Defending champ Jorge Prado dominated round two of the 2024 FIM MXGP Championship in Xanadu-Arroyomolinos, Spain, on March 24. The factory-backed GasGas rider won both motos with breathing room over former champ Tim Gajser.
Prado led from start to finish in both motos, winning the first moto with an eight-second gap over Gajser and a six-second cushion in moto two. No one had an answer for the number-one plate holder.
“This is all about racing; winning here in Spain is special!” said Prado. “It has been a perfect weekend just winning every single time I went out on track. I couldn’t be happier, to be honest, and doing it at home makes everything special with so many fans that came here, and me giving them this victory is amazing. I feel super proud of what I did, and of course, I want to thank all my team, Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing, that supported me all weekend; we are doing an amazing job, and let’s keep it rolling.
“I felt my riding was perfect this weekend—good speed, good starts, and perfect finishes: 1-1-1-1. Practice, qualifying, races. I just found my flow every time I was on the bike, and I’m feeling really fit.”
Gajser was content with his performance at a track that he says isn’t one of his favorites. “It was a solid, consistent day at a track that, I must admit, isn’t my favorite,” Gajser said. “Still, there will be races when I’m not the fastest rider, and I know that it is still important to get good points, and today was like that. I didn’t get the best start in the first moto but was able to come through well to second place. Then, in race two, I got a much better start and was able to follow the leader around the first corner in second place. I tried to stay up with him, but he pulled away, and then the gap stayed consistent. I wanted to push near the end, but lappers made that difficult so in the end, second was the best I could manage.”
Despite not getting the starts he wanted, Kawasaki’s Romain Febvre was third overall with a 4-3 after battling with Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings.
“I’m happy to finish on the podium because this weekend I really struggled on the starts,” Febvre said. “As you could see in race one, I had a really bad start, so we decided to make a big change for race two, and it worked because I almost took the holeshot, so for that, I’m a bit disappointed that we found the solution only at the end of the weekend, but the pass was good, and anyway Jorge was very fast this weekend so I’m happy to be third on the podium.”
Herlings was fourth overall with a 3-4, and Kawasaki-mounted Jeremy Seewer was fifth overall with a 7-6. After two rounds, Prado leads Gajser by 10 points in the MXGP Championship. Febvre is another 12 back in third.
Husqvarna’s Kay de Wolf won for the second time in a row. The Dutchman went 1-2, bettering Simon Laengenfelder’s 2-3 for the overall win. Second-moto winner Andrea Adamo (KTM) was third overall with a 6-1.
“I’ve worked hard in all the races, especially for the second one where the pace was fast and incredible for all of us,” de Wolf said. “I tried to catch Andrea till the last lap but then made a few mistakes that made me think of the classification, relax a bit, and follow my rhythm.”
Laengenfelder said, “I rode really well attacking almost all race two; even if I was faster than Kay I couldn’t find a good line to pass him, and I had to keep the third position, but for the next race, I’m sure I can do better.”
“Like I said already, it was a really tough winter for me,” said defending champ Adamo. “I’ve been struggling a lot, and I came to Argentina totally not ready for it, and only my team knows how hard it was for me. Here in Spain, I’ve found more confidence with the bike, and session after session, once I go on the track, I’m getting faster and more confident. Today, I finally won race two, which feels like a GP win. Now I’m happy, and I want to keep going in this way.”
De Wolf leads the MX2 Championship by 12 points. Adamo is third, 13 points behind Laengenfelder.
MXGP Overall
- Jorge Prado (GG) 1-1
- Tim Gajser (Hon) 2-2
- Romain Febvre (Kaw) 4-3
- Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 3-4
- Jeremy Seewer (Kaw) 7-6
MX2 Overall
- Kay de Wolf (Hus) 1-2
- Simon Laengenfelder (GG) 2-3
- Andrea Adamo (KTM) 6-1
- Lucas Coenen (Hus) 3-4
- Liam Everts (KTM) 4-6
