The first racing day of the MXGP of Sweden finished today in Uddevalla. The old-school Swedish circuit surrounded by the distinct rocky hills and forest was the perfect place to display a great show for the RAM Qualifying Races.
In MXGP, it was Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado who clinched his 10th RAM Qualifying win while F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo won his first of the season in great fashion.
Along with the MXGP and MX2 classes, the first races of EMX250 and EMX125 presented by FMF Racingwent on and respectively saw Fantic Factory Team Maddii’s Cas Valk and MJC Yamaha Official EMX125’s Janis Reisulis come out victorious.
The Paddock Show followed the RAM Qualifying Races with the winners of the RAM Qualification Races and the MX2 Red Plate Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo. Two special guests gifted the Swedish fans from their presence to mark their comeback to the competition in Uddevalla which were Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Maxime Renaux and Standing Construct Honda MXGP’s Pauls Jonass along with the home heroes JWR Honda Racing’s Alvin Östlund and VHR Racing Team’s Isak Gifting.
The MXGP RAM Qualifying Race began as it has often been the case this season with Jorge Prado taking the fastest start. Prado took the lead after the first corner in front of Team HRC’s Tim Gajser and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer. The race went perfectly for Prado who rode smoothly without making any mistakes and creating a 10 seconds gap with Gajser. Prado managed the rest of the race superbly to sign his 10th RAM Qualifying Race victory of the season.
Gajser rose his level again from the last Grand Prix and took a great start to get behind Prado and ride the full race in 2nd place. Behind him Seewer also showed up today with a good start that put him at the front of the pack and got to 3rd after the first corner, also keeping that position until the end.
However, the 4th place was really fought for until the end between Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings and Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre. Knowing that he cannot find himself behind Prado if he wants to reduce the gap in the Championship, Febvre did everything to pass Herlings but the ‘bullet’ knows how to defend a position. Febvre eventually took until lap 5 of 13 to make a successful pass after many tries and moved up to 4th. Febvre was on the charge forward when he tipped over mid-turn on lap 6 to see all his hard work wasted. Herlings took the 4th place back while Febvre tried in vain to find a way past the Dutch rider until the end. Herlings finished 4th while Febvre settled for 5th.
Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen rode consistently during the whole race to see himself in 6th position from start to finish. Team HRC’s Rubén Fernández showed great rhythm and flow on the bike after his fall in Finland. Finding himself in 8th over the turn of lap 1 Fernandez was behind the returning Ship to Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Valentin Guillod. Fernandez rode his race flawlessly and managed to pass Guillod on lap 5 to finish 7th in the end. The Swiss made a great comeback to the competition as he finished 8th in the end less than a month after breaking his shoulder blade and showed all his talent and willpower to perform.
SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato is another rider that will be able to take a lot of positive after this race as he went from 12th on lap 1 to 9th in the end to score 2 points. Along the way, the young Italian overtook Standing Construct Honda MXGP’s Pauls Jonass, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Maxime Renaux and on the very last lap for 9th, another good performer of the day De Baets Yamaha MX-Team’s Benoit Paturel. Paturel raced consistently in 9th until that point and finished 10th to get another top 10 finish in RAM Qualifying races.
For his comeback, Renaux showed great promises for the Sunday races as he finished 12th. His teammate Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff overtook him on lap 12 to finish 11th losing vital points for the Championship. Jonass finished 13th in the end.
Jorge Prado: “I’ve been feeling good all day long and I had a good feeling right away. I had a good start which was very important to me because I was good in time practice. The speed was okay and I pulled the Holeshot and rode well. I made a gap and took it home. I am super happy about my riding, no mistakes, smooth like in training. I’m loving it here and hopefully we can repeat it tomorrow.”
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Sacha Coenen and Kevin Horgmo took a great start and came wheel to wheel over the first corners although the advantage finally went to S.Coenen who took the lead. S.Coenen rode superbly from the start and looked comfortable although he started to make few mistakes as Horgmo started to push behind him and got closer. On lap 9 of 12, S.Coenen made a slight mistake that allowed Horgmo to get a better drive on a landing to take the lead. S.Coenen got overtaken by an excellent Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Liam Everts on the same lap and moved down to 3rd. S.Coenen unfortunately crashed on lap 11 to pick himself up in 11th place and finish there. On the other hand, Horgmo showed a lot of a quality and seemed at one with the bike over the last 4 laps. Even when Everts got very close to him over the last 3 laps, the Norwegian showed nerves of steel to keep the charging Belgian at bay. Horgmo finally took it home and won his first RAM Qualifying Race of the season, incredibly confirming his recent form.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo had a great start to go 3rd from the start. He could not contain his teammate Everts on lap 7 and moved down to 4th. The Red Plate then benefitted from his other teammate S.Coenen’s crash to move back up to 3rd in the end. Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder who is normally used to great starts had to deal with an average one compared to his standards, going 6th on lap 1. However, the German rider, pushed hard to overtake Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Rick Elzinga. Elzinga was not going to make it easy and defended his 5th place very well. On lap 7, Laengenfelder finally forced his way and moved up to 5th to finish 4th due to S.Coenen’s misfortune. Elzinga ended at the 5th place.
Behind them, things settled from the start for the two Spanish riders F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s David Braceras and WZ Racing Team’s Oriol Oliver who followed each other in 7th and 8th place respectively. They gained one position each at the end to finish 6th and 7th. The home hero VHR Racing Team’s Isak Gifting took the opportunity to race at home to display a great performance. The Swedish rider rode consistently into the top 10 throughout the whole race and made a late charge on the last lap on Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Emil Weckman which triggered the roars from Swedish fans. Gifting finished 8th in the end while Weckman settled for 9th after another strong showing for the Finnish.
JM Honda Racing’s Camden Mc Lellan in the end closed the top 10 and scored 1 point as he capitalised on S.Coenen’s fall. S.Coenen’s brother, Lucas from Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing unfortunately had a strong crash in time practice that saw him tipping over his bike. The young Belgian had to sit the RAM Qualifying Race out.
Kevin Horgmo: “Liam (Everts) was really pushing but I felt good and held my lines. Like I said, it is step by step that we’re building but it is really good for me and the team. We don’t stop working so thanks to them and to all the fans here, it was really great”
Words and Photo by MXGP
