De Wolf conquers the Lommel sand
Words and images courtesy MXGP
A war of attrition was expected in the MX2 class of the Lommel MXGP round and, after two highly eventful races that saw most riders fall from their bikes at one point or another, it was championship leader Kay de Wolf who claimed his sixth GP win of the season for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing and extended his advantage in the World Championship over his teammate Lucas Coenen by some margin!
As in MXGP, the second-placed rider from Saturday’s RAM Qualifying Race switched the order around in the Warm-up, as Lucas Coenen out-paced Kay de Wolf by exactly nine-tenths of a second, with Liam Everts also showing good speed in third for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
Nothing could quite prepare us for the wild ride of MX2 at Lommel! Race one began, as many have this year, with a Fox Holeshot Award for Sacha Coenen and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, although his brother Lucas was right with him during the first lap, and Team HRC rookie Ferruccio Zanchi was showing great pace in third! De Wolf took a couple of attempts to get past the young Italian, but with Lucas unable to get past Sacha, the tall Dutchman cruised up to his teammate’s rear wheel and skipped past in a long right-hand corner. On lap two, Lucas made the first of several mistakes on the day, and De Wolf ripped past Sacha with sheer pace through the unending depth of the sand.
Another Dutchman, Rick Elzinga, was riding well for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, but Sacha’s teammate Everts was also on the move. On a frantic lap six, De Wolf fell from the lead, handing it back to Sacha, as Everts slotted past Zanchi for third. However, on the next lap, Everts went down around the same corner that claimed De Wolf, the red plate holder took the lead back, and then Lucas was back up to third behind Zanchi!
It all changed again on lap eight, as Lucas hit the ground for the second time, leaving Elzinga in third ahead of charging Monster Energy Triumph Racing star Camden McLellan! The South African battled through the race with his teammate Mikkel Haarup, and they both benefitted from another crash for Everts and a last lap heartbreaker for the previously rock solid Zanchi! Elzinga had already moved up to second by that point to match his best race result of the year, and McLellan held his teammate back to claim third and fourth for the Triumph team!
Amazingly, Lucas recovered to fifth ahead of Everts and Zanchi at the finish, with the top ten being completed by Simon Laengenfelder, eighth for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, Karlis Reisulis taking ninth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, and Sacha Coenen eventually in tenth.
The diminutive Belgian took his 14th Fox Holeshot Award in race two, making it a clean 50% strike rate for the 2024 season! Yamaha men Reisulis and Elzinga chased after him to begin with, the Dutchman passing the Latvian into the third corner as De Wolf worked past Laengenfelder into fourth!
The series leader appeared to be taking his time, patiently picking off riders to take the lead from Sacha on lap five. Lucas had already fallen and had to come into Pit Lane for fresh goggles. The home favourite had to work through the pack to get into the top ten at the close.
What was looking like an easy race for De Wolf turned out to be anything but, as a crash on lap eight put him back to third briefly, and he had to pass Sacha for the lead again on lap nine! Elzinga followed him through, putting in a great ride to make it a Dutch 1-2. On lap eleven, the chasing duo of Everts and Laengenfelder moved forward into second and third, and they were chasing Elzinga, who had become the first Yamaha rider to lead in MX2 since the injury for Thibault Benistant, as De Wolf misjudged a sand dune to send his bike off the track and himself, in a hole, on it!
Tasting victory in his grasp for the first time since Trentino in April, Laengenfelder nailed a section of the circuit near the spectator banks, and first got past Everts for second, then taking advantage of an issue for Elzinga, who seemed to be nursing a hot motor, swept into the lead on lap 13 of 16! De Wolf wasn’t done yet, however, as he followed Everts past Elzinga, and passed the tiring Belgian with a beautiful, feet-up move around the outside of a huge berm as the two-lap board beckoned!
A first corner crash had limited Zanchi’s race to a twelfth-place finish, leaving him out of podium contention, and Lucas Coenen got up to eighth on the final lap, passing McLellan who took ninth ahead of SB Racing KTM’s Jens Walvoort. Haarup had to settle for seventh, Sacha Coenen sixth, and Reisulis fifth, as Elzinga managed to nurse the bike home for fourth to cement a fine second place overall! Elzinga said: “I honestly could cry from happiness now. You work so hard for this. Mentally it is hard and I had to get over it this season that is why I’m a bit emotional. It was a perfect moment to win but then there was a technical issue somewhere so I had to rode out until the end bring it home in 4th place in the second race. The all team put so much work into it and thank all the people behind me to believe in me.”
De Wolf had one late charge on Laengenfelder’s lead, but ran off-track with a lap to go to end his charge in second. The German’s third race win of the season was enough to put him onto the third step of the podium, but De Wolf clinched his sixth GP win of the year, the seventh of his career, and extended his lead over Lucas Coenen to a mighty 65 points. Laengenfelder is also back in play for second, lying just 12 points back of the second Husqvarna rider.
With five of the last six rounds due to take place on hard pack, the GASGAS man could still be a force to be reckoned with, and the unpredictable nature of the class means that big points swings are always possible, so the entertainment from MX2 is sure to continue to the very last lap of the season!
Kay de Wolf said : “I’m extending my championship lead once again so I’m really happy with that. I’m not really happy about that second race but I won the overall for the 6th time so I’m very with that now. It’s so nice to do it for this team. We’re only two minutes away from the workshop here so the whole team is here, so I’m sure they really enjoy this one.
Laengenfelder was far from disappointed with his results and said: “I’m really happy after the second race. Unfortunately, we had some difficulties to get the right settings for my bike but finally everything was much better in the second race and I could ride like myself. I showed some good speed and with that race win I’m very happy as I love the sand!”
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 35:52.969; 2. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:04.057; 3. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:07.207; 4. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:12.249; 5. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:13.053; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:16.611; 7. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:23.491; 8. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:26.859; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:42.011; 10. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:45.760
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), 35:33.487; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:07.317; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:19.423; 4. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:31.202; 5. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:35.897; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:44.840; 7. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:53.794; 8. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +1:12.130; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +1:14.644; 10. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), +1:15.744
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 47 points; 2. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 40 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 38 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 35 p.; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 32 p.; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 32 p.; 7. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 29 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 28 p.; 9. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 26 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 23 p
MX2 – World Championship Classification:
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 683 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 618 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 606 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 556 p.; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 465 p.; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 457 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 429 p.; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 391 p.; 9. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 255 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 254 p
MX2 – Manufacturers Classification:
1. Husqvarna, 761 points; 2. KTM, 679 p.; 3. GASGAS, 613 p.; 4. Triumph, 500 p.; 5. Yamaha, 490 p.; 6. Honda, 289 p.; 7. Kawasaki, 261 p.; 8. Fantic, 195 p.; 9. TM, 39 p