Jorge Prado took his first GP win of the year at Arco as Jeffrey Herlings took his first moto win in a stunning second moto ride, passing all his title rivals!
Prado ran away with race one as Herlings and Febvre went down at turn one. Herlings rode fantastic to get to ninth, passing Febvre in the process as Renaux inherited second when Fernandez crashed late in the race.
Race two was sensational as Prado holeshot again but Febvre and Renaux were right on his tail with Herlings at the back end of the top ten. Herlings however was on a mission as Renaux passed Febvre for second.
Prado and Renaux gapped Febvre as Herlings put on a charge getting to fourth by the hallway point and setting his sights on his title rivals.
The old speed was back and Herlings got Febvre then quickly reeled in the duelling Prado and Renaux. Herlings then sensationally said hello and goodbye passing both Prado and Renaux within a couple of corners!
Renaux finally got Prado in the drama but couldn’t go with Herlings as Prado stuck with Renaux to win the GP, amazingly his first of the season, despite having the red plate all year.
Prado said: “It was a tough weekend. Never found the flow on the track but got it done in moto one. Race two I had some trouble, I tried to fight but Jeffrey passed and Renaux, I tried to come back on Renaux but couldn’t. This is for my grandfather, he has been having some trouble and might not see me race much more.”
Herlings said: “First moto I had a good start. Romain lost the front wheel and went into him. Second moto not a great start, I said, ‘let’s press beast mode,” go back to the old Jeffrey for a moto and showed what I was capable of.”
| MXGP – GP Classification |
| 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 45 points; 2. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 44 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 37 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 34 p.; 5. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 29 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 28 p.; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 27 p.; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 24 p.; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 24 p.; 10. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 22 p.; 11. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 21 p.; 12. Ben Watson (GBR, BET), 18 p.; 13. Brent Van doninck (BEL, HON), 13 p.; 14. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, BET), 13 p.; 15. Brian Bogers (NED, HON), 12 p.; 16. Alvin Östlund (SWE, HON), 12 p.; 17. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 11 p.; 18. Pierre Goupillon (FRA, KTM), 10 p.; 19. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 9 p.; 20. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), 4 p. |
| MXGP – World Championship Classification |
| 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 201 points; 2. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 184 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 175 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 166 p.; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 136 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 125 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 120 p.; 8. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 108 p.; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 107 p.; 10. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 98 p.; 11. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 84 p.; 12. Ben Watson (GBR, BET), 69 p.; 13. Brent Van doninck (BEL, HON), 68 p.; 14. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 62 p.; 15. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 56 p.; 16. Brian Bogers (NED, HON), 51 p.; 17. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, BET), 41 p.; 18. Alvin Östlund (SWE, HON), 38 p.; 19. Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 15 p.; 20. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), 15 p. |
It was unbridled joy for Andrea Adamo after two breathless MX2 races that ended with A KTM 1-2 and Adamo winning his first ever GP and doing it at home!
Geerts won race one after race long pressure from an inspired Everts with Adamo coming from sixth to pass Everts on the last lap, both just three seconds behind Geerts!
Race two was first lap carnage for Geerts who got bumped on the start straight and was lucky to stay up, but not so lucky a few turns later when Geerts hit the back wheel of Adamo and went down, then down again as he tried to remount! Geerts had to come from last and ride well to get seventh and save a podium.
Simon Laengenfelder meanwhile was in Prado like control up front as Everts, Adamo, Benistant and Adamo went to battle. Adamo eventually got his way to second passing Benistant and Everts with Liam then passing Benistant who wasn’t on his normal high level.
De Wolf got through too and gave Everts huge pressure but Liam stayed strong and by the final lap had Adamo in his sights, a pass would give the Belgian the GP win but Adamo made no mistakes to take his first ever Grand Prix win in front of a delighted home crowd.
Adamo said: “No words really. I am so happy. I think somebody helps me. I didn’t expect this! I just passed who I needed for the GP. I tried to control and finish the race in P2.”
Everts took his first ever podium on the same track Stefan raced as a teenager in 1991 on his way to his first world title, making it three generations of Everts on a world championship podium. Remarkable.
Everts said: “Very cool, I just had so much fun on the track I didn’t expect it to come at this GP or so early.”
| MX2 – GP Classification |
| 1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 44 points; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 39 p.; 4. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 37 p.; 5. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 34 p.; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 34 p.; 7. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 30 p.; 8. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 26 p.; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 23 p.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 19 p.; 11. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 19 p.; 12. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, KTM), 19 p.; 13. Isak Gifting (SWE, GAS), 14 p.; 14. Emil Weckman (FIN, HON), 13 p.; 15. Joel Rizzi (GBR, HON), 9 p.; 16. David Braceras (ESP, KAW), 8 p.; 17. Bobby Bruce (GBR, GAS), 7 p.; 18. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), 7 p.; 19. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 6 p.; 20. Yago Martinez (ESP, KTM), 5 p. |
| MX2 – World Championship Classification |
| 1. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 205 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 183 p.; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 182 p.; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 173 p.; 5. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 158 p.; 6. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 147 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 140 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 119 p.; 9. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 102 p.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 85 p.; 11. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 76 p.; 12. Emil Weckman (FIN, HON), 69 p.; 13. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, KTM), 49 p.; 14. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 41 p.; 15. David Braceras (ESP, KAW), 41 p.; 16. Yago Martinez (ESP, KTM), 37 p.; 17. Cornelius Toendel (NOR, KTM), 27 p.; 18. Joel Rizzi (GBR, HON), 19 p.; 19. Jack Chambers (USA, KAW), 16 p.; 20. Isak Gifting (SWE, GAS), 14 p.; 21. Leopold Ambjörnson (SWE, HUS), 14 p.; 22. Tom Guyon (FRA, FAN), 12 p.; 23. Filip Olsson (SWE, HUS), 11 p.; 24. Lorenzo Ciabatti (ITA, KTM), 11 p.; 25. Tomás Moyano (ARG, KAW), 10 p |
Report: Jonathan McCready
Image: InFront Moto Racing