The Monster Energy MXGP of Trentino enjoyed beautiful sunshine for the Qualifying Races today at the “Il Ciclamino” circuit, and already the crowds packed the picturesque slopes to get behind their favourite riders, with many Slovenian and Swiss fans joining the local and not so local pilgrims to this Mecca of Motocross!
The action-packed MXGP Qualifying Race saw a clear win for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP leader Romain Febvre, although his title rival Tim Gajser limited the damage to his points lead by finishing second for Honda HRC. Jeremy Seewer took a popular third position for the Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team on the team’s home soil!
Liam Everts moved forward to take his first Qualifying Race win this season for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, at the venue where he won overall in 2024. Thibault Benistant kept up his good record in Qualifying Races this season with second place for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Simon Laengenfelder, who closed in on the Championship leader, but is now level on points with Everts!
We’ve only seen the first clues as to how the Monster Energy MXGP of Trentino will unfold, and tomorrow’s Grand Prix races should be fascinating!
Febvre was clearly in the mood to dominate the event with the fastest time in both Free and Time Practice sessions, with fellow Sardegna podium men Gajser and Fantic Factory Racing MXGP’s Glenn Coldenhoff behind him in the morning, although in the afternoon it was Calvin Vlaanderen, starting to get back up to his true pace for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, who was second fastest, ahead of the JK Racing Yamaha of Isak Gifting!
Nobody would have guessed the Holeshot winner of the Qualifying Race, however, as charging Tuscan Nicholas Lapucci stormed into the lead on his SM Action Racing Team Kawasaki, keeping Febvre at bay until halfway around the opening circulation!
The privateer Italian took full advantage of his local knowledge to hold the likes of Gajser and Gifting behind him early on, and the Slovenian snuck past the Swede for third halfway around the first full lap, before he nearly crashed on a small jump. Distracted by Gajser’s misstep, Gifting was unfortunate to get the jump completely wrong and crash hard in his own right. Slammed by his own motorcycle, he was unable to restart and is sadly unlikely to line up tomorrow.
Gajser was able to pass Lapucci before the first full lap was done, but the plucky Italian kept third until lap five, when the floodgates opened! As Ruben Fernandez tried to squeeze his Honda HRC machine past, he resisted a passing attempt from the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP bike of Maxime Renaux, and had to exit the circuit. The Spaniard re-joined between Lapucci and Renaux, but used the line he was on to pass the Italian, and was later judged to have gained an advantage. Although he crossed the line in third, he was demoted to fifth for his transgression.
The next to pass Lapucci was Seewer, having his best race yet on the Ducati, but there was disappointment for the many fans of his temporary teammate Antonio Cairoli, who suffered early damage to his rear wheel, and had to pull in for repairs that were too extensive to make in Pit Lane. Cairoli’s fellow five-time winner at Trentino, Jeffrey Herlings, was the last to pass Lapucci, taking 22nd position for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
The other factory KTM of Lucas Coenen was down in the first corner, and fought through to a frustrated 11th, one place outside the points. Suffering a similar poor start was the Fantic Factory Racing MXGP rider Andrea Bonacorsi, but the tall Italian moved forward with intent to take the final point in tenth, behind the TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team rider Jan Pancar in ninth. Moving forward impressively to claim his best Qualifying Race finish yet for MRT Racing Team Beta was Ben Watson, taking a great eighth at the site of his most recent GP win.
Coldenhoff took a solid seventh behind Vlaanderen, who simply didn’t get the start his pace deserved and finished a second shy of his teammate Renaux.
Febvre was unstoppable out front and controlled the race to win by 5.774 seconds from Gajser, with Seewer and Renaux bumped up to third and fourth due to the penalty for Fernandez. Febvre chipped a point away from Gajser’s series lead, which is now at 33 points. Coldenhoff is 31 points further back in third.
While the Championship battle is hardly close, it’s likely that tomorrow’s racing will be on a circuit which could well see some weather hit it overnight!
Romain Febvre: “It’s definitely a bit of redemption after last Saturday. At the same time, I carried the momentum from Sunday into this weekend. I felt good right from the morning—put in some strong laps in time practice to take pole. We worked hard on the starts this week and finally found a good tank setup, and it showed today. Pulling away from Gajser like that feels great—he’s the guy to beat—so it’s a strong Saturday. Now the goal is to keep this consistency going into tomorrow”
MXGP – Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), 25:19.807; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:05.774; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Ducati), +0:29.766; 4. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:32.383; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:26.086; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:33.395; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:36.309; 8. Ben Watson (GBR, Beta), +0:39.210; 9. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:43.181; 10. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:48.531
MXGP – World Championship Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 224 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 191 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 160 p.; 4. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 141 p.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 132 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 116 p.; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 114 p.; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 105 p.; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 86 p.; 10. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 84 p.
Former EMX250 rivals Cas Valk for Venrooy KTM Racing and Honda HRC’s Valerio Lata showed their pace before the race, with Valk fastest in Free Practice, and Lata third behind Simon Laengenfelder. In Time Practice it was Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Championship leader Kay de Wolf, for the first time this season, that set the fastest lap ahead of Lata and Valk in that order.
None of those three got a great start to the Qualifying Race, however, as Thibault Benistant swept across the front of Laengenfelder to claim the Holeshot, with CRD Motosport TM Moto’s Julius Mikula right with them!
The Czech rider made a mistake on the big uphill triple jump, however, and got passed by Liam Everts and the Monster Energy Triumph Racing machine of Camden McLellan.
De Wolf was mired in the pack, only back to eighth at the end of the first full lap, and had to work hard to recover the ground from his poor start. Everts made a sharp inside move on Laengenfelder for second, and set about the chase to Benistant. There was trouble for another World Champion, however, as Andrea Adamo, resplendent in all-Italian colours, dropped his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine, and had to work back to an eventual 14th. His stablemate Sacha Coenen had an uncharacteristic poor start and could only fight back to 11th. Also disappointed was Ferruccio Zanchi, who was forced to withdraw his Honda HRC machine on lap nine.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 teammates Karlis Reisulis and Rick Elzinga took ninth and tenth at the flag after the Dutchman suffered a small crash on lap five. Quentin Prugnieres started well for WZ Racing KTM but slipped down the order to eighth, victim to charges through the pack from those old EMX250 rivals, Valk getting up to sixth and Lata to seventh. They will both hope for better starts tomorrow!
De Wolf managed to pick off riders at a steady rate, reaching fifth by lap five, but unable to make an impression on McLellan, who continued his good form from Sardegna to take fourth. Laengenfelder had a lonely race in third and reduced the Championship gap to just six points, but Everts was able to claw back the gap to Benistant with five minutes left on the clock!
With an impressive line up the hill after Pit Lane, the Belgian flew past the Frenchman to take his first Qualifying Race win for his new team, and join Laengenfelder on 185 points, just six down on De Wolf and now 14 ahead of the luckless Adamo!
It’s still wide open between the MX2 stars as we head into tomorrow’s races, with the Italian stars out for revenge, and all of the Championship contenders eager to stake their claim to the Trentino trophies!
The “antipasti” has been served and devoured, now all MXGP fans both here and worldwide are looking forward to the main course tomorrow! Book your seat for what is sure to be a table full of flavour!
Liam Everts: “It was pretty good. I had a decent start and managed to get around McLellan and Längenfelder early on. After that, I just settled in behind Thibault (Benistant)—he was riding really well, consistent and fast without making any mistakes. I knew I had to be patient, and when he finally made one, I was there to take advantage So I just had to be patient and it’s what I did and made three good laps at the to bring it home!”
MX2 – Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), 25:28.118; 2. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:02.098; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:08.964; 4. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:23.480; 5. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:41.743; 6. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:44.754; 7. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:53.611; 8. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KTM), +0:56.570; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:57.000; 10. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:57.439
MX2 – World Championship Classification: . Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 191 points; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 185 p.; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 185 p.; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 171 p.; 5. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 143 p.; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 137 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 125 p.; 8. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 120 p.; 9. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 97 p.; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 88 p.
MONSTER ENERGY MXGP OF TRENTINO QUICK FACTS:
Circuit length: 1570m
Type of ground: Hard Pack
Temperature: 18°
Weather conditions: Sunny
TIMETABLE
SUNDAY:
09:45 EMX125 Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX250 Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.
For more news check out our dedicated MXGP/MX2 News page
Or visit the official MXGP website mxgp.com
©Words/Images are from an official press release posted courtesy of www.mxgp.com
