The sheer speed of Prado into the first corner of race one was once more nothing short of breath-taking, and he crossed the Fox Holeshot line on the exit with around five bike lengths on the next rider, Jeremy Seewer, in his last GP for the Kawasaki Racing Team.

Local fans had cause for concern, however, as Gajser immediately snapped past both Seewer and the fast-starting Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider Andrea Bonacorsi to get himself up into second place, and the Slovenian started hounding the rear wheel of the Spanish hero.

Coming out of the second corner, Herlings had run wide off the track, and was judged to have gained an advantage as he rejoined, resulting in a three-position penalty. Regardless, he charged through to third position on track by the close, relegated to sixth position by the penalty.

One of the riders he passed was Standing Construct Honda rider Alberto Forato, who fought forward throughout the race, passing Seewer with a strong move at the end of the start straight on lap 14. Sadly for the Italian, he tipped over in a corner on the following lap, allowing Seewer and his Kawasaki Racing Team stablemate Romain Febvre into what was ultimately third and fourth. Forato recovered to be classified in fifth.

Behind the top six were Bonacorsi, Team Ship To Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR rider Valentin Guillod, then Maxime Renaux in ninth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP after a nasty crash in the early laps.  Jan Pancar rounded out the top ten on his TEM JP253 KTM.

At the front, Prado did what he does best, and despite Gajser’s best efforts the Spaniard edged away to build a seven-second lead before easing off in the closing laps to secure his 17th Sunday race win of the campaign and take a 12-point lead into the final race of the year!

That final race began in usual fashion for the Champ, with another clinical Fox Holeshot Award, his 18th for the season!  This time it was Gajser who ran off the circuit, exiting turn one and rejoining between some advertising boards.  He was judged not to have gained an advantage and was allowed to race on without penalty.

Seewer was again right at the sharp end, but Herlings blasted past him into the third corner and looked to be racing with intentions on a race win. Febvre and Gajser also advanced past Seewer before the start of the first full lap.

Behind the top five, the drying circuit was at its toughest, and most of the top ten held their positions until the end, including Guillod in a solid sixth, Fantic Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff, home rider Ruben Fernandez in eighth for Team HRC, with Renaux and Pancar again finishing ninth and tenth after Bonacorsi suffered a fall down the order.  Guillod would take sixth overall ahead of Forato, Coldenhoff, Renaux, and Pancar.

The big moment occurred on lap seven, as Prado’s rear wheel suddenly stepped out on a downhill and he was forced to run off the circuit!  Under pressure from Herlings at the time, “The Bullet” immediately led, and the fans looked worried as Prado seemed to cruise for a few corners, allowing Febvre and Gajser into second and third.  Fortunately for the #1, there was no issue with his machine, and he took it easy to the flag.  Gajser did all he could but couldn’t close on the leading pair, and Febvre tipped over in a corner as he tried to pressure Herlings, but kept hold of second place.

This left the top three in the series, Prado, Gajser, and Herlings to finish in that order overall, with Febvre and Seewer fourth and fifth in the GP.  Prado had the crowd fully behind him all the way to the chequered flag, and the celebrations are continuing long into the night! His 49th career GP win levels him with Gajser, and he becomes the first back-to-back MXGP World Champion since the Slovenian’s successful title defence of 2020.  It was a good day to be a Spanish Motocross fan in Cozar!

Jorge Prado: “This is just unbelievable like at the beginning of the season I wouldn't imagine to be sitting in this position right now and I was just enjoying it so much that second race was so long it just didn't end and you know so much work goes behind this and all the fans came over they were supporting every single lap of every race and this is amazing to see this. Amazing to feel in that atmosphere over there when I was in the party and just unbelievably grateful to get the world title over here in Spain with my fans with my family my friends with everyone. Just thank you everyone, it's been an awesome year again!.”

Tim Gajser: “I mean we had a great season, you know, nice battle with Jorge and with Jeffrey. So, congrats to Jorge for winning the title. I was really close this year, I was giving my best and I think we had a really good championship. So, I want to say a huge thank you to all my team, the bike was amazing for the all year and everybody around me. So, a huge thank you. Thank you very much guys.”

Jeffrey Herlings: “So first of all over the weekend, yeah, you know to finish 3rd in the championship I'm quite happy with. Coming out today with a podium it's okay obviously had quite some bad luck with some decisions. But Jorge, he was the best for the whole year. Starts is one thing he was the king of that and furthermore he he's a champion so big congrats to him. But I think today the result is and furthermore he was he's a champion so big congrats to that. I’m looking forward to next year.”

MX2

COZAR (Spain) 29 September 2024 – The FIM MX2 World Motocross Championship was decided in southern Spain today at the MXGP of Castilla La Mancha as the 20th and final round of the season saw the year-long battle between Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing teammates Kay de Wolf and Lucas Coenen reach its conclusion with a day to remember for both riders!

Ultimately it was Dutch flyer De Wolf who became the new MX2 World Champion, but his day was not straightforward as Coenen did everything possible to take the title away with two commanding race wins, getting to within just 20 points at the end of 20 Grands Prix! However, with sensible riding, the red plate holder deservedly claimed the title on his 20th birthday, after a season of sustained and consistent brilliance.

Lucas Coenen’s pace in the RAM Qualifying Race on Sunday was ominous for Kay de Wolf, but a 34-point cushion looked to be enough if he held his nerve.  However, as his teammate started in the top three, the red plate holder was outside the top ten after the first corner and almost seemed to be riding too cautiously.

Thibault Benistant took his third Fox Holeshot Award of the season for Monster Energy Yamaha MX2, and led until lap three as Coenen forced his machine towards an inside line on a rutted left-hander. This left the Frenchman to deal with Simon Laengenfelder, with nothing to gain or lose for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing as he was already set for the series bronze medal. The German could not find a way through, and instead came under pressure from the outgoing World Champion, Andrea Adamo!

The lone Red Bull KTM Factory Racing warrior for the day had to pass Benistant’s Monster Energy Yamaha teammate Karlis Reisulis for fourth and dived past Laengenfelder on lap nine.  With a similar move along the start straight he also got past Benistant two laps later.  Laengenfelder eventually passed Thibault on lap 14 to claim third in the race. 

Meanwhile, Ferruccio Zanchi took his best finish of the year for Team HRC in fifth after a battle with F & H Racing’s Quentin Prugnieres, but the Kawasaki man dropped the bike to eventually finish tenth.  De Wolf was locked towards the edge of the top ten, fighting with the Monster Energy Triumph Racing duo Mikkel Haarup and Camden McLellan!

All three got past Reisulis, who finished in ninth, but with De Wolf needing fourth to seal the Championship even with Lucas winning, it was never on the cards as Haarup took sixth, and De Wolf only just held off McLellan to finish seventh. With Lucas winning by over 22 seconds, the gap was 23 points going into the final race!

With a complete change of strategy, De Wolf attacked the start of race two, and came out with a shock Fox Holeshot Award, only his third of the season! Again Benistant and Coenen were right at the front, with Haarup and Reisulis in tow. Laengenfelder and Adamo looked to have ruled themselves out of the podium places with dire opening laps.

De Wolf gave Coenen little resistance when the Belgian teenager made his move, but although Benistant looked close initially, the Dutch birthday boy was not in a mood to drop any further down the order. 

Oriol Oliver had started well in his home Grand Prix for WZ Racing KTM, but Zanchi passed him on lap six for sixth position. The young Italian would finish there, but only after Adamo charged through to a brilliant fourth.  Reisulis dropped back to tenth position where he would finish overall, behind Laengenfelder who had fell down to 13th at one stage in the race but recovered to ninth for fifth overall. 

Prugnieres rose through the order to claim seventh position and eighth overall, passing Oliver with five laps to go, leaving the Spaniard ninth overall. Adamo’s pass on Haarup came courtesy of a small mistake for the Dane with just three laps remaining, putting the Triumph man in sixth overall ahead of Zanchi.  Adamo’s brilliant ride left him second overall, with Benistant third, completing a decent return from injury with some podium pie!  De Wolf’s second left him fourth overall, nearly 22 seconds down on Coenen at the flag, but the more important prize was the MX2 World Championship, four years into his MX2 career and completing a seven-year run with the factory Husqvarna squad.  It is the brand’s first world title since 1999, and its first under its current Austrian ownership!

Coenen, with his tenth career GP win and ninth of the season, had closed the gap to 20 points at the end of the 20th round, but it was the man who turned 20 today that took his first World Championship, the perfect birthday present at the end of an incredible year of racing!