Johannesburg: Guillem Farres wins Race 1 ahead of Coenen and Längenfelder

First race of the MX2 class, South African Grand Prix in Johannesburg: Pole-sitter Simon Längenfelder took the holeshot once again, but as early as Turn 3, Guillem Farres (Triumph) and Sacha Coenen (KTM) attacked simultaneously, relegating the German defending champion to third place.

Kamikaze move by Sacha Coenen

Still on the first lap, Sacha Coenen took a combination of jumps far too far, landed flat out, was completely thrown off balance and only just managed to avoid a crash. Later, he was in danger of crashing again, but he made it through and tried to close the gap on the leading Spaniard; in the end, however, it wasn’t enough to launch an overtaking manoeuvre.

Längenfelder lacked intensity at the start

Particularly in the early stages, the German lost a few metres to the two leading riders. At one point, his deficit grew to 6 seconds, though he managed to reduce it back to 2.4 seconds by the end. Overall, however, Längenfelder is well on the way to shaking off his slump in form, even though he lost 5 and 2 points respectively to his rivals Guillem Farres and Sacha Coenen in the first race.

MX2 Race 1 Johannesburg

1. Guillem Farres (E), Triumph, 35:02.592

2. Sacha Coenen (B), KTM, +1.208

3. Simon Längenfelder (D), KTM, +2.451

4. Janis Martins Reisulis (LV), Yamaha, +20.794

5. Camden Mc Lellan (ZA), Triumph, +25.238

6. Liam Everts (B), Husqvarna, +25.922

7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LV), Yamaha, +45.086

8. Jens Walvoort (NL), KTM, +46.263

9. Julius Mikula (CZ), KTM, +56.226

10. Maxime Grau (F), Honda, +1:01.333