Lucas Coenen once again showed both his speed and determination at the Arnhem Grand Prix, but despite strong rides, the Belgian was left frustrated after difficult starts in both motos. Fighting his way from the very back of the pack each time, Coenen delivered an impressive charge through the field, even battling with Jeffrey Herlings – the man many still call the fastest rider in the sand.
“For the fans, it was nice but from my seat, it wasn’t because I was already so far away out of the gate. In the first moto, I hit the gate and in the second moto we hit handlebars. The starts weren’t ideal.”
“In first moto, I was last in the first corner, and I came back. I pushed as far as I could with everything I had but when you come from so far back, the front runners are already gone by the time you get there. I struggled big times still, I made so many mistakes, it wasn’t easy to make passes. I pushed as far as I could, made some passes and saw Jeffrey in front of me at the end but the gap was still big.”
Despite the challenges, Coenen lined up for the second moto with fresh determination and soon found himself once again in pursuit of Herlings.
“I knew I had to be up front in the second moto but again, I started last and I again had to pass everybody. Then I once again saw Jeffrey, and I wanted to pass him so bad. Three years ago, I was still in EMX250 and I was really looking up to him in the sand – Fastest man on the planet. I was behind him there, and I was really motivated. I gave it my all, but he’s still very fast and I couldn’t get around him. I still have some work to do, but I really enjoy it every step of the way this year. We were close to win this one, but it’ll be for another time.”
“Yeah, I get some points for the championship, but I was mostly thinking about winning this GP. Coming in, it’s Jeffrey’s home GP and he’s the best rider in the sand so you want to fight with him. I got to fight with him in that second moto so that was nice, and a good weekend overall for me even if I struggled a bit in the qualifying race. I came from the back in both moto’s on Sunday and gained some points on Romain so, it’s good.”
Coenen also gave some insight into what it’s like fighting through the pack from the very back on a rough, technical sand track.
“When you start last, you can’t do much. Everybody goes from left to right. You got to improvise on some lines and pretty much try every single line on the track. Luckily, the track was really rough so a lot of riders were making mistakes so I could make passes but in the other hand it was really sketchy. When you ride in the front, the top guys are also making these mistakes but it’s less hectic. In the beginning, it was a bit scary for me to ride in the back, some riders cross jump in front of you, crash in front of you. I was able to find some good lines, but I searched a lot. Sometimes my lines were working and sometimes not, but I had to try.”
Despite the setbacks, Coenen proved once again that he has the speed to run with the very best in the world. While a GP victory wasn’t to be this time, his determination, ability to recover from poor starts, and willingness to fight with Herlings in the sand put on a real show.
