Herlings celebrates 100th win with MXGP of Sardegna victory

2023 MXGP of Sardegna
Round Two

The third running of the MXGP of Sardegna saw Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings celebrate his 100th win in the MXGP class, relegating Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff and Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado to the minor podium positions.

In MX2, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts won a back-to-back GP after his victory in Argentina while Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf clinched the second place of the podium in front of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant

MXGP Race 1

In the first MXGP race in Sardinia, the FOX Holeshot was taken by Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer after a great start although Jorge Prado quickly took the lead.

Prado would go on to dominate the race pushing his lead to 10 seconds at time giving him some nice cushion until the end of the race.

Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen who was 8th on lap 1 made a charge early on to see the back Herlings on lap 4. Herlings 4th and Vlaanderen 5th at that time would follow each other until the end. They both capitalised on Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff who was 3rd until lap 9 when he made a mistake to move down behind them to 5th.

Few laps later it was the turn of another Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team rider Jeremy Seewer who was 2nd since lap 1 to crash on lap 11 and move down to 6th until the end. Herlings and Vlaanderen would go on to 2nd and 3rd to keep those places until the end as Herlings managed to keep Vlaanderen attacks unsuccessful.

Coldenhoff down in 5th position on lap 9 found himself just in front of his teammate Maxime Renaux who was 6th since lap 5. With Seewer’s crash on lap 11 the three Monster Energy Yamaha riders stuck together with Coldenhoff 4th, Renaux 5th and Seewer 6th.

This didn’t stop Renaux to make a clever move on Coldenhoff over 3 turns. Renaux and Coldenhoff, 4th and 5th respectively would keep this order until the end.

Standing Construct Honda MXGP’s Brian Bogers made a solid race going from 9th on lap 1 to 7th without being overtaken along the way. SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery’s Alberto Forato was another rider oscillating around the 10th place until lap 12, but got to 8th when JM Honda Racing’s Brent Van Doninck 7th at the time made a mistake to lose few places down to 9th. Forato and Van Doninck would settle for 8th and 9th respectively.

Red Bull GASGASG Factory Racing’s Mattia Guadagnini was 9th on lap 1 and moved down just outside the top 10 from lap 10 until the very last lap when passed Romain Febvre (11th in the end) for the 10th position.

MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina winner Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez unfortunately crashed and would not finish the race.

MXGP Race 2

Race 2 was one of the most eventful races so far. While Febvre took the FOX Holeshot, it was Coldenhoff who made a magnificent first lap to get himself in front and would never let the second too close to him.

The second place looked promised to Febvre as he overtook Seewer on lap 2 to keep this position for 14 laps. However Jeffrey Herlings had other plans. The ‘bullet’ made a heroic race. After a bad start, he was 14th after few turns but he was on a mission overtaking nearly everyone in front of him. He quickly found himself 7th behind Prado 6th on lap 3 and finally found an opportunity on lap 9 to overtake the Red Plate holder.

No one could resist Herlings as lap after lap he overtook Vlaanderen on lap 9 to get 5th, on lap 11 he got the better of Seewer for 4th. This is when things spiced up with 2 laps to go as Herlings closed on Renaux in 3rd and Febvre 2nd.

A three-way battle ensued when in turn the three riders tried to make a charge on the other two with Renaux passing Febvre and Herlings passing Renaux for few turns to see Febvre not giving up easily and took back the 2nd place. All of this in a matter of one lap. Eventually Herlings got the better of the two Frenchmen and even push for the 1st place but it was too late and settled for 2nd.

Renaux got also the better of Febvre at the same time of Herlings and finished 3rd while Febvre ende up 4th.

Vlaanderen made another solid race and was constantly into the top 6 to finally finishing 5th just in front of Prado and Seewer, 6th and 7th respectively. While Prado hovered over the 6th place throughout the race, Seewer was 4th between lap 3 and 11 and after few mistakes moved down the leaderboard to finished 7th.

Van Doninck was similarly to the first race did manage to stay in the top 10 throughout the whole race and got to 8th on lap 3 to ride in this position until the finish line. Forato, stayed also consistent to end up 9th while Standing Construct Honda MXGP’s Pauls Jonass managed to stay in the top 10.

Ruben Fernandez was one rider that didn’t capitalise on his first win in Argentina as the Team HRC’s rider crashed few times and could not get his flow over the weekend, and finished 16th overall.

In the end, Jeffrey Herlings with his showing in race 2 grabbed his first GP win since 2021 reaching his 100th GP win. Glenn Coldenhoff on the second march of the podium with his win on race 2 while Prado maintains his Red Plate with 100 points thanks to his 3rd place on the podium coupled with his RAM Qualifying Race win. Herlings second in the Championship with 93 points while Maxime Renaux is 3rd level with Febvre on 78 points.

Jeffrey Herlings – P1

“A 100th GP! Amazing. It was tough because the track was fast and it wasn’t easy to pass, the nearer you got to the front the harder it was! When the other riders were getting a bit tired I was still in good shape and could keep pushing. I need to work on my starts. I have been focusing on my motos but I know it’s a weak point and it needs to be improved. Once we can get that dialled in then life will be easier. I’m excited to see how the track will be in Switzerland.”

Glenn Coldenhoff – P2

“I felt good here this weekend. In the first moto, I was in third position behind my teammate (Seewer) and decided to wait for the other riders to get tired before I would push, but at a track like this, this strategy didn’t work out. It was much better to do what I did in the second moto and go all-in right from gate drop. Like this, I was able to get into my flow, and control the race for the win, which is always great. It’s also nice to do this at round two. I’m really happy with how everything is going.”

Jorge Prado – P3

“I think that the start of the year has been very good for me. I am quite happy! It was a pity to not have a good start in the second moto – I just lost my rhythm. I came back and regrouped a little bit at the end of the moto. It was not too bad. We have the red plate and I am very happy about that.”

Maxime Renaux – P4

“I am a bit frustrated to come so close to the podium but only finished fourth. But, looking at the bigger picture, we still put some good points on the board. I am still not 100% physically and still trying to build, so that will be the focus leaving here. I hope to be back at 100% soon and pushing for GP wins.”

Jeremy Seewer – P6

“This is Riola, one of the toughest GP’s of the year, and for me, my result on paper is not even close to what I am looking for. But, all in all, I had the pace. I did everything I could, I wasn’t “off” or anything, I was still up there battling up front, but something didn’t click. I gave all I had. I rode well, I enjoyed the track but I think the others were running a good pace too and maybe taking more risks. Still, I took solid points, and I am just looking forward to the next rounds now.”

Romain Febvre – P7

“I got good starts in both races and that’s positive, but unfortunately I crashed early in the first race and after that I couldn’t find my rhythm so it was difficult to pass and gain positions. The second race was better; I got the holeshot and then was second, not far from Coldenhoff, but I wasn’t quite close enough to try to pass him. I must also say that physically I’m not yet where I would like to be due to the fact that I was one month off the bike, but it’s coming. I was happy with the bike; I could do what I wanted with it in this deep sand and now I have two more weeks to work before the next GP.”

MXGP of Sardegna Round Overall

MXGP Standings – After Round Two –  Top 15

MX2 Race 1

In MX2, Jago Geerts took the FOX Holeshot and took the lead quickly. The top three riders, Geerts, Laengenfelder and De Wolf took off to increase the gap behind them.

On lap 2 Geerts made a mistake and found himself 3rd as Laengenfelder took the lead in front of De Wolf for 4 laps. However, De Wolf as a sand specialist did manage to take the lead on lap 5 as Laengenfelder made a mistake and he kept it until the end to win the race.

Laegenfelder went down to 3rd after his mistake with Geerts 2nd. But Another mistake on lap 6 from Geerts meant that Laengenfelder could sit 2nd. But Geerts picked up the pace and made a move on lap 11 and kept his advantage until the end with Laengengfelder staying 3rd.

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant displayed a solid racing throughout the whole race after turning lap 1 in 6th. He never got overtaken and continuously pushed forward behind Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Liam Everts. They both overtook on lap 7 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo who was 4th. Benistant 5th passed Everts too on lap 11 to finish 4th.

Everts was unfortunate to crash on lap 13 while he was 5th and ended up 9th. Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen also went up the leaderboard after getting to 9th over the first two laps. He made his way up to an encouraging 6th place for the rookie.

Behind him F&H Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo and Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Roan Van de Moosdijk found themselves 7th and 8th respectively on lap 1 and would oscillate to finish the race at the same place.

Finally WZ Racing’s Oriol Oliver kept his 10th position the whole way through.

MX2 Race 2

In Race 2, was actually Oriol Oliver who took the FOX Holeshot, then Jago Geerts made his way to the top on lap 1 passing Kay De wolf and showed great control to keep De Wolf 2nd the whole race too at bay.

Benistant also managed to grab the 3rd spot during the whole race although he had to battle with Lucas Coenen towards the end. However, several mistakes from Coenen meant that Benistant could ride away without much trouble over the last part of the race. Coenen kept his 4th place until the end too.

The 5th place was completely open with Van de Moosdijk, Adamo and Laengenfelder fighting for the spot over the full race. Everts who finished 8th in the end was also involved in that battle until lap 5 when he moved down to 8th and stayed in that place until the end.

Laengenfelder took an option on the 5th place between lap 5 and 13 but it was the determination of Van de Moosdijk that paid off in the end as he put pressure on Laengenfelder who stalled on a turn on lap 14. Van de Moosdijk and Adamo would pass the German to finish 5th and 6th respectively while Laengenfelder had to settle for 7th.

Horgmo had another good race and showed that he can compete in the top 10 as he only had to battle with Oriol over the laps 3 and 4 and kept his 9th place until the end. Oriol ended up 11th after TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team’s Jan Pancar overtook him on lap 10 and kept the 10th position until the end.

Jago Geerts – P1

“I’m really happy with today, minus the two small mistakes I made in the first heat. Still, I came back from them to almost win the moto, so I was happy with my speed. In the second race, they did a lot of maintenance on the track, so it was quite fast. I still found my pace on the opening lap, going from fourth to first, and then just pushed hard the whole moto to take the win. I am really happy with how the first two GP’s have gone and how everything is going so far.”

Kay de Wolf – P2

“We came here to get a podium, and I felt very good. In the first race it was great to get the win. In the second I kept pushing until the end so it was a shame to finish behind Jago as we came for the podium, I am second so overall I am very happy.”

Thibault Benistant – P3

“A podium is a podium, it’s always good to be here. I have to be happy because, honestly, this weekend was not easy. I struggled a bit in the first half of the motos to get into the ‘sand rhythm’, I think my body position was a bit too much ‘hard-pack style’ so I struggled quite a lot with the back of the bike moving. In the second moto, I found my rhythm much faster and managed to finish third. Two podiums in the first two rounds is not too bad. I will take it and try to make it better in Switzerland.”

Simon Langenfelder – P4

“I had a good start in the first race and was leading the race! I felt really good and that gave me some confidence for the second moto. I could not find the flow in the second race. I was riding too aggressive and finished seventh, so I was not happy with that. We have a hard-pack track next and I think that will be nice!”

Lucas Coenen – P5

“I did not get good starts all weekend. I battled a lot in the first moto and came back to sixth. I almost passed two guys, but I was not aggressive enough. I had a better start in moto two, but it still was not good. I got to fourth quite quickly. I tried to pass for third, but I was just stuck there. We are improving every weekend, so we will get back to training now.”

Andrea Adamo – P6

“A bit of an up-and-down day but in the end quite a solid result. We are here to make the podium at every GP but this is one of the toughest tracks on the calendar. I didn’t make any mistakes and my riding wasn’t bad although we need better starts. I’m sure we’ll do better in Switzerland.”

Roan van de Moosdijk – P7

“I have been ill all week and I could feel that. I did not get the best start in the first moto and could not make passes for sixth or seventh, so I finished eighth. I fought through in the second moto and ended up fifth – I used all of my energy. It was a positive end to the Grand Prix and we will keep building.”

Kevin Horgmo – P8

“Not my best day; in fact I’m a little disappointed. My Quali was OK but I just couldn’t replicate it on race day. To be honest I would have prefered it to be rougher. The track was just so fast today; if it had been bumpier I could have ground it out and relied on my physical fitness.”

Liam Everts – P9

“A very difficult weekend for me. My feeling was a bit better on Sunday to be honest and that showed when I ran in 4th and then 5th. I was comfortable until I had a pretty big one a few laps before the end. I was lucky to rescue P9. My start was better in the second moto but I’m not sure why I went back to 8th. I wasn’t tired on the bike and didn’t feel any fatigue but I could not get any flow on the track. We’ll need to analyse why. The moto just ended with P8. A difficult day. I want to regroup and come back better in Switzerland.”

MX2 Sardegna Round Overall

MX2 Standings – After Round Two – Top 15