BREAKDOWN: MXGP of Sardegna

Round 2 of the MXGP World Championship kicked off in the deep sands of Riola Sardo, Sardegna. Sand
brings out the carnage, and the first European round of the series did not disappoint. Unshockingly, Red
Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings and Monster Energy Yamaha’s Jago Geerts took the wins on the day. Lots
happened on the island, so lets take a dive into some of the noticeables on the day at the beach.

In MXGP, the sand man was back! Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings picked up his 100th career victory.
“The Bullet” missed all of 2022 after suffereing a preseason injury and in only his second attempt on the
year, he picked up his 1st GP win of the season. Coming into Riola Sardo, Herlings was still considered
as one of the favorites for the win. The Dutchman has shown for years he is the best sand rider in the
world, and proved it again this weekend. Although he did not win a single race on the weekend, he still
went 2-2 and was less than 2 seconds off the win in the end of each race. Not getting the best starts all
weekend, Herlings fought his way through the pack and ultimately ended up landing on the center step of
the podium.

The Dutchmen were on fire all weekend, as Monster Energy Yamaha’s Glenn Coldenhoff secured his
first podium of the year with a 5th in race 1 and his first race win on the season in the second race. It is
not shocking to see these two going 1-2 in the deep rough sand tracks. But still an amazing day
Coldenhoff after a rough opening round.

Red Bull Gasgas’ Jorge Prado had another impressive showing. With a great start in race 1, Prado
quickly found his way to the lead and jetted off from the pack. By the end of the race, Herlings was
battling for the win, but the Spaniard was able to hold off the charge and grab himself 25 points. The 2nd
race was a bit more difficult, as he ended up in 6th place just narrowly missing out on 2nd place overall
on the day. Prado still extended his points lead and left with the red plate.

Last years winner, Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha’s Calvin Vlaanderen had some impressive speed again
this year. Vlaanderen showed last year that he is capable of being the fastest sand rider in the class and
this year was no different. Slicing his way through the pack in every race, he had the speed to win again,
but a few crashes costed him a spot on the podium. But a 5th overall is still nothing to be upset about.

Kawasaki Race Team’s Romain Febvre had great speed all day, but couldn’t quite put it together. A crash
in the 1st race, and just falling off the pace of the first 3 in race 2, left Febvre with an 11-4 on the day with
7th overall. Expect to see the Frenchman back near the front at the MXGP of Switzerland.

JM Honda Racing’s Brent Van Doninck had a great day in Sardegna. The Belgian went 9-8 for 8th
overall. Van Doninck’s sand riding abilities were on display as he got good starts and battled the front of
the pack. Great ride and look for him to be inside the top 10 more often.

MXGP Race 1: 1) Jorge Prado (ESP, Gasgas) +0.000 2) Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM) +1.706 3) Calvin
Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha) +02.831 4) Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha) +03.784 5) Glenn Coldenhoff
(NED, Yamaha) +27.257 6) Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha) +36.901 7) Brian Bogers (NED, Honda)
+37.947 8) Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM) +41.731 9) Brent Van Doninck (BEL, Honda) +44.403 10) Mattia
Guadagnini (ITA, Gasgas) +45.384
MXGP Race 2: 1) Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha) +0.000 2) Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM) +01.965 3)
Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha) +04.293 4) Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki) +13.048 5) Calvin
Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha) +14.860 6) Jorge Prado (ESP, Gasgas) +20.500 7) Jeremy Seewer (SUI,
Yamaha) +26.569 8) Brent Van Doninck (BEL, Honda) +54.079 9) Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM) +1:02.813
10) Pauls Jonass (LAT, Honda) +1:08.066

MXGP Overall: 1) Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM) 44pts 2) Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha) 41pts 3)
Jorge Prado (ESP, Gasgas) 40pts 4) Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha) 38pts 5) Calvin Vlaanderen (NED,
Yamaha) 36pts 6) Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha) 29pts 7) Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki) 28pts 8)
Brent Van Doninck (BEL, Honda) 25pts 9) Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM) 25pts 10) Pauls Jonass (LAT,
Honda) 20pts
MXGP Championship: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 100 pts; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 93 pts.; 3.
Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 78 pts.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 78 pts.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 75 pts.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 65 pts.; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 63
pts.; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 57 pts.; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 56 pts.; 10. Mattia Guadagnini
(ITA, GAS), 55 pts.

MX2 saw another strong performance from Jago Geerts. This time falling just short of another perfect
weekend by finishing 2nd in the first moto. The Belgian once again showed that he wants to be crowned
world champion by the years end. Gaining another 10 points in the qualifying race and another 25 points
and race win in the second race, his weekend was strong. With a couple mistakes while leading race
one, it cost him the perfect weekend. But still came away with 2nd in the race and tied on the day for the
overall. But by winning the second race, we took the top step of the podium.

Nestaan Husqvarna’s young Dutchman, Kay de Wolf, came in strong as expected in the deep sand. It is
a well known fact that the Dutch riders are some of the greatest talents in the sand, and it showed by de
Wolf grabbing the first win on the day. Going for his first win of the series, de Wolf pushed Geerts all the
way to the end in race two, and finished up 2nd. 1-2 on the day, and 2nd overall pushed him into 2nd
overall in the championship as well.

Thibault Benistant had a quiet, but solid result in Riola Sardo. 4-3 on the day and a moto long battle with
Lucas Coenen in the 2nd race put the Frenchman on the podium for his 2nd podium of the season.
Red Bull Gasgas’ Simon Laengenfelder had a great race 1 battling with de Wolf and Geerts. The 2nd
race didnt go as planned and found himself working from the back and only managing to get up to 7th.
But a 4th overall on the day and 5th overall in the series is a great start for the young German.

Belgians rookie sensation, Nestaan Husqvarna’s Lucas Coenen had a good day in Sardegna. 6th in the
1st race was a strong ride. The 2nd race was even better for Coenen. Jumping out to a good start, the
young Belgian rider battled to the very end with Thibault Benistant and finished 4th. His first MX2 top 5 in
only his 2nd try is a very impressive result.

There must be something in the water these days in Spain, as the WZ Racing KTM rider, Oriol Oliver
was the first one around the first turn all day Sunday. In Race 2 he even made it stick to earn his first
FOX Holeshot of the series. 10-11 for 10th overall is a great day for the young Spaniard.

MX2 Race 1: 1) Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna) +0.000 2) Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha) +02.473 3)
Simon Laengenfelder (GER, Gasgas) +15.579 4) Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha) +42.062 5) Andrea
Adamo (ITA, KTM) +51.410 6) Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna) +54.170 7) Kevin Horgmo (NOR,
Kawasaki) +55.123 8) Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna) +58.282 9) Liam Everts (BEL, KTM)
+1:23.188 10) Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM) +2:13.058
MX2 Race 2: 1) Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha) +0.000 2) Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna) +01.314 3)
Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha) +41.473 4) Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna) +43.781 5) Roan Van
De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna) +59.753 6) Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM) +1:06.498 7) Simon
Laengenfelder (GER, Gasgas) +1:10.510 8) Liam Everts (BEL, KTM) +1:17.513 9) Kevin Horgmo (NOR,
Kawasaki) +1:21.210 10) Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM) +1Lap

MX2 Overall: 1) Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha) 47pts 2) Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna) 47pts 3) Thibault
Benistant (FRA, Yamaha) 38pts 4) Simon Laengenfelder (GER, Gasgas) 34pts 5) Lucas Coenen (BEL,
Husqvarna) 33pts 6) Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM) 31pts 7) Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna)
29pts 8) Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki) 26pts 9) Liam Everts (BEL, KTM) 25pts 10) Oriol Oliver (ESP,
KTM) 21pts
MX2 Championship: 1. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 117 pts; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 87 pts.; 3.
Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 86 pts.; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 83 pts.; 5. Simon Laengenfelder
(GER, GAS), 79 pts.; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 68 pts.; 7. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 67
pts.; 8. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 61 pts.; 9. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 52 pts.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO,
KTM), 40 pts.

The MXGP series head to Switzerland next weekend, with the racing on Saturday and Bank Holiday Monday (Sat 8th April, Mon 10th April). You can catch the replays of Sardegna, and all the live action next weekend on MXGP-TV.com