The penultimate round of the MXGP World Championship kicked off in China with strong performances from the title contenders. While Romain Febvre and Simon Längenfelder both collected extra points over their rivals, it was Jeffrey Herlings and Sacha Coenen who stole the spotlight by winning the qualifying races and setting the fastest lap times.
In MXGP, Herlings delivered a masterclass from start to finish. Despite a last-minute issue with his goggles on the starting gate, the Dutchman reacted quickly, grabbed the holeshot, and never looked back.
Behind him, Tim Gajser settled into second place, while Romain Febvre secured third after finding a way past Maxime Renaux in one of the few overtakes of what was otherwise a rather straightforward moto.
Rubén Fernández shined again with a solid fifth place, ahead of Calvin Vlaanderen, while Lucas Coenen struggled for rhythm and had to settle for seventh. That result leaves him 30 points behind Febvre going into Sunday’s races.
In MX2, it was Sacha Coenen’s time to shine once more. For the second consecutive weekend, the Belgian youngster took the holeshot and never relinquished the lead, dominating the race from start to finish
His teammate and championship leader Simon Längenfelder followed in second without too much pressure, but the real show came from Kay de Wolf. Starting in sixth, the Dutchman put on a charge, battling Guillem Farrés to climb into fourth before launching an attack on Valerio Lata. The Italian held his ground brilliantly, fending off De Wolf to secure third place at the flag. Farrés completed an excellent ride in fifth, while Karlis Reisulis crossed the line in sixth.
The outcome means that Längenfelder slightly extends his lead in the MX2 standings, increasing his advantage from 12 to 14 points over De Wolf. In MXGP, Febvre strengthens his position against Lucas Coenen, adding extra tension heading into the decisive races on Sunday.
