Dutchmen rule MXGP while home hero tops MX2 in Belgium

2022 FIM Motocross World Championship
Round 14 – Flanders, Belgium

The FIM Motocross World Championship raced the MXGP of Flanders over the weekend in Lommel, where Husqvarna’s Brian Bogers claimed top MXGP honours, and Yamaha’s Jago Geerts took the narrowest of victories over Husqvarna’s Kay de Wolf, with both tied on 47-points.

In MXGP, the Dutchies ruled the podium, but the spot for the top step was not decided until the chequered flag which made for even more intense racing as every pass was even more important and even the smallest mistake proved to be costly. But it was Calvin Vlaanderen and Glenn Coldenhoff who joined Bogers on the box giving the Dutch fans who made the trip over the border something to cheer about.

In MX2, Geerts gave his home crowd exactly what they wanted as he battled closely with Kay de Wolf to claim a back-to-back GP win and extended his championship lead to 23-points over Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle.

It was a rougher weekend for the Aussies, with F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jed Beaton classified sixteenth overall to retain his seventeenth series ranking. A mistake on lap four of the first race cost the Australian ten seconds and five positions but he regrouped quickly to confirm that he is gradually regaining his fitness, posting solid lap times to the close to pull back that lost ground and take the chequered flag seventeenth.

He held a smooth eleventh place for six laps of race two until the track and climatic conditions started to take its toll and he eventually crossed the finishing-line fifteenth.

Mitch Evans meanwhile, wasn’t able to complete the first moto, as the repercussions from his nasty qualification race crash forced him to retire after 15 minutes. Knowing that things would only get worse if he tried to line-up in race two, the Australian decided to sit-out and give his body some much-needed rest, in order to start the recovery so he can be ready for the next round in Sweden on August 6-7.

Mitch Evans – Injured

“Unfortunately, the after-effects from the crash yesterday were too much, and I had to pull off after about 15 minutes today. I’d actually moved through the field well, coming from near the back of the pack to around 15th but it took all my energy to do that, and I didn’t have anything left to give. Rather than risk further injury on a very tough track, I decided not to line-up for race two, and hope to heal up and get myself ready for the next round in Sweden in a couple of weeks. Thanks to all the support I received this weekend, it certainly hasn’t been easy, but I’ve learnt a lot and will continue to push hard for the rest of the season.”

2022 MXGP of X Video Highlights

MXGP Race One

In the opening MXGP race of the MXGP of Flanders, it was Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado who grabbed the Fox Holeshot as he led Team HRC’s Tim Gajser, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Seewer and Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Brian Bogers. Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre and Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen were just behind the leaders.

Seewer then flew by Gajser to get himself into second, as Bogers made the most of this opportunity to also get past the Slovenian. Gajser briefly fought back, but Bogers was able to assert himself in the position.

As Gajser came under further pressure, Febvre and Vlaanderen also fought each other for fifth, as eventually, the Frenchman was able to make it stick. Febvre then passed Gajser for fourth on the third lap, with Vlaanderen able to get by soon after too.

Seewer then dropped to fourth place as Bogers made his way into second place. Febvre followed in tow. Bogers then clocked the fastest lap of the race as he closed the gap to Prado. The Dutchman took the Spaniard by surprise as he confidently dove down the inside of Prado for the lead.

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff passed Gajser for sixth place on lap four, with Gajser not able to afford any more mistakes as Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Maxime Renaux loomed in the background.

Prado began to fade as Febvre got by, as did Vlaanderen who went from fifth to third on lap 9. Prado dropped a few more positions as Seewer, Coldenhoff, Renaux, Gajser and Mattia Guadagnini of Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing got by. The Spaniard finished the race in 9th.

In the closing stages of the race, Vlaanderen stalled his bike which allowed Seewer through into third. Though the South African bounced back immediately to keep hold of the third position. In the final three laps of the opening heat, Vlaanderen caught Febvre off-guard as he took second from the Frenchman while Bogers was already more than 10 seconds ahead in the lead.

Bogers went on to win the race, with Vlaanderen second and Febvre third. Coldenhoff was fourth ahead of Renaux, while a crash for Seewer put him down in sixth ahead of Gajser.

MXGP Race Two

In race two, Prado was the Fox Holeshot recipient for the 15th time this season. He led Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Ben Watson, Coldenhoff, Bogers, Seewer, Febvre and Gajser on the opening lap, as Coldenhoff quickly jumped into second.

Watson dropped back to sixth by the end of lap one, as Coldenhoff got to work on Prado.

Seewer crashed out of seventh and fell back to 10th, though was able to get going quickly, it was an uphill battle from then on for the Swiss.

On lap four, Coldenhoff was the leading rider, as Prado dropped to second while Gajser was passed by Febvre and Bogers. The Slovenian came under more pressure as also Vlaanderen went by to take away fifth.

Febvre then began to apply the pressure onto Prado who tipped over just as the Frenchman passed him for second place. The Spaniard got going ahead in seventh ahead of Watson.

Vlaanderen looked like he wanted to repeat race one as he got onto the back of Febvre, but a couple of mistakes saw him get passed by Bogers who moved into third. Febvre set the fastest lap of the race on lap seven but was still 4.120 seconds down on Coldenhoff who looked strong despite not feeling good all week.

On lap 10, Vlaanderen found his way past Bogers and then three laps after that got around Febvre for what should have been the overall victory. But Bogers had other plans, as he too passed Febvre which shook up the top step of the podium for the third or fourth time in that race.

In the end, Coldenhoff crossed the line first and won his second race of the season ahead of Vlaanderen and Bogers. Febvre was fourth as Seewer managed to fight his way back to fifth.

A race win and a third put Bogers on the top step of the podium, with Vlaanderen second and Coldenhoff third as the Dutchies swept the podium at the Belgian GP.

Despite missing out on a podium finish and struggling all weekend, Gajser continues the lead the MXGP Championship standings and is now 122 points in front of Seewer, while Prado remains third.

Brian Bogers – P1

 “I just don’t know what to say! This is just amazing. It is absolutely unbelievable. It was a really, really tough Grand Prix. We made it to the top though. I had so much flow in the first moto, but the second moto was a little tougher. We managed to fight every lap and get the job done. Thank you to my team for believing in me.”

Calvin Vlaanderen – P2

“For sure it was a good day to end up second on the podium. I really wanted the win to be honest. My team put on the board that if I passed Romain I would have it but then Brian also got him which took me off the top step but anyway I’m happy with the day. It was really tough, one of the toughest Lommel’s I have ridden. I gave it everything I had and I am very happy and very proud of myself”.

Glenn Coldenhoff – P3

“It’s been a tough week. I have been sick and didn’t do anything all week. Normally when you go into a GP in Lommel, you are prepared, motivated and confident you can win. I didn’t feel like that this time. My energy was low. I knew I had to preserve my energy in race one or I would have nothing left for race two. I managed to still finish fourth and knew that with a little bit of luck I could still take the overall win. But it didn’t happen that way. I have to be happy, and to take a moto win here in Lommel is also pretty special.”

Romain Febvre – P4

“It’s always frustrating to miss the podium by just a few points, but that’s how it is. We knew that this GP would be a tough one – maybe the most difficult of the season – and as they didn’t flatten the track on Saturday evening we knew that it would be exceptionally tough today, particularly as it was also really hot. I had a good feeling all weekend and I showed I had a good speed with one of the fastest lap-times in both races. Physically I’m still not back to my normal level and I have only been back on the bike for six weeks so I couldn’t expect too much as my rivals are racing their fourteenth GP of the season; if I was at full fitness I would for sure have been on the podium as I finished fourth anyway. In both races I was OK for twenty minutes until I started to feel tired but that was to be expected as I was really sick last weekend. I will rest for a few days and then will be back on the bike to prepare for the last four GPs; I like all of these tracks and I hope to finally record some podiums again before the end of the season.”

Jeremy Seewer – P5

“I did all the work today to be on the podium. I was one of the fastest out there, but I didn’t manage to put the puzzle together. The track today was completely different to yesterday. Yesterday was a cruise on the beach compared to today. I knew it would be tough. Looking at the positives, I had two really good starts and my speed was okay, but I made some mistakes at really crucial moments. My fitness was good; I felt great at the end of the race and could make some passes when the other riders were tired. Still, I am happy with my riding and I also collected good points for the championship.”

Maxime Renaux – P6

“It was a tough GP, as we expected. Lommel is Lommel; that’s all we need to say; I think everyone except the Dutch and Belgian riders suffered. For me, it was quite a struggle. I tried really hard to make the switch in my head to turn it around in the races, and I kind of managed to do that. I rode pretty well with good pace for fifth and sixth, and just tried to make the most of a difficult day. It was not the best weekend, but we are still here and still charging after a podium finish in the championship.”

Tim Gajser – P7

“I never really found a good flow in either race and when the track is as rough as it was, that makes things exceedingly difficult. I tried to push as much as I could, but the rhythm wasn’t there and it was more survival than racing. Obviously, I’m a little disappointed with the overall performance as I always want to be challenging for wins, so I’m going to use this weekend off to just make sure I’m ready for these final four GPs where I want to finish the season strongly.”

Ben Watson – P11

“I think I did quite a solid job in race one; I started around twelfth-thirteenth and gained a few places to finish tenth. I probably didn’t ride to my maximum capabilities as I was trying to find the rhythm for thirty-five minutes; I think that was the same for everyone as it has been a physically-demanding GP in the heat. We changed a little bit on our set-up for race two and it worked really well; I nearly holeshot and had a good first ten-fifteen minutes. I was riding comfortably in seventh at my own pace and rhythm but then I made a small mistake, crashed in a corner and buried the bike in the sand. It’s always difficult after you break your rhythm and I was in bike-energy-save mode after that.“

Mattia Guadagnini – P12

“This was a really tough Grand Prix. I had a good start in the first moto and kept the rhythm with the front guys, so I managed to finish eighth. Another eighth place! I crashed with some other riders at the beginning of moto two and lost a lot of positions. It was a hard moto, but I got back to sixteenth.”

MXGP Overall Result

MXGP Championship Standings

MX2 Race One

In the MX2 race one, the Fox Holeshot went to Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jago Geerts, but it was his teammate Thibault Benistant that quickly moved into the lead as the Belgian dropped back to third.

Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Roan van de Moosdijk found himself in second, as his teammate Kay de Wolf started fourth ahead of Simon Längenfelder of Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing.

Before the end of the first lap, van de Moosdijk was able to get alongside Benistant and move into the lead as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle was down in 8th.

The first few laps saw some changes as Geerts got back up to second, with de Wolf moving into third ahead of Benistant who dropped two positions. Vialle then crashed out 7th and was left with a lot of work to do as he got going in around 16th.

By lap three, Geerts was back in the lead as de Wolf began to show a wheel to his teammate van de Moosdijk. The ‘74’ was able to make it stick to move into second position, where he could begin to focus on Geerts in first place.

Diga Procross KTM Racing’s Liam Everts had a good start in the opening heat and was running well inside the top five. On lap eight, Everts was able to make a pass on Benistant to move into fourth.

At the front of the field though, Geerts and de Wolf began an all-out war as they battled closely for much of the second half of the race. At the same time, Everts was able to pass van de Moosdijk for third, but later crashed and fell back to sixth. The Belgian managed to make one pass before the chequered flag to finish fifth.

On lap eight, de Wolf took over the lead from Geerts who was looking to fight back immediately, but de Wolf did not make it easy as he was able to find some breathing room as he stretched the gap to 2.254 seconds.

Van de Moosdijk also crashed out of fifth but only lost one position, but it was de Wolf who won the race ahead of Geerts, Längenfelder, Benistant and Everts.

MX2 Race Two

In race two, it was again Geerts with the Fox Holeshot, he led as Benistant struggled out of the gate and was around second to last. Jan Pancar of TEM253 got a flying start and was third just behind de Wolf and ahead of Längenfelder, van de Moosdijk and Vialle.

Pancar then dropped down to eighth, as de Wolf set the fastest lap of the race and closed the gap to just 0.805 to Geerts who was still the leading rider.

By the third lap, de Wolf was again in the driving seat of the second MX2 race, as another mistake for Geerts saw him pushed back to third as Längenfelder went by. Mistakes also began to creep in for Längenfelder and de Wolf, as Geerts got himself back into second soon after and began to challenge the leader for the win once again.

Further down the order, Everts was making good progress through the field after passing Pancar for ninth, as he started in the mid-field.

On lap seven, Geerts was the leading rider for the second time in that race, as de Wolf made a mistake and lost a bit of time to home hero. Vialle also passed van de Moosdijk for fourth as F&H Kawasaki Racing’s Kevin Horgmo looked to do the same.

Längenfelder found his way into second after catching de Wolf, but the Dutch rider was not done trying as he managed to get back past the German with two laps to go. Längenfelder then struggled with the hot conditions as he crashed and was only able to bring it back in ninth, which knocked him off the podium.

Geerts ended up winning the race ahead of de Wolf and Horgmo who passed Vialle two laps from the end. Van de Moosdijk was fifth.

A second and a win put Geerts on the top step at his home Grand Prix, while de Wolf was forced to settle for second ahead of Vialle who made a surprise appearance onto the box after a tough opening race.

After 14 rounds, Geerts leads the MX2 Championship standings with 23-points over Vialle and Längenfelder who remains third.

Jago Geerts – P1

“Lommel is always a tough GP, and it was a really hard weekend again. I am really happy with the two holeshots. That was really nice, and it always makes it a lot easier. In the first race, Kay (de Wolf) was riding really well and was fast, so I just took second. In the second heat, I felt really good and just focused on managing my pace because I knew it would be a really long race. After I passed Kay, I was able to win my home Grand Prix and extend my championship lead. This one was really important for the championship, so I am happy.”

Kay de Wolf – P2

“It was a really good weekend. I got pole position and the win in the first moto, but there was no energy left in the second moto. We have had some difficult times this year. To get back on the podium is just incredible. It was not easy, but I am so happy to get back to where I belong.”

Tom Vialle – P3

“A tough GP and the weekend didn’t start so well with the crash in the qualification race but today ended pretty good and I was surprised to make the podium with a 7-4. My rhythm was not great in the first moto – too many mistakes – but I improved for the second race. It was not the Grand Prix I was hoping for…but we have two weeks now to reset a little bit. The last four GPs will be intense but I will go into it with a free mind and I’m looking forward to Sweden after taking my first win there in 2019.”

Simon Langenfelder – P4

“I had two good starts today! I took my time in the first moto and got to third. I was riding really well in the second moto and got into second. I gave it everything that I had, so I was just finished at the end and made too many mistakes. I am looking forward to bouncing back at the MXGP of Sweden.”

Roan van de Moosdijk – P5

“Coming back at the toughest race of the year was not easy! I led for a few laps of the first moto, but the intensity was so high and you cannot practice that during the week. I tried to follow and learn from the other riders. I think that I should be really proud of my comeback ride, especially as I missed the podium by only one point.”

Thibault Benistant – P6

“It was not the best weekend. It was really tough out there. This morning I had a pretty big crash, which was a tough hit. I found it hard to bounce back and felt like I couldn’t focus 100% when I was on the bike. Even small things like I was not hungry to eat, and I felt terrible. It was a really tough day, but now we have a week off to regroup and bounce back at the next GP.”

Kevin Horgmo – P9

“It was nice to finish the day so strong. I lost quite a lot of time in the early laps of race one as I searched for my rhythm; once I got going I was catching up again but unfortunately I had to pull out so that made me even more determined to bounce back in race two. I took it quite easy through the first few laps but once I found the rhythm I felt strong and fresh. I could ride my lines, kept it going to the end and got up to third. Now I hope to finish the season strong; the next GP in Sweden is almost a home GP for me, just two-and-a-half hours from where my parents live, and I’m sure there will be a lot of Norwegian fans there to support me.“

MX2 Overall Result

MX2 Championship Standings