Cycle News Staff | June 3, 2024
The FIM Motocross World Championship took to Teutschenthal, Germany for round eight of the 2024 campaign. The hard-packed and rutted track made for some challenging conditions amongst the title favorites. For Jorge Prado and Lucas Coenen it was business as usual as both riders swept their respective divisions.
MXGP
Glen Coldenhoff shot out of the gate in race one for his first holeshot of the year but was followed closely by the number-one of Jorge Prado. Prado quickly moved to the lead and proceeded to drop the field as he rode away off the front of the pack. The current points leader Tim Gajser moved into second but came under fire from podium-hungry riders like Jeffrey Herlings and Calvin Vlaanderen. Herlings easily pushed past for second as Gajser found himself fighting for the final spot on the box with the Yamaha of Vlaanderen. After a series of mistakes from both riders, Gajser managed to hold on for third with Herlings securely in second. Prado ran away with the win and kicked things off with the opening victory.
Prado successfully reclaimed the red plate with two moto wins. Photos: Juan Pablo Acevedo
Race two saw Prado jump to the lead again as he set his sights on another moto win. This left Herlings, Gajser, and Vlaanderen up front again and duking it out for the rest of the podium positions. Late in the race, Gajser made his move on Herlings and pushed towards the front to catch Prado. It proved too little too late for the Honda rider who ultimately crossed second with Prado making it a clean sweep, going 1-1 on the day and reclaiming the points lead. He’s now two points up on Gajser who finished second overall. Herlings finished third on the day and moves to third in the championship points.
Prado navigates the rutted Teutschenthal terrain.
“It was overall a perfect weekend,” Prado said. “I’m super happy with my riding. Getting back to hard pack with more normal conditions for me. It was good with good starts too. Not much to say, I’m just very happy to get another win! We keep going like this with Latvia next, which is a good track for me so let’s get some sand riding next week!”
MXGP Podium – Prado, Herlings, Gajser. Photo: Ray Archer.
MX2
Husqvarna’s Lucas Coenen got up front early in the MX2 division, marking his first holeshot of the year. German native, Simon Laengenfelder ran up front in the early stages as points leader Kay de Wolf battled for the second position. De Wolf made his way around the GasGas rider and towed his Husqvarna teammate for the duration of the race. In the closing stages, de Wolf bobbled and lost the draft, allowing Coenen to clinch the race one victory.
Teammates Conen and De Wolf weren’t much farther than this in both motos.
Laengenfelder gave his home fans a show with a big holeshot in moto two. De Wolf was on the move early in the race and moved to the lead around Laengenfelder, going for the overall win. Race one winner, Coenen followed suit and capitalized on De Wolf’s late tip over. This let Coenen sneak around for the lead and dropped De Wolf back to third. Coenen held on in the final laps and took the win, going 1-1 on the day. De Wolf re-passed Laengenfelder, crossing the line second and third respectively. De Wolf still leads the MX2 points by 59 over Coenen who moves to second.
Coenen took both checkered flags.
“That’s three in a row, it’s amazing to see how everything can go perfectly,” Coenen said. “During the last few laps, I was quite nervous because of what happened last year but I can now get over it finally with winning Teutschenthal. I saw Kay crash which is a bummer as I wanted us to do the same as in the first race but I got the win so I’m happy.” CN
MX2 Podium. Coenen, De Wolf, Laengenfelder.
OVERALL RESULTS
MXGP
- Jorge Prado (GG) 1-1
- Tim Gajser (Hon) 3-2
- Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 2-3
- Calvin Vlaanderen (Yam) 4-4
- Glenn Coldenhoff (Yam) 6-5
MX2
- Lucas Coenen (Hus) 1-1
- Kay De Wolf (Hus) 2-2
- Simon Laengenfelder (GG 3-3
- Andrea Adamo (KTM) 4-6
- Rick Elzinga (Yam) 5-5
