Jeffrey Herlings (HRC) wins qualifying race; Lucas Coenen retires again

Saturday’s race at the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic in Loket: HRC factory rider Jeffrey Herlings set the fastest lap time in qualifying and started the qualifying race from pole position. World Championship leader Lucas Coenen continues to struggle with an injury to his right foot, which he sustained a week ago in the qualifying race at Foxhills. The Belgian World Championship leader finished the qualifying session in 12th place, 2.4 seconds behind the leader.

MXGP Qualifying, Loket

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NL), Honda, 1:43.414

2. Tim Gajser (SLO), Yamaha, (+0.313)

3. Romain Febvre (F), Kawasaki, (+0.612)

4. Ruben Fernandez (E), Honda, (+0.652)

5. Kay de Wolf (NL), Husqvarna, (+0.791)

6. Tom Vialle (F), Honda, (+1.278)

7. Jeremy Seewer (CH), KTM, (+1.300)

8. Calvin Vlaanderen (NL), Ducati, (+1.910)

9. Andrea Adamo (I), KTM, (+2.095)

10. Roan van de Moosdijk (NL), KTM, (+2.166)

Tom Vialle takes the holeshot

French HRC works rider Tom Vialle took the holeshot in the MXGP qualifying race. Coenen and Herlings followed behind him. Herlings overtook Coenen with a hard manoeuvre in Turn 2. Lucas was unable to put up much resistance in the right-hand bend due to his injured right leg. Coenen then moved up to third place, but was overtaken by Andrea Adamo as early as lap 3 and subsequently by further riders. By lap 4, he had already dropped back to 11th place and found himself in a hopeless position to score World Championship points. After six laps, he retired from the race at the pits.

Jeffrey Herlings was on hand

On the second lap, ‘The Bullet’ managed to get the better of Tom Vialle. He took the lead and gradually extended his advantage. Romain Febvre first had to overtake Andrea Adamo and Tom Vialle, eventually finishing in second place, 18 seconds behind.

The World Championship race is heating up

With 10 points for his qualifying win and zero points for Lucas Coenen, the World Championship leader’s lead has shrunk from 11 to just one point. As things stand, there will therefore be a change at the top of the MXGP standings on Sunday.

Will Coenen even start on Sunday?

The big question now is whether Lucas Coenen will be able to compete in Sunday’s races or not. If he does start, he is nowhere near fit enough to be in contention at the front. This will mark a significant turning point in the MXGP World Championship at Loket. What’s particularly unfortunate is that Lucas has no time to recover, as the championship continues next weekend with round 14 on the sandy track at Lommel.

Best performance of the year for Jeremy Seewer

In his second race for van Venrooy KTM, Jeremy Seewer not only secured his first qualifying points of the current season, but his sixth place in Loket also marked the Swiss rider’s best result of the year. With great skill, he mastered a tricky situation when Kay de Wolf crashed in front of him and he was able to swerve just in time to avoid a collision. Belgian Beta works rider Jago Geerts also secured his first qualifying points of the current season with an 8th-place finish.

Results for the German riders

Becker Racing KTM rider Maximilian was the best-placed German rider in 18th place. Cato Nickel (Honda) qualified in 22nd place, Tom Koch (KTM) in 24th and Theo Praun (Yamaha) in 31st.

MXGP Qualifying Race, Loket

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NL), Honda, 24:10.142

2. Romain Febvre (F), Kawasaki, (+18.080)

3. Tom Vialle (F), Honda, (+21.392)

4. Andrea Adamo (I), KTM, (+22.195)

5. Tim Gajser (SLO), Yamaha, (+26.195)

6. Jeremy Seewer (CH), KTM, (+32.014)

7. Kay de Wolf (NL), Husqvarna, (+33.664)

8. Jago Geerts (B), Beta, (+41.606)

9. Ruben Fernandez (E), Honda, (+45.220)

10. Maxime Renaux (F), Yamaha, (+47.432)

World Championship Standings

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

2. Jeffrey Herlings (NL), Honda, 565, (-1)

3. Romain Febvre (F), Kawasaki, 503, (-63)

4. Tim Gajser (SLO), Yamaha, 458, (-108)

5. Maxime Renaux (F), Yamaha, 393, (-173)

6. Andrea Adamo (I), KTM, 382, (-184)