Sandy Success For Laengenfelder and Gajser in The MXGP of Sardegna

The MXGP of Sardegna began in earnest today with thrilling encounters in the Qualifying Races for both MX2 and MXGP, as the shifting sands of the “Le Dune” circuit at Riola Sardo made it far from easy for even the fittest of riders in the bright sunshine!

The MXGP Qualifying Race was truly hard fought for, and finished with Tim Gajser taking the win for Honda HRC, less than half a second ahead of the hard-charging Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rookie Lucas Coenen!

In MX2 it was Simon Laengenfelder who took his first Qualifying Race win for over a year, as the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider showed the benefits of training on this island for much of the winter, with a real step-up in pace through the soft going!

All of the riders know that as tough as today was, the two full length GP races tomorrow will be even tougher! The “Riola Sand” rollercoaster has only just begun!

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Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP talisman Romain Febvre set the fastest time in the morning Free Practice session, although his teammate Pauls Jonass was ruled out of the weekend’s races after a painful crash in the corner opposite Pit Lane.  Gajser topped the tables in Time Practice, however, by just eleven thousandths of a second from Lucas Coenen!  Jago Geerts showed his best pace of the year for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, with fourth behind Febvre.

It was Gajser’s Honda HRC teammate Ruben Fernandez who took the Holeshot in the afternoon’s Qualifying Race, while Jeremy Seewer hit the start gate on his Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team machine! Gajser rode through the second corner in ninth spot while Glenn Coldenhoff grabbed second place for Fantic Factory Racing, with the lone Team Motul Honda Motoblouz SR rider Kevin Horgmo in third!

Coenen dived up the inside of Febvre to claim fourth around the third corner, while Gajser showed supreme aggression to overtake half a dozen riders by the end of the first full lap, including rapid moves on Coenen and Horgmo! On the start of lap three his charge continued with a stunning move around the outside of Coldenhoff to claim second position, with just his teammate to go!

Febvre was also advancing, with a similar move on Horgmo to claim fourth, and fellow Frenchman Maxime Renaux was the fastest on track for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, up to eleventh on lap three, when he suddenly came to a stop at the bottom of the circuit! Febvre also had an issue, with his rear wheel suddenly breaking up, although he was able to get it changed in Pit Lane, leaving him 20th at the finish. He ended up two positions ahead of the returning Jeffrey Herlings, who gave truth to his pre-race quotes of being nowhere near his top level.

His Red Bull KTM Factory Racing stable-mate, however, was getting faster by the lap.  Coenen followed Gajser past Fernandez on lap six, and as the Slovenian started to deal with lapped traffic, the young Belgian began to reel him in over the closing few laps!

Fernandez was able to hold on for third ahead of Coldenhoff and an impressive Horgmo, who held off Fantic Factory Racing’s Andrea Bonacorsi for fifth. Calvin Vlaanderen claimed seventh for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, with fellow Dutchman Roan van de Moosdijk claiming eighth for the KTM Kosak Team.  Geerts had a solid ride for his first Saturday points in MXGP with ninth, ahead of MRT Racing Team Beta team leader Ben Watson.

The charge from Coenen took Gajser by surprise, and the teenager nearly slipped past on the final lap as Tim negotiated a lapped rider with a little more caution than he had time for! The gap between the two was just 0.332 seconds at the chequered flag!

With the issues for Febvre and Renaux, Gajser’s win puts him a mighty 39 points clear at the top of the Championship, but Coenen is now just five points behind the Yamaha man and growing in stature with every race.  Tomorrow could be an enthralling contest between the pair, and with good starts and without today’s sort of problems it’s highly likely that Romain and Maxime could join the party!

Tim Gajser: “Honestly, I was thinking to take it a bit easy especially as it was difficult see the pit board as it was quite rough. So I saw Ruben (Fernandez) behind me and could see I was creating a gap but then I just heard something with two laps to go and looked back and it was Lucas (Coenen) so I had to push the last two laps but it was super good fighting. I also had to make quite few passes at the beginning as I didn’t get the best start but overall, pretty happy and looking forward for tomorrow!”

MXGP – Qualifying Race Classification:  1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 23:39.296; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:00.332; 3. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:10.198; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:11.126; 5. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:18.333; 6. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:21.127; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:24.303; 8. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KTM), +0:44.700; 9. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:48.459; 10. Ben Watson (GBR, Beta), +0:50.421;

MXGP – World Championship Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 177 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 138 p.; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 121 p.; 4. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 116 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 114 p.; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 87 p.; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 86 p.; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 85 p.; 9. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, DUC), 84 p.; 10. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 68 p.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing flyer Sacha Coenen showed that there were no after effects from his two big crashes in France at the previous round, with devastating speed in both Free and Time Practice that his competitors were struggling to live with! Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing duo Kay de Wolf and Liam Everts were second and third in Time Practice, while Rick Elzinga showed his best form of the season so far with fourth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2.

Sacha Coenen started the race with the sort of Holeshot that he has made famous, with teammates Andrea Adamo and Laengenfelder hanging on to his coat-tails!  Laengenfelder made a great move around Adamo for second after turn three, and Everts got up to third a couple of corners later!

De Wolf had to dispute fifth place with Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 man Thibault Benistant, but after being re-passed by the Frenchman it was the Champ who made a mistake that put him on the ground, remounting back in 17th!

Coenen’s lead was over three seconds at the start of the first full lap, but the young Belgian tipped over in a deep corner to give up the lead to Laengenfelder, who put the hammer down to stretch out his advantage over Everts.  Sacha got back up in sixth, and almost immediately battled back past Venrooy KTM Racing’s Cas Valk, then made a great move on Benistant for fourth at the start of lap four.

Valk, who has suffered with a slight health issue this week, dropped to tenth by the close, with Elzinga just ahead of him. Honda HRC man Ferruccio Zanchi was able to follow the pace of the recovering De Wolf and found his way into eighth, while the Dutchman fought hard to pass Monster Energy Triumph Racing’s lone warrior Camden McLellan on the final lap to grab sixth.

Coenen’s pace brought him up to Adamo, and he took third place from the Italian with three laps to go. Laengenfelder pressed on for a fine win, his first in a Qualifying Race since the final round of the 2023 World Championship, and with Everts in second place at the flag it now tightens the points situation even more, putting the German just two behind the Belgian at the top!

De Wolf is still third, but now seven points behind Everts, with Adamo just four behind him. Covered by just 13 points, the top four could be in any order possible at the end of tomorrow’s Grand Prix races, although Coenen’s pace could be something to reckon with if he manages to stay on the motorcycle!

The action at Riola Sardo is likely to come thick and fast in tomorrow’s MXGP of Sardegna, so don’t miss a single grain of sand fly in the fourth round of the FIM Motocross World Championships!

 

Simon Laengenfelder: “It was long overdue for sure with the Quali Race wins! Really happy with the race I stayed consistent and mistakes free and just tried to surf on sand. It’s been a long time since my last win so I’m super happy to start the weekend like this especially in those hard conditions but the bike is good and I’m enjoying the track!”

 

MX2 – Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 23:48.580; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:08.814; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:15.043; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:18.914; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:19.830; 6. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:24.542; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:25.148; 8. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:45.137; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:51.272; 10. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:56.150

MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 144 points; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 142 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 135 p.; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 131 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 117 p.; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 109 p.; 7. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 92 p.; 8. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 77 p.; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 76 p.; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 65 p.

MXGP OF SARDEGNA QUICK FACTS:
Circuit length: 1750m
Type of ground: Sand
Temperature: 18°
Weather conditions: Sunny

TIMETABLE

SUNDAY:
09:45 WMX Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX125 Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1 14:15, MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.

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Or visit the official MXGP website mxgp.com

©Words/Images are from an official press release posted courtesy of www.mxgp.com