Prado and Coenen double up MXGP of Sweden

2024 FIM Motocross World Championship
Round 15 – MXGP of Sweden – Uddevalla

The MXGP of Sweden ran over the weekend at the Glimminge Motorstadion circuit near Uddevalla, with temperatures unusually high for the northernmost MXGP event of the season, ensuring a test of mental fitness and concentration on the hard-packed, loose surface, around the rocky valley.

In MXGP it was the turn of Jorge Prado to show his overtaking prowess as he took a double victory for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing to further close the gap at the top of the Championship between himself and Team HRC’s Tim Gajser – who took the qualifying race victory. Jeffrey Herlings and Romain Febvre battled for third overall, Herlings coming out ahead despite the duo tying on points.

The momentum in the MX2 World Championship shifted again, as Lucas Coenen delivered an imperious performance for a 1-1 scorecard for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, with his Championship leading teammate Kay de Wolf missing the podium to make that points gap smaller. Rounding out the MX2 overall were Andrea Adamo and Simon Laengenfelder both tied on 40-points, Adamo’s second place in race two making the difference.

2024 MXGP of Sweden Video Highlights

MXGP – Qualifying Race

The MXGP class saw a closely-fought victory for red plate holder Tim Gajser in the qualifying race, who not only extended his Championship lead for Team HRC, but advanced to seven qualifying wins this season, meaning that he is close to winning the RAM Driving Experience for the most Saturday wins on the year. His main title challenger, reigning World Champion Jorge Prado, was right on his tail across the finish line.

Romain Febvre was a much more distant third, 21-seconds off the leading duo’s pace, with Brian Bogers and Jeremy Seewer another five-seconds off, to complete the five fastest in qualifying.

MXGP – Top 10 Qualifying Race Results

MXGP Race One

None of the Championship contenders were in the top three as the riders charged into the opening few corners, although Romain Febvre grabbed the Fox Holeshot Award for Kawasaki Racing Team, it was that home hero Isak Gifting who took the lead as they headed into turn two.

Jeremy Seewer, winner of the last two GPs at this circuit, pushed past his teammate Febvre to run second, but Gifting was on a mission to keep the lead for as long as possible.

RAM Qualifying Race winner Gajser clashed with Jeffrey Herlings in the second corner, forcing the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing man wide. Just as on Saturday, Herlings would have to fight through the pack to limit the damage to his Championship challenge, although Prado had not helped his cause with an uncharacteristically average start, battling his way to fifth before the end of the first full lap.

On lap four Seewer finally demoted Gifting from the lead, and the next couple of laps saw Gajser, Prado, and Febvre also move past the Swede. Prado pulled a nice move into the end of the Pit Lane straight, and was in prime position when Gajser made a forceful move on Seewer to take the lead.

Following the Slovenian past the Swiss, the reigning Champ advanced on the red plate holder, and suddenly pulled the same pass as he had on Gifting to take the lead from the surprised Gajser at the end of lap 13.

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Herlings was making a slow recovery at this time, having passed Gifting for sixth on lap eight, but it took him another seven laps before he could get around Calvin Vlaanderen, the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider who had fallen in front of him on Saturday.

Herlings made a late run at Seewer for fourth, but stalled on the final lap and had to settle for fifth ahead of Vlaanderen, with Gifting a very popular seventh for the home crowd.

Gajser continued to press Prado for the lead but could not prevent the Spaniard from taking his 13th GP race win of the season.

MXGP Race One Results

MXGP Race Two

Beaten to the Fox Holeshot Award in race two by a tyre’s width to Fantic Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff, the reigning Champ was instantly in control, although the crowd were going wild for Gifting, who was in second by turn two, that time up front to be short-lived for the Swede.

Herlings eased passed Gifting on the run down to the fourth corner, and looked like he was setting up to chase Prado down again.

Gajser had to go with his Championship rivals and was also past the Swede early on, but after a pitched battle with Cornelius Toendel, Gifting held on to fourth all the way to lap twelve, when the pressure of the factory riders took its toll.

Vlaanderen, Febvre, and Coldenhoff all went past the JK Racing man on lap twelve, and the Swede eventually claiming tenth place.

Febvre snatched fourth from Vlaanderen in Pit Lane corner, behind a leading Prado, Herlings and Gajser, and the top six would stay that way until the chequered flag, with Team Ship to Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR teamsters Kevin Horgmo and Valentin Guillod finishing seventh and ninth, sandwiching a disappointed Seewer.

Herlings couldn’t make any inroads into Prado’s lead, with a late charge curtailed by a near crash that bruised his hand, and his second place secured a podium finish behind Gajser and Prado, who was over 14 seconds clear as he began celebrating his first ever GP win in Sweden.

MXGP Race Two Results

MXGP Overall

The championship returns to Herlings’ home sand next weekend at Arnhem, with Prado now 17 points behind Gajser (757) in the standings, while Herlings faces a 48-point deficit to the Slovenian with five Grands Prix remaining.

It’s a much bigger gap to fourth and fifth placed Vlaanderen and Seewer on 538 and 516 respectively. With Rebvre sixth (451) and Coldenhoff seventh (447). Kevin Horgo, Valentin Guillod and Pauls Jonass round out the top-10.

Jorge Prado – P1

“I’m so happy to finally get back on top of the box! I knew I had to ride at absolute 100% to get the overall win here. I made it a little tough for myself in the first moto with the very bad start, but in the second moto I managed to get out of the gate much better and brake hard into the first corner. I put in some good opening laps and just tried to manage the pace. The track was very tough too – you had to be super accurate; but overall I’m just super happy! Let’s move on to the sand, and hopefully get another win over there! Thanks to the whole Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Team – let’s go for the championship!”

Tim Gajser – P2

“I mean, I felt solid today, you know. I had a good first race, but there was just one mistake that I made and I just left the door so open when Jorge (Prado) passed me. That was my mistake, but anyway, the pace was good. The second race was sketchy, also the lappers, you know, like a couple of times I had to slow down. But anyway, you know, a solid weekend, good points for the championship and I’m really looking forward to the next one.”

Jeffrey Herlings – P3

“This wasn’t an easy one. I had nowhere to go at the start on Saturday and this is definitely not the easiest of tracks for passing. I got back some points. I had work to do in the first moto after being pushed out: this did not help. A good start finally arrived in the second moto. I was behind Jorge [Prado] and I kept the distance but then had a pretty big one on the last lap. I still managed to finish on the podium and we have ten in a row now so I hope to keep the streak going. Next up is Arnhem. I hope my hand will be OK and it doesn’t feel too bad. The home GP always gives you the extra little boost usually and I hope I can use that to my advantage.”

Romain Febvre – P4

“I had a really good start in the first race; I lost two positions but I stayed with the leading group so I was happy with my pace. My start in the second race wasn’t good and I was thirteenth at the second corner; on a track like this one that’s a real problem! At the same time Prado, Gajser and Herlings were in front from the start so I knew that the best I could expect was a fourth, and that’s what I achieved. I’m happy with that, but of course for the podium result it was not quite enough. I had to ride the second half of the race without the visor on my helmet as I took two big rocks when I was behind Vlaanderen; luckily they didn’t hit my goggles but particularly on the finish jump it was not easy to see with the low sun in my eyes.”

Calvin Vlaanderen – P5

“It wasn’t the best day today. I’m feeling a little beat up after crashing yesterday, so my goal for today was to finish in the top five in both races. I didn’t quite get that by going 6-5 but I ended up fifth overall so that’s not too bad. Ahead of next weekend, I’ll be resting up the best I can to be ready for Arnhem.”

Jeremy Seewer – P6

“The real Jeremy Seewer was back for the first twenty minutes of race one with good pace after a good start but I have not been used to racing at that pace this year so eventually I lost my rhythm and started fighting the bike. It’s been a tough season so at least I was happy to show that my skills and potential are still there. I had another great start in race two but I just didn’t “go” in the first few laps. I don’t know why; I just felt strange already on the sighting lap. I came back to eighth and if I had had the ride of my life I could have been P6 but if you are in pack here it’s so hard to come back; it would have been a lot of risks for those two points and I prefered to stay safe. But I keep the positives from those first twenty minutes of race one and keep looking forward.”

Andrea Bonacorsi – P14

“I struggled a lot all weekend and today wasn’t the best day really. I found it difficult to put laps together and just couldn’t get into a good rhythm. Next weekend, we’re back on the sand so I’m looking forward to that. We have some new settings for the bike for sand tracks so I think it will be a good one for me.”

Mattia Guadagnini – P18

“I knew it was going to be a tough weekend, but I gave it everything I had. I was missing some speed, and being on the ground so many times didn’t help. Yesterday in qualifying wasn’t too bad – even though I crashed on the first lap. In the first race on Sunday, I was fighting around 15th, but then I had a crash. In the second moto, I crashed on the first lap with some other riders. We’ve got six races left, and I’m taking everything I learned here into the next round in the Netherlands, hoping to do better.”

MXGP Round Overall

MXGP Championship Points – Top 30

MX2 – Qualifying Race

MX2 was witness to a brilliant battle between Championship leader Kay de Wolf, who took his sixth RAM Qualifying Race victory of the year for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, and Dane Mikkel Haarup, who was close to his first race win for Monster Energy Triumph Racing.

Lucas Coenen made it another Husqvarna in the top-three, trailing by over seven seconds, while Simon Laengenfelder added a GASGAS in the top five, with Liam Everts on his KTM an even more distant fifth.

MX2 – Qualifying Race Results

MX2 Race One

While Kay De Wolf looked imperious on Saturday, events were not to give him such an easy ride on Grand Prix Sunday, as the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing machine of Simon Laengenfelder powered to the Fox Holeshot and led from Lucas Coenen and Mikkel Haarup.

De Wolf made a mistake in the second corner and ran off the track, putting himself back to around 15th position and with a fight on his hands.

Lucas Coenen was in no mood to hang around and with glorious retro livery to pay homage to the Swedish heritage of the Husqvarna brand, he fired up the inside of Laengenfelder around the first corner at the start of the second full lap and was never caught by anyone from there.

De Wolf crashed down the order on his second lap to make matters even worse for the red plate holder, and the best he could manage was seventh after fighting past the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 pairing of Rick Elzinga and Karlis Reisulis.

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo of Liam Everts and Andrea Adamo held down fourth and fifth throughout the race, with Camden McLellan putting a second Monster Energy Triumph in the top six.

Triumph Teammate Haarup carried over his speed from Saturday and moved past Laengenfelder for second on lap ten.

Lucas’ winning margin was a solid seven seconds from a delighted Haarup and last year’s Uddevalla winner Laengenfelder.

MX2 Race One Results

MX2 Race Two

The German GASGAS man again launched into the lead to claim his seventh Fox Holeshot Award of the year, and after fighting past a spirited Adamo, Lucas Coenen again set his sights on utter domination, snapping past Laengenfelder at the end of lap two this time.

Adamo moved up to second a couple of laps later, while De Wolf was in fifth position, trying to chase down Everts. The track seemed to be giving the riders a few problems and there were an unusually low number of passes being attempted throughout the top ten.

Even getting past lapped riders was proving to be an issue, as Lucas Coenen had his scariest moment avoiding one who had stalled on the first corner, and De Wolf had to reach out an arm in mid-air to avoid a collision with one over a huge tabletop jump in front of the packed hillsides.

Lucas Coenen was the clear winner, five-seconds clear of Andrea Adamo, who led home Laengenfelder by almost two-seconds.

De Wolf was finally able to drive past Everts for fourth on lap twelve of nineteen, as Haarup failed to advance from sixth.

Zanchi, McLellan, Elzinga and Reisulis rounded out the top-10.

MX2 Race Two Results

MX2 Overall

It was all about Lucas Coenen as he took home his fifth GP win of the year to rebuild his momentum and slash De Wolf’s points lead from 67 before today to 49, Lucas now 676, while de Wolf is on 725.

After missing Lommel due to his Loket injuries, Adamo showed true grit to claim second overall ahead of Laengenfelder, who climbed his third straight podium to consolidate his third place in the series.

Haarup was fourth for Triumph, de Wolf only collecting 32-points in fifth, while the rest of the top-10 consisted of Everts, McLellan, Elzinga, Reisulis and Braceras.

Lucas Coenen – P1

“It was the perfect day, coming just when I needed it most. I made the most of my strong starts today, seizing every opportunity. Qualifying had been tough, but today, everything seemed to click into place. My goal was to prove that I can still win, and taking victories in both motos was a great feeling. Now, it’s all about keeping the momentum going. What happened at Lommel, especially at my home race, was hard to accept, but this result at Husqvarna’s home GP feels incredibly rewarding – for both me and the team.”

Andrea Adamo – P2

“I was happy with my riding and speed today. I had missed one GP and I was ‘sleeping’ in the Qualification race so this morning I had to wake up! I didn’t have the best start in the first moto but I made some passes and finished pretty good. In the second I almost had the lead but made a mistake. I needed a few laps to pass Simon [Laegenfelder] for 2nd but then tried to keep the same pace the whole moto to see if there were any mistakes from Lucas [Coenen] but he was strong and I took P2. It was nice to get back on the podium, especially after missing Lommel. I was motivated to come back…and I hope from now until the end of the season I can keep this pace and be at the front.”

Simon Laengenfelder – P3

“This race was definitely a tough one, especially finding the right lines on such a rocky surface. You had to be flawless, with no room for error—hitting the lines perfectly straight was crucial because even a small mistake could cost you. I didn’t have the speed to win today, but being back on the podium and staying consistent is a great feeling. I’m really happy with that.”

Kay de Wolf – P5

“It was definitely a difficult Sunday. In the first moto, I made three mistakes, which wasn’t ideal. However, my overall riding was good, so that’s a positive takeaway. In the second moto, I didn’t get the best start and got closed in at the first turn, which forced me to fight my way through the pack. At that point, it was about staying calm and making as many passes as possible. It was really tough to make those passes, but I’m trying to take what I can learn from this weekend. I’m feeling more positive about my home Grand Prix coming up next weekend, and I’m really looking forward to that!”

Liam Everts – P6

“I was feeling pretty good in the qualifying race, even though I had a tumble and finished 5th: it was OK, nothing to get over-the-moon about. I started around 8-9th in the first moto, got up to 5th and things were going well but then I had really bad stomach cramps. I didn’t feel well. I managed to finish 5th but between the motos was really hard and pretty messy. Considering everything, I was happy to finish the second moto! I managed to make it to the end. I wanted more from the weekend but that’s the way it is.”

Sacha Coenen – P11

“I had a big crash in Timed Practice yesterday and hurt my legs and ankle so it was hard today. I tried my best to race, and to finish both motos was the most important… but the result was not what we wanted. I think I will be OK for next week.”

MX2 Round Overall

MX2 Championship Standings – Top 20