Cycle News Staff | March 11, 2024
Round one of the FIM Motocross World Championship headed to South America for the MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina to kick off the 2024 campaign. The preseason hype came to a head with the first gate drop of the season, as Jorge Prado (MXGP) and Kay de Wolf (MX2) claimed their respective overall victories.
MXGP is back in action with round one taking place in Argentina. Photo: Juan Pablo Acevedo
MXGP
Defending MXGP Champion Jorge Prado is fresh off his Supercross stint in America and back sporting a big number one aboard his Red Bull Factory GasGas machine. The Spaniard took over the lead in race one on the first lap and easily cruised to the opening win by 10 seconds. Kawasaki’s Romain Febvre battled his way to second at the checkers, just clear of Pauls Jonass in third.
Prado easily won the first moto of the weekend.
Race two saw qualifying winner Tim Gajser rebound from a disastrous race one with the holeshot and early lead. The Honda man controlled the lead from the front and held the top spot for all 18 laps. His 5-3 earned him third overall. Prado rode a consistent second in race two and used 1-2 scores to take the overall win at the series opener. Febvre again landed on the podium with a third and put together 2-3 finishes for second overall.
Tim Gajser led start to finish in race 2. Photo: Bavo
“Honestly, this weekend has gone so well,” said Prado. “I feel good about the bike, and we made some key improvements from last year. I feel like a better rider now than I ever have before and I’m super happy to leave Argentina with the red plate and the win.”
MXGP Podium.
MX2
Race one of the MX2 division started with a bang as Sacha Coenen rocketed off the holeshot with GasGas rookie Marc-Antoine Rossi closely in tow. Rossi passed for the lead on lap one but found himself hunted down by the other Coenen brother, Husqvarna’s Lucas Coenen.
MX2 Start.
The 96-machine made his way to the top spot before crashing out of race one with a sprained thumb. This mistake put the rookie Rossi back into the lead before he, too, fell with seven laps left. The MX2 veterans, Simon Laengenfelder and Thibault Benistant capitalized on the mistakes of the youngsters and moved their way into the lead during the closing stages of the race. Laengenfelder took the opening win while de Wolf secured a pass for second around Benistant in the final turn.
Laengenfelder won the first moto of MX2.
Mikkel Haarup launched off to the early lead in race two aboard his new Triumph TF 250-X. He led the opening laps and stayed close to the front amid the chaos. Lucas Coenen rebounded from a DNF in race one and clawed his way to the lead before crashing out of the top spot two different times.
De Wolf’s 2-1 gave him the overall win.
These mistakes allowed his Husqvarna teammate, de Wolf, to slide into the lead, claiming the race win and the overall. Harrup held on for second while Lucas Coenen remounted for third. Laengenfelder and Andrea Adamo rounded out the day’s overall podium.
MX2 Podium.
“I was struggling at the beginning of the weekend,” said de Wolf. But I kept improving—which is something that we focused on during winter training: doing long motos and then going for a sprint in the end. Overall, it was a positive weekend, and all the hard work paid off. Winning a GP is amazing, of course, and now I’m looking forward to heading to Spain and battling for more wins.”
VIDEO | MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina 2024
MXGP
- Jorge Prado (GG) 1-2
- Romain Febvre (Kaw) 2-3
- Tim Gajser (Hon) 5-1
- Pauls Jonass (Hon) 3-4
- Maxime Renaux (Yam) 4-6
MX2
- Kay de Wolf (Hus) 2-1
- Simon Laengenfelder (GG) 1-4
- Mikkel Haarup (Tri) 5-2
- Thibault Benistant (Yam) 3-7
- Andrea Adamo (KTM) 8-5
