The MXGP Motocross World Championships make a return to Europe this weekend, for the first of five Grands Prix over a six-week span, as the classic Loketske Serpentiny circuit, commonly known as Loket, hosts the MXGP of Czech Republic. The 27th event at this circuit, the thirteenth round of the 2024 series will be lucky for some, as the world’s elite racers dig in for a crucial part of the season in the hunt for the World Championship titles!
Loket has been the circuit of choice in this country for an almost uninterrupted period since the first event here in 1995, which was in the 500cc class and won by Belgian legend Joel Smets with a double win on the way to his first world title. Since then, MXGP has returned to the circuit every year apart from 1996, 2001, and 2020. Smets shares the record for overall wins at the circuit with fellow multiple World Champions Stefan Everts and Antonio Cairoli, who have each won four at the picturesque hard-pack venue.
Three active riders have a chance to equal that record, as Jorge Prado, Jeffrey Herlings, and Romain Febvre have all taken three winner’s trophies away from Loket.
The MXGP class will see a continuation of the enthralling three-way title battle between Team HRC’s Tim Gajser, Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s reigning Champion Prado, and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing talisman Herlings, who is on form following a perfect weekend at the MXGP of Lombok.
MX2 will see the two Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing teammates, Kay de Wolf and Lucas Coenen, resume their battle for the title, with the Belgian closing to within 49 points of the Dutchman after the pair won a Grand Prix each on the island of Lombok in Indonesia.
The event will also see the final for the EMX85 and EMX65 European Championships for youth riders, with many competitors making the journey straight from last weekend’s World Junior Championships, including top EMX85 Qualifiers Hayden Statt from the UK, Italy’s Andrea Uccellini and World Juniors second race winner Lucas Leok from that famous Estonian family!
Top EMX65 qualifiers Roko Ivandici from Croatia, and German Luca Nierychlo, will be among the leading contenders, as will race winning Brits Cohen Jagielski and Jett Gardiner, who will welcome the hard-pack of Loket after the sand of Heerde! The packed schedule is also joined by the EMX2t single-race Championship event, so the sweet smell of two-stroke pre-mix will waft around the beautiful Czech valley for much of the weekend!
The “big three” of MXGP in 2024 squeezed together like an accordion over the two GPs in the Indonesian islands, as Tim Gajser holds a 34-point lead over Prado, with Herlings closing in to be only a further 17 points further back.
It was Herlings who did the most damage in the heat, dropping only three points over the four GP races and the two RAM Qualifying Races at Lombok, cutting his deficit to the red plate holder by 20 points. He needs to continue this progress if he is to challenge for a sixth world crown. His main rivals will relish the more hard-pack conditions the field will encounter at the Czech venue. Although the Dutchman will know, with 6 individual race wins around Loket, that he has won here more than any other active rider, even if his last victory was back in 2018.
Tim Gajser has only won a single race at Loket, back in 2017, but never the overall, although he has stood on the podium five times in total. Prado took MX2 victories here in 2018 and ’19, plus the MXGP class victory in 2021, when he shared the race wins with then-teammate Cairoli.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider Calvin Vlaanderen sits in a solid fourth position in the Championship after two consecutive podium finishes, and returns to the site of his most recent race win, as he took the chequered flag in the second outing here last season. He also took an MX2 race win away from Prado back in 2018. Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jeremy Seewer has tasted champagne in Loket as well, with the Grand Prix victory in 2022.
Jeremy’s teammate Romain Febvre returns to action this weekend after a five-GP break to recover from a thumb injury, and still sits seventh in the Championship behind Fantic Factory Racing man Glenn Coldenhoff. Three times a GP winner at this circuit with five race wins, including the overall verdict last season plus double victories in both 2015 and ‘19, means that he has won more here than anywhere else, and the Frenchman could very much put himself among the main contenders as he goes all out for victory without any Championship pressure.
Two riders in MXGP achieved their most recent overall victory at Loket, both in the MX2 class. Valentin Guillod, who is tenth in the Championship for Ship to Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR, earned his in 2015, and current Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing rider Mattia Guadagnini did the job in 2021.
The battle at the top is sure to be electric again, and any slip-up by the leading title contenders could be crucial as there are plenty of riders ready to jump onto the podium in their place!
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 608 Points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 574 Points; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 557 Pts; 4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 429 Pts; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 411 Pts; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 360 Pts; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 327 Points; 8. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 274 Pts; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 264 Pts; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 259 Pts.
MX2 Championship leader Kay de Wolf continues his hold over the red plate, which has been his since the end of the season opener in Argentina, but his teammate Lucas Coenen was in determined mood at the MXGP of Lombok and put in a perfect 60-point weekend to close to within 49 points of the lead. Can the young Belgian keep consistent on the hard-pack of Loket to roll his momentum forward?
He goes to the Czech Republic without looking over his shoulder for second, as Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing star Simon Laengenfelder, still without a GP win to his name this season, lies third in points but 18 back from Lucas. The hard-pack surface could give the German a perfect opportunity to win, especially with plenty of his home fans coming to support him, being less than 50km from the German border.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo Liam Everts and reigning Champion Andrea Adamo sit fourth and fifth in the standings, and Adamo is the only rider in MX2 this year who can lay claim to any past victory here, as the Italian took a stunning second race win last year. Coming off his best 2024 weekend yet in Lombok, will the reigning Champion be able to bridge the 16-point gap to his teammate on the table with further success at Loket? The third rider under their awning, Sacha Coenen, will also be keen to return to form following a torrid time in the heat of Lombok after his two GP wins before the overseas trip.
Monster Energy Triumph Racing star Mikkel Haarup will also be looking to continue his momentum from a career-best second at the MXGP of Lombok, and with the experience of three-time Loket winner Desalle in his corner, he could well be a threat for both his, and his team’s, first ever Grand Prix win. His teammate Camden McLellan is also likely to be strong at the site of his 2018 EMX85 Championship victory.
One thing’s for sure, the close nature of the MX2 class means it’s anybody’s guess as to who will take the podium spots at the end of the weekend!
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 576 Points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 527 Pts; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 509 Points; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 471 Pts; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 455 Pts; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 399 Pts; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 346 Pts; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 341 Pts; 9. Quentin Prugnieres (FRA, KAW), 228 Pts; 10. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 226 Pts.
TIMETABLE
SATURDAY: 7:20 EMX2T Free practice, 7:50 EMX65 Free practice, 08:20 EMX85 Free practice, 8:50 MXE Time Practice, 09:10 EMX2T Qualifying Practice 09:50 EMX65 EMX2T Qualifying Practice, 10:30 MX2 Free Practice, 11:00 MXGP Free Practice, 11:50 EMX85 Qualifying Practice, 12:35 MXE Race 1, 13:05 EMX2T Race 1, 13:40 MX2 Time Practice, 14:15 MXGP Time Practice, 15:15 EMX65 Race 1, 15:50 EMX85 Race 1, 16:35 MX2 RAM Qualifying Race, 17:25 MXGP RAM Qualifying Race. 18:05 MXE Race 2
SUNDAY: 08:20 EMX2T Race 2, 09:55 EMX65 Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX85 Race 2, 12:40 MXE Race 1, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 15:25 MXE Race 2 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.
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