MXGP: Prado takes third GP win of 2020 as Gajser extends points lead

The 14th round of the 2020 MXGP World Championship took place in Lommel, the second round of the triple header at the famous Belgian sand track, for the MXGP of Limburg. Tim Gajser held a 48-point lead over Antonio Cairoli coming into this round, although it was Brian Bogers who took pole position in time practice.

Jorge Prado took the 17th holeshot of his rookie MXGP season in the first moto, the Spaniard ahead of Tim Gajser and Romain Febvre in the early stages.

The order of the front three changed after five minutes when Gajser ran off the track and allowed Febvre through into second, but in any case they were pulling away from Jeremy Seewer in fourth place. 

Gajser was able to clear Febvre again when the Frenchman made a mistake in the penultimate turn before the finish after losing time in the waves just before that. Prior to this, both Gajser and Febvre were closing on Prado, but the mistakes both of the chasers were making meant that at half-distance there were three seconds behind the #61 before Gajser appeared.

A poor lap from Prado with three minutes to go allowed Gajser to close a two-second gap, pass the Spaniard and open a two-second gap of his own all in one tour of Lommel. The Spaniard fought back in the following laps, but got unlucky with backmarkers, before a mistake halfway around the last lap cost the Spaniard a final shot at the win. 

It was unfortunate for Prado but something of a gift for Gajser, who took his 10th race win of the season, continuing the consistency that has unexpectedly made him the standout contender for the championship in the last two weeks. 

Whilst Prado missed out on the moto win, he was able to keep himself in the mix for the overall by taking second place. Behind the Spaniard was Romain Febvre who came under pressure towards the end from Jeremy Seewer but was able to hold one. Seewer, equally, stayed put in fourth ahead of Antonio Cairoli who paid once again for a poor start which saw him coming back from eighth in the early stages of the race – although his speed was never that of the leaders. 

Calvin Vlaanderen took sixth place ahead of Brian Bogers and Clement Desalle, while Jordi Tixier and Brent van Doninck completed the top 10. 

Jeremy van Horebeek finished 11th after a crash for the #89 which dropped him from the top 10. Behind the Belgian was Ivo Monticelli on the sole GASGAS following Glenn Coldenhoff’s announcement that his season is done after the crash in practice for last weekend’s MXGP of Flanders that resulted in two broken vertebrae. 

Petar Petrov took 13th behind Monticelli, ahead of Valentin Guillod and Tanel Leok who rounded out the top 15; while Evgeny Bobryshev was 16th ahead of Dylan Walsh, Michele Cervellin and Gautier Paulin who suffered bike problems from around half distance and the #21 Yamaha finally gave up on the final lap, although he was classified in 19th ahead of Arnaud Tonus who completed the top 20.

It was another holeshot for Jorge Prado in the second moto, and he tried to make an early escape at the front as Tim Gajser gave chase ahead of Antonio Cairoli who started second but gifted Gajser the position when he ran off track. 

Gajser took the lead as they approached the halfway point and Prado seemed to tire. Cairoli was not out of the question at this stage in third place as the top three had pulled away from those behind. 

However, a mistake from Gajser a lap after he took the lead dropped the #243 to seventh, whilst now there was a private battle between the two Red Bull KTM riders, Prado and Cairoli, for the moto win. 

There was soon a Kawasaki in the mix, though, with Romain Febvre joining the fight for the win. Cairoli got the hurry up from his team about he impending KX450 and tried to attack Prado, who defended strongly and held the position. 

Two mistakes from Febvre cost him the chance to win, though, as a crash with just under 10 minutes to go dropped him off the back of the KTM teammates. The #3 was able to rejoin the battle in the final minutes, but a crash in the waves on the final lap dropped him behind Gajser and into fourth place. 

Gajser, on the other hand, had a strong end to the race, coming from seventh after his crash to finish third and extend his points lead. The red plate holder was right on the back of the front three entering the final lap, but lost time on the final lap which limited him to fourth, then third after the crash of Febvre in the waves. 

At the front, though, it was a defensive masterclass from Prado who withstood two bombardments from Cairoli to take his fifth moto win of the season. Second place for Cairoli was the first time he had finished in the top three of a moto since he won in the final Mantova race a couple of weeks ago, while third place for Gajser meant the #243 extended his championship lead by seven points across the GP as a whole. 

Despite his crash on the final lap, Febvre finished in fourth place which meant he missed out on the overall podium. Behind him was Brian Bogers who continued his impressive form in the Belgian sand, finishing fifth ahead of Gautier Paulin, Jeremy Seewer, Jeremy van Horebeek, Calvin Vlaanderen and Clement Desalle who completed the top 10. 

Jordi Tixier was 11th, ahead of Ivo Monticelli, Evgeny Bobryshev, Dylan Walsh and Adam Sterry who rounded out the top 15; while Tanel Leok was 16th from Valentin Guillod, Tom Kock, Freek van der List for his first points of the season (Limburg was his third GP of 2020, after Flanders and the Netherlands), and Arnaud Tonus who took two crashes on the way to 20th.

In the overall, the mistake from Gajser after he took the lead cost him the overall, even despite the late mistake from Febvre that promoted him to third in the second moto. Instead, the #243 was second overall and Jorge Prado picked up his third overall win of the season. Gajser did extend his championship lead to 55 points, though, as he extended over Cairoli by seven points, the Italian beating Febvre to the overall podium courtesy of a better second moto result. 

Febvre, on the other hand, took fourth place overall, ahead of Jeremy Seewer, Brian Bogers (matching his Flanders overall of sixth), Calvin Vlaanderen (matching his best overall of the season from Lombardia with seventh), Clement Desalle, Jeremy van Horebeek and Jordi Tixier who completed the top 10 overall.