PIETRAMURATA (Trentino) 13 April 2024 – The sun shone again for MXGP in the beautiful setting of the Garda mountains for round four, the MXGP of Trentino, and in front of the natural hillsides that were already crammed full of fans, the RAM Qualifying Race wins were taken by new riders for this season! Romain Febvre was victorious in MXGP for the Kawasaki Racing Team, with the MX2 battle being won by home favourite Andrea Adamo as he fended off a late charge from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Liam Everts to send the Italian fans home in a very happy mood!

Featuring a beautiful retrospective white, pink, and purple livery for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team this weekend, Calvin Vlaanderen topped the time sheets in Free Practice. His speed would carry into Time Practice where he grabbed third position behind Febvre in 2nd. The Frenchman’s late run brought him to within 0.816 seconds of the lead.  However, with a mid-session surge that put him 1.8 seconds clear at the time, Jorge Prado once more took the first gate pick for the afternoon race and looked tough to beat for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing. 

As with last week, it was a green bike firing into the lead from the gate as Febvre took the holeshot this time, with Prado and Fantic Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff in hot pursuit! Valentin Guillod was up in 4th early on the Ship-to-Cycle Honda but crashed dramatically after being passed by Team HRC’s Tim Gajser! The Slovenian pleased his many fans present by then moving past the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Jeffrey Herlings.

After a fall in last year’s RAM Qualifying Race at this circuit, Prado had further issues in 2024!  Losing the seat from his machine over the finish line jump, he had to do a full lap stood on the pegs and lost positions dramatically before pulling into the pits where his technicians did their work quickly!

At around half-distance, Gajser managed to leap over Coldenhoff’s head as the Dutchman couldn’t clear the big uphill triple jump after turn two, but the Fantic man held Herlings back to claim his best finish of the year so far in third.

With Prado losing his seat for a second time on the final lap, after working his way back to 17th position, it means that his championship lead over Gajser is more than halved, from 17 down to just 8 points! Febvre’s win, a repeat of the result here last year, pulls the Frenchman into 3rd ahead of Herlings and now lies 41 behind the Spaniard, who will surely look for redemption in Sunday’s main Grand Prix races – not to be missed!

Romain Febvre: “I felt good with a good start too. It’s so important and what we need because on some track we match the speed. Time practice was really close and I knew I had to get a good start. In the end we made it! I made a good gap and how they say I controlled the race. I’m happy and we mark some good points so let’s go for tomorrow! “

Main Photo: Romain Febvre

Bottom Photo: 1. Tim Gajser; 2. Glenn Coldenhoff

It was that red plate holder again in MX2, the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing machine of Kay de Wolf, who was fastest in Free Practice while his teammate Lucas Coenen struggled to just 12th. However, in Time Practice it was the turn of the series leader to taste some dirt, and he had to straighten out his machine before setting a time good enough for 5th place. A final lap dash for Thibault Benistant put the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team leader into pole position for the RAM Qualifying Race.  The Monster Energy Triumph Racing riders, Mikkel Haarup and Camden McLellan, again showed great pace to go 2nd & 4th, with Marc-Antoine Rossi of Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing splitting them in 3rd.

The frantic action continued in the RAM Qualifying Race as the familiar sight of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Sacha Coenen launched into the lead from the start, with his teammate Adamo right on his case! Rick Elzinga pushed past the World Champion briefly on the opening lap, with Everts and Haarup also close behind.  Adamo got back through and chased after Sacha, while Lucas Coenen suddenly started touring and pulled into the pits, so far without an obvious explanation. 

De Wolf had to work from outside of the top ten and got through to 6th at the flag, but on lap 7 Adamo was able to launch the big triple jump when Sacha Coenen couldn’t, and in the following corner the young Belgian clipped the Italian’s rear wheel and hit the floor! He would eventually recover to finish 8th.

Simon Laengenfelder moved forward for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing,  passing Haarup in a great cutback move! Then, on the last lap, both riders went past Elzinga, who slipped from third to fifth in the space of two corners! Third for the German, with Haarup fourth, gave him a three-point gain over De Wolf to reduce the gap to 26 points in the chase for the Championship. 

Everts showed his best speed so far this year to reel in his teammate in the closing laps, but in the end it was last year’s GP winner and Champion that took his first RAM Qualifying Race win of the season to pass Benistant, who finished 9th after getting stuck on the gate, for 4th in the series. Adamo’s home fans are certainly looking forward to seeing if he can repeat his 2023 victory here tomorrow!

Andrea Adamo: “It was a pretty strange race at the beginning I wasn’t feeling the best but then I went into my rhythm and I thought that it was my time. I passed Sacha as the ones behind were catching up! I’m super happy. The track is not easy to make a difference but I am super happy with my first RAM Qualifying win especially after last weekend and I’m pretty confident for tomorrow!”

Main Photo: Andrea Adamo

Bottom Photo: 1. Liam Everts; 2. Simon Laengenfelder

MXGP OF TRENTINO QUICK FACTS:

Circuit length: 1570m

Type of ground: Hard Pack

Temperature: 28°

Weather conditions: Sunny

TIMETABLE 

SUNDAY: 09:45 EMX125 Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX250 Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.