The sixth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship at an all-new venue, the Circuito Municipal de Motocross Jorge Prado in Lugo, Spain, churned out some exciting racing. The track’s stunning layout, which featured a combination of high-speed sections, challenging jumps, and a mix of sand and hard pack soil, came as a welcomed surprise to the MXGP series. Its association with the defending World Champion further enhanced the event, attracting a massive crowd of passionate fans.

While the atmosphere in general was electric, with the fans proudly displaying their support through their use of smoke flares, air horns, and even chainless chainsaws, it was a weekend of ups and downs for the Yamaha Family. Yamaha Motor Europe’s Off-Road Racing Manager Alexandre Kowalski reflects on the weekend:

Lotte van Drunen extends WMX Championship lead

« The MXGP of Galicia was exciting in many ways; however, it was not without its challenges. But starting with the highs, our WMX star, Lotte van Drunen, celebrated her second consecutive GP win with an incredible victory in Race Two on Sunday morning. Despite being just 16 years old, Lotte displayed incredible racecraft. Her talent and ability to manage races and the championship is phenomenal. It was an impressive start to the weekend and a great result for her as she leaves Spain with a 9-point lead in the WMX World Championship.    

Promising Performances in EMX125

« In EMX125, there were plenty of positives to take away. All three of the MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 youngsters fought hard. Mano Faure showed impressive speed despite making some small mistakes, proving that he is still a strong contender for the championship. Dani Heitink celebrated his first-ever EMX125 race win. Although he didn’t have an ideal start in Race One, he demonstrated his true potential with an impressive win in Race Two. While Jarne Bervoets had some crashes, he showed promise and had the pace of his teammates, indicating that he is on the right track.

Highs and lows in MX2 & MXGP

« In MX2, Thibault Benistant took his first Qualifying Race win of the season, which was an awesome start to the weekend. I would say that Race One was good, too; it looked like the ‘real’ Thibault was back. He had the fight and a fire in his belly, but unfortunately, he had a big crash at the end of the race, and this is what cost him a good result. In Race Two, Thibault missed a bit of intensity at the start. It’s quite often we see him posting his best lap times at the end of the race, which is around 35 minutes, so this shows he is physically fit. However, he needs to work on raising the intensity at the start of the race to give himself the best chance of a race win. The crash in Race One cost him a podium finish this weekend, but he is still fourth in the standings, which is good. The championship is long; there are still 42 races to go.

« Rick Elzinga faced difficulties during the weekend, as he didn’t feel comfortable with his rear suspension on the new track. This lack of confidence made it difficult for him to push his limits, resulting in a more cautious approach to ensure a safe finish. Despite not feeling his best, Rick managed to battle up front and most importantly, he took valuable championship points.

« In MXGP, the day didn’t end the way we had hoped, especially with the speed Calvin Vlaanderen had this weekend. After a strong third in Race One, he led the way in Race Two, but unfortunately, a small mistake cost him a podium finish. But it’s important to note that Calvin was very sick leading into this GP. He had a high fever and an infection, so he did not train. So, with that said, his performance was very impressive. He showed he is one of the fastest on the gate, and in the end, he came so close to being on the podium.

« Andrea Bonacorsi encountered a rear-wheel issue after landing heavy off one of the big jumps. This broke his wheel, and he could not finish Race One, but he handled it well. He rebounded in Race Two and demonstrated his ability to challenge the top-10 riders. Considering his recent transition to the MXGP class with minimal preparation, his performances are noteworthy. However, starting on the YZ450FM is different from the YZ250FM, and Andrea needs to work on his technique and power management during the start. With improvement in this area, he has the potential to run the pace of the front-runners.

Areas of Improvement

« If I must specify areas of improvement, I’d say early race intensity is a key aspect that requires attention, as the depth of talent in MX2 and MXGP demands it. It’s easier said than done, but the riders need to give their all in the opening laps before settling into the race because it seems that with the current depth of talent in all categories, this is where the races are won or lost. »

Galicia, Simone Mancini winner the round of EMX125 European Championship

Simone Mancini winner of his second seasonal round, Noel Zanocz remains championship leader.

The sixth round of the MXGP World Championship took place at a new location for the paddock as it was hosted in Lugo, Galicia, a technical track with hard pack ground. In addition to the two classes of the World Championship, only the EMX125 riders got to the track for this event. Simone Mancini ruled the weekend thanks to the pole position and the overall victory, while Noel Zanocz remains championship leader despite the imperfect race.

EMX125

Mancini’s performance was excellent in the qualifying, where Simone set the best time in his group and took the pole position. Noel Zanocz could not set his best lap and had to feel happy with the fifth time. Douwe Van Mechgelen was 17th.  

At the start of the first moto Simone Mancini could not get the best out of his pole position and lost one spot but the young Italian rider was the author of an excellent performance and reached second place on his Fantic XX125. At the start Zanocz was involved in a multiple crash and got stuck under his bike so had to start from the last position. Noel tried to work his way up but slipped again and could not do any better than 12th place. DouweVan Mechgelen qualified 15th at the end of a storming race.
  

Mancini set another excellent start in the second moto and moved to second. Simone man-marked his rival trying to mislead him and finally had the green light so he could overtake him and opened a margin. Unfortunately, with three laps to go, he lost some time because of a small mistake and had to give up victory, eventually finishing second. Noel Zanocz crashed in the second corner and started all over but thanks to an amazing recovery qualified nineth. Also, Van Mechgelen crashed in the first part of the race and ended up 24th.  

Simone Mancini won his second GP of the season courtesy of the two results. Noel Zanocz remains the red plate holder.

Simone Mancini: “I’m very happy with this result. I immediately liked this track and set the pole position. I was third at the start of Race1 and I lost some time before moving to second place but the race leader was already too far. In the second moto the start was a bit better and I immediately moved to second and when my rival crashed I pulled away, opening a solid gap. Too bad for those issues in the final laps which did not allow me to win. Now we’ll get ready for the next race scheduled in France next week”.

Noel Zanocz: “I had a very bad start in the first race with some crashes that affected my performance. Also the start of the second race was tough as I crashed again so I had to start all over but I worked hard to recover till ninth place, which I think is a solid result. It was not the best weekend but we’ll work hard to get better results next weekend”.