Round 18 of the FIM Motocross World Championship has wrapped up here in Turkey, and it was another great weekend of racing. Following yesterday’s qualifying race, Lucas Coenen gained a bit of ground on championship leader Romain Febvre, cutting the deficit to 29 points. In the MX2 class, Kay de Wolf capitalised on Simon Langenfelder’s misfortune, and his second-place finish was enough to trim the gap to eleven points heading into today’s action.

MXGP:

MXGP Race 1 saw Lucas Coenen replicate yesterday’s qualifying race, as the rookie grabbed the Fox Holeshot and led the field from start to finish to secure his 13th race win of the season, and most importantly gaining five championship points over championship leader Romain Febvre who finished in third. Jeffrey Herlings stalked Coenen for the entirety of the race but couldn’t quite close the gap enough to make a run for the lead, eventually finishing in second, 3.2 seconds behind.

JK Racing Yamaha rider Isak Gifting pulled the holeshot in Race 2 but was quickly shuffled back as Romain Febvre made his way into the lead on lap one. The Frenchman held onto the lead for eight laps before Herlings pulled off an incredible pass after the finish jump, taking over the lead and ultimately winning the Grand Prix, his 50th Grand Prix win in the MXGP class (111 in total!). Febvre held on to finish second and secure third overall on the day, after sustaining late pressure from Lucas Coenen, who claimed the second spot on the podium.

MX2:

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Sacha Coenen picked up where he left off in Saturday’s qualification race, replicating the Fox Holeshot and leading every lap to secure his third race win of the season. Kay de Wolf gradually closed the gap to Coenen but couldn’t quite match the Belgian’s pace, finishing second. Simon Längenfelder fought hard to reach the rear wheel of de Wolf, and after several attempts to pass the #1, the points leader had to settle for third place.

Sacha Coenen claimed the holeshot again in Race 2 but lost the lead to Guillem Farres in the early stages of the race. As the pack fought for track position, Langenfelder began to move through, passing Farres for the lead on lap seven. Kay de Wolf gated poorly and had his work cut out for him, but the defending champion came ever so close to passing Langenfelder in the final laps. The Dutchman posted the fastest lap time of the race on the penultimate lap (1:56.210) and crossed the line just 1 second behind Langenfelder. Farres held onto third ahead of Sacha Coenen and Liam Everts.