Last weekend was a busy one with a couple of preseason races for MXGP stars as Glenn Coldenhoff, Romain Febvre and Jeffrey Herlings were battling in Hawkstone Park, UK. Meanwhile in Lugo, Spain, we saw a great battle between Jorge Prado and Rubén Fernández at the second round of the Spanish championship. And last but not least, a big list of MXGP and MX2 riders including Calvin Vlaanderen and Thibault Benistant fought each other in Sommeries, France.
Next week, more MXGP riders will be splitting between Lierop and Lacapelle-Marival for the last preseason race before heading to Argentina for the first round of the Motocross World Championship. So make sure you follow Mx1onboard.com to be updated with results and news.
Let’s take a look on what happened on all of those three events:
HAWKSTONE PARK:
Monster Energy Yamaha rider Glenn Coldenhoff took the overall in the MXGP class as well as the Superfinal race, beating countryman fellow Dutchman Jeffrey Herlings in the process. Coldenhoff was 2-1-1 over Romain Febvre 1-3-3 and Brent Van Doninck 3-4-2. While Jeffrey Herlings had and eventful day with bad starts and a small crash in the second race, going 7-2-4 for 4th overall.
Herlings missed the 2022 campaign due to a broken left heel and subsequent reparative operations, and the first time he was in front of a gatedrop in 2023 was last week at a regional event near Arnhem in his native country. The trip to Hawkstone then represented a return to pre-season ‘normality’ for Herlings and a fixture he’d won previously in 2020.
Jeffrey Herlings: “It could have been better to be honest but I know it requires a bit of time to get back where we should be. 4th was not too bad, but a crash and a bad start did not help. Next week should be better. They had a different start mesh here – compared to what we have in the GPs – and it was really slippery; I messed up the first moto. I fell in the second but otherwise the riding was pretty decent. We’ll work and work from this point.”
French rider Romain Febvre showed some speed on his Kawasaki. Romain got caught up in traffic at the first turn in each of the later motos after spinning at the gate but carefully avoided any danger of collisions as he carved his way through the pack to cross the finish line third each time; significantly he recorded the fastest lap in the final race of the day as he chased through to even challenge for the lead before he sensibly backed off again at the end, as the lack of riding in recent weeks following a recent precautionary operation to relieve arm pump became evident.
Romain Febvre: “I came here with no real expectations as I was three weeks without riding the bike after my arm surgery and I didn’t expect to ride so well, either in terms of speed or physically. For sure winning my first race of the season is a boost, and it was good for me mentally too! In the second race I started in the pack after slipping on the metal grid and I came back to third, then in the Superfinal several of us did the same again at the start. I was fourth at first but came through to second and at one point I was almost side-by-side with Coldenhoff for the lead but I couldn’t manage to take the advantage and right at the end of the race Van Doninck slipped past me. I was feeling the lack of riding and in the last five laps I got a little tired, which was to be expected after three weeks off the bike. It’s the first time I have been to Hawkstone Park; it’s a beautiful natural track with turns of so many different types and the big uphill where you can use the power of the motorcycle; it’s a beautiful circuit, especially when the weather is nice like today.”
FULL RESULTS:
Top 10 MX1 Overall
- Glenn Coldenhoff 2-1
- Romain Febvre 1-3
- Brent Van Doninck 3-4
- Jeffrey Herlings 7-2
- Adam Sterry 4-6
- Henry Jacobi 5-5
- Alvin Ostlund 6-7
- Shaun Simpson 9-8
- Tom Grimshaw 12-10
- Liam Knight 10-14
SuperFinal – Top 10:
- Glenn Coldenhoff
- Brent Van Doninck
- Romain Febvre
- Jeffrey Herlings
- Henry Jacobi
- Alvin Ostlund
- Shaun Simpson
- Liam Knight
- Hardi Roosiorg
- Tom Grimshaw
VIDEOS:
LUGO:
Jorge Prado of the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing squad gave his loyal Spanish fans plenty to scream about last weekend – he competed in his first race of the year on home soil. This was quite literally home soil too! The track that hosted the round of the Spanish national series is located in Prado’s hometown, Lugo, and actually named after the GASGAS star. Countless fans travelled to the spectacular venue, in order to witness history. However, it was Rubén Fernández of Honda HRC who stole the show and ended up with the overall win after a rough battle in the second moto against Prado. Fans went nuts!
Rubén Fernández: “Saturday didn’t start well. I had a small crash in the qualifying race and then some problems with the front brake. In the first moto I was buried in the back because my wheels spinned in the mesh start so I had to climb all the way back to get second which took me some time so it was too late to fight for the first place. In the second moto I got a better start and I took the lead quickly. Once I established myself in first place I made a mistake going out the track. Once again second I had to fight again to regain the position. From there I did my own race. Later in the race I relaxed a little bit but then on the finals stages I push hard again to maintain the distance. I’m really happy to race here again in Lugo, Galicia, especially with the fans who were cheering all day.”
Despite not winning in his home soil, Jorge Prado was still really happy as he awaits to kick off the MXGP season in less than two weeks in Argentina.
Jorge Prado: “It was great to be able to race in my hometown for the very first time. It was quite emotional. The atmosphere was incredible and more than five thousand fans came to watch! I was P1 in the first moto. I had a good start and had a lead of one minute by the end. The second moto was more of a battle! [Ruben] Fernandez started just behind me. We were fighting for a couple of laps and then he pulled away. I was struggling with the backmarkers a lot. I made another push at the end and got close, but I could not make that final pass. It was a good weekend. I feel like we are at a good point right now. I am happy.”
Top 10 MX1 OVERALL:
- Rubén Fernández 2-1
- Jorge Prado 1-2
- Yago Martínez 3-4
- Carlos Campano 5-3
- Paulo Alberto 6-5
- Fabio Dos Santos 8-6
- Xurxo Prol 7-7
- Simeo Ubach 9-8
- Roger Oliver 12-9
- Nil Bussot 11-10
FULL EVENT RECAP:
First MX1 moto: 1:18.39
Second MX1 moto: 4:17.26
SOMMIERES:
Gebben Van venroy Yamaha rider Calvin Vlaanderen went 1-7-2 to win the overall by only 1 point over a solid ride by Greg Aranda who was 3-3-3. The podium was completed by Thibault Benistant onboard his Yamaha YZF250F after being 2-8-5 in heats. Valentin Guillod won the last two races on the three-race format, but a DNF in the first one put him out of the overall chase. Benoit Paturel completed the top 5.
Unfortunately, there isn´t much information or images or videos, but here are the results of the overall:
