MXGP Andalusia: Lucas Coenen outclasses the phenom—eighth triumph

Lucas Coenen swept the Andalusia GP, the second round of the MXGP Motocross World Championship. No dice for Jeffrey Herlings who, after his qualifying mishap, couldn’t reclaim the red plate of the world championship leader.

On the Almonte sand, 70 kilometers south of Seville, Lucas Coenen went back to being from another planet, as he was for large stretches of last season—his first full year in the Motocross top class. There was literally nothing anyone could do, not even a lightning-fast Jeffrey Herlings who, crash at the previous day’s start aside, was also very consistent.

At just nineteen, Lucas Coenen is increasingly the fast-approaching future. In race 1 he gave no quarter, comfortably controlling the ambitions of Jeffrey Herlings, who never seemed able to attack. The escaping duo put Maxime Renaux and Tom Vialle in their place—Vialle faded a bit after a promising start. A brilliant opening for our Andrea Adamo, who now looks the MXGP big fish in the eye without any reverence: seventh place.

Same story in the second moto: Lucas Coenen out front and Jeffrey Herlings chasing in vain. Rounding out the podium—both for the race and the overall GP—was Tim Gajser, who is quickly getting to grips with the excellent Yamaha, also fast in Renaux’s hands; Renaux was fourth overall. The carousel of brand changes, with Herlings moving to Honda and Gajser switching from Honda to Yamaha, didn’t cause any major upheavals. Out front in the World Championship, however, is KTM with the phenomenal Lucas Coenen. Our Andrea Adamo finished the GP with a superb fifth place: next Sunday in Switzerland, a podium isn’t out of the question. Ducati, without the injured Andrea Bonacorsi, takes home a ninth overall with Calvin Vlaanderen.

1. Lucas Coenen (KTM) 102; 2. Herlings (Honda) 94; 3. Vialle (Honda) 89; 4. Febvre (Kawasaki) 75; 5. Renaux (Yamaha) 75; 6. Gajser (Yamaha) 74; 7. Adamo (KTM) 69; 8. Fernandez (Honda) 51; 9. Vlaanderen (Ducati) 49; 10. Jonass (Kawasaki) 40.