Prado sweeps MXGP of Galicia in Spain

2024 FIM Motocross World Championship
Round Six – MXGP of Galicia – Circuito Municipal

The World Motocross Championship reached round six in Galicia, Spain over the weekend at Circuito Municipal, where home hero Jorge Prado delivered the goods for his local supporters and Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing.

Meanwhile, in MX2, four riders finished a frantic day’s racing with just one point separating them. With a dominant second race win from Lucas Coenen to seal his first overall victory of the year, it was the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing team that deservedly took the winner’s trophy back to their transporter, as well as the red plate for his teammate Kay de Wolf.

MXGP of Galicia 2024 Highlights

MXGP – Qualifying Race

Tim Gajser put down his marker with the fastest time in Free Practice, Prado second. Then in Timed Practice it was the turn of Jeffrey Herlings to show his hand, flying to the pole position, only half a tenth of a second ahead of Gajser.

Herlings used the inside gate to good effect and led into the first corner, but Gajser cut a stunning line out of turn two to grab the lead. The Dutchman was not rolling over, however, and made a brilliant pass to take it back, before the Slovenian used a big, 450-only triple jump into the wave section to retake the advantage that Herlings would not get to take back.

Prado had been battling with the fast-starting Calvin Vlaanderen, who had fought the Spaniard back to keep third. A decisive move on the second lap allowed Prado to clear the #10 rider and chase down Herlings, and Romain Febvre followed him through immediately.

From there, Prado built his momentum with the crowd urging him on through every twist of the throttle. Five laps later, he drove past the KTM talisman to take second, and Febvre would also get past Herlings a lap later. With the fastest lap of the race, Prado closed in on Gajser, and squeezed into the lead just after crossing the finish line to start lap seven.

From there, the lead positions were set until a small mistake from Febvre three laps from the end allowed Herlings to regain third, as Vlaanderen recovered to claim fifth ahead of the Jeremy Seewer.

Jorge Prado

“It wasn’t too bad of a start but I think I was around 4th or 5th in the first two laps and there were good battles with some of the guys too but once I made few passes and got to Jeffrey I knew I had to pass straight away. I was checking out the rhythm see how he went. As soon as I saw that they slowed down a bit I made my attacks. I got to Gajser after, made the pass and controlled the race so yeah, I really enjoyed the ride.”

MXGP – Qualifying Race Results

MXGP Race One

After victory in Saturday’s RAM Qualifying Race swung the momentum back towards home hero Prado, he found his perfect recipe once more with a clear Fox Holeshot Award in race one, ahead of Romain Febvre, the Spaniard then proceeded to pull away and deliver the win that all of his fans wanted to see.

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Although Gajser was initially third, a sweet move from Calvin Vlaanderen moved the Slovenian back, even putting Valentin Guillod ahead of him.

Not long after Gajser blasted through the middle of them to reclaim third, he then dropped the bike in the corner before the wave section and had to fight back to sixth, further hampered by another off-track excursion that could have been a lot worse than it was.

Jeffrey Herlings fought his way up to fourth ahead of Febvre’s teammate Jeremy Seewer, but the top three of Prado, Febvre and Vlaanderen held their positions to the finish.

MXGP Race One Results

MXGP Race Two

In race two, there was confusion for Prado and Herlings as their gates failed to drop, so a red flag was waved to force a restart. With Vlaanderen tasting a chance at the podium, it was the Yamaha that hit the first corner in front, but halfway around the first full lap he soon fell prey to a swift move up the inside from Prado.

Gajser had started outside of the top ten, but charged through the pack to lie third by the end of the first full lap, and on lap seven he charged past Vlaanderen into second position.

For the next ten laps he stalked the reigning champion in a fascinating duel of unstoppable force versus immovable object, until finally the chase was too much and the Slovenian fell in a tight left-handed corner. He managed to salvage third in the race for fourth overall.

As the track got rougher, Herlings was able to keep his speed up and pounce on those who couldn’t. With aggressive moves on Seewer, Fantic Factory Racing rider Glenn Coldenhoff, Febvre, and finally Vlaanderen, “The Bullet” worked his way into third, and was close enough to take advantage of Gajser’s fall to inherit a solid second.

He even caused Prado to look over his shoulder during the final lap, and ironically the two riders who got stuck in the gate before the red flag went on to finish first and second! The result was enough to put the KTM man into second overall, his best of the year so far, with Febvre third overall.

Sadly for Vlaanderen, he crashed in a rut immediately after Herlings went past him, and finished the race in seventh to claim fifth overall.

MXGP Race Two Results

MXGP Overall

Naturally the round overall went to a perfect Prado, on 50-points, Herlings and Febvre tied on 40-points, Gajser fourth on 35-points, and Vlaanderen fifth on 34.

Prado’s 43rd career GP win means that he leads the series again, by just two points from Gajser. Febvre lies a further 29 points behind in third, then 11 further back is Herlings, now 52 back from the leader. It’s well and truly still on for St. Jean.

Jorge Prado – P1

“I grew up around 15 minutes from here, and pretty much learnt to ride all around here, so of course winning an MXGP here makes things super special. Because it is my home event, I had a lot of commitments outside of racing this weekend, which made it challenging – but I have enjoyed every minute of it all the same. It’s a very tough track – especially in the second moto, which was very rough. My goal for the weekend was to win – and I did it! I feel like nothing could stop me this weekend! We also have recaptured the red plate – and to have it is important, but to keep it until the end of the season is going to take more work. I’m ready!”

Jeffrey Herlings – P2

 “Last weekend in Portugal was pretty unfortunate because that could have been a win…but it also wasn’t that bad. I missed my starts a bit today but got to back to 4th and 2nd; I had a bit of luck with Tim crashing. I know I need to work on my weak points but the speed is coming back and I felt it again here. Pretty pumped with my second podium. Step-by-step we are on the way and I’m very happy to be up here again.”

Romain Febvre – P3

“I took a good start in the first moto to stay three seconds behind Jorge for many laps and see what he was doing. I thought I had something for him but then I made a couple of mistakes and settled for second. I had a pretty good first few laps in race two but then I lost my rhythm a little to finish fourth. The track was really tricky and it was easy to make mistakes so we had decided together with the team that the goal for the weekend was to stay safe because there were already some big crashes yesterday; this is only the sixth round and there is a long way to go so I’m really pleased to finish on the podium again. I feel I am close to the victory. It’s always a big fight every moto between Jeremy, me and the others in the top-six so I just need to put everything together; a combination of starts, strategy, aggression when it is necessary and not making mistakes. Next weekend is my home GP so let’s go for it!”

Tim Gajser – P4

“Obviously, I’m pretty frustrated with how that second race ended and overall, how the weekend went. I felt I was riding much better than my results show but that is motocross and sometimes it doesn’t work out for you. My speed in that second race was really pleasing, to move all the way from around ninth, right the way up into second, setting the fastest lap and catching up to the leader. Unfortunately, I just lost the front at the crucial moment and couldn’t hold it. Still, there is a long way to go in the championship and I’m in a good position and we start going to some good tracks for me.”

Jeremy Seewer – P6

“This weekend was positive in many ways but also a little frustrating. It seems like there are five or six of us up there at the moment and the gap to the front is not far; the big gap is behind us. I had the speed today, particularly in the second moto, and I have the fitness but I am just missing the intensity in the first few laps. It was a shame for me that they had to red-flag the second moto at the first attempt as I had the holeshot; I got everything right and I feel I would have holeshot even if every gate had fallen clean. I stayed calm and my start on the re-run was also good but it’s hard to repeat such a perfect start every time. Of course that was frustrating but that’s how it is. We stay positive and we go next weekend to St Jean. It’s one of my favourite tracks ands I have good memories from there; I finished second there two years ago so I go with good vibes.”

Calvin Vlaanderen – P7

“Today has been really good. The goal coming in was two top fives and I was quite close to that. Race One was great and I rode really well, fought hard, and maintained my pace. I just focused on myself and it all paid off so I was happy with that one. With a result like that though, the aim is to then get on the overall podium. I took the holeshot so that helped massively and then I just gave it everything I had. But about 20 mins in, fatigue set in, which I think was from pushing too hard in Race One and also from being sick during the week, and the mistakes crept in. I tipped over as well and ended up seventh. So that was a little frustrating but I’ve been really happy with my riding and my speed this weekend.”

Mattia Guadagnini – P10

“I’m happy about the weekend; I felt good from Saturday morning and really enjoyed the track. I had a good qualifying race on Saturday and just tried to keep that flow going today. I didn’t have the best start in Moto 1, going off the track in the second corner, and a goggle problem didn’t help, but I gave my best to recover as much as possible. I had a really good start in the second moto, but the race was red-flagged. The second start wasn’t as good as the first one, but I still managed to secure a good position to compete with the top riders. I managed to find my rhythm and secured a solid 8th place. Given my condition at the moment, being out for so long, I can be happy with the weekend—not just because of the decent result but more so because of my riding and the feeling. It’s a good point to start from and improve.”

Andrea Bonacorsi – P15

“Today was a learning day for me. My riding didn’t flow so well but I learned a lot about the bike. I was fighting for the top 10 in Race One but then I had a bike issue so I had to stop. During Race Two I felt a little bit unwell and struggled with my breathing, but I was able to regroup and finish ok. I’ll keep on learning and now it’s onto France next weekend.”

MXGP Round Overall

MXGP Championship Points – Top 20

MX2 – Qualifying Race

Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing again saw their riders at the top in MX2, as Kay de Wolf and Lucas Coenen finished 1-2 in both Free and Time Practice, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s defending Champion Andrea Adamo coming to the line in third.

A terrible start for the red plate holder De Wolf left him buried in the pack, while the holeshot went to Sacha Coenen. Returning from injury was Ferruccio Zanchi, and all the pent-up aggression bore fruit as he held second from title chaser Simon Laengenfelder, himself racing after surgery on a broken collarbone sustained in Portugal to an eventual fifth.

Thibault Benistant moved forward into second place by the end of the first full lap, but behind him there was a three-bike pile-up involving Sacha’s teammates Liam Everts and Adamo, as well as Mikkel Haarup.

There was no catching Sacha Coenen who looked in total command for almost the entire race. Zanchi also held firm in third. Kay de Wolf was charging through the pack and would eventually get to seventh, losing just two points to Laengenfelder.

On the last few laps, everything changed. Lucas Coenen had been hassling Laengenfelder, and finally moved up to fourth as they took the 2-Lap board, then immediately dived on Zanchi to take third.

With half a lap to go, there was heartbreak for Sacha Coenen who crashed in the wooded section out of the lead, and then dropped the bike again as he tried to get going.

Restarting just in front of his brother, Lucas was merciless in getting through to second with his best ride for some time.

It was Benistant, however, who took his first Qualifying victory for well over a year, and with Everts unable to get back into the top ten.

Thibault Benistant

“I was quite patient all the race actually and I was feeling good. I still feel a bit tight but I took a good start which I wanted for a long time. It’s really nice to start at the front and kept pushing until the end and Sacha (Coenen) made a mistake so I can say I was a bit luck yin the end… but I stayed on the wheels and I won so I’m very happy!”

MX2 – Qualifying Race Results

MX2 Race One

Fresh from his RAM Qualifying Race win, Thibault Benistant took his first Fox Holeshot Award of the season in race one, with the Sacha Coenen and Andrea Adamo on his tail.

Their teammate Liam Everts was not far behind either, diving past Simon Laengenfelder, who was riding with a plated collarbone and was purely out to salvage some points in his quest for the title.

Adamo was in the mood to take advantage of his good start, and a slip by Benistant gave him the half-chance he wanted to make the move mid-way around the first full lap.

De Wolf was on the charge and fired past Everts along the start straight, then after three more laps made a clean pass on Sacha Coenen. His teammate Lucas had to charge from even further back and would have to settle for fourth at the flag.

In an intense battle that saw the series leader employ a triple jump into the waves that was previously reserved only for the 450s, De Wolf finally got the better of Benistant with a similar move to the one he’d used on Everts.

After the very next corner, the Frenchman suffered a big over-the-handlebars crash that amazingly caused no damage to either him or the bike! He was able to hold on for fifth behind Everts and Lucas Coenen, but all eyes were on De Wolf as he charged after Adamo.

The series leader hauled in the reigning champ, and very nearly overcooked it on the final lap in the waves section that he was so fast. Ultimately it was the Italian that took the race win by 0.732 of a second. De Wolf second, Everts third.

MX2 Race One Results

MX2 Race Two

Race two saw more intense battling, but this time it had nothing to do with the leader, as Lucas Coenen moved rapidly to the front around the opening circulation past Fox Holeshot taker Everts and fast starter Mads Fredsoe. Once again, De Wolf was buried in the pack and had a lot of work to do.

While Sacha Coenen fought hard with Ferruccio Zanchi and Rick Elzinga, De Wolf closed in after passing Zanchi on lap three. He was able to hunt down and pass Elzinga by lap eight, and Sacha Coenen for third by lap thirteen, with Adamo and the machine of Mikkel Haarup in tow.

Benistant was also not far off their pace, but had to settle for sixth in the race. Haarup was able to claim fifth in the race after a crash had limited him to ninth in race one.

Adamo had to accept fourth for the second step on the overall podium, but De Wolf tore after Everts, trying to not just get on the podium, but claim the overall win if he made the pass on the KTM man.

His chase fell agonisingly short, but after three straight wins followed by three straight fourth places, plus the injury for Laengenfelder which restricted the German to 7-9 finishes, the Dutchman’s Championship lead has increased.

Lucas Coenen took the win, well clear of Liam Everts, who in turn was well clear of Kay de Wolf.

MX2 Race Two Results

MX2 Overall

A point separated the top four in the MX2 round overall, Lucas Coenen winning and tied by Andrea Adamo on 43-points, while Liam Everts and Kay de Wolf were both on 42-points. Thibault Benistant rounding out the top five.

The overall MX2 standings are led by de Wolf (292-points), Langenfelder a distant second on 248-points, and Everts third on 230, more closely followed by Benistant (226), Coenen.L (223).

Lucas Coenen – P1

“The last few races have been really tough on me—I kept getting injury after injury. I’m not 100% yet with my shoulder, and I’m still battling with it, but today I managed to win. This was a brutal weekend. In the first moto, I was frustrated because I couldn’t pass somebody. Then in the second moto, I just tried to focus on getting my rhythm going. I got into third and then into the lead, and I tried to control the gap as best as I could. I hope that now we have finally got the win, we can keep this pace up for the rest of the year and see where we end up! Huge thank you to all the team and support—this wouldn’t be possible without all of you!”

Andrea Adamo – P2

“I felt really good all weekend here. It was a bummer that we had a clash in the Qualification Heat and P16 meant I was out of the [Saturday] points and it was not easy for today! I made a good start though and led the whole moto. I was consistent and managing the gap and then had to step-it-up a bit at the end. I was really happy to win. In the second moto I messed up the start but, overall, it was a solid weekend and I’m pleased to be on the podium. A win would have been better but there are a lot of races to go.”

Liam Everts – P3

 “I’m happy to be sitting here because I felt pretty bad all day. A lot of stomach pain and whatever I ate come up straightaway! Two solid starts and I surprised myself a little bit but I gave my all and took what I could. I kept a cool head and did what I could.”

Kay de Wolf – P4

“It was a good weekend – I extended my points lead – and I’m really happy overall. It’s a shame that the 3rd and second place finishes were not enough to make the podium. I thought my riding overall was great. The starts were not so good and the consistency was good too. I just want to focus on my riding in general – I feel very comfortable on the bike at the moment, and I’m looking forward to the next round in France.”

Thibault Benistant – P5

“Of course, I’m a little disappointed with today after winning the Qualifying Race yesterday. I had a really good start in Race One and ran in second for a while, but I was riding a little tight. I was passed and then I had a big crash. I got up in fifth and then stayed there to the finish. I had a bad start in Race Two but after a few laps I felt really good on the bike, the best I’ve felt all year, so we have something positive to build on for the next races.”

Sacha Coenen – P6

“The qualifying race was really good. I led the whole moto and just crashed on the last lap! I then ran top three in the first moto and dropped back to 6th: I wasn’t happy about that. I felt fast again in the second moto and wanted to follow my brother but the mistakes came in again and I even ran into a lapped rider. 6th overall, not bad, but I wanted the podium today. I will give it all to try and win in France.”

Rick Elzinga – P8

“It’s been a difficult weekend for me as all weekend I just felt a little ‘off’. I was struggling with my riding and made too many mistakes in Race One and ended up eighth, but that could have been a fifth or a sixth. Race Two was similar and I was eighth again for eighth overall. All weekend I was just missing a little bit of speed, but I guess I was consistent. I’m already looking forward to progressing next weekend.”

Simon Längenfelder – P9

“My weekend was – let’s say – I’m super happy to have been on the start line at all! It was very early to come back to a race, with just so many days after the surgery, but everything was going good – so I think we made the right choice. We had a very good qualifying race – where we finished fifth – so I’m very happy with that one. Then both of the races on Sunday we had good starts – noth the best – but good. The intensity wasnt there in the first few laps, I was being careful to not hurt my shoulder. 7th and 9th, for 9th overall. Just to be able to ride six days after the surgery was so good – and to take away points from it – I’m very happy!”

Ferruccio Zanchi – P10

“It was nice to be back in the thick of the action, having the gate drops and just being back at the races as a whole. Going 11-10 for 10th is a pretty fair reflection of where I was on the track speed-wise and it gives me a good starting point to build-upon. We did a lot of good things and I’m thankful to all the team for the work they’ve done and I’m looking forward to racing in France and trying to work my way up the table.”

Marc-Antoine Rossi – P14

“Today’s race was super tough from start to finish. We had a decent start in the first moto, managing to carve through the pack to get a solid position. The track here in Galicia is brutal, with its tight corners and heavy soil, but we adapted our strategy. Unfortunately, in the second moto I made a mistake. I was pushing hard, running in sixth, when I went off the track and got tangled in the fence. It’s about learning from every lap, every corner, and every setback. We’ll take these lessons forward, and aim for a stronger comeback in the next round.”

MX2 Round Overall

MX2 Championship Standings