Round three of the 2024 FIM Motocross World Championship took place in Sardegna, Italy, April 6-7. High temperatures and grueling conditions saw the championship points leaders each take their third win of the season. Jorge Prado and Kay de Wolf claimed their respective overall wins to maintain a three-for-three record in the 2024 campaign.
Jorge Prado is on a roll. The Red Bull GasGas rider won the Saturday qualifying race before taking control of Sunday’s moto one. Prado moved to the lead early on lap one and while Tim Gajser kept him in sight, the reigning champ never relinquished the top spot. He struck first with a win over Gajser in second and Jeffery Herlings in third.
Prado again took the holeshot in race two with Herlings closely in tow. The current number-one had another suspenseful race on his hands as Herlings stalked in second until lap nine when he tucked the front end of his KTM and hit the deck. This mistake allowed Prado to run away untouched as he swept the day with 1-1 moto scores. Gajser took third with a pair of seconds and Herlings landed third with 3-3.
“I’m feeling great with the bike,” said Prado. “I feel good physically and have been training super hard. Everything is going great right now! I got two good starts in both motos and made no mistakes. I controlled the race and just tried to push until the other riders couldn’t hold on anymore. It was just about that—the track was so physical! I’m happy to win here in the sand again. It has been a long time since I got an overall win in the sand. I’ve come close a few times, but after today I guess you can call me sandman again!”
MX2
De Wolf started the weekend with a win in the qualifying race which set the tone for Sunday’s action. The Husqvarna rider started second in race one but moved his way to the lead by lap three. His fellow Husky teammate, Lucas Coenen, hunted his way to the front and set his sights on de Wolf after passing his brother, Sacha, for second.
The number 96 continued his march forward and eventually capitalized on de Wolf’s mistake at the exit of the pit lane with five laps left in the race. Lucas out-braked de Wolf into the upcoming turn and took over the top spot where he’d remain for the final laps. De Wolf took second to his teammate with Triumph’s Camden Mc Lellan in third.
De Wolf used his sand expertise in race two and made his way to the lead by the second turn. He again came under fire from teammate Lucas Coenen, but the young Belgian fell while attempting to pass. By the time he rebounded from his mistake, de Wolf was too far gone, and the two Husqvarna riders would swap positions in the day’s overall rankings. De Wolf’s 2-1 gave him his third overall win in a row as he further extended his points lead to 29 over Simon Laengenfelder.
Lucas Coenen’s 1-2 earned him second on the day, while Mc Lellan’s 3-5 finishes put him third overall. This marked the first overall podium for Mc Lellan’s career and the second for the new Monster Energy Triumph team.
“In the first race, I didn’t really find a good flow,” de Wolf said. “And credit to Lucas [Coenen], he was pretty fast when he passed me. Big shout-out to him. In the second moto, I backed off a little bit because I knew Lucas was behind me and we could fight until the flag. He made a little mistake towards the end, which made my life easier—but I’m super happy with the results this weekend. Three in a row—it’s honestly amazing.”
HIGHLIGHTS
MXGP (Top 5)
1. Jorge Prado (GG) 1-1
2. Tim Gajser (Hon) 2-2
3. Jeffery Herlings (KTM) 3-3
4. Pauls Jonass (Hon) 5-4
5. Romain Febvre (Kaw) 6-5
MX2 (Top 5)
1. Kay de Wolf (Hus) 2-1
2. Lucas Coenen (Hus) 1-2
3. Camden Mc Lellan (Tri) 3-5
4. Simon Laengenfelder (GG) 7-3
5. Liam Everts (KTM) 8-4
