Montevarchi: Jeffrey Herlings (Honda) wins Race 1 with a start-to-finish victory

First race of the MXGP class at Montevarchi, Grand Prix of Italy: Dutch HRC factory rider Jeffrey Herlings took the holeshot and won the first race in a thrilling contest with a start-to-finish victory.

Polesetter Tim Gajser broke his front wheel

In the first corner after the start, pole-setter Tim Gajser (Yamaha) caught his front wheel in an opponent’s footrest and shattered the spokes. The five-time world champion was forced to head for the pits after the first lap to have his front wheel changed. He rejoined the race a lap down and tried to salvage a few points, but narrowly missed out on a top-20 finish and came away empty-handed.

Kay de Wolf did not start

Spanish HRC works rider Ruben Fernandez, who had crashed on Saturday, was still dealing with the after-effects of his crash, but he was able to start and finished the race in 11th place. Husqvarna works rider Kay de Wolf, who had also crashed on Saturday, was unfortunately unable to compete on Sunday.

Lucas Coenen showed fighting spirit

There weren’t many overtaking opportunities on the tough, narrow and stony track. World Championship leader Lucas Coenen was well aware of this, but he didn’t get off to a good start and found himself only around the top 15 on the first lap. He then launched an impressive charge through the field and, halfway through the race, had moved up to third place behind Herlings and Maxime Renaux (Yamaha), who had also got off to a good start. In the final two laps, the top three were separated by just three seconds. Herlings won with a lead of 1.4 seconds over Coenen (2.9 seconds). Ducati factory rider Calvin Vlaanderen, in fourth place, was already 17 seconds behind the leader.

Jan Pancar strong once again

The Slovenian KTM privateer Jan Pancar, who had finished second in Saturday’s qualifying race, got off to another good start and was running in fifth place by lap 7. In the second half of the race, however, he was overtaken by Lucas Coenen, Andrea Adamo and Romain Febvre, but 8th place was a good result for Pancar in the end.

No German riders in the points

Cato Nickel (Husqvarna), who had finished the qualifying race in 15th place, retired from the race after two laps. Theo Praun (Yamaha) finished the race in 29th place, two laps down, well outside the points. Swiss Husqvarna rider Kevin Brumann secured one World Championship point in 20th place.

MXGP Race 1, Montevarchi

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NL), Honda, 33:57.754

2. Maxime Renaux (F), Yamaha, +1.384

3. Lucas Coenen (B), KTM, +2.949

4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NL), Ducati, +17.603

5. Tom Vialle (F), Honda, +19.324

6. Romain Febvre (F), Kawasaki, +21.057

7. Andrea Adamo (I), KTM, +33.720

8. Jan Pancar (SLO), KTM, +44.597

9. Alberto Forato (I), Fantic, +48.005

10. Pauls Jonass (LV), Kawasaki, +59.290

11. Oriol Oliver (E), KTM, +1:02.227

12. Jago Geerts (B), Beta, +1:02.898

13. Ruben Fernandez (E), Honda, +1:03.792

14. Kevin Horgmo (N), Honda, +1:11.004

15. Nicholas Lapucci (I), Honda, +1:29.391

16. Ivo Monticelli (I), Kawasaki, +1:37.034

17. Romain Pape (F), Yamaha, +1:46.039

18. Cedric Soubeyras (F), Honda, +1:54.911

19. Adam Sterry (GB), KTM, +1 lap

20. Kevin Brumann (CH), Husqvarna, +1 lap

World Championship standings after Round 1:

1. Lucas Coenen (B), KTM, 429

2. Jeffrey Herlings (NL), Honda, 371 (-58)

3. Romain Febvre (F), Kawasaki, 331 (-98)

4. Tim Gajser (SLO), Yamaha, 304 (-125)

5. Maxime Renaux (F), Yamaha, 290 (-139)

6. Kay de Wolf (NL), Husqvarna, 273 (-156)