Photo credits: Infront Moto Racing
Just as we were wondering what kind of track conditions we will see on Sunday’s main races on the hills of western Czechia, due to Saturday’s heavy rain which made a read mud party on the qualifying sessions, we got a surprise. The sun dried up the track perfectly and the riders were ready.
The track was rough though. Even though they fixed it before the races started, the riders had to work hard.
MXGP
In the first moto something happened which caught many people off guard. Privateer Jan Pancar almost took the Fox Holeshot and just when it seemed that he will get it, Lucas Coenen came around the outside and stole it from him and led the way.
Pancar followed in second with another privateer Isak Gifting in third. Romain Febvre and Ruben Fernandez completed the top five.
Gifting stood strong and stayed in front of Febvre for the next two laps until the championship leader finally managed to make a move to put him into the third place. Soon after, Fernandez made a move on Gifting as well.
And just as everyone was expecting Febvre to pass Pancar and get into the second place, Pancar had different plans. We knew he was going to be fast as he was also third in the time practice sessions, but no one expected this. He held onto the second place for 30 minutes with Febvre constantly accumulating pressure on him.
That didn’t break Pancar. He held his composure until only 3 laps to go, when he made a mistake in a u-turn, where he left the doors open for Febvre and after the wave section also Fernandez got the better of him. And if Pancar thought that he could ride in peace till the finish line, he was wrong. Coldenhoff joined the party and and put immense pressure on the Slovenian until the very end, but couldn’t get past him.
Lucas Coenen made himself a comfortable lead since the beginning and never looked back.
But then on the last lap, something unexpected happened. Febvre crashed after the jump and wend from second to fifth, losing important championship points. With that he gifted Fernandez a second place.
That as well helped Jan Pancar to achieve his career result, finishing third in the first moto, with Coldenhoff and Fevbre completing the top five.
With this race, Lucas Coenen cut the championship lead to only 7 points.
Second race was a little different. Febvre knew he can’t let Lucas get ahead of him at the start. And he did it right. Coldenhoff took the holeshot, but Febvre was right behind him, with Lucas following. Also this time Gifting made a good start in fourth with Pancar in sixth.
Pancar would later on crash and even have some technical issues with his chain which resulted him in finishing 16th. A little bittersweet moment for what could have been a career GP result.
Maxime Renaux clashed with Brent Van Doninck at the start, which also stopped Ruben Fernandez, who was second in the first race. Fernandez started racing from mid pack, but eventually made it all the way to seventh place.
Febvre understood the assignment and in lap 3, he passed Coldenhoff to take over the lead and he didn’t let go till the end. Lucas Coenen was struggling to pass Coldenhoff and stayed behind for most of the race. After he finally got ahead of him on lap 14, he started to close down to Romain Febvre. He closed the gap to only 2,5 seconds, but eventually he had to settle for second.
The top 5 was concluded with privateer Isak Gifting on fourth and Calvin Vlaanderen on fifht.
The overall win belonged to Lucas Coenen who cut the championship lead to only 10 points, heading to next weekend to his home GP at Lommel. Second was Romain Febvre, Glenn Coldenhoff third.
MX2
The Fox Holeshot in race one belonged to no other than championship leader Simon Lägenfelder. 2024 MX2 world champion Kay de Wolf chose a better gate this time, but still did not manage to get a very good start.
Soon after the start Simon’s teammate Sacha Coenen made a pass on Guillem Farres for the second place. For a moment it seemed we might watch a RedBull KTM Factory Racing Team battle, but the championship leader had other ideas. He made a gap and led all the way till the end.
Also qualifying race winner Mathis Valin wanted more and made a pass on Farres putting him to third.
Kay de Wolf had a chaotic race. A crash in the turn put him from 8th to 11th place. After he had to work hard, eventually settling for sixth.
Also Italy’s Andrea Adamo said “hello” to the ground while riding on seventh, but managed to quickly pick himself up. Later on he used other rider’s mistakes for his own good, eventually finishing in 5th place.
There were no other changes in the top five with Sacha Coenen and Mathis Valin riding all the time on second and third place, with Guillem Farres finishing fourth.
Second race gave us another milestone for Mathis Valin as he grabbed his first career Fox Holeshot. Italians Andrea Adamo and Valerio Lata were right behind him.
Sacha Coenen this time made a bad start, only around 15th place, which made it harder to the KTM rider to achieve a good result in Loket. Meanwhile, championship leader Simon Lägenfelder made a move on Lata on lap 3 to put himself into third place. Also Adamo made a move on Valin to take over the lead, right after the pit lane’s straight.
De Wolf didn’t get a good start, but battled through and eventually came home in fourth place after passing Farres on lap 10.
Later on Lägenfelder made a move on Valin on a drop down jump to take the second place. That’s where he would stay as Andrea Adamo controled the race and take the second race win.
The overall however, belonged to the current championship leader Simon Lägenfelder, with Andrea Adamo in second and Mathis Valin in third.
Both classes offered us something to look forward to. Next weekend we are heading to one of the toughest tracks on the planet, as Lommel will host the 15th round of the 2025 FIM MXGP World Championship.
Can Lucas Coenen lift up the red plate in front of his home fans? Can Kay de Wolf rise to the occasion and show his elite sand skills?