The MXGP Motocross World Championships make a return to Europe this weekend as the classic Loketske Serpentiny circuit, commonly known as Loket, hosts the MXGP of Czech Republic.
The 27th event at this circuit, the thirteenth round of the 2024 series will be lucky for some, as the world’s elite racers dig in for a crucial part of the season in the hunt for the World Championship titles.
Loket has been the circuit of choice in this country for an almost uninterrupted period since the first event here in 1995, which was in the 500cc class and won by Belgian legend Joel Smets with a double win on the way to his first world title.
Since then, MXGP has returned to the circuit every year apart from 1996, 2001, and 2020.
Smets shares the record for overall wins at the circuit with fellow multiple World Champions Stefan Everts and Antonio Cairoli, who have each won four at the picturesque hard-pack venue.
Three active riders have a chance to equal that record, as Jorge Prado, Jeffrey Herlings and Romain Febvre have all taken three winner’s trophies away from Loket.
The MXGP class will see a continuation of the enthralling three-way title battle between Team HRC’s Tim Gajser, Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s reigning Champion Prado and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing talisman Herlings, who is on form following a perfect weekend at the MXGP of Lombok.
The MX2 class will see the two Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing team-mates Kay de Wolf and Lucas Coenen resume their battle for the title, with the Belgian closing to within 49 points of the Dutchman after the pair won a Grand Prix each on the island of Lombok in Indonesia.
The event will also see the final for the EMX85 and EMX65 European Championships for youth riders, with many competitors making the journey straight from last weekend’s World Junior Championships, including top EMX85 qualifiers Hayden Statt from the UK, Italy’s Andrea Uccellini and World Juniors second race winner Lucas Leok from that famous Estonian family.
Top EMX65 qualifiers Roko Ivandici from Croatia, and German Luca Nierychlo, will be among the leading contenders, as will race winning Brits Cohen Jagielski and Jett Gardiner, who will welcome the hard-pack of Loket after the sand of Heerde.
The packed schedule is also joined by the EMX2t single-race Championship event, so the sweet smell of two-stroke pre-mix will waft around the beautiful Czech valley for much of the weekend.
The “big three” of MXGP in 2024 squeezed together like an accordion over the two GPs in the Indonesian islands, as Gajser holds a 34-point lead over Prado, with Herlings closing in to be only a further 17 points further back.
It was Herlings who did the most damage in the heat, dropping only three points over the four GP races and the two qualifying races at Lombok, cutting his deficit to the red plate holder by 20 points.
He needs to continue this progress if he is to challenge for a sixth world crown. His main rivals will relish the more hard-pack conditions the field will encounter at the Czech venue.
Although the Dutchman will know, with 6 individual race wins around Loket, that he has won here more than any other active rider, even if his last victory was back in 2018.
Tim Gajser has only won a single race at Loket, back in 2017, but never won the overall, although he has stood on the podium five times in total.
Prado took MX2 victories here in 2018 and ’19, plus the MXGP class victory in 2021, when he shared the race wins with then-team-mate Cairoli.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider Calvin Vlaanderen sits in a solid fourth position in the championship after two consecutive podium finishes and he returns to the site of his most recent race win, as he took the chequered flag in the second outing here last season.
He also took an MX2 race win away from Prado back in 2018. Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jeremy Seewer has tasted champagne in Loket as well, with the Grand Prix victory in 2022.
Seewer’s team-mate Febvre returns to action this weekend after a five-GP break to recover from a thumb injury, and still sits seventh in the championship, behind Fantic Factory Racing man Glenn Coldenhoff.
Three times a GP winner at this circuit with five race wins, including the overall verdict last season plus double victories in both 2015 and ‘19, means that he has won more here than anywhere else, and the Frenchman could very much put himself among the main contenders as he goes all out for victory without any championship pressure.
Two riders in MXGP achieved their most recent overall victory at Loket, both in the MX2 class. Valentin Guillod, who is tenth in the championship for Ship to Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR, earned his in 2015, and current Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing rider Mattia Guadagnini did the job in 2021.
The battle at the top is sure to be electric again, and any slip-up by the leading title contenders could be crucial as there are plenty of riders ready to jump onto the podium in their place.
Photo courtesy Kawasaki
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2024 STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 12:
MXGP – World Championship Classification:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 608 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 574 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 557 p.; 4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 429 p.; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 411 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 360 p.; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 327 p.; 8. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 274 p.; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 264 p.; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 259 p.
MX2 – World Championship Classification:
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 576 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 527 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 509 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 471 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 455 p.; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 399 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 346 p.; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 341 p.; 9. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KAW), 228 p.; 10. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 226 p.