Big bad De Wolf dominates in Sardinia
By Team TMX on 8th Apr 24
As the temperatures soared in Sardegna, so too did the results for the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing Team, with Kay de Wolf delivering an incredible overall third Grand Prix victory in a row, while Lucas Coenen won Sunday’s opening moto.
The pair had started the weekend in dominant form; with Championship leader de Wolf, and team mate Lucas Coenen, lapping over a second clear of the pack throughout timed and free practice on their Husqvarna MX2 FC250 machines. De Wolf also powered his way to win the Saturday qualifying race, proving just why he is the worthy red plate holder for a second successive time this season so far.
In the first moto both Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing riders led the way delivering a masterclass of fluid sand riding through the deep and ever-changing ruts of the 1750m long Riola Sardo circuit. De Wolf had initially looked to be on course for a dominant win in the first moto taking the lead on lap three, and then opening up a 3.5 second gap over his team mate by lap six. However an error on the final corner of lap 13, allowed Lucas Coenen to slip into first place. From there, Coenen never looked back, extending his lead to finish first, a staggering 29.973 seconds ahead of his teammate. The result marks his seventh career race victory and his first win in 2024.
In the second moto the de Wolf came back fighting - hungry to make up for the missed opportunity in the first moto. The Dutch rider made it look all too easy amidst the ever-changing ruts and sand. Leading the way from the gate drop de Wolf shot straight into the race lead stretching out a 10.6 second lead by lap 10. A further eight laps of textbook riding followed, and by the final flag de Wolf cruised home over 12 seconds clear of his team mate.
"In the first race, I didn't really find a good flow – and credit to Lucas, he was pretty fast when he passed me,” said De Wolf. “Big shout-out to him. In the second moto, I backed off a little bit because I knew Lucas was behind me and we could fight until the flag. He made a little mistake towards the end, which made my life easier—but I’m super happy with the results this weekend. Three in a row—it’s honestly amazing. Hopefully, we can keep this momentum going into the next weekend. We just keep aiming for the podiums—that's the main goal. I can't thank the team enough for their hard work, and now I’m looking forward to the next one!”
"The first moto was perfect – I managed to just get Kay at the end,” confirmed Coenen. “Then in the second moto, I didn't quite have a good start, but managed to get back to his back wheel. I made a few stupid mistakes, and honestly, I wanted to just follow like I did in the first moto. I still need to iron out these mistakes, but I feel like a win is coming. The first podium of the season is not bad!"
Next up, the FIM World Motocross Championship moves back to hard-pack surface racing, and continues its run of back-to-back weekends, at the Pietramurata circuit in the Trentino region of Italy on April 14.
