Welcome to our new-brand GP Reel session coming to you from the rough track of Villars sous Ecot, home of round seventh of the MXGP World Championship. From warm-up session reports to the first and second motos reports of the day, you’ll find it all right here. Updates are posted in chronological order, so be sure to scroll down for the latest info. For more updates follow us on Twitter: @mx1onboard
MORNING REPORT
So far, Villars sous Ecot has been a tough test. Hard-pack, deep ruts, and narrow sectors made things difficult for riders yesterday on the first day of action. Jorge Prado and Kay de Wolf were victorious in their respective Qualifying races, but the big storyline from yesterday was the big crash of MX2 Championship leader Jago Geerts. Unfortunately, Geerts crashed on the opening lap and fractured his left wrist. He suffered severe pain and the medical team was quick to respond he was brought directly to the onsite medical center for closer assessment where the fractured was confirmed.
Geerts will now return to Belgium to see a specialist. Updates on his treatment plan and a potential return to action will be shared in due time. He now joins a list of injury riders such as Simon Langenfelder. On the other hand, Sacha Coenen crashed in the same spot as Geerts, however, he seems ok and ready to race.
Without the championship leader, the title contention seems to focus on Kay de Wolf or Andrea Adamo. de Wolf never won an overall, perhaps today can be finally the day. On the other hand, Adamo never won a race, but he took an overall a few weeks ago at Trentino and is full of confidence. Thibault Benistant came 2nd in the Qualy Race and heads for today motos as the favorite one to claim the first step of the podium in front of his home crowd.
As for the MXGP class, Prado won his fifth Qualy race and now extends his points leads to 8 over Herlings, who came third behind Seewer. Alberto Forato, Calvin Vlaanderen and Benoit Paturel showed good speed in this type of soil. In a nutshell, it will be an interesting day. Warm-up sessions will start soon.
WARM-UP
The track had so much better conditions than yesterday; before the first motos, at least. In MX2 local hero Thibault Benistant set the fastest lap 1:49.151 over young countrymen Marc-Antoine Rossi+1.0 who continue impressing. Lucas Coenen and Spaniard David Braceras rounded the top 5. Qualifying Race winner Kay de Wolf rode calmly as he gets eight in this warm-up session. Sacha Coenen miss this session and probably will miss the motos too. Will update soon.
In the MXGP class Swiss Jeremy Seewer, second yesterday in the Qualy Race, start the day with the best lap time of 1:49.141. Followed closely by GP returnee Romain Febvre+160 and Valentin Guillod in third+986. Calvin Vlaanderen and Benoit Paturel completed the top five with Fernandez sixth. Qualifying Race winner Jorge Prado came in eight and Jeffrey Herlings just rode in 11th.
MX2 RACE 1
Better conditions allowed a great race. Thibault Benistant prevails in what was an eventful first moto full of action everywhere. The Frenchman fought back and forth against Kay de Wolf before checking out. He showed impressive speed on the downhill sector being hard on the brakes to gain time.
KTM duo Liam Everts and Andrea Adamo came in second and third place, respectively, after a hard battle against Kay de Wolf, who tip-toe into a rut with two laps to go, and Roan Van de Moosdijk, fifth.
Kevin Horgmo grabbed the holeshot, but he start to drop positions until settled in sixth while Lucas Coenen, Marc-Antoine Rossi, Mikkel Haarup, and Isak Gifting rounded the top 10. Spaniard David Braceras fall in the opening lap and recover to 14th.
MXGP RACE 1
Finally, after so many unfortunate situations and crashes, Jeremy Seewer emerged with a moto victory. The Swiss grabbed the holeshot but before running away, he struggled a little bit with Jorge Prado who passed him and leads a couple of laps.
In the final stages of the race Jorge Prado drop to fourth in the form of Jeffrey Herlings and then Romain Febvre. HRC rider Ruben Fernandez came in a solid fifth spot. The top 10 was completed by Guadagnini, Guillod, Vlaanderen, Coldenhoff, and Van Doninck. Alberto Forato had a massive crash while running in sixth place.
MX2 RACE 2:
With a wire-to-wire performance, Lucas Coenen won his first-ever race in the MX2 class. However, the overall was claimed by local hero Thibault Benistant who came in second after a little battle against de Wolf. Even so, Lucas Coenen’s win wasn´t enough to claim a podium due to the seventh place in Moto 1.
Onto the middle of the race, KTM riders Andrea Adamo and Liam Everts caught Kay de Wolf to settle third and fourth. Enough to get the second and third overall.
Young Marc-Antoine Rossi end his day on a high note with a respectable sixth position over Roan Van de Moosdijk. The top 10 was completed by Ferruccio Zanchi, Kevin Horgmo and Quentin Prugnieres.
Jago Geerts keeps the red plate, 1 points over Adamo.
MXGP RACE 2:
Jeremy Seewer grabbed the holeshot and lead almost the entire race before he was caught by Romain Febvre in the final stages. Seewer tried to respond, but he wasn`t getting close to attempting a pass. However, the Swiss rider claims the overall win with a 1-2. Jorge Prado came on a solid third place to secure another podium.
The biggest storyline from this race was the DNF by Jeffrey Herlings. It was a total nightmare for the Bullet. First, he broke his goggles and was forced to stop in the Pit-Lane to switch for new ones. Laps later he broke his foot-peg, which immediately ends his day. Heading to Latvia Herlings is now 24 points down.
