Mikkel Haarup was the master of putting in the fastest lap at the end of both Practice sessions to earn himself the first gate pick for Monster Energy Triumph Racing, but the times were incredibly close with 1.5 seconds covering the top seven riders! Simon Laengenfelder, in second for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, and Liam Everts in third were both within a third of a second of the Dane!
Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Championship chaser Lucas Coenen took the holeshot, with his twin brother Sacha Coenen absent through injury. Haarup and Everts were right with him, though, and the Belgian fired past the Triumph man on the run to the third corner. Haarup also had Thibault Benistant edge past him for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, but by the end of the first lap he was back into third.
As they battled, Everts made a brilliant move into the wave section to take the lead from Coenen, whose teammate Kay de Wolf was building his challenge, passing Benistant for fourth on the second lap. Laengenfelder was behind them, but got caught out by Team HRC’s Ferruccio Zanchi, who turned 18 years old this Friday.
The German would take until lap seven to get back past the Honda man, but on the same lap he also pulled a stunning outside move on Benistant to take fifth! The Frenchman then slipped behind Zanchi on lap nine, as Haarup’s teammate Camden McLellan and Everts’ teammate Andrea Adamo also past the Monster Energy Yamaha of Karlis Reisulis for eighth and ninth.
The top three of Everts, Coenen, and Haarup were set for the race, although Coenen closed to within a second of his Belgian compatriot at the finish line jump! The big move on the final lap came from Laengenfelder, who drove up the inside of De Wolf to try and grab fourth place! He did succeed, but only after the pair had to pick their bikes up due to the collision as their lines came together! De Wolf was thrown off the side of the track, very lucky to be uninjured but losing the most time.
Zanchi, Benistant, McLellan, and Adamo all moved up at the Championship leader’s expense to finish in fifth to eighth, with De Wolf salvaging two points for ninth ahead of Reisulis. This dents his points advantage over Coenen by seven points, and the gap is now 54 between the leading pair!
With lap times so close, the start and early lap manoeuvres will be crucial in tomorrow’s races, but both classes will be massively entertaining at tomorrow’s MXGP of Türkiye! Do not be missing it!
Liam Everts: The start was not so good. I got boxed in straight away. But yeah, immediately I found myself in second and got around Lucas (Coenen). It felt great. He was putting on some good pressure, putting in some good laps and stayed at the lead. So I have a good feeling for tomorrow.”
