The 2024 MXGP Motocross World Championship hurtles onward, with just a short drive for the teams this week from the MXGP of Portugal to reach Spain for round six of the series.
The new venue of the Circuito Municipal Jorge Prado, the track near the city of Lugo, in the north-west corner of Spain, will for the first time host the MXGP of Galicia.
And yes, you read that correctly, MXGP of Galicia will be held on the circuit that is named after reigning MXGP world champion Jorge Prado and that’s because it is located in the area where he grew up and first threw his leg over a motorcycle.
Lugo will become the 18th circuit in Spain to host a Motocross Grand Prix, but the first in the historic Galicia region.
The nearest previous MXGP circuit was La Baneza, where Italian Antonio Cairoli and Germany’s Ken Roczen won back in 2011.
The five most recent events in Spain have all been at Intu Xanadu Arroyomolinos, including the second round of the 2024 series which was a perfect weekend for Prado and Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing in MXGP, with Kay De Wolf taking the victory there in MX2 for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.
The WMX Women’s World Motocross Championship will rejoin the tour for its third round, and the series has been a brilliant one so far with victory on home ground for RFME GASGAS Juniors MX Team’s Daniela Guillen in round one, followed by a stunning win in Sardegna for the De Baets Yamaha Team rider Lotte van Drunen.
The pair are locked together in a tie for the championship lead, and once more the Spanish rider will have a home crowd to cheer her on.
Van Drunen, as the most recent race winner, will carry the red plate, and she also loves the atmosphere when she is racing against the home hero.
Dutch rider Lynn Valk will also be trying to break the deadlock of the top two after finishing behind them in third at each of the first two rounds, while New Zealand’s defending world champion Courtney Duncan will be determined to put her Kawasaki on the top of the podium too this weekend.
The EMX125 championship series continues with its fourth round of the season, with Fantic Factory Racing EMX125 rider Noel Zanocz from Hungary holding a slender 8-point championship lead over Racestore KTM Factory Rookies star Gyan Doensen. Spain’s Salvador Perez holds third for the RFME GASGAS MX Junior Team.
Prado heads to his home town with a white plate fitted to his Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing machine, for the first time since the opening round, after losing the series lead to Team HRC’s Tim Gajser in Portugal. A tough day in the mud for all concerned, but especially Prado, sees the Slovenian with a 14-point gap that the local hero will urgently be looking to hack down and reassert his authority.
Kawasaki Racing Team leader Romain Febvre now lies just 18 points further back in third, with Dutchman Jeffrey Herlings in fourth, another 22 behind the Frenchman.
The worrying thing about Portugal for the rest of the pack was that the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing legend seems to be back in a winning mood after taking the chequered flag in race two, and he is starting to get his season together.
After taking his first Grand Prix victory for six years in Portugal, Pauls Jonass lies in fifth place in the series for Standing Construct Honda MXGP, just six behind Herlings and intent on his mission to stay consistent.
Overall the top contenders have had varied success in Spain, as Herlings has the most among them with 4 victories, two in each class, whereas Prado has two wins, both at Xanadu.
Gajser has to look back to his first MXGP title year in 2016 for his only win on Spanish soil, at Talavera de la Reina, but Febvre has yet to win a GP on the entire Iberian Peninsula.
The two other winners in Spain that line up for MXGP this weekend include Jonass at Red Sand in 2018, and Valentin Guillod of Team Ship-to-Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR, who won the MX2 class at Talavera in 2015!
As the MXGP of Portugal has proven, Motocross is massively unpredictable and as we move into the second quarter of the season, the anticipated battle between the giants of the sport in MXGP is well and truly still on.
Photo courtesy Infront Moto Racing
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STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 5:
MXGP World Championship – Top 10 Classification:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 252 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 238 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 220 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 198 p.; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 192 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 157 p.; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 151 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 149 p.; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 108 p.; 10. Ben Watson (GBR, BET), 92 p.
MX2 World Championship – Top 10 Classification:
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 246 points; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 216 p.; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 188 p.; 4. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 185 p.; 5. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 171 p.; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 168 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 159 p.; 8. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 154 p.; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 126 p.; 10. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 104 p.