The final month of the 2024 FIM Motocross World Championship began with the trip to Afyon and the Grand Prix of Turkey, round 18 of 20 in the series and before rushes to China and Spain to close the series. Dry and hot conditions saw Jeffrey Herlings rebound from a tough first moto to rank 6th overall. In MX2 Liam Everts was 4th by the end of the afternoon.
Turkey is the first of two eastern trips for MXGP, and the flat and familiar layout of Afyon staged the eighth Grand Prix in the country and brought the series back to Afyonkarahisar. The circuit was first used in 2018. Warm and predictable weather and a hard-packed and rough course were the main challenges for the riders in the MXGP and MX2 classes. The championships are narrowing, and Red Bull KTM are firmly in the fight for medal positions.
On Saturday the RAM Qualification races saw Herlings power his way to a good start and then the lead. He classified 3rd for the same choice of positions in the gate for Sunday. Liam Everts was better placed in MX2 and grabbed the win for his third Pole of 2024 and his first since the Italian Grand Prix. Andrea Adamo was 8th. Sacha Coenen did not travel to Turkey: the Belgian is recovering from a muscular injury picked up in Sweden and has still not cleared the problem. He is undergoing treatment to be back 100%.
On Sunday the heat remained high, and the track was slick in places. Herlings almost crashed after contact with Romain Febvre out of the gate of the first moto. He rallied back to the top six on the first lap but then crashed and burnt his arm. Jeffrey was able to remount and score 10th. After some treatment he throttled across the fast layout for 3rd.
In MX2 Everts was initially 3rd in the first moto, dropped to 5th but then worked his way back to the top three. He couldn’t quite make the start he needed at the second gate drop and after completing the opening lap in 5th maintained that standing all the way to the flag. Andrea Adamo could not implement podium pace in Turkey. The Italian rode well to return to 5th from outside the top ten in the first outing and then took 9th.
Two rounds and four motos remain this season. Herlings is 3rd in the championship standings and 39 points from 2nd and 53 from the red plate. Everts is 4th in the MX2 list with Adamo 6th and Coenen 8th in his second Grand Prix year. Onto China and the long trip to Shanghai.
Jeffrey Herlings, 10th and 3rd for 6th overall in MXGP: “I believe Jorge, Tim and me were the fastest guys this weekend but they both finished on the podium and I crashed in the first moto and lost a lot of time, as well as burning my arm on the exhaust. In was in quite some pain. I had to come from last for P10. I managed to be good in the second moto but it was almost impossible to pass on this track. We just followed each other. No podium today. I’m looking forward to China. The season is coming to an end and two races to go. Realistically the championship is going to be very difficult but we’ll do what we can.”
Liam Everts, 3rd and 5th for 4th overall in MX2: “A positive weekend. Winning the quali race was a good thing and then I was with the leaders in the first moto until I tucked the front. I worked my way back to P3: it was a good moto actually. In the second race I didn’t feel that comfortable in the beginning but then found a way to push later on. I just missed the podium so I’m a bit gutted about that. We need to work a bit more on the starts. If we can get that better then we’ll be on a very good way. We’ll have some fun in China.”
Andrea Adamo, 5th and 9th for 7th overall in MX2: “Not the best weekend. I compromised the GP a bit by not finding my speed on Saturday or getting my starts when the track was difficult for passing. The first moto was solid but the second one I lost a lot of time in the beginning. We will have another chance in China.’