next up: the MXGP of Sweden in two weeks’ time.
Glenn Coldenhoff:
“I was a little bit off the pace all weekend. I tried many things, and it felt a lot better after the setup change we made before the first race. But my starts weren’t there this time, and if you start around tenth, it is tough to fight to the front. I still came close to the podium in fourth overall, which is, of course, a bit disappointing at a GP like Lommel. A lot of fans were here for me and I wanted to give them something more, but I wasn’t able to. I wasn’t fast enough for P1 or P2, but P3 should have been possible. Looking at the championship, we did a very good job – and keeping this third place is definitely the goal for the rest of the season. Now we take a bit of rest, because this was a tough one, and hopefully we will be back on the podium in Sweden.”
Andrea Bonacorsi:
“Lommel is definitely one of the toughest GPs. On Saturday, I struggled a bit more than expected, but we made big improvements with every session. I felt good in both races on Sunday, but unfortunately, I crashed at the start of race 1 and had to come back from last to ninth. In race 2, I got a good start and was running fourth the whole time. When Jeffrey [Herlings] made a mistake, I moved into third and held it until the end. Overall, it was a good GP. Of course, we were aiming for an even better result, but we should be happy with our speed – and we still have five races to go this season.”
Brian Bogers:
“The weekend started off pretty well, which makes it even more disappointing to end it without really showing what we are capable of in the sand. But that’s racing sometimes. We will take the positives – we put in some strong laps in practice – and keep working hard. There are still more GPs coming up.”
Fantic Factory Racing EMX
On home soil, young Belgian Douwe Van Mechgelen showed his speed right from the start. Second in his EMX125 qualifying group, he got off to a strong start in race 1, moving into third with a couple of quick passes on a demanding track, made even heavier by rain showers throughout the day. Unfortunately, a technical issue prevented him from battling all the way to the finish line.
In race 2 on Sunday, Van Mechgelen fought hard until the end, securing a well-deserved fourth place. Still, twelfth overall doesn’t reflect his full potential in the deep sands of Lommel, nor the hard work put in by the Fantic Factory Racing EMX team. The speed was there on what is arguably one of the toughest tracks in the world, and that remains the key positive to take away.
It was an unfortunate end to the EMX125 campaign for Francesco Bellei as well, as he was involved in a first-turn crash and injured the ring finger on his left hand. Surgery was required and successfully carried out on Sunday at the hospital in Pelt. Despite the DNF in the final race, he still concluded the championship in seventh place.
Douwe Van Mechgelen:
“We need to take some big positives from this weekend. I showed great speed with my best-ever qualifying result, I was really happy to finish second in my group. In race 1, I quickly moved into third and felt like I had the pace to battle at the front. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to show that. In race 2, my start was decent, but I had some visibility issues in the sand and had to take off my goggles. I struggled a bit in the beginning, but then I found my rhythm and started putting in strong lap times. Of course, I am disappointed not to be on the podium, but I am determined to show what I am capable of in the future. A big thanks to Fantic and the whole team – they put in a lot of work overnight, just like they have done all season and throughout the past two years.”
Photocredits – Daniele Barreca
