The first day of the MXGP of Czech Republic held its promises during the RAM Qualifying Races with Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado in MXGP and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo in MX2 both dominating their races.
On the old-school circuit of Loket, riders didn’t wait long to deliver some amazing moves and displayed great speed on this technical track. In front of many passionate Czech fans and very hot temperatures nearing the 30 degrees, the battles across both categories entertained everyone present which made everyone already looking forward for tomorrow’s races.
Along with the RAM Qualifying Races, the first races of the final rounds of the EMX85 and EMX65 classes and the unique round of EMX2T took place in Loket. In EMX85, Liam Bruneau came out victorious while Francesco Assini won in EMX65. The EMX2T saw Fantic Factory Team Maddii’s Cas Valk winning race 1.
Following the RAM Qualifying Races, the winners of the RAM Qualification Races and Red Plates Jorge Prado and Andrea Adamo were invited to the Paddock Show with 2022 Motocross World Champion Team HRC’s Tim Gajser who celebrated his return to the competition along with MRT Racing Team Beta’s Alessandro Lupino and home rider Vitezslav Marek. The reception of the riders was really warm and enthusiastic.
In the MXGP RAM Qualifying Race, without much surprise it was Jorge Prado who took the best start in front of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer and Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre. Prado showed great speed although Seewer did not let the Red Plate go out of his sight for a large part of the race. Prado kept racing his laps and started to make a good gap with Seewer by mid-race to cruise to victory.
For Seewer, things were not that smooth as Febvre put a lot of pressure behind him. Febvre who went down in lap 2 of 13 got overtaken by Team HRC’s Rubén Fernández but didn’t take long to regain the 3rd place and charge forward. He got closer and closer to Seewer trying to find new ways to pass the Swiss. He forced a move on lap 8 but could not make the pass stick and had to regroup. The end of the race was tense but Seewer brilliantly held his 2nd place while Febvre settled for 3rd.
Fernández managed to have a pretty quiet race as he found himself 4th on lap 1 to then for one lap going 3rd after Febvre misshape. After getting back to 4th he managed his race solidly to score 7 points with the 4th place.
Tim Gajser who celebrated his return from injury showed that he is back for good with getting the fastest time in Time Practice earlier in the day. He also had a great start in the RAM Qualifying Race going 5th after few corners. However, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff quickly went on to threaten the 2022 MXGP World Champion. Coldenhoff made a good move and overtook Gajser for 5th within the first lap. Coldenhoff went on to keep his 5th place until the end while Gajser also solidly stayed 6th until the end even if he had to deal with late charges from Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen and Standing Construct Honda MXGP’s Jeremy Van Horebeek which shows his determination to already compete at his fullest.
Vlaanderen and Van Horebeek followed each other the whole race displaying two solid performances going 7th and 8th respectively. Vlaanderen got us used to be well into the top 10 while it was a remarkable feat for Van Horebeek who has not had a lot of racing in his legs so far this season as he came back from his retirement to fill for Pauls Jonass who is injured.
SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato found himself 10th on the turn of the first lap and got overtaken on lap 2 by a confident Ship to Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Valentin Guillod who went from 11th to 9th over one lap. Forato kept racing with a good speed and overtook on lap 3 the surprising Ivo Monticelli for 10th. Guillod was cruising in 9th place until lap 11 when Forato made a great move to move up one spot and finish 9th. Guillod had to settle for 10th.
De Baets Yamaha MX-Team’s Benoit Paturel and Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Mitch Evans came up just short of points as they finished 11th and 12th respectively. Alessandro Lupino who was coming back to competition after missing the second Indonesian round had to unfortunately retire from the race after a mechanical problem.
Jorge Prado: “I didn’t feel great this morning in time practice but I knew the start will be important so I got a good jump out of the gate and a smooth first corner although I went a bit wide. We were pushing quite hard at the beginning and I made few mistakes but then I switched on my riding to ride smoother and made the gap. I was riding better and I’m happy to get another RAM Qualifying Race and now we keep going!”
MXGP – RAM Qualifying Race – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 24:08.817; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:01.052; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.743; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:11.254; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:14.139; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:16.483; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:17.464; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Honda), +0:18.386; 9. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), +0:19.890; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +0:35.903
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 572 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 467 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 423 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 422 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 396 p.; 6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 386 p.; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 361 p.; 8. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 287 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 266 p.; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 203 p
In MX2 RAM Qualifying Race, it was Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder who was the quickest out of the gates and took the lead in front of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Liam Everts and Andrea Adamo. While Laengenfelder showed good speed it was Adamo who demonstrated all his abilities to chase for the race win. Adamo inched closer to his teammate Everts on lap 5 of 13 and passed him with class to keep his charge forward. The determination and skills of the Red Plate was palpable as he got closer and closer to Laengenfelder. Finally on lap 7, Adamo was simply too fast and powered through Laengenfelder to take the lead. Adamo kept going to win comfortably his first RAM Qualifying Race of the season. Laengenfelder confirmed his form with an excellent 2nd place. Everts also keeps scoring good points and ride at the front as he finished 3rd.
Behind them, the astounding VHR Racing Team’s Isak Gifting got a great start to see himself in 4th after lap 1. Gifting kept going and never looked back to confidently finish 4th, his season’s best finish.
The battle for the 5th place was fierce between Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts. Geerts got himself 5th from the start and looked relax but de Wolf was determined to pass the Belgian. Several attacks from de Wolf were nearly successful but Geerts always found the way to take his 5th spot back until lap 12 when de Wolf finally got the last word. Geerts could not defend on de Wolf’s ultimate attack and de Wolf moved up to 5th and finish there while Geerts settled for 6th.
Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Roan Van de Moosdijk had an average start going 8th on lap 1 behind JM Honda Raxcing’s Camden Mc Lellan. Van De Moosdijk let his speed talk as he overtook the South African on lap 3 for 7th. Van De Moosdijk kept a good pace, getting even closer to de Wolf and Geerts in the end but settled for 7th while Mc Lellan could not contain F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo speed on lap 8 and finished at a good 9th place. Horgmo gained one place from the first lap and finished 8th.
It went superbly for VRT KTM Factory Juniors’ Ferruccio Zanchi who showed a great determination. The young Italian rider found himself 16 on lap 1 but that didn’t stop him to make great passes throughout the race. On lap 2, he gained a whopping 3 places to 13th in the space of one lap. Zanchi kept a great pace to overtake Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Rick Elzinga and returning F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s David Braceras. Zanchi finished in the points with a 10th place in the end. Braceras finished 11th while Elzinga settled for 12th.
Unfortunately, many riders hindered their chances to ride into the top 10 with a multi-rider collision in the first turn which included Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant and Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen. Benistant had to retire while L.Coenen finished 16th.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Sacha Coenen made a great start as he found himself 3rd after several corners but crashed in a turn and could not finish better than 17th in the end.
Andrea Adamo: “I had a really good race, not a great start but I managed to stay on the bike over the first two laps after seeing many mistakes around me. I won the race, overtaking Simon (Laengenfelder) and Liam (Everts). This one is for you Giova, my ex-Team Manager, Emanuele Giovanelli. I hope he gets better quickly to see him back on the tracks.”
MX2 – RAM Qualifying Race – Top 10 Classification: 1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 24:43.748; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:03.641; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:12.076; 4. Isak Gifting (SWE, GASGAS), +0:18.364; 5. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:21.119; 6. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:22.073; 7. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna), +0:23.698; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:24.252; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Honda), +0:37.443; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, KTM), +0:45.344
MX2 – World Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 498 points; 2. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 462 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 458 p.; 4. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 446 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 428 p.; 6. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 421 p.; 7. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 350 p.; 8. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 346 p.; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 294 p.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 242 p
TIMETABLE
SUNDAY: 08:40 EMX2T Race 2, 09:20 MXE Time Practice, 09:55 EMX85 Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX65 Race 2, 12:40 MXE Race 1, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 15:30 MXE Race 2, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.
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Or visit the official MXGP website mxgp.com
