JJeffrey Herlings managed to make up a significant deficit on leader Lucas Coenen today. In Foxhill, he won both races, while the Belgian had to retire twice with a suspected leg injury. Coenen now holds 11 points in the standings. Romain Febvre and Tim Gajser finished second and third in the British MXGP.
First series
Jeffrey Herlings took the holeshot in the first race and was immediately joined by Tim Gajser and Tom Vialle. World Championship leader Lucas Coenen, who appeared at the start with doubts following his crash on Saturday, started in tenth place but had to retire definitively after just four laps. Herlings took full advantage of his rival's misfortune and held the lead throughout the race. He was shadowed by Gajser, while behind them Vialle, Romain Febvre, and the returning Jeremy Seewer formed the leading group.
In the closing stages, the battle for the podium places intensified as Febvre put pressure on his compatriot Vialle. A late crash by Vialle ultimately cost him his position and gifted third place to Febvre. Although Gajser managed to get close to Herlings halfway through, he decided to ride conservatively in the final two laps to secure his second place. Herlings thus rode unchallenged to the race win ahead of Gajser and Febvre, while Brent Van Doninck and Jago Geerts finished outside the top fifteen in 16th and 18th place respectively.
Second series
After retiring in the first race, Lucas Coenen decided to give it a try anyway and joined the line at the starting gate. The fastest starter in race two was Jeffrey Herlings, ahead of Tim Gajser and Tom Vialle. Febvre followed and immediately got the better of Vialle. Once again, the brand-new KTM rider Jeremy Seewer dived into the top ten and was spotted in seventh place after a few corners. Jago Geerts and Brent Van Doninck pulled away from the gate in 12th and 13th place.
The clearly injured Lucas Coenen was in P11 after one lap and, just like his brother in MX2, attempted to limit the damage. Once again, Tim Gajser of the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing Team followed The Bullet like a shadow. After Jago Geerts had passed Coenen, the rider from Overijssel steered his KTM to the side and let his left leg hang. He is clearly struggling with an injury and scores zero points again.
At the front of the race, it looked like a copy of heat one. The Slovenian tried to get on Herlings' rear wheel to keep open the possibility of winning the heat and the GP. In his eagerness, he went down and had to give up his place to Romain Febvre. At that same moment, Pauls Jonass lay on the ground with an injury; he had clearly taken a heavy crash. With five minutes of racing remaining, Febvre crept right up to The Bullet's rear wheel.
Iron-eater Herlings, however, didn't flinch and also won the second race. Febvre finished second ahead of Tim Gajser. Herlings wins the British GP ahead of Febvre and Gajser, and due to Lucas Coenen's retirement, now trails the Belgian by 11 points. There was still some good news to be found from the Belgian camp, however, as both Jago Geerts and Brent Van Doninck finished neatly in the top ten during race two.
Next week, the MXGP caravan travels to the Czech Republic for the next round of the Motocross World Championship.
MXGP Race 1
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 34:43.207; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:03.121; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:07.806; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:37.346; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:47.685; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:54.269; 7. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:57.973; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), +1:01.452; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +1:02.822; 10. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +1:05.452; 11. Taylor Hammal (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:06.535; 12. Ben Watson (GBR, Triumph), +1:08.136; 13. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Ducati), +1:14.594; 14. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +1:16.427; 15. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), +1:17.874; 16. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Fantic), +1:18.587; 17. Paul Jonas (LAT, Kawasaki), +1:19.247; 18. Jago Geerts (BEL, Beta), +1:21.240; 19. Rick Elzinga (NED, KTM), +1:51.388; 20. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), +2:08.476; 21. Tristan Purdon (RSA, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 22. Romain Pape (FRA, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 23. Tom Grimshaw (GBR, Honda), -1 lap(s); 24. Lennox Dickinson (GBR, Honda), -1 lap(s); 25. Ben Edwards (GBR, KTM), -1 lap(s); 26. Glenn McCormick (IRL, KTM), -1 lap(s); 27. Cato Nickel (GER, Honda), -9 lap(s); 28. Kevin Brumann (SUI, Husqvarna), -13 lap(s); 29. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), -14 lap(s);
MXGP Race 2
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 34:38.594; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:01.299; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:18.247; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:22.436; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:26.442; 6. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:29.019; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), +0:53.253; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:54.738; 9. Jago Geerts (BEL, Beta), +1:01.252; 10. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Fantic), +1:02.23711. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:03.380; 12. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +1:22.798; 13. Rick Elzinga (NED, KTM), +1:24.207; 14. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), +1:26.926; 15. Kevin Brumann (SUI, Husqvarna), +1:30.954; 16. Ben Watson (GBR, Triumph), +1:32.985; 17. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), +1:53.194; 18. Tristan Purdon (RSA, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 19. Cato Nickel (GER, Honda), -1 lap(s); 20. Tom Grimshaw (GBR, Honda), -1 lap(s); 21. Glenn McCormick (IRL, KTM), -1 lap(s); 22. Ben Edwards (GBR, KTM), -2 lap(s); 23. Lennox Dickinson (GBR, Honda), -2 lap(s); 24. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), -7 lap(s); 25. Romain Pape (FRA, Yamaha), -11 lap(s); 26. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), -14 lap(s); 27. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), -17 lap(s); 28. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Ducati), -17 lap(s); 29. Taylor Hammal (GBR, Kawasaki), -17 lap(s);
MXGP Overalls
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 50 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 42 p.; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 42 pp.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 36 points; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), 27 pts.; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NORTH, HON), 25 p.; 8. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 24 pts.; 10. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 22 pts.; 11. Brent Van doninck (BEL, FAN), 16 p.; 12. Jago Geerts (BEL, BET), 15 p.; 13. Ben Watson (GBR, TRI), 14 p.; 14. Isak Gifting (SWE, YAM), 13 p.; 15. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 11 p.; 16. Rick Elzinga (NED, KTM), 10 p.; 17. Taylor Hammal (GBR, KAW), 10 p.; 18. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, DUC), 8 p.; 19. Kevin Brumann (SUI, HUS), 6 p.; 20. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 5 p.; 21. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 4 p.; 22. Tristan Purdon (RSA, KAW), 3 p.; 23. Cato Nickel (GER, HON), 2 p.; 24. Tom Grimshaw (GBR, HON), 1 p.; 25. Glenn McCormick (IRL, KTM), 0 p.; 26. Ben Edwards (GBR, KTM), 0 p.; 27. Lennox Dickinson (GBR, HON), 0 p.; 28. Romain Pape (FRA, YAM), 0 p.; 29. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 0 p.; 30. Alberto Forato (ITA, FAN), 0 p.;
MXGP Standings
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 566 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 555 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 494 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 452 pts.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 392 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 378 pts.; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 375 p.; 8. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 317 p.; 9. Kay de Wolf (DOWN, HOUSE), 273 p.; 10. Paul Jonas (LAT, KAW), 273 points; 11. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, DUC), 245 p.; 12. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 208 p.; 13. Alberto Forato (ITA, FAN), 200 p.; 14. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 187 pts.; 15. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 181 p.; 16. Brent Van doninck (BEL, FAN), 111 p.; 17. Jago Geerts (BEL, BET), 105 p.; 18. Ben Watson (GBR, TRI), 84 p.; 19. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, KTM), 69 p.; 20. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), 61 p.; 21. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KTM), 50 p.; 22. Rick Elzinga (NED, KTM), 48 p.; 23. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, DUC), 41 pts.; 24. Thibault Benistant (FRA, HON), 40 p.; 25. Kevin Brumann (SUI, HUS), 38 pts.; 26. Maximilian Spies (GER, KTM), 25 p.; 27. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, YAM), 22 p.; 28. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), 21 pts.; 29. Romain Pape (FRA, YAM), 16 p.; 30. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 16 pts.; 31. Noah Ludwig (GER, KTM), 14 p.; 32. Isaac Gifting (SWE, YAM), 13 pts.; 33. Taylor Hammal (GBR, KAW), 10 pts.; 34. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KAW), 10 p.m.; 35. Enzo Lopes (BRA, HON), 7 p.; 36. Nicholas Lapucci (ITA, HON), 6 p.; 37. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 5 pts.; 38. Jere Haavisto (FIN, KTM), 5 pts.; 39. Cameron Anthony Durow (RSA, KTM), 5 p.; 40. Joaquin Poli (ARG, KAW), 5 pts.; 41. Cato Nickel (GER, HON), 4 p.; 42. Slade Smith (RSA, YAM), 4 pts.; 43. Markuss Kokins (LAT, GAS), 4 pts.; 44. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 3 pts.; 45. Tristan Purdon (RSA, KAW), 3 pts.; 46. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, HON), 3 pts.; 47. Brian Hsu (GER, HON), 3 pts.; 48. Lars van Berkel (NED, FAN), 3 p.; 49. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 2 p.; 50. Matthew Malan (RSA, YAM), 2 p.m.; 51. Victor Alonso (ESP, DUC), 2 pts.; 52. Jayden Proctor (RSA, YAM), 2 pts.; 53. Erki Kahro (EST, KTM), 2 pts.; 54. Ander Valentin (ESP, TRI), 1 p.; 55. Bogdan Krajewski (FRA, YAM), 1 pt.; 56. Tom Grimshaw (GBR, HON), 1 p.; 57. Philip Olsson (SWE, HON), 1 p.;
Photos: shotbyBavo, Kawasaki Racing
Editorial team: Danny Hermans
