Cycle News Staff | August 3, 2021
The sand and whoops of Lommel greeted the racers of round six of the 2021 FIM Motocross World Championship in Flanders, Belgium, for the MXGP of Flanders-Belgium, August 1. For Febvre, it was his first win at Lommel, and for Geerts, it was a sweet home victory.
Had it not been for a fall in moto one, it could’ve been a sweep for the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider, Febvre. He was leading moto one when he went down in the sand, handing the point position to Jeffrey Herlings, who was back on the track after breaking his shoulder blade just 13 days earlier.
Herlings cruised home for the win followed by Febvre, Herlings’ Red Bull KTM teammate Antonio Cairoli, Pauls Jonass (GG) and Jeremy Seewer (Yamaha).
Febvre took an early lead in moto two but went down again. This time, however, he had plenty of time to make amends and came up through the pack to pass Jonass late in the race to take the moto win over the GasGas rider and the overall victory.
Herlings, meanwhile, also went down but came back to get fifth in the moto, which was good enough for second overall.
Jonass got on the podium with a 4-2.
Championship leader Tim Gajser (Honda) had a crash-filled day and lost valuable ground to his nearest rival, Febvre. A 7-4 netted sixth overall for the defending champ, Gajser, who leads Febvre now by just five points.
Former Champion Antonio Cairoli (fifth overall, 3-7) has been gaining ground, as well. The veteran is currently third in the championship, just nine points behind Gajser.
In MX2, Dutchman Kay de Wolf (Husqvarna) chalked up his first career moto win when he topped the second moto, but it was the home favorite, Geerts, who came away with the overall win with a 1-2. Wolf, however, was happy with second overall after taking third in the first moto.
Frenchman Maxime Renaux joined Geerts and Wolf on the box after posting 2-3 results.
Renaux still enjoys a comfortable lead in the championship, 221-195 over Italy’s Mattia Guadagnini (KTM), who hit the ground a few times on the day, as did his Red Bull KTM teammate Tom Vialle.
Honda’s Ruben Fernandez (6-7) is third in the championship, one point behind Guadagnini.
VIDEO | MXGP of Flanders Highlights
MXGP
- Romain Febvre (Kaw) 2-1
- Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 1-5
- Pauls Jonass (GG) 4-2
- Jorge Prado (KTM) 6-3
- Antonio Cairoli (KTM) 3-7
MX2
- Jago Geerts (Yam) 1-2
- Kay de Wolf (Hus) 3-1
- Maxime Renaux (Yam) 2-3
- Thibault Benistant (Yam) 5-4
- Jed Beaton (Hus) 8-5
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