MONACO (Principality of Monaco) 24 April 2024 – Infront Moto Racing is thrilled to announce that the tickets for the MXGP of Latvia are now available online!
Prepare yourself for an exciting experience as Kegums will host for the 9th time in a row the FIM Motocross World Championship on the 8th and 9th of June.
In 2023 in Latvia, Jeffrey Herlings in MXGP and Kay de Wolf in MX2 dominated their class to climb on the top step of the podium! Who will be the ones to rise to the top this season… Prado, Gajser, Febvre or maybe Herlings again? Let’s find it all out and get your tickets HERE
The MXGP and MX2 classes will be joined by the EMX250 along with the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing.
Considering an upgrade to VIP? Elevate your experience with the VIP GOLD SKYBOX pass - available HERE!
The latest episode of the acclaimed documentary series Behind The Gate is now available on MXGP-TV, giving a full account of the gruelling MXGP of Sardegna!
Episode 3: “Rock ‘N’ Riola” takes you deeper into the action from the sandy circuit, with a spotlight on the new Fantic Factory Racing team. Their veteran rider Glenn Coldenhoff gets into a spot of bother on the drive to the circuit, and new signing Brian Bogers tells of his off-season worries and sudden call-up to race factory machinery!
Kay de Wolf tells us the secrets of his blistering pace in the sand, as well as the real story behind his blistering move for the lead in MX2! Watch for the moment when his front wheel looks ready to burst through your screen!
The Gabriel SS24 KTM team is a new full-time outfit to the MXGP paddock, so Team boss and former GP winner Shaun Simpson, in his own unique style, introduces us to the team and its riders Josh Gilbert and Cas Valk.
Cas’ sister Lynn Valk and leading WMX racer Lotte van Drunen take us through the challenges for the top female racers on the planet as they battle brilliantly in the heat of Riola Sardo!
With stunning action you won’t see anywhere else, as well as in-depth analysis from MXGP Commentator Paul Malin and Presenter Lisa Leyland, Behind The Gate continues to show the colourful characters behind this beautiful yet brutal sport. See it first on MXGP-TV!
Home to one of the most spectacular venues on the calendar, the fourth round of MXGP that took place at the foot of the saw-toothed Dolomite mountains in Pietramurata, Italy, did not fail to deliver!
Adding a vibrant twist to the already stunning landscape, the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP and MX2 teams rocked up to the Grand Prix decked out in Yamaha's iconic white and pink anniversary livery.
Inspired by the 1993 YZs, the eye-catching design celebrating 50 years of Yamaha's championship-winning YZ brought a burst of energy and camaraderie to the paddock. "Only real men wear pink!" Calvin Vlaanderen smiled. "You look like a Barbie, a really beautiful Barbie, though," his trainer joked. Throughout the weekend, the uplifting effect of the retro livery was undeniable.
Thriving in the loud and energetic atmosphere typical of an Italian Grand Prix, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2's own Italian stallion, Andrea Bonacorsi, took everyone by surprise. "You see! You were thinking I was not fast! But I come, eh? Don't worry, eh! Be happy!" Andrea grinned. While ‘Bona’, the reigning EMX250 Champion and one of MX2's most exciting young rookies, finally showed what he is capable of with an epic third-place finish in Race Two, the biggest relief was for his teammate Thibault Benistant.
As a rider that has been pegged as a title contender, Thibault finally uncorked a bottle of prosecco after putting his YZ250FM on the box! "Finally! I had to wait too long for this one," the French star said. "Actually, I can be happy, because I didn't ride that good today. I was quite tight, so to be on the podium with such s*** riding, was not too bad."
In between the talk of all things Italian, such as pizza, prosecco and ‘dragons of the night’, Calvin Vlaanderen was FAST! "I felt so good this weekend," the South African said, "I was P1 in Free Practice, P3 in Time Practice, but crashed in the qualifying race. I cross-jumped the triple, landed off the track and went down, so I had to come from last to P7, which was actually really good."
Calvin finished sixth after another average start in Race One but bounced back in Race Two with a lively start followed by a hard-fought second-place finish. He missed the podium by a mere 3 points! "Race Two was fun," he said, "I really enjoyed running up front with the guys. At one point, I could see Jeremy (Seewer) coming, so I just focused on putting in two or three good laps, and then I saw I had a 3-second gap on him, so I was super happy with that. I just kept my focus ahead on (Jorge) Prado, to see if I can keep the pace, and we managed that. It was nice!"
The MXGP of Trentino brought together adrenaline-pumping action, colourful team spirit, and a glimpse of how fast the Yamaha boys really are. With its stunning location and some incredible moments, this round has been one for the memory bank.
PIETRAMURATA (Trentino) 14 April 2024 – One of the classic venues of the MXGPWorld Motocross Championships, the incredible Crossodromo “Il Ciclomino” near the town of Arco, hosted the fourth round of the series this weekend in front of a full crowd of exuberant fans from all across Europe! Following Saturday’s dramatic RAM Qualifying Races which saw problems for both red plate holders, the tension was mounting to see if the chasers could continue to cut back the points lead in Sunday’s Grand Prix races.
Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing team leader Jorge Prado had issues on Saturday which left him with zero point from the RAM Qualifying Race. His pursuers smelt blood and struck first as Romain Febvre for the Kawasaki Racing Team and Tim Gajser for Team HRC both overtook the reigning Champ in race one. However, a poor start for the Slovenian and a crash for the Frenchman allowed the Spaniard to win race two, and the overall for the fourth Grand Prix in a row.
In MX2, red plate holder Kay de Wolf took another dominant win in race one for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, but a first corner crash left him out of the overall picture. His chief Championship rival, Simon Laengenfelder, took the second race win from a clear holeshot for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, but it was Liam Everts who took the overall Grand Prix with a solid 3-2 scorecard, the first GP win of the year for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
Even with the 17th gate pick, there was no denying Jorge Prado the amazing start that he is so good at, and he claimed the Fox Holeshot Award for the fifth time this season, just holding off Febvre, as Gajser quickly moved past both Benoit Paturel on the De Baets Yamaha and Valentin Guillod on the Team Ship to Cycle Honda to get to third!
The reigning World Champion looked like he was making his usual swift getaway, but Febvre closed in and pressurised the Spaniard into a mistake which allowed the Frenchman through on lap seven! Gajser was not out of the equation either, and two laps later, in direct sight of the hillside packed with his travelling fans, cut inside the red plate holder in a solid move that Prado had no answer to, sending the noise level up several notches!
Behind the top three, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings took his time to get going and battled through from 9th at the end of the first lap. Passing his countryman Calvin Vlaanderen on the lone Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP machine, and finally Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jeremy Seewer with three laps to go, “The Bullet” finished the race in fourth.
In the closing stages of race one, Gajser reeled in Febvre, sending his supporters wild as he nearly made a move for the lead in the very last corner! Ultimately the Kawasaki man held on to take his first GP race win of the year, while Tim’s second place knocked the points lead down to just six going into race two!
Once again, however, the reigning Champion fired into the lead, making it six Fox Holeshot Awards for the year already, in race two, but Febvre was right with him again! Herlings span sideways and to the floor exiting turn two, and would face a long charge through the pack, ultimately finishing seventh, and sixth overall.
Vlaanderen was in a strong third, and was looking to challenge Febvre, but the Frenchman dropped his lap times to chase down Prado again, nearly passing him after the big uphill triple jump before the Spaniard closed the door! On lap six, he pushed the Kawasaki’s front wheel just too hard into a right hander and it broke away to put him on the ground!
Prado eased away, playing with the track and building his lead to a maximum of five seconds over a rapid Vlaanderen, who closed to two seconds at the flag for his best result yet on the factory Yamaha. Seewer’s third was also his best of the year so far, as Gajser and Febvre could not advance any higher than 4th & 5th respectively, and they would have to settle for the bottom two steps of the podium.
So from the difficult start to the weekend, Prado still comes away with the Grand Prix win, the 42nd of his career and his 11th in the MXGP class. More importantly, no-one else has managed to beat him to the top step all season and he now leads the Championship by 13 points from Gajser, with Febvre a further 32 behind, in third.
Jorge Prado: “Starting from P17 wasn’t easy but I’m a good starter so I had to prove it today. First race I didn’t really have a good flow, I tried but it was sketchy and the guy were riding better than myself and finished in front of me. In the second race, with a little bike adjustment that we made together with the team I felt better and everything clicked. Such a good start in second race with a good battle with Febvre until he fell. Another win and in difficult condition where we had to turn it around so great job guys!”
Romain Febvre: “I was pushing in this second because I felt I was faster. Trying to make some pass was difficult but yeah, I tried my best and also I was careful on that corner but I lost the front and went back to fifth. I was close to Tim (Gajser) sometimes when I tried to catch him but not easy to make a difference. So, a little bit disappointed of course to not win the GP as I won the RAM Qualifying and Race 1 but I’m on the podium and I scored good point over the weekend. Let’s go for the next round!”
Tim Gajser:“It’s okay, I’m happy to be on the podium and I scored good points for the Championship but I definitely wanted more. Second race I didn’t get the fastest start and almost crashed in the first corner and banged bars in the first laps as well but I managed to get back to 4th. It was not an easy race; it was not easy to pass either but anyway happy to be here. Let’s go to Agueda for the next one and I’m looking forward to it. The fans were amazing here today and a huge thank you to all to come here to support me.”
Main Photo: Jorge Prado
Bottom Photos: 1. Romain Febvre and Tim Gajser; 2. Calvin Vlaanderen
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing had taken the RAM Qualifying Race win with Andrea Adamo, but for the fifth time this season it was his teammate Sacha Coenen who fired into the lead from the start, chased by Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rider Thibault Benistant and Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s red plate holder Kay de Wolf!
An aggressive move from De Wolf put him past Benistant, but it took him until lap five to make a move on Sacha, as the young Belgian seems to be building his confidence running at the front. It wasn’t until lap 12 that Benistant got through into second, and the corner after Adamo pushed past saw the Champ argue with the bank and drop to an eventual 8th! Sadly, just as it looked like Sacha would claim a top three finish, he suffered a bike issue which left him unable to finish.
Mikkel Haarup was in a great third for Monster Energy Triumph Racing, but a strange issue slowed him dramatically on the final lap, and he dropped to an eventual 9th, leaving Liam Everts to claim third, just reward for a consistent push through the pack from outside the top ten, with Rick Elzinga a season’s best fourth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, and Camden McLellan salvaging fifth for the Triumph team.
In the end, no-one had an answer to De Wolf who won by 3.7 seconds from Benistant, and as Simon Laengenfelder could only muster 8th place for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, the championship lead stretched to 38 points for the Dutchman! His teammate, Lucas Coenen, rode through the pain of a shoulder injury to finish in 10th position.
Laengenfelder was desperate to make amends in race two, and fired into the lead to claim his first Fox Holeshot Award of the season. To help his cause further, the points leader De Wolf was picking up his bike in turn one, part of a pile-up that also involved Sacha Coenen, Elzinga, and Laengenfelder’s teammate Marc-Antoine Rossi.
The German took a leaf out of his teammate Prado’s book with a blistering display of speed that left his pursuers with no hope of catching, and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rookie Andrea Bonacorsi was a stunning second around the first lap to the delight of his home fans! It took Everts 13 minutes to get past the reigning EMX250 Champion, and the top three stayed the same from there!
De Wolf charged through to an eventual 8th, just one place ahead of his teammate Lucas Coenen, who lost third in the series by a single point to Benistant. Both of the factory Husqvarna men hit the floor in the last ten minutes, but Adamo fared little better, unable to climb any higher than sixth, behind Haarup in fifth.
Benistant’s fourth position left him second overall, his first taste of podium for more than ten months. Bonacorsi scored his first ever top three finish in a GP race, but it was Everts who enjoyed the GP victory for the fourth time in his career, and for the third time with a 3-2 card, and he will be extremely happy to climb to 7th in the table after missing the first round with his thumb injury.
Laengenfelder has closed the gap to 26 points behind De Wolf, and whilst none of the current MX2 line-up has won in Portugal, the Dutchman will draw confidence from his podium there last season as the pack try to chase him down at the next round!
Liam Everts:“I’m lost for words; I really didn’t expect to win it. I wasn’t riding the best in the second race, I felt nervous but now that is done it feels right to get that out of the way and win here in such a special venue.”
Thibault Benistant:“Finally I’m on the box. It took some time but it’s a great feeling. I had some timings on Saturday but I would still like to rider a bit freer. But I’m happy and the positive is that it’s getting better and better every weekend and I’m slowly getting where I want to be.”
Simon Laengenfelder: “The second race was great and I showed what I can do after a good start and I finally got the job done. I was feeling good and making good laps and I thught I had good speed. I was not very happy about the first one but I’m on the podium which is really good.”
Main Photo: Liam Everts
Bottom Photos: 1. Thibault Benistant; 2. Simon Laengenfelder
MX2 - Race 1 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 35:12.455; 2. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:03.750; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:19.196; 4. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:26.799; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:30.335; 6. Marc-Antoine Rossi (FRA, GASGAS), +0:34.627; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:36.018; 8. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:37.011; 9. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:41.553; 10. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +1:15.744
MX2 – Race 2 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), 35:31.370; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:09.983; 3. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:13.617; 4. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:19.384; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:21.955; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:27.684; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:31.888; 8. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:42.907; 9. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:48.663; 10. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:55.359
MX2 Overall - Top 10 Classification: 1. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 42 points; 2. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 40 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 38 p.; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 38 p.; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 30 p.; 6. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 29 p.; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 28 p.; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 26 p.; 10. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 23
MX2 World Championship - Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 213 points; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 187 p.; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 148 p.; 4. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 147 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 139 p.; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 131 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 128 p.; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 126 p.; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 110 p.; 10. Marc-Antoine Rossi (FRA, GAS), 101 p
