Lucas Coenen has extended his MXGP championship lead to 57 points following a second-place overall finish at the Grand Prix of Portugal in Agueda. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider took victory in the opening moto before finishing runner-up in race two, securing his fifth consecutive podium and seventh of the season.
The Belgian brothers dominated proceedings at round 10 of 19, with Sacha Coenen joining his older sibling on the podium in MX2. The younger Coenen claimed third overall despite an early crash in the first moto, maintaining his 32-point championship advantage.
Lucas controlled the first moto at the Portuguese circuit, opening a gap over his rivals to win by nearly four seconds. The victory marked his eleventh moto win from 19 races contested this season. After briefly leading the second moto, he settled for second place, which translated to runner-up honours overall behind Jeffrey Herlings, who went 2-1 on the day.
“Consistency was key,” said Lucas Coenen. “I knew I’d won the Quali race and the first moto so the weekend was already good. Overall, not bad. We’ll take the positives today and look on to South Africa next week.”
Andrea Adamo finished seventh overall in MXGP with 8-7 moto scores aboard his KTM 450 SX-F. The Italian rookie maintained consistent top-ten pace throughout the weekend on the fast, bumpy Portuguese clay.
In MX2, Sacha Coenen’s weekend was complicated by a crash in the waves section during the first moto, forcing him to recover from 18th to sixth. He responded emphatically in race two with a strong second-place finish, securing third overall and his seventh podium of the year.
“A mistake in the first moto that messed up my weekend but…I took some good points,” Sacha reflected. “I went double-double and came up short. A stupid mistake and we’ll try to avoid another in South Africa.”
Simon Laengenfelder narrowly missed the MX2 podium, finishing fifth overall with 3-6 moto results. The reigning world champion sits third in the standings, 62 points behind teammate Sacha Coenen.
In the EMX125 Championship, Ricardo Bauer claimed overall victory with 2-1 moto scores on his KTM 125 SX. The young Austrian now sits just 19 points behind championship leader and fellow KTM rider Moritz Ernecker.
The MXGP championship now heads to South Africa for the first time since 2008, with the Terra Topia circuit near Johannesburg hosting round 11 next weekend.
Photo: KTM Media
