🇧🇪 MXGP of Flanders | Belgium – Round 14: QUALIFYING & results!

QUALIFYING

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MXGP

A statement of intent was issued in Free Practice, as Jeffrey Herlings put in the fastest time by an amazing 2.3 seconds over Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre. Tim Gajser was third for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP in the morning session.

A late run by Kay de Wolf looked to threaten “The Bullet” in Time Practice, but the red plate holder took pole by a solid 0.867 seconds to lead the Dutch 1-2.  Febvre, Gajser, and the second Honda HRC Petronas machine of Tom Vialle rounded out the top five going to the start line.

In a beautiful retro white livery, the JK Racing Yamaha of Isak Gifting shot into the lead of the Qualifying Race, at a circuit where the Swede has taken his career best GP finishes, but Herlings, De Wolf, and Vialle were right on his tail!  Andrea Adamo made some nice first lap moves, passing Vialle for what would be third after Gifting made a slight mistake to lose the lead halfway around the first full lap!

Vialle would also pass Gifting on lap two, with Gajser giving chase in sixth ahead of Red Bull Ducati Factory MXGP Team’s returning Italian Andrea Bonacorsi, and the third Honda HRC Petronas of Ruben Fernandez. Febvre was next, having stalled at the start of the lap to drop to ninth ahead of the KTM Kosak Team rider Roan van de Moosdijk.

Febvre took his time to get around Fernandez, doing so on lap five on a nice outside line before the Pit Lane straight’s wall jump, then followed up to pass Bonacorsi for seventh a lap later.  Van de Moosdijk would drop out of the points on lap nine of the 12, as Jago Geerts finished as the top home runner in tenth for MRT Racing Team Beta.

De Wolf briefly closed on Herlings, but the series leader put the hammer down to build up a good lead.  Gajser was eventually able to dig in and pass Vialle as the Frenchman ran too close to the edge of the track in the mid-section. He didn’t quite have enough pace to haul in Adamo, who equalled his best of the year in third position, for the fourth time in 2026.

A frustrated Febvre made a last-lap mistake to drop to seventh behind Vialle and Gifting, giving the Swedish Viking his best Qualifying Race finish since taking fourth at this very circuit last year!  Fernandez was able to outlast Bonacorsi to take eighth, the Italian still matching his best Saturday finish of the year.

Herlings would end up needing that big lead as he made a small mistake to tip over on the final lap, but he still won by an amazing 14 seconds, a margin that will shake up his opposition heading into tomorrow!  For now, his 75th career Qualifying Race win extends his Championship lead to 59 points, guaranteeing that his number plate will stay red for the MXGP of Sweden, but tomorrow is still enough for everyone to think about!

The MXGP riders will all be chasing a good night’s rest for the day of punishment they are all in for tomorrow. This one will test them all!

Jeffrey Herlings: “The crash shouldn’t have happened [about the crash in the last lap], but other than that it was a pretty good day. We had an okay start, I think it was second or third, and managed to come through into the lead after the first lap. From there I could do my own pace and pull away towards the end of the race. Just a silly mistake on the left-hander on the last lap that shouldn’t happen, but we still got the win. Looking forward to racing tomorrow.”

Kay de Wolf: “Definitely, tomorrow’s races are another ten minutes longer, twice over, so I was playing it smart. Then Jeffrey tipped over on the last lap.. no but that was fun! I had a good race, stayed behind Jeffrey and felt really comfortable there, which is what we’ve been doing in the Dutch Masters as well. Hopefully tomorrow, especially in the second race, I can latch onto him for the whole race and he can tow me to the finish line.”

Andrea Adamo: “It was a really decent result. The first two are both from Holland and the third one is from Italy, so I’m really proud and really happy with how I rode. I had a good start, put in some good laps early on, and when I couldn’t follow Jeffrey and Kay I just rode my own race. I’m proud of that, and I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

MX2

Perhaps now the brightest remaining Belgian hope for world title success this season, Sacha Coenen, got the hopes of the local fans up with the best time in Free Practice for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, while the Triumph Factory riders packed in behind him. Red plate holder Guillem Farres was marginally faster than Camden McLellan, with two-thirds of a second covering them all.

For the Qualifying Race gate pick, however, McLellan put in a barn-storming final lap to take the fastest lap in Time Practice by over a second and a third! Simon Längenfelder was a surprise second after changing his rear shock mid-session, with Farres a tiny fraction behind him. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rider Janis Reisulis was next along, and the other big Belgian hope, Liam Everts, was fifth fastest for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.

The Red Bull KTM riders were close into turn one, but Längenfelder edged into the lead ahead of Sacha Coenen, while Kay Karssemakers grabbed third for Dixon Racing Team Kawasaki!  The Young Motion Powered by Risa rider Sandro Sools was briefly fourth until Everts and McLellan led the charge past him, and the Swede was unfortunate to crash out later in the opening lap.

Farres was initially outside the top ten, but recovered well to hold seventh after the first full lap, then inherited sixth as Everts crashed down a short dip, remounting quickly to hold seventh behind the Honda HRC Petronas machine of Valerio Lata.

Both Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 riders, Janis and Karlis Reisulis, had crashed in the first few corners, but Janis was amazingly up to ninth by lap two, then quickly passed Maddi Racing Honda ABF Italia rider Maxime Grau a lap later! Osička KTM MX Team’s Julius Mikula was on the fringe of the top ten, in his last GP as a teenager.

McLellan knew he had the pace, and patiently moved up the order, being slightly gifted second place as Coenen made a mistake on lap four, down the same dip that claimed Everts.  He had a 5.8 second gap to Längenfelder when he took the lead, but again he did not panic and stayed patient.

The Reisulis brothers continued to both move forward, eventually finishing sixth and seventh, and both will be podium threats if they can start well tomorrow. Karssemakers eventually slipped to eighth, finishing just ahead of Mikula and Lata, who rounded out the top ten.

Everts had another small crash but still held on for fifth, close to Coenen at the finish as the younger Belgian crashed three times through the race, saving Farres the bother of having to pass him!  The Spaniard’s third spot extends his points lead further, now up to 34.

McLellan took five sweet laps to catch Längenfelder, and made a simple but effective pass up the inside into a left-hander to take the lead on lap nine!  From there, the result was inevitable, and the South African took his second Qualifying Race win of the season by over eight seconds!  He closed slightly on Sacha for second in the series, the gap between them also at 34.  The big question is whether or not McLellan can get away with his usual average starts in tomorrow’s GP races, or can he improve on them to make his life all the simpler!  He is the favourite for sure, but with tomorrow’s track likely to become even more gnarly than today, absolutely nothing is guaranteed in either class!

With tomorrow set to be in hot conditions again, the racing should serve up all sorts of surprises as the MXGP and MX2 elite deal with one of the toughest tracks on the entire planet!

Camden McLellan: “I feel good, it’s been a decent day so far. There’s still a little bit to improve for tomorrow, but things are looking good and I’m enjoying my time out here. There are a couple of sections where I’m not totally happy with what I’m doing on the bike, so I need to carry a bit more flow and open up the turns. I was riding a bit tight in the beginning, and if I open it up more it’ll be easier on the body and the bike, hopefully making tomorrow easier too.”

Source / Pictures: MXGP