As the teams and crews of the MXGP Motocross World Championships enjoy a week without travelling before the MXGP of Lombok this weekend, the track workers prepare the Selaparang Circuit to run in the opposite direction for the second Grand Prix at the venue in as many weekends, ready for round twelve to take place in the heat of Indonesia. Words: MXGP
Jorge Prado and Kay de Wolf took the victories at last week’s MXGP of West Nusa Tenggara, named after the governmental province that contains the island of Lombok, and they will be hoping to add themselves to a tradition of double GP winners among the islands in recent years.
In the MXGP class, the winner of the first Indonesian round has always repeated the victory at the second event. MX2 has only seen this once, and it was Jorge Prado that did it back in 2019!
Prado has now won the most GPs in this part of the world with four in total, while it was De Wolf’s first win in Indonesia.
The reigning World Champion Jorge Prado performed a stunning bounce-back for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing at the first round in Lombok, hacking down the Championship lead of Team HRC’s Tim Gajser from 34 points to 22. Jeffrey Herlings, who lies third for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, also cut into the Slovenian’s advantage over him, which is now down to 58 points.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider Calvin Vlaanderen earned his first podium of the season last weekend, consolidating his fourth place in the Championship ahead of Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jeremy Seewer. Both men took their first overall GP wins in Indonesia, Seewer in 2017, and Vlaanderen in 2018.
Prado’s win at the weekend was his first here in the MXGP class, but his fourth in total after his first in MX2 in 2018, and the double in 2019. Gajser stays on three, as he took the double in 2019 plus the single event at Sumbawa in 2022. Romain Febvre won both Indonesian GPs in 2023, and Herlings a similar double in 2018.
Fantic Factory Racing MXGP star Brian Bogers has to miss this weekend’s GP after dislocating his shoulder in Saturday’s RAM Qualifying Race, he has dropped out of the series top ten as Valentin Guillod moved up for Ship to Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR. The experienced star Glenn Coldenhoff from Fantic Factory Racing MXGP finds himself 7th position in the Championship and will hope to bounce back after his 9th place in the first Indonesian round.
Can Herlings, Gajser, or any of the chasing pack prevent Prado from doing the double near the equator, or is there another twist in the complex tale of the 2024 MXGP season?
Image: GasGas / Juan Pablo Acevedo
