Foxhills: Jeffrey Herlings (Honda) wins Race 1, Lucas Coenen retires

First MXGP race at Foxhills, Grand Prix of Great Britain: HRC factory rider Jeffrey Herlings (Honda) took the holeshot just ahead of Tim Gajser (Yamaha) and Tom Vialle. Herlings won the race in a start-to-finish victory.

Lucas Coenen finished the race in the pits

Before the start of the first MXGP race, World Championship leader Lucas Coenen (KTM) gave an interview. The Belgian was clearly not at full strength following his crashes, and this impression was confirmed during the race: once again, he failed to get off to a good start. He was initially in the top 12, but then fell further back and retired from the race at the pits after 12 minutes.

WM-Leader Lucas Coenen musste das Rennen in Foxhills an der Box aufgeben

Foto: MXGP-TV

Tim Gajser pushed hard but couldn’t close the gap

Yamaha works rider Tim Gajser got caught on a track barrier that had slid onto the track during the early stages of the race. In the process, he bent his left radiator cover, which was sticking out a long way from the bike. At times, the Slovenian closed the gap to the leading Dutchman to as little as 1.8 seconds, but it wasn’t enough to mount an overtaking manoeuvre.

Tom Vialle’s spectacular crash

Shortly before the end of the 30-minute race, Tom Vialle crashed whilst battling for third place with Romain Febvre. At high speed, both his wheels got caught in different ruts (cross-rutted), he flew over the handlebars and landed on the approach to the next jump. With his handlebars completely bent, the Frenchman could do nothing but try to limit the damage and finished in 14th place.

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Jeremy Seewer in 8th place

Swiss MXGP returnee Jeremy Seewer started among the top six and went on to put in a good race. The rider from Bülach finished his first MXGP race on a KTM in 8th place behind Jan Pancar (KTM), who was also in fine form. Kevin Brumann and Cato Nickel retired.

Herlings cuts deficit from 61 to 36 points

With his race win and Lucas Coenen’s retirement, Jeffrey Herlings reduced his deficit to the top of the World Championship standings from 61 to 36 points ahead of the second race. “Of course, that’s not how I wanted to close the gap,” Herlings explained after the race. “I hope Lucas’s injuries aren’t too serious, but unfortunately that’s just part of the sport and I know what I’m talking about.”

MXGP Foxhill, Race 1:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NL), Honda, 34:43.207

2. Tim Gajser (SLO), Yamaha, +3.121

3. Romain Febvre (F), Kawasaki, +7.806

4. Rubén Fernández (E), Honda, +37.346

5. Andrea Adamo (I), KTM, +47.685

6. Maxime Renaux (F), Yamaha, +54.269

7. Jan Pancar (SLO), KTM, +57.973

8. Jeremy Seewer (CH), KTM, +1:01.452

9. Kevin Horgmo (N), Honda, +1:02.822

10. Oriol Oliver (E), KTM, +1:05.452

World Championship standings:

1. Lucas Coenen (B), KTM, 566 points

2. Jeffrey Herlings (NL), Honda, 530 (-36)

3. Romain Febvre (F), Kawasaki, 472 (-94)

4. Tim Gajser (SLO), Yamaha, 432 (-134)