Fernandez impresses with fourth in China, but Gajser loses championship lead

MXGP
Team HRC riders Tim Gajser and Ruben Fernandez had mixed results on a rescheduled race-day in Shanghai, China. With a typhoon hitting the area tomorrow, the timetable was made into a one-day format with a very early start and no breaks, making life even more difficult in temperatures over 35 Celsius.

Unfortunately for Gajser, his day got off to the worse possible start in the motos as he was involved in a second-turn crash that immediately dropped him to the back of the pack. From there, he quickly regrouped and was charging through the field, before he got involved in another incident that dropped him down to 15^th again. Once again, he made a number of passes before damage, as a result from that second incident, meant he could only cruise around the Shanghai circuit and he dropped down to finish in 17^th place.

That meant he lost the virtual red-plate for the first time since round nine in Latvia, with the deficit of four points heading into race two. He got a much better start this time out and quickly was into second place, but although he pressured the leader, he couldn’t find a way around and had to settle for second and is now seven points behind in the 2024 MXGP Championship, with one round remaining.

Teammate Fernandez had a much better time of things, with the Spaniard getting a season-best fourth overall in just his third round back after injury. Getting a great start in race one, he made a couple of quick passes to lead the field round on the first lap. Showing excellent speed, he then held off the best motocross riders on the planet for half of the moto, before eventually succumbing to the pressure to finish fourth. Knowing that a podium was within his grasp, he once again got another good start and was battling in third position for the majority of the race, before once again showing that his endurance isn’t quite there after missing almost six months of the season. Still, his fifth place in race two, gave him fourth overall and another big confidence boost as he heads in to the final round of the championship, which is being held in his home country of Spain on September 28-29.

MX2
Ferruccio Zanchi’s day in China had a familiar feel to it as the youngster struggled with starts but then fought his way back around the top 10 positions. With temperatures much different than back in Europe right now, it was a tough adjustment for the Italian to suddenly race in 35 Celsius weather, but he acquitted himself admirably and showed once again that he never gives up. With just one round left in Spain, in a couple of weeks’ time, the Honda CRF250R rider will be hoping to finish the season on a high and show everyone that the quick promotion to the MX2 class was well-deserved and that he has a very bright future ahead of him.

Race 1
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 34:14.906; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:05.254; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:08.778; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:10.654; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:13.566; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:14.215; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:35.439; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:40.450; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:43.135; 10. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:43.409; 11. David Braceras (ESP, Fantic), +0:50.306; 12. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:54.764;

Race 2
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 35:06.258; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:05.588; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:14.320; 4. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:19.558; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:24.841; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:25.316; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:47.565; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:53.134; 9. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:55.614; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Fantic), +1:04.080;

Overall
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 50 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 42 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 42 p.; 4. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 34 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 27 p.; 7. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 26 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 26 p.; 9. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 21 p.;