Read what a host of MXGP riders had to say about their weekend at the MXGP of Flanders (Lommel).
MXGP
Jeffrey Herlings: “Every point counts, and I fought for every one today. It’s a fun track and obviously I’m strong in the sand. I was beaten in Sardinia, but I’ve been getting better and better and riding more like my old self. I’m looking forward to the next one and then soon my home GP.”
Jorge Prado: “It has been a great weekend overall. Yesterday, I won the qualifying, and today, I secured two second places. My speed was good all day, but I knew ‘The Bullet’ [Herlings] was coming, so I focused on maintaining a fast and consistent pace. I did my best to beat him, but honestly, he was faster today. I’m very happy with my second place. We reduced the gap in the championship, which was the goal, so that’s super positive as we head to Sweden in two weeks!”
Romain Febvre: “Just before I got injured we had made some changes to the settings on the bike for the hardpack, but we had no chance to test them in sand until this week and I just couldn’t find my flow yesterday, so we made the conscious decision to return to our settings from the start of the season for today and it worked well. I got punched in the first turn in race one and had to come from far back for fourth, then in the second race I got a really good start but crashed just after the finish line on the second lap. I thought it would be tough after that but I immediately found the flow again and wasn’t exhausted; even Jorge was not far away. I’m really happy to be back on the box after five weeks out; I did everything I could except riding whilst I was out injured, but when you jump back on the bike it is so physically demanding just to find the flow. And it is so much easier when you are not fighting the bike because you don’t land in all of the holes.”
Tim Gajser: “It was tough to find the flow here this weekend and on a track like this, it made my life really difficult. In the end, fourth overall on a day that wasn’t my best, isn’t too bad, so I have to stay positive and focus on making sure that I do better in Sweden next time out. It will be a totally different challenge but we will work hard on making that happen.”
Glenn Coldenhoff: “We started off quite well in the practice sessions but in qualifying I struggled a little bit. I stayed for almost 18 minutes behind other riders, and that also caused the engine to stop. I overheated it, and if you stay so close for so long in these conditions, it is definitely not good for the bike. I had to deal with 34th gate pick for Sunday’s races and we knew it was going to be a challenge, but I was still really motivated. We had a late night at work on Saturday, the whole crew was back in the workshop and we took the decision to try a completely different suspension setup. Shoutout to the team, they did a great job. I felt quite good on Sunday, but I also didn’t want to make the same mistake again, so I felt like I wasn’t riding at 100% in race 1. The speed was still decent. In the second moto, my start was even worse compared to the first moto, but I still managed to come back quite well. I stayed a bit too long behind Horgmo, and once I passed him, I pushed really hard in the last few laps to get Seewer. In the end, it didn’t work out, but we did the best we could and should be happy with fifth overall. For sure I expected more from this weekend because this is a track I know well and I felt like I should be on the podium, but if you are not there straight away, it’s quite difficult to get the rhythm.”
Calvin Vlaanderen: “This weekend was going really well until Race Two. In the first race, everything went to plan and I had a good start, kept the top two in sight and felt like I rode well for third. Then in Race Two, I tangled with someone in the first turn and then crashed at the end of lap one. I was coming through the pack well, re-passing riders I’d already passed, but then crashed again. This one bent my bars and moved my clutch lever down, and I crashed again not long after. By then I was way down the field, but I did what I could to score some points and finished up 12th. A tough weekend in the end, and now it’s on to Sweden.”
Kevin Horgmo: “7th overall (7-7) in Lommel. Happy about all the weekend and felt strong till the end of both races. Little mistake and went off track while battling for fifth in race two, but good performance. Thanks to the all the team, sponsors, helpers and supporters.”
Jeremy Seewer: “To finish fifth in the second moto is where I should be in the sand; I made a podium here in the past, but I can’t expect to match those real sand riders. I got two super starts and we kept adjusting the bike settings all weekend; perhaps I could have stayed sixth in the first moto too, but I just didn’t feel safe riding that pace at the end so I had to back it off. I’m not tired even now after the second moto even though the track was so rough. The track was strange this weekend with no rhythm; normally you can surf over the bumps, but this year it was on-off all the time.”
Andrea Bonacorsi: “I’d say it was quite a good weekend. This was my first MXGP at Lommel and everyone knows it’s the toughest race on the calendar, but I was looking forward to it. I didn’t have a great start in Race One but came through well to finish eighth. My start in Race Two was much better, around fifth, and I was able to pass Jeremy Seewer quickly. But then I began to get cramps and it made the race pretty difficult. With every GP, I keep learning so the experience was tough, but also rewarding and now we look forward to Sweden for the next one.”
Brian Bogers: “It was a tough one. We expected a lot more here in Lommel because, normally, we know how to ride on sand. I don’t really know what to say, I think it was just a little bit of an off weekend. The first couple of corners right after the start were good, I managed to pass a lot of riders there. But for the rest, it was a bit of a struggle. I tried to bring it home and we finished both races in very tough conditions. We will continue to work and try again next time.”
Adam Sterry: “Lommel, brutal as always, solid Saturday and 19th on Sunday. Second Moto crash was on me and bike was too twisted to continue. Lots of things against us this weekend and not the result I wanted, but we kept pushing and overall happy with my riding.”
Image: Kawasaki MXGP
