GP of Andalusia: Triumph beats Ducati to it, clinching its first Motocross World Championship win

Triumph beat Ducati to the punch by celebrating its first World Championship victory in Motocross. The feat bears the name of South African Camden McLellan, who won the MX2 Andalusia GP, the under-23 series.

The off-road project of the storied British brand started just two years ago—one season ahead of the Italian marque—and immediately delivered impressive results. In its debut season, McLellan himself had already managed to reach the podium. Last year the upward trajectory yielded a race-moto win, but the big prize, a GP victory, was still missing. It came on the Andalusian track of Almonte, near Seville. The TF 250 X flew over the Iberian sand right from qualifying. The day opened with a stunning race 2 win by the home hero Guillem Farres ahead of teammate McLellan. A dazzling one-two that perfectly foreshadowed what would happen three hours later.

Farres’s dream of taking his first GP win at home vanished in a chaotic start that forced the Spaniard back to the pit lane for an emergency repair. Farewell dreams of glory. Fortune’s low blow, however, didn’t shatter Triumph’s dream. The breakaway by Sacha Coenen (KTM), long ahead of our formidable Valerio Lata (Honda), faded in the finale when 22-year-old McLellan pounced on the Belgian and devoured him. The Triumph celebration could begin: in the overall standings McLellan finished ahead of Germany’s Simon Langenfelder (KTM) and the same Coenen. A fine sixth place for the excellent Lata.

The first world laurel also brought the points lead, with McLellan (99 points) dislodging Langenfelder (97 points), the winner of the opener in Argentina. Farres, despite the zero scored in race 2, is third with 80 points, ahead of Sacha Coenen on 78. At this point, for Triumph, dreaming of capturing the first Motocross World Championship in its history is more than reasonable.