Prado, Coenen Take MXGP of Turkiye
T
he closing stages of the FIM
Motocross World Champion-
ship are here, as round 18 of 20
took to the Afyon Motor Sports
Center for the MXGP of Turkiye,
September 7-8. Both MXGP and
MX2 Championships are com-
ing down to the wire with the
underdogs looking to gain as
many points as possible in these
final rounds. Both Jorge Prado
and Lucas Coenen claimed their
overall wins and scored crucial
points in the process.
MXGP
Jorge Prado needs every win he
can get at this point. The defend-
ing MXGP Champion came into
the weekend 19 points down from
rival Tim Gajser but managed to
hold off the Slovenian rider in both
motos. Prado scored third in the
opening race before holeshotting
and leading wire-to-wire in race
two. The gap to second was close
but never materialized into a pass-
ing opportunity. Prado held on for
the second-moto win and claimed
the weekend's overall victory. He
gained five points on points leader
Gajser and is now just 14 markers
back with two rounds remaining.
"I really needed this victory,"
said Prado. "I was so unlucky in
the first moto, my pants opened
on the first lap, and then in the
last 10 minutes, the lens came
off the frame of my goggles. It's a
shame to have so much bad luck
when it was a moto that I think
I could have made passes and
gone for the win. Then I came
back strong in the second moto
with a strong start. I made a little
mistake and Gajser passed me,
but I reacted straightaway to
regain position. We gained more
points this weekend, and that is
the goal right now."
Gajser fought hard on the
hard-packed Turkish soil but
came away with second overall.
He still controls the points lead
despite losing to Prado in both of
Sunday's motos. The Honda HRC
rider stayed close to the defend-
ing champ and finished just one
spot back in each race.
"After winning the qualification
race, I was excited to go racing
today, but I didn't quite have the
same feeling on the track," said
Gajser. "What they did overnight
didn't really make the track bet-
ter, and it was very one-lined. I
couldn't make the pass in that
WIND
IN THE
P70
Championship
heavyweights Jorge
Prado (1) and Tim
Gajser (243) went 1-2
at the MXGP of Turkiye.
Gajser leads Prado
by 14 points with two
rounds left.
