Febvre & Prado top MXGP of Lombok | Geerts MX2 victor

MXGP 2023

Round 11 – MXGP of Lombok – Indonesia, Selaparang Circuit

Round 11 of the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship took place over the weekend, in Lombok, Indonesia at the Selaparang Circuit, where Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre claimed the round win. Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff rounded out the overall podium.

In MX2, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts was back on top going 1-1-1 and winning his first Grand Prix since injury. Red Plate Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo showed speed and finished second in front of Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder who got his second podium of the season and his first since his injury.

Aussie Mitch Evans had to dig deep after waking up sick in the morning. He quickly moved forward to ninth in race one, but was clearly feeling the impact of the humid conditions during the later stages of the race, particularly through the energy-sapping rhythm section, and sensibly settled for twelfth at the finish.

The Australian again found himself ninth by the second lap of race two and settled into a solid rhythm to maintain that position to the chequered flag. Tenth overall on the day, he has jumped to fifteenth in the series standings.

Mitch Evans

“It was a difficult day for me. I woke up feeling a little sick this morning, so the main goal in the end was to get out of here healthy. We have some more new parts to test when we get back to Europe so I’m looking forward to Loket.”

2023 MXGP of Lombok – Indonesia

MXGP Race One

Ship to Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Valentin Guillod clinched his first FOX Holeshot of the season, before Romain Febvre took the lead after the first corners.

Febvre then led Team HRC’s Rubén Fernández and Jorge Prado. Fernandez was keeping pace with Febvre and looked comfortable before making a mistake and going down,  Prado and Glenn Coldenhoff overtaking.

Prado edged closer to Febvre and finally pounced on lap 16 of 17, both riders nearly collided but Prado took the lead and won the race. Febvre settling for runner up.

Coldenhoff passed teammate Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer on lap four before capitalising on Fernandez’s fall and held third place.

Fernandez battled with Seewer for fourth over few laps in a remake of the RAM Qualifying Race, Seewer getting the last word on lap 10 for fourth while Fernandez finished fifth.

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Rounding out the top-10 was Valentin Guillod, Calvin Vlaanderen, Alberto Forato, Benoit Paturel and Alvin Ostlund.

Mitchell Evans finishing the race in 12th.

MXGP Race One Results

MXGP Race Two

Coldenhoff got the race two FOX Holeshot, before Prado took the lead. Febvre found himself third and was determined to pass Fernandez for second after several corners.

Febvre kept on the charge and even went off track but kept going speaking volumes to his determination. After a few laps Febvre eventually got up the inside of Prado to briefly take the lead.

Prado responded with a great line to take the lead back. Febvre eventually made the pass stick to take the lead and edge away. Prado never catching him up, handing Febvre the victory to win the GP with a 2-1.

Fernandez and Seewer went wheel to wheel as both riders gave everything to try and claim fourth. Seewer had the last word for the day on lap 13.

Seewer then had to pass Coldenhoff for third for a podium and edged closer, looking to have the momentum to pass Coldenhoff before he lost the control, losing precious seconds.

Coldenhoff kept his composure for another podium. Seewer settling for fourth. Fernandez coming home in fifth.

Guillod was sixth, followed by Vlaanderen and Forato.

Evans bounced back from his 12th place in race 1 to go ninth, while Paturel had a consistent race finishing 10th.

Jorge Prado holds a generous lead in the standings on 562-points, ahead of Febvre (459) and Fernandez (415). Evans now 15th on 126-points.

Romain Febvre – P1

“You cannot imagine how proud I am to turn it around in race two. I should have had that first moto win too, but I just made a few mistakes near the end and Prado capitalized; there were just two laps to go and I had no energy to come back at him. I was so disappointed but I could show him that the second moto is the key to the GP win. The humid weather made it tough for all of us, and those guys at the back of me are really young; they were pushing me but I showed again that I can still win. My thanks to all of the team and our sponsors for their hard work and support; we made it 1-1 in Indonesia, but now I’m happy to go back to Europe. We have won before at both Loket and Lommel so I look forward to the next two GPs, but most of all I look forward to being with my family again; I know they were watching online.”

Jorge Prado – P2

“It has been a good weekend. We extended our championship lead as well, but the most important thing is that we are riding well. We won the qualification heat and moto one – it is always good to do that. I am really looking forward to the next two rounds that are coming up. I won Loket in 2021 and always enjoy Lommel.”

Glenn Coldenhoff – P3

“In the end, I had a good weekend. I felt good here. The track was quite technical. We were all pretty close, and it was a hard battle, especially in the last race. It was a nice race. A good battle for the crowd and for the fans, and I am back on the podium, so it was a good weekend.”

Jeremy Seewer – P4

“There were some racing incidents this weekend that just broke my rhythm a little bit, and I think both of us ended up wasting energy. In both races, I lost time with this. I accept that I could have been better off the start, but just didn’t manage to get the rocket starts I’m used to. My riding was great. I have the speed and the fitness but made a bit too many mistakes. It’s disappointing to miss the podium or a potential win. But still, good points in the bag. We go back to Europe healthy and I am sure I will bounce back from this one.”

Ruben Fernandez – P5

“Once again, I am a little disappointed to be leaving the track in the position that I’m in. I really felt like I could have been challenging the guys at the front, and getting myself on the podium but a couple of mistakes in that first moto when I was in second really stopped my momentum and then I just couldn’t make that push in race two to get to the riders in front. It is a bit frustrating as I know I had the opportunity, but this motocross and now I need to focus on the next round in Loket and try once again to get myself back on the podium.”

MXGP Race Two Results

2023 MXGP of Lombok, Indonesia Round Overall

MXGP Standings

MX2 Race One

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Rick Elzinga took his first FOX Holeshot of the season in race one,  Jago Geerts picking up where he left off on Saturday, taking the lead on the second turn and holding the lead.

Andrea Adamo overtook Roan Van De Moosijkon lap two for second, reducing the gap with Geerts for a while, before Geerts picked up his pace to win confidently. Adamo settling for second.

Behind the front two, Van de Moosdijk and teammate Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf rode pretty much the whole race together.

Längenfelder’s overtook but a loss of focus saw Van De Moosdijk move into third and de Wolf into fourth. Längenfelder settled for fifth.

From there it was Liam Everts in sixth, Lucas Coenen, Thibault Benistant, Kevin Horgmo and Jan Pancar rounding out the top 10.

MX2 Race One Results

MX2 Race Two

Geerts clinched his fourth FOX Holeshot of the season, going on to sweep the wekeend with a 1-1-1 that propels him back into the title hunt.

Längenfelder started well in fourth and capitalised on a fall by Adamo to move into third. He kept riding his race and would capitalised on Van De Moosdijk’s crash on lap 6 to move up to second, where he’d finish.

Adamo was one of the fastest riders in the field but made mistakes and had to employ all his talent to get back up to pace, battling his way to pass L.Coenen, Van De Moosdijk and teammate Everts to finish third.

Everts settled for fourth, L.Coenen managing another consistent race and was only overtaken by Adamo in the end to finish fifth.

It didn’t go as planned for Van De Moosdijk however, a mistake on lap 6 while he was second saw him drop to fourth. Failing to regain his rhythm he was passed a couple of times to finish sixth.

Jan Pancar came come seventh, followed by Kay de Wolf, Thibault Benistant and Kevin Horgmo.

Adamo now leads the standings on 488-points, Benistant on 462 and Kay de Wolf on 452.

Jago Geerts – P1

“Last week I made a step in the right direction, but I was not 100% because I was sick. But today, everything went well. I really liked the track here in Lombok, I felt really good on it and managed to win all three races. I couldn’t ask for more. It really feels like everything is going well now, and I hope to continue like this for the rest of the season.”

Andrea Adamo – P2

“I was happy with the first moto. I could follow Jago until about 7 minutes to go. I reached a point where I thought ‘OK, save some energy, don’t make mistakes’ and went for P2 to line-up the second moto. It was so humid, and the track was sketchier in the second moto: it was more wet and slippery. I made a stupid mistake and had to work hard again but came back to the front pretty fast. I wanted to try and pass Simon [Laengenfelder] for 2nd but I was quite tired at the end. Anyway, I’m happy. I gained some points but Jago [Geerts] took some from us. We need to be careful not to throw any points away and there are still a lot of motos to go. We need to be ready to fight.”

Simon Längenfelder – P3

“It is so good to be back on the podium. Not many people expected this, including me! I was fifth in the first race and did not think about the podium after that. I was happy to stay consistent in the second race. Now we will work on the weekend off and keep getting stronger.”

Roan van de Moosdijk – P4

“It was a better weekend than the first Indonesian race, but it would have been nice to finish on the podium. I can see that I have the speed to do that regularly. The riding was good today. I am excited to get back to normality in Europe and work for the upcoming rounds.”

Liam Everts – P5

“This weekend was definitely tough with this track and I was fighting myself the whole way through. The second race was a bit better than the first and I tried to make the most of it. 5th overall is OK but not what we wanted, but, for a bad day it could be worse. We’ll re-group for Loket. We’ll see how it goes but I’m very happy to be heading home.”

Kay de Wolf – P6

“I have had to make a lot of passes over the two Indonesian rounds, which has not been ideal. I am happy with how I rebounded in moto two – the first moto was solid as well. I need to put myself in better positions once we return to Europe and get back onto that podium.”

Lucas Coenen – P7

“It was a difficult weekend with the sickness, but we salvaged what we could. It was not a terrible day at all. We learnt a lot over the last two weekends. I am excited to get back to work once we land in Europe.”

Thibault Benistant – P9

“This weekend was quite challenging. I had a really bad night on Friday and felt terrible on Saturday with stomach pain, headache and fever. Today, I had no energy. I felt completely empty and struggled through the moto. I just did my best to save points. Racing is like this. You have good days and bad. It is what it is, I will work to be back in Loket.”

Kevin Horgmo – P10

“I’m really disappointed about today; I just wasn’t riding like myself during either moto. I had a good feeling in the warm-up, but I couldn’t bring that to the races. I’m really sorry to the team and the people behind me that I couldn’t reward their efforts.”

MX2 Race Two Results

2023 MXGP of Lombok, Indonesia MX2 Round Overall

MX2 Standings