Round seven of the FIM Motocross World Championship took to the iconic hillsides of St Jean d’Angely for the Monster Energy MXGP of France. Varying conditions tested the riders and fans as they witnessed Tim Gajser claim the overall win and the points lead, and Lucas Coenen take another overall in MX2.
Highlights
MXGP
Despite a thumb injury sustained earlier in the weekend, France’s own Romain Febvre grabbed a big holeshot in the opening moto. Gajser started second but quickly made the move to the lead on the opening lap.
The Honda rider went uncontested in all 18 laps while championship leader Jorge Prado stalked Febvre for second. With just four laps to go, Prado made the pass on Febvre, who was nursing his injured thumb late in the race. Gajser claimed the race win, six seconds clear of Prado and 19 seconds up on Febvre.
Race two saw rains flood the track, causing unfavorable conditions for everyone on the grid. Febvre again struck first as he led the field over his Kawasaki teammate Jeremy Seewer. Both front-runners in race one found themselves buried behind and working their way forward.
Gajser eventually made his way to third and battled Jeffrey Herlings for most of the moto. Later, a big crash in the mud saw the moto-one winner drop from third to sixth. Herlings continued to close on the leader, Febvre, and made the pass for the lead on the final lap of the race. This move gave Herlings the race win, with Febvre looking at the overall victory.
However, after reviewing race footage, the officials docked both Seewer and Kevin Horgmo for jumping on a yellow flag. This bumped Gajser and Prado up two spots, ultimately giving Gajser the overall win with 1-4 scores. Febvre therefore lost the overall win with 3-2 finishes, and Prado finished third overall with a 2-5. Gajser now leads the championship points by five over Prado.
“The circumstances aren’t how I’d like to win a GP, but I’m happy to take the overall as I felt my riding was good in what were extremely difficult conditions,” said Gajser. “The early-race passes in race one were very important as this track isn’t easy to make moves on, but once I got out front I was able to control the race and won with a nice gap. Then in race two, I felt confident about my skills in the wet, but I just wasn’t able to get the same passes done and instead ate a lot of roost trying to pass the rider in front. I thought that my mistake had cost me the overall, but as it turns out, I still was able to take the win and the red-plate.”
MX2
The first race of MX2 saw the points leader Kay de Wolf take his first holeshot of the year before being quickly overtaken by Sacha Coenen and Liam Everts on the opening lap. Everts and de Wolf then found themselves on the ground together in the early stages of the race, which forced them to work through the field in successive order.
At the front, the two Coenen brothers led the way and duked it out for the lead. Lucas Coenen (Husqvarna) overtook his KTM-mounted brother as he ran off with the race win. Sacha later suffered two big crashes, which hampered his early-race success and allowed his KTM teammate Andrea Adamo to slide into second. With three laps to go, de Wolf clawed his way into third and kept his chances alive for an overall podium.
The brothers again found themselves up front as Sacha Coenen rebounded with a holeshot in race two before relinquishing the lead to his brother, Lucas, again on lap two. Behind them, battles ensued, as Simon Laengenfelder and Mikkel Haarup duked it out with some aggressive passes. Laengenfelder pushed his way to third, while points leader de Wolf capitalized and moved into second place.
Torrential rains began with 10 minutes left in the race, but it was smooth sailing for Coenen who swept the weekend with 1-1 finishes. De Wolf finished second overall with 3-2 scores and maintains the championship lead by 52 points. Adamo rounded out the overall podium with 2-4 finishes. CN
“We pulled off two great motos today and the win on Saturday, so I’m super super happy with this result – especially after last weekend in Lugo”, Coenen said. “I will try to keep building on this, and carry this momentum over to Germany next. I want to say a huge thank you to the team, and also I want to take a moment to wish Thibault [Benistant] a fast recovery after his huge crash this weekend. 1-1 on Sunday with the changing conditions is awesome.”
MXGP
- Tim Gajser (Hon) 1-4
- Romain Febvre (Kaw) 3-2
- Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 6-1
- Jorge Prado (GG) 2-5
- Pauls Jonass (Hon) 5-3
MX2
- Lucas Coenen (Hus) 1-1
- Kay de Wolf (Hus) 3-2
- Andrea Adamo (KTM) 2-4
- Simon Laengenfelder (GG) 4-3
- Liam Everts (KTM) 6-5
