Cycle News Staff | July 2, 2024
Round 11 of the FIM Motocross World Championship took place on the island of Lombok, Indonesia, for the MXGP of West Nusa Tenggara, June 29-30. Jorge Prado closed the gap in the MXGP division with an overall win, while Kay de Wolf extended his points lead with a 1-1 sweep.
Jorge Prado claimed the overall win with his 2-1 moto finishes in Indonesia, the first of two back-to-back Indonesian rounds.
The first MXGP moto saw Kawasaki’s Jeremy Seewer grab the holeshot and take off with the early lead. However, by the end of lap one, Jeffrey Herlings moved into the lead, which spelled trouble for the rest of the field. Prado and points leader Tim Gajser moved into second and third, respectively, shortly after and held the spots through to the finish. Though suspenseful, the top three riders remained unchanged for most of the race, with Herlings claiming the win.
Race two saw different conditions, but the same three riders emerged up front again, with Gajser taking the holeshot. Herlings again slipped into the lead on lap one, while Prado and Gajser duked it out for the final spots on the box. Disaster struck for Herlings, as he fell while leading, allowing Prado and Gajser to move into first and second, respectively. Contact was made just after the finish line area, which put Gajser on the ground. Another late-race crash dropped him to fifth in the race. Prado controlled the rest of the moto, earning the overall win with 2-1 scores and chipping off a few points from the points gap. He’s now 22 down from Gajser.
Herlings crossed second, trading spots with Prado and taking second overall. Calvin Vlaanderen used a pair of fourth-place results to take third overall, his first podium of the year, as well as the first for Yamaha this year.
“I felt good today on the bike, but it was physically demanding,” said Prado. “Both races were different, but this one was particularly challenging due to the physical conditions. The heat was intense, and the track was extremely rough and sketchy. There was a lot of water put down after the break. I got caught a few times in mudholes, and my bike went sideways. However, I regrouped, controlled my pace, and managed to take the win.”
Kay De Wolf battled his Husqvarna teammate Lucas Coenen, but swept the day with 1-1 results.
MX2
All the heavy hitters came to play in the MX2 division, with Simon Laengenfelder taking the early lead in race one. The GasGas rider held the top spot for most of the moto but tucked the front end and fell out of first place. He’d later cross the line in sixth. This mistake allowed points leader Kay de Wolf to sneak through to the lead, and despite a late-race mistake, the Husqvarna rider held on to the moto win. Behind him, defending MX2 Champion, Andrea Adamo battled his way to second as Triumph’s Mikkel Haarup fell out of the position on the final lap. Haarup remounted in third and claimed the final spot on the box.
Sacha Coenen crossed the holeshot line first in race two and faced drastically different conditions as the track crew heavily overwatered the circuit. He led early on but later dropped down to fourth. The two factory Husqvarna riders, de Wolf and Lucas Coenen, worked past the early leader and battled in the mud for the top spot. De Wolf held on for the win, crossing the line by less than a second over his teammate. This was his first 1-1 sweep of the year, as de Wolf extends his points lead to 65 over second place. Lucas Coenen took second in the moto but finished third overall with 7-2 scores behind Adamo, who used a 2-3 for second on the day.
“Today’s races were quite different,” said de Wolf. “The first was dry, but the track was heavily watered for the second, resulting in puddles everywhere. The second moto was especially challenging early on. Despite this, I made some crucial passes and focused on maintaining my speed. I’m pleased with the adjustments we made between races and thrilled to secure this win.”CN
MXGP (Top 5)
- Jorge Prado (GG) 2-1
- Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 1-2
- Calvin Vlaanderen (Yam) 4-4
- Tim Gajser (Hon) 3-5
- Jeremy Seewer (Kaw) 6-3
MX2 (Top 5)
- Kay de Wolf (Hus) 1-1
- Andrea Adamo (KTM) 2-3
- Lucas Coenen (Hus) 7-2
- Mikkel Haarup (Tri) 3-5
- Sacha Coenen (KTM) 5-4
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