MXGP

As riders adapted to the track, it became clear from the practice sessions that this GP was going to be a little bit different. Honda HRC Petronas took the fastest time in Free Practice with Jeffrey Herlings, ahead of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Tim Gajser, while Romain Febvre took third.

“The Bullet” thought he had first gate pick sorted in Time Practice, but Gajser came in with a late burst to take the top spot by a tenth and a half, while Championship leader Lucas Coenen claimed third best time for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.

The gate drop saw a factory Honda 1-2 with Vialle ahead of Fernandez, then the TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team machine of Slovenian Jan Pancar ahead of Febvre, although the reigning Champ slotted into second by the end of the first sequence of jumps through the classic Foxhills valley!

That move was largely unseen, however, as Coenen collided with the second Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP of Maxime Renaux on landing from a jump, and the out-of-control Belgian swerved off track and finally over the handlebars! Taking an impact from the bike, he was slow to get up, and pulled into Pit Lane a lap later to retire from the race. If he lines up tomorrow, the red plate holder will be to the far outside of the start line.

One rider who sadly won’t be in tomorrow’s line-up is Fantic Factory Racing MXGP’s Italian Alberto Forato, after hitting the ground hard and picking up a suspected shoulder injury. We wish Alberto a speedy recovery.

Fernandez fought back into second place as Febvre collided with Herlings at the base of a big uphill, and the Dutchman hit the ground as a result, remounting near the edge of the top 20!

Febvre still maintained third ahead of the returning JK Racing Yamaha of Isak Gifting, as the Swede held off Gajser and fellow Scandinavian Kevin Horgmo, who would go on to score his first Qualifying Race points of the year for Team Honda Motoblouz SR Motul!

Herlings began a rapid recovery, getting back into the points at the end of lap four with a pass on the Gabriel SS24 KTM of Oriol Oliver, then Gajser crashed in some ruts to lose fourth to Horgmo!  Gifting dropped through the order to ultimately finish 17^th with a late fall, while Pancar was relegated to eleventh by a pass from Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Pauls Jonass with two laps to go, and Oliver won a scrap with Red Bull Ducati Factory MXGP Team survivor Calvin Vlaanderen for eighth place.

Renaux held on to seventh at the flag behind Horgmo, who scored his best Saturday finish since France in May of last year! 

The battle at the front raged on, however, and Herlings was gaining ground all the time! Fernandez took Vialle with a spectacular pass at the top of the final uphill of lap six, and the Frenchman kept his compatriot Febvre at bay until three laps from the end, depriving the Champion of a chance to take his second QR win of the season. Herlings, meanwhile, worked his way into fourth with a downhill pass on Gajser on the last lap, and was marginally short of his teammate Vialle, in a race where the Honda HRC Petronas team took three of the first four positions! 

Fernandez’ Quali win is the third of his career, and it closes him to within a point of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo for sixth in the Championship.  For Herlings, his seven points went unanswered by Coenen, who failed to score on Saturday for the first time this season, making the gap 61 between the leading pair heading into tomorrow’s Grand Prix.

Will Foxhills continue to throw up surprises tomorrow? You can almost expect the unexpected on this unforgiving classic venue!

Ruben Fernandez: “Definitely got to be happy with this one. Especially since three GP-s in a row I had to deal with painkillers. I had a bit more energy, which is good, and also a good start helped. I felt like I was riding well and that makes me happy to be honest.”

Romain Febvre: “Actually I thought it’s going to be more easy to make some passes, but somehow we used all the same lines. And the sun was quite low, so coming up the hill we didn’t see much of the top end, but it’s okay, good ride and good starts. Looking forward for tomorrow, hopefully with a better start I can stay in the front.”

Tom Vialle: “To be honest I was struggling a lot with the sun, I literally couldn’t see anything, so it was a little bit sketchy. It was great to have a nice start and lead maybe more than half of the moto, a little bit of confidence. I was a little bit struggling the last three GP-s, so it’s nice to be back. I felt good on the bike today, so hopefully tomorrow we can do it again and fight at the front.”

MX2

In their special British Racing Green home race livery, the Triumph Factory Racing Team pairing of Guillem Farres and Camden McLellan took a 1-2 result in Free Practice, ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s battered Championship leader Sacha Coenen, who had suffered a broken collarbone in the USA last weekend and had to pass a medical check, after surgery on Monday, to compete this weekend.

Farres was again untouchable in Time Practice, taking the first gate pick by 1.3 seconds over the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing machine of Liam Everts. Simon Längenfelder was a tiny fraction of a second back from the Belgian in third.

Sacha Coenen pulled out his not-so-secret weapon with another lightning start to lead through the first corner, with local wildcard Billy Askew briefly second on the Dirt Store Triumph Racing machine! Farres was quickly past the young Brit, however, and the Osička KTM of Julius Mikula followed the Spaniard past.  Everts passed the young Czech rider over the back of the circuit, and McLellan also moved forward into fourth.

Längenfelder had not started well, and made many passes to hold sixth at the end of the first full lap, with Jens Walvoort seventh for S/B Racing KTM, ahead of the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 duo of Janis and Karlis Reisulis!

Farres was able to pull a strong move on Coenen to lead before the end of the first full lap, and the in-form Spaniard began to pull away almost instantly. Längenfelder continued to progress by passing Mikula for fifth on lap three, then on lap six both he and McLellan got around Everts to take third and fourth.  The duo soon caught an in-pain Coenen, and a thrilling three-way battle ensued! 

The German passed both men to take second by lap eight, but Farres was in cruise control out in front. Further back, there was a strong ride for the sole Beddini Racing Ducati Factory MX2 Team rider Ferruccio Zanchi, taking tenth from Karlis Reisulis with three laps to go.  His countryman Valerio Lata was just ahead to take eighth for Honda HRC Petronas.

Janis Reisulis put a great charge in, passing Mikula to put the Czech into seventh by the flag, and the Latvian closed right in on Everts to nearly break into the top five! Everts himself was only a few bike lengths behind Coenen, who bravely toughed it out for fourth.

There was drama on the final lap as Farres just leant the Triumph over too far in a left-hand corner rut, and slid to the ground! Briefly trapped under the bike, he was able to pick it up just as Längenfelder and McLellan came to the corner! The German nailed down the win, but Farres was able to squeeze past the South African up the final hill to at least salvage second place!

The reigning Champ took his 12^th career Qualifying Race win, and Farres closed in by two points towards Coenen at the top of the Championship, making the fine margin even finer, now at just 12 points!

Farres appears to have imperious pace, but today proved that anything can happen at Foxhills, and with a better start and his great record in the UK, Längenfelder could be the big threat tomorrow.  Either way we should be in store for a fantastic day of racing at the Monster Energy MXGP of Great Britain! Be sure to join us!

Simon Längenfelder: “After not having any wins, I did a back-to-back. Not the best start, but I fought my way into the front from around P10 and made some nice passes. It felt good.”