RACING CATCH UP

THE FOX HOLESHOT CONTINUES TO BE ONE OF THE FIERCEST COMPETITIONS – THE WORLD TILES ASIDE, OF COURSE – OF THE SEASON AS TEAMS AND RIDERS SEARCH FOR EVERY SMALL, OR BIG ADVANTAGE OVER THEIR OPPONENTS AND GETTING AHEAD IN THE START IS ALWAYS A BIG ADVANTAGE!

From what we’ve seen over the last seven rounds of the FIM Motocross World Championship, it’s clear that the level of competition is high as both MXGP and MX2 categories remain extremely tight and that’s when advantages, such as the Fox Holeshot begin to play a vital role�

The Fox Holeshot competition so far…

In the previous issue of MXGP Mag, we discussed the first three rounds of the season but now it’s time to see what has happened recently� During the MXGP of the Netherlands we once again saw four different riders dominate the starts to each received the Fox Holeshot plate�

In MXGP, it was Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre, who claimed the first Fox Holeshot of the day, which was the start of a very intense and dramatic race for the Frenchman who finished fourth after a couple of crashes which ultimately cost him the race win� In MXGP race two, it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado who took the lead early doors thanks to his flying start on his way to a top three finish, while it was Antonio Cairoli who stole the race victory from Tim Gajser on the final laps�

Meanwhile in MX2, Diga Procross GasGas Factory Racing’s Simon Längenfelder added another Fox Holeshot plate to his name as he led the early stages of the opening race to eventually finish 11th, while Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jago Geerts won the race� Geerts then got his own Fox Holeshot with a great start in race two as he led the heat from start to finish and went on to take the overall victory in Oss, ahead of Jed Beaton and Kay De Wolf�

MXGP of Czech Republic – Loket

The series then travelled to Loket in Czech Republic where Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing rule the starts�

Jorge Prado was strong in Loket as he took two Fox Holeshots and went on to win the opening race, while he finished third in the second� A 1-3 score gave the Spaniard the overall win, his first of the season!

In MX2, the starts were won by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Mattia Guadagnini and Thibault Benistant of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing with the pair going on to win a race each thanks to their strong starts! As a result, Guadagnini celebrated his second Grand Prix victory of the season, while Benistant commemorated his first podium in MX2!

MXGP of Flanders – Lommel

At the MXGP of Flanders, it was Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre and Ivo Monticelli who dominated the starts in both MXGP races, though it was Febvre who led both races and finished the day with a 2-1 result to take his first overall Grand Prix victory in Lommel!

In MX2, it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle who was the first recipient of the Fox Holeshot as he very briefly led race one, meanwhile in the second race, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay De Wolf was unmatched from the start to finish as he grabbed the second Fox Holeshot and dominated the race until the chequered flag despite immense pressure from home rider Jago Geerts who was the Belgian Grand Prix overall winner�

MXGP of Latvia – Kegums

We then concluded our four-week stint in Kegums for the MXGP of Latvia! The Latvian Grand Prix delivered some exciting races, but once again Kegums was another one of those circuits where the start was more important than ever�

Jeffrey Herlings continued his shock return to racing with a Fox Holeshot in the first MXGP race, as he was able to withstand the pressure of Tim Gajser and take the race victory� In the second MXGP race, it was Romain Febvre who received the Fox Holeshot� Febvre led the race ahead of Prado and Herlings, though crashed out on the third lap which handed the advantage to Prado who managed to keep it on two wheels and bag himself a podium! Herlings missed

out on the overall victory due to his crash on the final lap of the race but still stood on the third step of the podium as Gajser took the overall victory!

Meanwhile in MX2, the Fox Holeshot was won in both races by Mattia Guadagnini who made the perfect comeback after a tough Grand Prix in Lommel to go 2-3 for third overall� Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Maxime Renaux also had some strong starts and went on to secure his first ever 1-1 result to win the Latvian Grand Prix�

As it stands, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado and Romain Febvre are tied on five points in the Fox Holeshot Award standings, while in MX2 Mattia Guadagnini edges out with three points thanks to his starts in Kegums this past weekend�

2021 FIM Junior Motocross World Championship – Megalopolis, Greece:

The Fox Holeshot competition also took place at the 2021 FIM Junior Motocross World Championship in Megalopolis, Greece where the fastest youngsters competed to become this year’s champions and getting a good start was key to their success� Three classes raced in Megalopolis, which meant there were six Fox Holeshot’s up for grabs! In the 125cc category it was Bence Pergel who won the start in race two, while in the second heat it was Fantic Factory Racing Maddii’s Haakon Osterhagen, who got ahead from the beginning and went on to win the race once again to claim this year’s 125cc World title!

In the 85cc class, Latvian Janis Martin Reusulis was quick out of the gate in race one, while in the second race it was last year’s 65cc World Cup Winner, Marek Vitezslav, who grabbed the Fox Holeshot and came close to a race win, though ultimately missed out on the title as Italian Mattia Barbieri was declared the title winner�

And then there were also the 65cc youngsters who competed for the World Cup� Andrea Uccellini dominated both starts though it was Aaron Katona of Hungary who won both races and won the 65cc World Cup this time around!

Now we’ve got a few weeks off and then the MXGP action will resume, as the series will head to Turkey for a special doubleheader Grand Prix

Matti Guadagnini 3

Jago Geer 2

Simon Längenfelder 2

Thibault Benistant 2

Tom Vialle 2

Rene Hofer 1

Jorge Prado

Romain Febvre 5

5

Jeffrey Herlings 2

Glenn Coldenhoff 1

SINCE THE LAST ISSUE OF THE MXGP MAGAZINE, THE FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HAS BEEN BUSY. WITH FOUR CONSECUTIVE GRAND PRIX WEEKENDS ON THE CALENDAR, THE LAST MONTH HAS BEEN PRETTY INTENSE AND THESE LAST FOUR GP’S HAVE DELIVERED ON SOME EXCEPTIONAL ACTION AND SOME BIG SURPRISES – SO LET’S RE-CAP WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS AND HAVE OURSELVES A RACING CATCH-UP!

MXGP of the Netherlands – Oss

Let’s start things off with Oss� Oss is not entirely new to the MXGP calendar as it had previously hosted GP’s in 1989 and 1998 which were dominated by American Mike Healey and Italian Alessio Chiodi� Now 23 years later the Dutch venue made its comeback to the FIM Motocross World Championship�

The MXGP of the Netherlands action was kicked off with a special parade, as past racing legends took a lap of Oss in front of an enthusiastic Dutch crowd� A total of 13 titles were on track for the lap, as the parade tour featured the likes of Harry Everts, Joel Smets, John van den Berk, Marnicq Bervoets, Jacky Martens and others!

There were more than just motocross legends joining us for the Dutch Grand Prix as football stars Wesley Sneijder and Andy Van Der Meijde were there to hand out trophies to the MXGP and MX2 podium finishers, while Dutch social media personalities ‘Dutch Performante’ and ‘Mobicep’ enjoyed the MXGP action, too!

In terms of the racing, the MXGP of the Netherlands was looking like it would be a battle of the Dutchies with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings heading home after his first Grand Prix victory of the season in Maggiora and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff finishing on the exact same number of points but having to settle for second overall the same weekend, too� Things were looking great for the pair who were set to impress at their home round – but *spoiler alert* things didn’t quite go the way the pair would have hoped for� Herlings and Coldenhoff went 1-2 in Time Practice with it all looking good for the races� As the gate dropped for the first race of the day, Herlings was the first to be dealt a blow as Ivo Monticelli landed on his shoulder which, as we all know now, resulted in a broken shoulder blade� In true Herlings style, the Bullet continued with the race and went on to win the heat after Romain Febvre crashed out and Glenn Coldenhoff could not hold off the hard charging Herlings�

Nobody was aware of the severity of Herlings’ injury until he stepped off the bike after the race and the pain that he was in was clear which put the championship in question once again� The factory KTM rider wasted no time to get himself checked out by the doctors and did not line-up for the second race which left the door open for Coldenhoff to go after the overall victory�

Coldenhoff was born and raised in Oss, so a victory would have been very special for the Yamaha rider and that’s what he had set out to do in race two� But as the gate dropped for the second heat, the first corner saw many of the front runners down, which included Coldenhoff and his teammate Jeremy Seewer�

After Coldenhoff finally picked himself up, he was already way down on the rest of the field so getting some solid points was always going to be a mission� Unfortunately, the home hero only managed to get himself up to 22nd by the end of the race, so with no points scored in race two the podium was gone�

A rider who was no doubt hoping and pushing hard for a podium, and more importantly the overall victory, was Monster Energy Kawasaki racing Team’s Romain Febvre� In both races it was clear that the Frenchman was pushing on a whole new level, but the problem was keeping upright and staying on two wheels� Several crashes in both races cost Febvre potential race victories, but two solid fourth place results were enough to get him on the podium with the Frenchman placing third overall�

The MXGP of the Netherlands saw Antonio Cairoli continue his podium streak with a third consecutive podium as he finished second

overall after stealing the race win from Tim Gajser in the final stages of the second heat� And despite not winning any races during the GP in Oss, it was Gajser who stood on the top step of the podium to continue his title defence�

Meanwhile Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Arminas Jasikonis also got in on the action in Oss� His day started with fifth in Time Practice which he then followed up with some nice battles inside the top 10 to finish 10th overall� No doubt this was the positive result that the Lithuanian was looking for as he continued his comeback�

In MX2 things were just as interesting! Entering the weekend all eyes were going to be on the sand riders and one young-gun in particular, that is Kay De Wolf� For De Wolf it was his first ‘official’ home Grand Prix as an MX2 rider� Since the beginning of the season the Dutch rider had been building with some nice rides well inside the top 10, alongside his teammate Jed Beaton�

Both riders were impressive in Oss, with Beaton challenging Jago Geerts for the race win in the opening heat and then De Wolf doing the same in the second race� The pair were no match for Geerts who dominated with a 1-1 result to stand on the top step of the podium, while Beaton’s second and third place finishes put him second overall, as De Wolf celebrated his first pro podium with third overall�

Concerning the championship, at the Dutch Grand Prix we saw another new championship leader as Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Maxime Renaux took over the series lead from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Mattia Guadagnini, who struggled all day to finish 10th overall, while Renaux was fourth�

MXGP of Czech Republic – Loket

Then we moved on to Loket for the MXGP of Czech Republic as the World Championship returned to the old-school track after missing out on a GP in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic� And what a welcome back it was with the typical fireworks display on Saturday evening, which has become a tradition over the years every time that the Grand Prix races take place in the Czech region� The MXGP of Czech Republic also saw the much-awaited return of the MXGP of Academy, as the upcoming youngguns learn more about the world of MXGP and what it takes to become the best!

Following his performance in Oss, expectations were pretty big for Romain Febvre, who had previously won in Loket back in 2019� Podium finishers Tim Gajser and Jeremy Seewer were among the list of favourites to win in Loket but in true MXGP style this season, things unfolded a little different�

Despite having that extra little bit of confidence thanks to his previously win in Czech Republic, Febvre struggled to put together two consistent rides that would put him on the podium� The Frenchman fought his way to third in the opening race, but it was race two that cost him the most points� After a bad start, Febvre was left fighting outside the top 20 and managed to comeback to 10th which was not enough for a podium spot�

Then there was the misfortune of Tim Gajser who had showed his dominance on the hardpack this season� The Team HRC rider was chasing another overall victory after his success in Oss and after finishing the opening race behind Jorge Prado, an overall victory was still looking possible as race two began� Gajser was chasing Coldenhoff for fourth place on the first lap when he got it completely wrong and hit the deck�

Despite picking himself up very quickly, Gajser struggled when his clutch lever was stuck in his hand guard� The Slovenian managed to ride back to pitlane, to get the problem fixed, but as a result lost a load of time and could only manage

15th place after a hard fight to get as many championship points as possible�

Gajser’s crash made thing’s a lot more interesting in terms of the overall, as Jorge Prado celebrated his first Grand Prix win of the 2021 season, as Antonio Cairoli added a

fourth consecutive podium to carry on with his consistent form� While Jeremy Seewer made his long-awaited return to the podium after a hard start to the season� Seewer had struggled in the races this season so far but had revealed at the press conference in Loket that he tested positive for COVID-19 before the start of the year and was struggling with it since�

Meanwhile in MX2, Mattia Guadagnini and Thibault Benistant celebrated race wins on their way to podium finishes, as Guadagnini added a second overall victory on what has been a very successful rookie season so far, while Benistant made his first ever MX2 podium appearance!

The pair were joined by Maxime Renaux who became the first rider, this season, to hold on to the red plate for more than one Grand Prix, as he maintained the championship lead�

The races in Loket also finally saw the return of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle, who had struggled in the first few rounds as he struggled with injury� The MXGP of Czech Republic finally saw Vialle line-up for both races and the first race it looked like the Frenchman was back to challenging at the top end of the field as he challenged Guadagnini for the race to finish second� The second race Vialle got caught up with a couple of crashes and as a result did not finish the race�

The MXGP of Czech Republic also saw the opening round of the Women’s Motocross World Championship with defending world champion, Courtney Duncan dominating the field to go 1-1 and the first overall of the season� Shana Van Der Vlist celebrated a career second podium, as she stood on the second step of the podium, while Larissa Papenmeier managed third�

MXGP of Flanders – Lommel

After the hard pack of Loket the series headed to the deep sand of Lommel as the riders geared up for what was going to be another exciting race� The Belgian Grand Prix also saw the second round of the Women’s Motocross World Championship and it was the first time that the ladies had the opportunity to race a WMX round in

Lommel – this was a test for the fastest ladies in the world and they took on the challenge with ease!

It was an exciting WMX podium, as Shana Van Der Vlist celebrated her second podium of the season as she took a race win and the overall, while Kiara Fontanesi made her return to the podium after a tough weekend in Loket the previous week, while Lynn Valk celebrated her first ever podium as she finished third overall, thanks to her win in the first race!

Van Der Vlist had a lot to celebrate, because while she was busy revelling in her overall victory, she also had a red plate to applaud as she took over the championship lead from Courtney Duncan�

One of the biggest shocks of the weekend was the announcement that just 14 days after breaking his shoulder, Jeffrey Herlings would line-up for the toughest sand race of the season� The biggest question on everyone’s mind was how would the Bullet manage with the pain and by then end of Sunday’s races, we were all asking ourselves ‘is he even human?’

Is he? Who knows! Because his incredible race win in the first heat speaks for itself, as Herlings was able to bite his time and stay patient to take the lead from Febvre in the closing stages of the race� The second heat was very different as the KTM rider got caught up in a crash with Coldenhoff and had to start the race from the very back� He eventually came back to fifth which was enough for second overall with some vital championship points in his back pocket�

For Romain Febvre the Belgian Grand Prix was a memorable one, as the Frenchman took his first ever Grand Prix win in Lommel� This victory didn’t come so easy though� Febvre led the first before Herlings passed him, but to make matters worse, the Kawasaki rider then crashed� He repeated the same mistake in the second race as he went down on the second lap but was able to re-group and come back to pass Jonass in the final five laps to win the race and secure his win in Lommel! Pauls Jonass had his best result of the season in Lommel, as he along with the Standing Construct GasGas Factory Team celebrated his first

With Febvre, Herlings and Jonass on the podium, this left Gajser and Cairoli disappointed as the pair had a tough weekend each� For Gajser sixth overall was not the result he was hoping for after numerous crashes in the races� This cost the Honda rider vital championship points which worked in the favour of Febvre who edged closer to the championship leader�

While Gajser struggled to get himself on the podium, so did Antonio Cairoli as he finally broke his podium streak� A third and a fourth place and a seventh in the races put Cairoli fifth overall, with a lot to make up for in Latvia�

In MX2, Jago Geerts made up for his lost chances during his home round during the Belgian triple-header in 2020, as he finally got himself on the top of the box this time around� Geerts won the opening heat after Renaux crashed halfway through the race, while in the second race the Belgian could not match the speed of the hard-charging Kay De Wolf who impressed many with his first MX2 race victory�

De Wolf was impressive all day� He started the day with the fastest lap time in time practice and followed that up with a hard fought first race as he came back from outside the top 10 to third, while in the second heat he led from lap 1 to lap 15 and celebrated yet another MX2 podium�

While Renaux could not hold onto the race win in the first heat, he did manage two solid results of 2-3 to make it his fourth podium appearance of the season and continue his championship lead over Guadagnini who had a tough weekend and managed only 14-10 in the races after a big crash in the start of race one – with the entire weekend costing him vital championship points as Geerts climbed to third and began to close in on the Italian�

MXGP of Latvia – Kegums

To finish off the four in a row was Kegums! The Latvian Grand Prix was the perfect opportunity for redemption for the likes of Gajser, Cairoli and Guadagnini, who struggled in Lommel�

Gajser delivered on his promise for a better weekend with two very consistent rides of 2-2 which handed him the overall� Towards the later stages of the second race it looked like Herlings had the Grand Prix win in the bag, but a last lap crash while chasing Prado cost him the chance to fight for the top spot, while Prado went on to claim the race win and stand second on the box for his second podium of 2021�

Herlings did recover to finish fourth in the second race and thanks to his race one win was enough to get him third overall – not a result he was hoping for, but given his circumstances it was still a celebration as he continued to fight through the pain to stay in the battle for the title this year�

For Gajser the overall victory was a much-needed boost, which he will for sure carry into the four-week break and the Turkish double-header�

For Febvre the Latvian Grand Prix didn’t deliver the results he would have wanted after his GP win in Lommel and his podium in Kegums last season� The Kawasaki rider once again was troubled by crashes which cost him the win in race two as he grabbed the holeshot and led Prado and Herlings in the first two laps�

In MX2, Maxime Renaux showcased a dominant force as he went on to win both races, for the first time in his racing career� Renaux passed Guadagnini on the very same lap (5) of both races� Guadagnini couldn’t quite hold on to the win in the races, but what was more important was the fact that he picked up some solid points for the championship� Geerts finished the weekend second overall ahead of Guadagnini and that was the championship top three all on one podium!

Now there’s about a month until the next event in Turkey as we’ll see our first double header with the MXGP of Turkey and MXGP of Afyon�

Catch-up on all the moments you may have missed from the last four MXGP’s on our YouTube channel, with our news highlights, best action moments and more!