Coenen closes in on de Wolf with double MX2 wins in China
Words and images courtesy MXGP
The threat of incoming bad weather forced a revised and condenses schduel at the The Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China but it didn’t stop the epic MX2 title fight from continuing with Lucas Coenen taking 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!
MX2 MOTO1
In the morning 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.
MX2 MOTO2
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!
The final round of the 2024 MXGP World Motocross Championships will take place in south-eastern Spain, near the village of Cozar, for the MXGP of Castilla La Mancha, round 20, the finale of both main adult series, the EMX 250 & EMX 125 classes too, and a whole host of scenarios mean that the final GP is not one to miss! See you there!
PODIUM QUOTES
Lucas Coenen: “I need to push. With a temperature like this I thought it would be really difficult. The heat gets you more when you stop, but I got to fight on. I want to beat Kay (de Wolf) and I just want to win every race. I’m doing it, so let’s see on the final round if we get a win. I apologise for Liam (Everts)*. I thought he would go more outside and I hit him but I’m so annoyed =and the whole race I was not in my rhythm because of that but I hope he’s okay and best of luck to him. I apologize for Leon. I thought he would go more outside and I hit him but I’m so pissed off because I saw his father and I was like shit what did I do and the whole motor I was not in my rhythm because of that but I hope he’s okay and best of luck to him.
Kay de Wolf: “First of all I hope Liam is okay. It’s a bummer to see someone down especially like that for so long. So yeah, I hope he’s okay. For the rest, second race felt quite good. The intensity was quite high and I just could just manage the last few laps, but for the big picture this was good and yeah, I’m happy with it.”
Simon Laengenfelder: “Well after 10 minutes I started to have so much stomach pain and I needed to just let it go and I couldn’t push anymore too much. But happy to finish in the third position at the race and to just finish in that position.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 34:14.906; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:05.254; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:08.778; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:10.654; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:13.566; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:14.215; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:35.439; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:40.450; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:43.135; 10. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:43.409;
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 35:06.258; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:05.588; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:14.320; 4. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:19.558; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:24.841; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:25.316; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:47.565; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:53.134; 9. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:55.614; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Fantic),
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 50 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 42 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 42 p.; 4. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 34 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 27 p.; 7. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 26 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 26 p.; 9. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 21 p.
MX2 – World Championship Classification:
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 915 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 879 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 811 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 749 p.; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 658 p.; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 632 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 555 p.; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 456 p.; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 395 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 359 p
MX2 – Manufacturers Classification:
1. Husqvarna, 1045 points; 2. KTM, 900 p.; 3. GASGAS, 823 p.; 4. Triumph, 704 p.; 5. Yamaha, 660 p.; 6. Honda, 394 p.; 7. Kawasaki, 337 p.; 8. Fantic, 272 p.; 9. TM, 60 p.
*EVERTS HURT
Belgian Liam Everts crashed after contact with another rider during the second moto of the Grand Prix of China. Everts received medical attention trackside and was taken for further scans where the fifth cervical fracture was found and needed a prompt corrective procedure. The 20-year-old Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider was taken to Huashan and a specialist department, where he had started to regain feeling and movement in his limbs. He is now on the mend after surgery at the Huashan hospital in Shanghai to repair a broken C5 vertebra. The operation to fix the bone went well and the surgeons are confident he will make a full recovery. Everts is said to be in good spirits but will remain in China for one week for assessment before being able to travel home to Belgium where he can start the path back to full fitness.