Shock and awe as Argentina hosts MXGP season opener
By Team TMX on 3rd Mar 25
Overnight rain couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the Argentine fans who packed a brand-new purpose-built circuit on the edge of the nation’s second-largest city, Cordoba, for the opening round of the FIM Motocross World Championship.
Former MX2 world champions Andrea Adamo (Red Bull KTM) and Maxime Renaux (Monster Energy Yamaha) took the wins in Saturday’s Qualifying Races to take an early lead in the world championship with Adamo leading the MX2 charge into Sunday and Renaux heading the premier MXGP class after a bar-to-bar brawl with Romain Febvre (Kawasaki Racing Team).
It was still raining when the MX2 riders lined up for their first full-length race of the year. Reigning champion Kay de Wolf (Nestaan Husqvarna) fired into the early lead ahead of Sacha Coenen (Red Bull KTM). Mathis Valin (Kawasaki Racing Team) worked his way into second and nearly took the lead as De Wolf slid sideways.
However, Valin crashed spectacularly and retired due to technical issues caused by the fall. This left Simon Laengenfelder (Red Bull KTM) in second and British Champ Cas Valk (Venrooy KTM) in third. The conditions caused many problems for riders and machines with Adamo an early victim as his KTM quit.
De Wolf won ahead of Laengenfelder and Valk with David Braceras (JM Racing Honda) fourth and Coenen fifth!
The track was much dryer for race two as Sacha Coenen (Red Bull KTM) took the holeshot and sprinted away from the pack. BTS Racing Team rider Oriol Oliver advanced from a fourth-place start to pass both Adamo and Valerio Lata (HRC Honda) to move up to second!
Nobody saw which way Coenen went as the KTM rider powered his way to his third career GP race win but all the action happened behind him! Lata held second until lap six, when Laengenfelder, Adamo, and De Wolf nipped past in quick succession.
De Wolf crashed on lap nine, seemingly throwing the overall win away as Laengenfelder looked good for the win with what was a 2-2 scorecard at that point. However, the German rider made three errors which dropped him to sixth place as De Wolf somehow snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to take the overall with a 1-5 scorecard ahead of Coenen (9-1) and Laengenfelder (2-6).
With the Qualifying race points added, De Wolf leads the championship with 49 points ahead of Coenen with 46, Laengenfelder with 44, Liam Everts (Nestaan Husqvarna) with 36 and Adamo with 32. What a start to the series of Austrian-built machines.
“The first race was tricky with the mud, but I got a great start and just rode my own race,” said De Wolf after. “The second moto was more eventful—I didn’t have the best start, worked my way up, but then had a crash and needed some time to recover. Still, I managed to fight back and finish strong. Just a few weeks ago, we didn’t even think I’d be here, so to be racing at this level already is amazing. Huge thanks to my team, my family, my girlfriend, and everyone who has supported me through this. I’m really happy with the progress and looking forward to what’s next.”
Conditions were much kinder for the MXGP class as Jeremy Seewer fired his Aruba.it Ducati into an early lead in race one although it was short-lived as Febvre and Renaux barrelled their way by almost immediately. Seewer’s teammate Mattia Guadagnini was also up there – those Ducatis must be fast – as Lucas Coenen (Red Bull KTM) who almost stayed home after injuring himself in a practice incident moved forward through the pack with series favourite Tim Gajser (HRC Honda) also in the mix.
As Renaux pressured Febvre at the front, Gajser methodically worked his way into third with Guadagnini a surprise fourth after passing his teammate! And that’s how the race finished with Glenn Coldenhoff (Fantic Factory Racing) placing fifth, Seewer sixth and Coenen seventh ahead of countryman Jago Geerts (Monster Energy Yamaha).
Buoyed by his strong first moto, Guadagnini led race two but Renaux soon moved into the lead with Guadagnini second, Febvre third and Swiss privateer Valentin Guillod (Kehrli Moto Yamaha) getting the most of his massively expensive trip to Argentina by running fourth!
Renaux made a sprint for it – setting the fastest lap of the day – with Febvre settling in second and Gajser moving up to third ahead of Guadagnini. That’s how it stayed until the end with Guillod finishing fifth, Kevin Horgmo (SR Motoblouz Honda) sixth.
Renaux took the overall with his 2-1 beating Febvre’s 1-2 on the better second moto tiebreaker while Gajser rounded out the podium with 3-3 finishes. In the world championship classification, Renaux leads by one point thanks to his Saturday victory.
“You never know what to expect at the first GP of the season, so to come out and win feels great,” enthused Renaux. “It’s also special to take my first red plate in the 450 class, but the championship is the big picture, and I know the competition is strong. Physically, I’m in the best shape I’ve been, and the bike is working better than ever. Now, it’s about keeping the momentum going.”
