Lucas Coenen: Back after several weeks out and four scoreless Grand Prix’s, Lucas Coenen is finally set to return to competition at the 16th round of the MXGP World Championship.
The last time the young Belgian lined up was at Loket, where he was forced to throw in the towel on Saturday after another attempted comeback. Lucas also sat out his home Grand Prix at Lommel – after pulling out at the end of free practice – before missing the Uddevalla round in Sweden. It has inevitably been a frustrating period for a rider who was still leading the World Championship just a few weeks earlier.
Everything changed at Foxhill after a crash on the opening lap of the qualifying race. Lucas then attempted to return to the track on Sunday, before retiring from both races. Another comeback attempt at Loket was no more successful, with the Belgian unable to complete Saturday’s qualifying race before withdrawing from the event.
Since then, the priority has been recovery. Lucas explained ahead of Uddevalla that he was still experiencing pain and that another crash could have put him “back to square one” or caused something more serious. At the time, the KTM rider felt he was gradually getting closer to being back at 100%.
After being forced to sit on the sidelines, he is now ready to battle once again. It is good news for the championship, even if the situation has changed considerably since his last victory in South Africa. Lucas Coenen had a lead of as many as 68 points over Jeffrey Herlings and looked perfectly placed to fight for his first MXGP World Championship crown.
We know what happened next. The scoreless rounds continued to pile up, the red plate changed hands and Jeffrey Herlings has now established himself at the top of the championship with a comfortable 116-point advantage over Romain Febvre. Lucas’ title hopes – with the Belgian now fourth in the championship and 169 points behind the Dutchman – are definitively over, but he still has a major objective for the final part of the season: rediscover his level, rebuild his confidence and try to salvage a place on the final podium.
And his return at Arnhem will certainly be interesting. The Dutch circuit is demanding and will immediately provide a real test for the KTM rider. After several weeks away from the tracks, Lucas’ main priority will be to find his rhythm again without taking unnecessary risks.
One thing is certain: after spending so long as the man to beat in MXGP, Lucas Coenen is finally back. The question now is what level he will be able to reach this weekend in the Netherlands.
