Jorge Prado regains MXGP red plate with victory in China
By Team TMX on 16th Sep 24
With a revised and condensed schedule due to incoming weather conditions, The Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China comprised Round 19 of the MXGP World Motocross Championships in torrid temperatures at the Shanghai International Off-Road Circuit. As befitting the penultimate round of this epic season of MXGP, both classes saw vital movements towards the destiny of the championship medals!
The MXGP World Championship has a new leader, as Jorge Prado fought through the heat, humidity, and even a little illness for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing to win his 48th career Grand Prix. With Team HRC’s Tim Gajser struggling in race one, the Spaniard will now take the red plate to the final round of the season, in his home country!
The MX2 title fight continues to get closer, as Lucas Coenen took his eighth GP victory of the year for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, passing his teammate and Championship rival Kay de Wolf on track in the process!
The Time Practice session, that served to form the grid positions in the absence of the RAM Qualifying Race, was topped with a final effort from Prado to nudge Gajser off the top spot by just 0.047! Romain Febvre took third gate pick for Kawasaki Racing Team, while Jan Pancar was a surprise fourth for JP253 KTM Racing. Just behind him was the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine of Jeffrey Herlings, who turned 30 years old on the Thursday before the GP!
The first race saw the seventh Fox Holeshot of the year for Jeremy Seewer and the Kawasaki Racing Team, with Prado and Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez hot on his heels. However, between turns one and two the Championship took a major twist as Gajser jumped into the back of Glenn Coldenhoff, who was fourth for Fantic Factory Racing, and took a heavy fall as a result!
The red plate holder had his bike run over in the process but got going again towards the back of the pack. His woes wouldn’t end there, however, as the Slovenian collided with Andrea Bonacorsi, sending himself and the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider to the floor, and very soon he toured into Pit Lane. He did finish the race with a broken left footpeg, but down in 17th place by the flag.
Meanwhile, his teammate Fernandez had taken the lead on lap one and held the advantage for half the race, fending off Seewer, then Prado, before finally yielding to Febvre, who had put in a great charge to pass the reigning Champ and haul in the other Spaniard! The Kawasaki man took the lead on lap eleven with a smooth inside move, and Fernandez also had Prado come past him a lap later.
Next up came Herlings, who climbed to third with a drag race past Pit Lane, and that was the top three set from there, ahead of Fernandez in fourth and Coldenhoff in fifth.
Seewer begun to slip down the order, and Maxime Renaux recovered from an average start to claim sixth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, followed by Kevin Horgmo of Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz, who passed Pancar on the final lap. In a similar move, Mattia Guadagnini relegated Seewer to tenth at the same time to finish ninth for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.
Gajser’s troublesome race had handed the Championship lead to Prado, who held a four-point advantage heading into race two, and of course decided to both celebrate and defend that position with a trademark Fox Holeshot, his 16th of the season.
Initially in second was Valentin Guillod for Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz, but Gajser tucked inside the Swiss rider for second in turn two, this time missing the incident through the first corner, as Seewer, Renaux, Guadagnini and Standing Construct Honda’s Alberto Forato all hit the deck. Only the two Italians got back into the race, although Forato would pull in after nine laps.
Fernandez followed his teammate past Guillod, and soon Febvre, the surprising Pancar, and Herlings would follow suit. As Gajser gave chase to Prado out front, Febvre could not go with them as it took him eight laps to get around the rejuvenated Fernandez. Herlings on lap ten, and then Pancar on lap 15, would also get past the Spaniard who is working his way back to full race fitness, and would finish sixth ahead of Bonacorsi, Coldenhoff, then the recovering Guadagnini getting back to ninth ahead of Horgmo.
The heat was clearly taking its toll on the leaders, who were trying to hold on in the soaring temperatures and humidity and try as he might Gajser could not break Prado’s hold on the race. The Spaniard pushed himself to the physical limit, barely celebrating his tenth overall GP win of the season and unable to conduct any post-race interviews. He gritted his teeth to collect the red plate atop the podium however! Febvre’s third in race two was enough for second overall ahead of Herlings, with Fernandez fourth and the amazing Pancar in fifth.
It all sets the scene for the showdown in Cozar in two weeks’ time, with just seven points separating the leading pair. Herlings has a slim mathematical chance but admitted on the podium that the title for him is realistically out of reach.
“We could finish the weekend with a red plate and seven points ahead,” said Prado. “One round left and this makes us dream and I'm so excited for the final round in Spain. I think nobody expected to get out of this GP with a red plate. So we need to be super happy. My riding has been great. We worked hard on the bike too this weekend, like today, and they even took the RAM Quali race away and it didn't matter, we still got points in our pocket, so super, super happy. I'm still super, super happy about the day. I still can't believe it and yeah, happy. I'm still super, super happy about the day. I still can't believe it and yeah, let's get a title in Spain.”
In the morning MX2 Time Practice session of the one-day format, Simon Laengenfelder set the best time to secure first gate pick for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, just ahead of Lucas Coenen, with Liam Everts third for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
With his twin brother Sacha absent through injury, but already uncatchable in the 2024 Fox Holeshot competition, Lucas fired into the lead in race one from the very start, with Laengenfelder and Everts giving chase. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rookie Karlis Reisulis was fourth ahead of De Wolf, but on lap three the Latvian pulled a surprise out-braking move on Everts to take third place!
With Coenen and Laengenfelder streaking away out front, not to be caught, De Wolf played a waiting game in fifth place, with Reisulis’ teammate Rick Elzinga in sixth and Everts’ teammate Andrea Adamo in seventh. The two Monster Energy Triumph Racing riders, Mikkel Haarup and Camden McLellan, were up next as the positions stayed static… until the halfway point!
On lap 10, which proved to be halfway through, Everts chopped back around the outside of Reisulis to reclaim third place. A lap later, De Wolf caught the Latvian unawares by dancing through the waves brilliantly to take fourth. Adamo passed both Yamaha riders, one lap after the other, in the same left-handed corner, and ultimately the Triumph riders would both get through as well! In fact, the entire Yamaha squad finished 8th to 10th, in the order of Elzinga, Reisulis, and Thibault Benistant.
Haarup brilliantly jumped over Adamo to snatch fifth away from the outgoing World Champ on the final lap, with McLellan taking seventh. De Wolf had forced past Everts for third on lap 14 but was unable to catch Laengenfelder for second. With Lucas cruising to a five-second win, it chipped the gap down to 39 at the end of race one.
In race two, with a shortened break between races, the irrepressible Reisulis showed that he was more than ready for the fight with a stunning Fox Holeshot, his second of the season. Laengenfelder and Everts were directly in his wake, and then the two Nestaan Husqvarnas! De Wolf bolted to the inside of Coenen and was soon past Everts as well in the process. Coenen followed him past, but the two went for the same rut in a right-hander and tangled, causing Everts to crash out of the race. His social media is reporting a neck injury, so we wish him all the best for a rapid recovery.
Coenen had allowed McLellan through into fourth on lap two, with Haarup behind them both. Once more unwilling to put everything on the line immediately, several riders seemed to just hold station in the heat until it got really interesting. By lap twelve, De Wolf had caught up to Laengenfelder and just as he made a move, so Reisulis ran wide and toppled over a soft berm!
McLellan had dropped behind Adamo and battled with Fantic Factory Racing rider Kay Karssemakers. The Dutch teenager took tenth at the flag, behind Team HRC’s Ferruccio Zanchi, while McLellan claimed eighth.
After his fall, the tiring Reisulis was caught and passed by both Adamo, who took fifth, and Benistant, who took sixth, with the Latvian ultimately landing in seventh. His speed showed much more than his results this weekend!
Haarup had to settle for a lonely fourth, as the two Nestaan Husqvarna men debated the win, Coenen breezing past Laengenfelder, who was suffering with abdominal issues. As with many overtaking manoeuvres on the well-designed circuit, the leading pair went back and forth before Coenen was finally able to rail around the outside of his title rival to claim a stunning 16th race win of the season, and ninth GP win of his career.
With De Wolf settling to take the second-placed points home, it still sees the points gap at 36, not insurmountable in the chaos of the final round! We will see who prevails in Cozar!
