It’s just a short drive for the teams this week from the MXGP of Portugal, as the FIM Motocross World Championship explores the new venue of the Circuito Municipal Jorge Prado near the city of Lugo in the north-west corner of Spain for the MXGP of Galicia. And yes, you read that correctly, the circuit is named after the reigning MXGP World Champion, and that’s because it is located in the area where he grew up and first threw his leg over a motorcycle!
Lugo will become the 18th circuit in Spain to host a Motocross Grand Prix, but the first in the historic Galicia region. The nearest previous MXGP circuit was La Baneza, where Antonio Cairoli and Ken Roczen won back in 2011. The five most recent events in Spain have all been at Intu Xanadu Arroyomolinos, including the second round of the 2024 series which was a perfect weekend for Jorge Prado and Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing in MXGP, with Kay De Wolf taking the victory there in MX2 for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.
The WMX Women’s World Motocross Championship will rejoin the tour for its third round, and the series has been a brilliant one so far with victory on home ground for RFME GASGAS Juniors MX Team’s Daniela Guillen in round one, followed by a stunning win in Sardegna for the De Baets Yamaha Team rider Lotte van Drunen. The pair are locked together in a tie for the Championship lead, and once more the Spanish rider will have a home crowd to cheer her on! Van Drunen, as the most recent race winner, will carry the red plate, and she also loves the atmosphere when she is racing against the home hero! Lynn Valk will also be trying to break the deadlock of the top two after finishing behind them in third at each of the first two rounds.
The EMX125 Championship Presented by FMF series continues with its fourth round of the season, with Fantic Factory Racing EMX125 rider Noel Zanocz from Hungary holding a slender 8-point Championship lead over Racestore KTM Factory Rookies star Gyan Doensen. Spain’s Salvador Perez holds third for the RFME GASGAS MX Junior Team.
The reigning MXGP World Champion Jorge Prado heads to his home town with a white plate fitted to his Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing machine, for the first time since the opening round, after losing the series lead to Team HRC’s Tim Gajser in Portugal. A tough day in the mud for all concerned, but especially Prado, sees the Slovenian with a 14-point gap that the local hero will urgently be looking to hack down and reassert his authority. Kawasaki Racing Team leader Romain Febvre now lies just 18 points further back in third, with Jeffrey Herlings in fourth, another 22 behind the Frenchman. The worrying thing about Portugal for the rest of the pack was that the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing legend seems to be back in a winning mood after taking the chequered flag in race two, and he is starting to get his season together.
After taking his first Grand Prix victory for six years in Portugal, Pauls Jonass lies in fifth place in the series for Standing Construct Honda MXGP, just six behind The Bullet and intent on his mission to stay consistent.
Overall the top contenders have had varied success in Spain, as Herlings has the most among them with 4 victories, two in each class, whereas Prado has two wins, both at Xanadu. Tim Gajser has to look back to his first MXGP title year in 2016 for his only win on Spanish soil, at Talavera de la Reina, but Febvre has yet to win a GP on the entire Iberian Peninsula! The two other winners in Spain that line up for MXGP this weekend include Jonass at Red Sand in 2018, and Valentin Guillod of Team Ship-to-Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR, who won the MX2 class at Talavera in 2015!
As the MXGP of Portugal has proven, Motocross is massively unpredictable and as we move into the second quarter of the season, the anticipated battle between the giants of the sport in MXGP is well and truly still on!
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 252 Points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 238 Points; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 220 Points ; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 198 Pts; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 192 Pts; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 157 Pts; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 151 Pts; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 149 Pts; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON) 108 Pts; 10. Ben Watson (GBR, BET), 92 Pts
Although Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing pilot Kay de Wolf has faced adversity in the previous two rounds of the MX2 World Championship, after winning the first three, he still carries the red plate heading to Galicia. The big question at the top of MX2 is how soon we will see the return of second-placed Simon Laengenfelder of the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing team, as the unfortunate German broke his collarbone in race two at Agueda. The gap at the top is now 30 points, with another 28 going back to the dominant Portugal winner Liam Everts, who has rocketed up the order for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing after missing the opening round due to a pre-season thumb injury. That’s what two GP wins on the bounce will do for you!
Everts lies just three points ahead of Thibault Benistant, in fourth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, then it’s only 14 more back to De Wolf’s teammate Lucas Coenen. Reigning MX2 World Champion Andrea Adamo has been shuffled back to sixth place, and now lies 78 behind the leader. After a fine 2nd overall in Portugal, Benistant’s teammate Rick Elzinga has jumped up from 9th to 7th in the standings.
If Laengenfelder, who won at Xanadu in 2023, doesn’t line up this weekend, then De Wolf would be the only one to race in MX2 at Lugo with a previous win in Spain on his record. That was, of course, the second round of this year’s series.
Whilst the title contenders are more spread out in MX2 than in MXGP, the action on track has been hectic and action-packed all year, and it would take bravery from anybody to predict a winner at this brand new circuit!
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 246 Points; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 216 Points; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 188 Pts; 4. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 185 Pts; 5. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 171 Pts;. 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 168 Pts; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 159 Pts; 8. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 154 Pts; 9. Camden McLellan (RSA, TRI). 126 Pts; 10. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 104 Pts;
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