The Coenens command qualifying at the MXGP of Trentino – Report & Results

With hot sunshine bathing the already packed hillsides of the hallowed “Il Ciclamino” circuit at the foot of the Dolomites, the MXGP of Trentino came alive in fine style as the MXGP elite delivered more mixed fortunes for the leading contenders in both classes to thrill the crowds!

Words and Images by Infront Moto Racing

Although Practice did not go so well for the Championship leader, Lucas Coenen put it all together in the afternoon to take the Qualifying Race win for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, but he was chased all the way by Honda HRC Petronas’ Tom Vialle, while Andrea Adamo delighted his home fans with a solid third place to match his best Qualifying result of the year for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.

In MX2, Lucas’ twin brother Sacha Coenen kept it all together to make it an incredible five Qualifying Race wins out of five this season, so he goes into the break with an amazing perfect Saturday record for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing! Just over three seconds behind him, Guillem Farres also equalled his best of the year so far with second for the Triumph Racing Factory Team, just holding back a late challenge from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Championship leader, Simon Längenfelder.

The loose top layer of the surface, which is very slick and hard underneath, provided a very technical challenge for all of the riders today, and it will be rougher and tougher tomorrow for even the very best in MXGP!

The practice sessions immediately showed that the whole MXGP field’s lap times were incredibly close. The Honda HRC Petronas team showed great speed, with Jeffrey Herlings putting in a remarkable late effort to go 1-2 ahead of Tom Vialle in Free Practice, with Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre in third.

WATCH MORE: MXGP OF TRENTINO –  QUALIFYING HIGHLIGHTS

The Time Practice session was even closer, as the lead changed hands several times! MXGP-TV viewers watching the live coverage and timing were treated to a constantly changing top order, with the fastest twelve riders all within one second of the lead! It was a Honda HRC Petronas 1-2-3 this time, with Ruben Fernandez showing his hard-pack skills to top the charts ahead of Herlings & Vialle! The biggest surprise was that red plate holder Lucas Coenen was back in ninth position, and not looking happy in the process.

However, the Belgian used that frustration to shoot to the front of the Qualifying Race immediately, the lead secured by a drag race between him and Andrea Adamo into turn two, with Vialle also in the mix early on! Fernandez lunged to the inside of the Italian at the end of the first big uphill section, but the home hero retook third from the Spaniard, who then tipped over in a right hander to drop to eighth!

Herlings was initially outside the top ten, but battled through to fifth by the end of the first full lap, before pushing the front wheel too much into the corner at the end of Pit Lane, sending himself to the floor! He remounted in 21st position and had a lot of work to do. At least he was able to restart, which was more than could be said for Febvre, who didn’t complete a lap before pulling in with a mechanical problem.

The tricky conditions led many to not even risk pushing for a pass, including Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Dutchman Kay de Wolf, who held fourth throughout the race, and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s crowd favourite Tim Gajser, who gave his glorious Valentino Rossi tribute livery a solid result with fifth place.

Red Bull Ducati Factory MXGP Team rider Calvin Vlaanderen had given the crowd’s favourite machine a great start, but couldn’t avoid a falling Jan Pancar on the opening lap, and like the TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team rider, had to settle for a finish outside of the points.

As Vialle kept up with Coenen at the front to keep the leadership of the race in doubt, Fantic Factory Racing MXGP’s Italian favourite Alberto Forato had dropped from an initial sixth with a technical issue, but Fernandez was able to take advantage to claim sixth at the flag.

Another Italian was actually enjoying his home GP, matching his best Qualifying result of the year, and that was Venrooy KTM Racing’s Mattia Guadagnini, bringing it home in seventh, although it got close at the end with a charging Maxime Renaux closing in, after recovering from a terrible start to take eighth position for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP.

Herlings eventually fought back up to claim two points for ninth place, his final two victims being the Dirt Store Triumph of Englishman Ben Watson, and the second Italian Andrea Bonacorsi, who scored his first Championship point for the Red Bull Ducati Factory MXGP Team after a tortuous start to the year due to injury.

Vialle continued to push Lucas at the front, but couldn’t get within striking distance, crossing the line two-thirds of a second behind the teenager, who extended his Championship lead over Herlings to 22 points, with Vialle now just nine points behind his teammate.

With Adamo finishing in third place, matching his personal best in the class, this was another day for the younger generation in the Battle of the Ages that is defining this year’s MXGP World Championship. Will the veterans strike back tomorrow, and will the weather be a factor? One thing’s for sure, it’s not to be missed!

Lucas Coenen: “As you could see, I struggled a lot in time practice. I didn’t find any flow and the track was really sketchy, which is not the kind of condition I like. I just focused on staying up front and not making mistakes, and I managed to win, so that’s positive. Tomorrow we have two more races, so let’s keep going!”

Tom Vialle: “I had a great start, so that was important. We all know it’s really tough to pass, so that made the difference. I was behind Lucas [Coenen] the whole race and tried to stay close, but in the end I had to settle for second.”

Andrea Adamo: “That’s what we needed. I almost had a holeshot in the first corner but lost a position to Tom [Vialle] and Lucas [Coenen]. I tried to follow them, but it’s was easy to make a difference. I’m happy with it, it was a solid race and a good way to start the weekend.”

MXGP – Qualifying Race Classification: 

MXGP – World Championship Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 202 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 180 p.; 3. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 171 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 160 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 155 p.; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 146 p.; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 120 p.; 8. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 115 p.; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 112 p.; 10. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, DUC), 90 p.

Besides their Practice success in MXGP, Honda HRC Petronas took the top spot in MX2 Free Practice as well, with Valerio Lata three-tenths ahead of Guillem Farres, and Sacha Coenen close behind in third.

For the Qualifying Race gate pick, however, Farres reversed the order to take the Pole from Lata, on the Spaniard’s first ever GP at this Italian venue! Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rider Janis Reisulis took third gate pick ahead of Simon Längenfelder and Coenen.

Yet again, however, Sacha was able to rocket into the lead around the first corner, and he instantly took to performing his disappearing act at the head of the field. Liam Everts initially gave chase for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, but Längenfelder was able to get past him very quickly, followed by Farres up the first hill, who then set about attacking the reigning Champion!

With Janis down in the first corner, his Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 teammate and brother Karlis Reisulis battled with Lata for fifth, but the Italian won that scrap to start the first full lap right on the tail of Everts!

After Farres had passed Längenfelder, the Husqvarna man forced a defensive move from the German, giving Lata the chance to zap around the outside and split the pair of them! On the next set of uphill climbs, with the crowd urging him on, the HRC hotshot took third with a fine move across the bows of the factory KTM.

Triumph Racing Factory Team rider Camden McLellan was also in the thick of it, chasing down Everts until the South African pushed his front wheel through the berm by Pit Lane and went down hard, looking in pain as he slowly got up, bringing it home way outside the points.

His teammate was enjoying life in second, but couldn’t get close to Sacha out front. By half distance, Längenfelder had picked up the pace and got back up to Lata’s rear wheel, making a solid outside move through the twisty section at the top of the circuit. He set after Farres as Lata settled for fourth ahead of Everts.

Behind them, Kawasaki Racing Team MX2’s lone battler Mathis Valin picked up the pace to take sixth place, while Karlis Reisulis was nearly caught by his charging younger brother as they finished seventh and eighth! The two in-form privateers with great Sardegna results, DRT Kawasaki’s Kay Karssemakers and Ošicka KTM MX Team rider Julius Mikula, came home in the last two points-scoring positions for the day.

Längenfelder closed in on Farres, giving the Spaniard a fight on the final lap, crossing the line just two-tenths behind the Triumph! However, the German had his Championship lead trimmed by two points to 22, due to Coenen’s sensational fifth consecutive Qualifying Race win! This is a record for Saturday races since they started counting for points, although the all-time record is held by Jorge Prado, who scored 12 in a row in MX2 back in 2019!

The class is definitely more competitive now than it was then, and the young Belgian has yet to convert this Saturday performance into a GP win, but even with no podium success at this circuit for either brother, there must be a chance that both that record, and the one of twin brothers never winning GPs on the same day, is lining up to be broken!

Who knows though? Trentino has been massively unpredictable through the years of racing here, and for sure Sunday is likely to have many surprises in store for both classes! We’ll see you tomorrow!

Sacha Coenen: “Five out of five is really nice. I didn’t feel so good on the track, and this morning I was not there. I tried to be really smooth at the beginning and didn’t have a great pace, but in the middle I found my rhythm and could make a gap. In the last laps the front started to go away a bit, so I just focused on bringing it home. To win again is good.”

MX2 – Qualifying Race Classification:

MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 213 points; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 191 p.; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 172 p.; 4. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 162 p.; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 162 p.; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 146 p.; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 123 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 118 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 112 p.; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KAW), 89 p.

TIMETABLE

SUNDAY:
09:40 EMX125 Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX250 Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.