The 2024 MXGP of Galicia in northwest Spain provided perfect sunny conditions for the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing Team to shine. Lucas Coenen clinched a thrilling victory in the MX2 category, while Mattia Guadagnini secured valuable points with a P10 finish in the MXGP class.
Coenen came into the weekend with high expectations and lived up to them. Despite a challenging start in the first race where he slipped to 12th place, Coenen showed incredible pace and determination, fighting his way back to finish 4th by the final flag. In the afternoon’s second race, he took an early lead and expertly controlled the race, finishing with a 2.6 second lead over Liam Everts. The win marked a significant return to the podium for Coenen, achieving his first victory since his triumph in Sumbawa, Indonesia, last season.
Meanwhile, Kay de Wolf, the current MX2 Red Plate holder, continued to showcase just why he is the championship leader. Starting from 7th in qualifying, de Wolf made rapid progress in the first race, narrowly missing the top spot by just six-tenths of a second. The second moto presented more challenges due to a tough start, but de Wolf pushed through, climbing from 8th to 3rd place. His efforts throughout the day placed him 4th in the overall standings, helping him maintain his lead at the top of the world championship classification.
In the MXGP category, Mattia Guadagnini encountered some difficulties but managed to collect crucial points. He faced an off-track incident and goggle problems in the first race that led to a 13th-place finish. The second moto however was a solid comeback, where he improved significantly to secure 8th place. Guadagnini’s combined results earned him a 10th-place overall finish.
The run of back-to-back weekends continues with the MXGP of France on the 19th May.
#101 – Mattia Guadagnini: “I’m happy about the weekend; I felt good from Saturday morning and really enjoyed the track. I had a good qualifying race on Saturday and just tried to keep that flow going today. I didn’t have the best start in Moto 1, going off the track in the second corner, and a goggle problem didn’t help, but I gave my best to recover as much as possible. I had a really good start in the second moto, but the race was red-flagged. The second start wasn’t as good as the first one, but I still managed to secure a good position to compete with the top riders. I managed to find my rhythm and secured a solid 8th place. Given my condition at the moment, being out for so long, I can be happy with the weekend—not just because of the decent result but more so because of my riding and the feeling. It’s a good point to start from and improve.”
#74 – Kay de Wolf: “It was a good weekend – I extended my points lead – and I’m really happy overall. It’s a shame that the 3rd and second place finishes were not enough to make the podium. I thought my riding overall was great. The starts were not so good and the consistency was good too. I just want to focus on my riding in general – I feel very comfortable on the bike at the moment, and I’m looking forward to the next round in France.”
#96 – Lucas Coenen: “The last few races have been really tough on me—I kept getting injury after injury. I’m not 100% yet with my shoulder, and I’m still battling with it, but today I managed to win. This was a brutal weekend. In the first moto, I was frustrated because I couldn’t pass somebody. Then in the second moto, I just tried to focus on getting my rhythm going. I got into third and then into the lead, and I tried to control the gap as best as I could. I hope that now we have finally got the win, we can keep this pace up for the rest of the year and see where we end up! Huge thank you to all the team and support—this wouldn’t be possible without all of you!”
