Stunning double wins in South Africa: Coenen dominant in MXGP, Farres-Triumph fairytale in MX2

Only two names reign on this Sunday of racing in South Africa: Lucas Coenen in MXGP and Guillem Farres in MX2. Race report and standings.

Lucas Coenen is literally unstoppable at the Terra Topia MX Track: pole position, victory in Race 1, an encore in Race 2, and he stretches his world lead in MXGP. The unleashed 19-year-old Belgian on KTM left only crumbs for his rivals, Jeffrey Herlings and Romain Febvre foremost. In MX2 the Triumph fairy tale continues thanks to a superb Guillem Farres, taking his second straight, dominant GP triumph: a perfect 1-1 in Portugal 7 days ago, another 1-1 today in South Africa. Leader Sacha Coenen isn’t smiling; a 4th place in the GP was not exactly the goal... Here’s how it went.

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After yesterday’s pole position, Lucas Coenen puts his stamp on the first moto of the day, outclassing the competition on the South African track as well. Jeffrey Herlings takes 2nd, four seconds back, while reigning champion Romain Febvre shines with 3rd in this opening race. Noted in the report: Forato retires due to a technical issue (it seems his Fantic had been smoking for several laps), and Vialle crashes and retires too. The French HRC rookie, however, rockets off the line in Race 2 and even briefly takes the lead before Coenen’s decisive move. Further back there’s a tangle between Fernandez and Jonass that puts the Kawasaki rider out... Up front, Vialle (recently back from injury and not yet at full fitness) will have to surrender the podium to Romain Febvre and Jeffrey Herlings, with the latter then getting the better of the Kawasaki rival for P2. The race and the weekend end like this: Lucas Coenen superb, Calvin Vlaanderen takes 4th overall, Andrea Adamo salvages Italian pride with 8th at the flag.

A surge in form that should especially worry points leader Sacha Coenen. We get a two-sided round: the highlight is surely the first moto, when he throws himself into the fight for the win and ultimately finishes 2nd ahead of Laengenfelder (holeshot in this opening race), but behind the rampant Guillem Farres. The Triumph Spaniard then doubles up in Race 2: after the holeshot, he secures another GP triumph ahead of KTM’s German champion and the sensational rookie Janis Reisulis, whose result, combined with 4th in Race 1, earns him his first MX2 podium. There’s certainly some bitterness for home hero Camden McLellan, off the podium on home soil, while Coenen is 6th (recovering after an early, harmless crash). As for the Italians, the final GP standings show only Valerio Lata (Honda) in the top 10, with Ferruccio Zanchi (Ducati) finishing 13th.