Pauls Jonass toasted his third MX2 triumph of the year with a 1-1 sweep of the motos in Valkenswaard.
The Latvian started his Grand Prix weekend with a decent Qualification Heat victory on Saturday, which gave #41 his third Pole Position of the season.
In the first moto on Sunday he followed the formbook perfectly with the holeshot and then controlled a small margin over LRT’s Julien Lieber (steering a production KTM 250 SX-F) until the final stages of the 30 minutes and 2 lap duration when he broke free from the Belgian to win comfortably. #41 then went on to repeat his excellence in the second race. The 20-year-old now has six moto wins and three shut-outs in 2017 and leads the FIM world championship by 19 points in the run-up to his home Grand Prix in Latvia.
“I felt good all weekend and we made improvements from yesterday to today and actually all the time with the bike,” said Jonass. “I enjoyed the track even if it was rough and pretty sketchy in places because it was hard underneath with some square-edge bumps but it was nice to ride. I cruised in the first moto. I like riding here and to go home with the 1-1 means I am looking forward even more to my home GP next.”
Jorge Prado was still fresh after his very first Grand Prix win in Italy last week and was poised to vie for more podium honours in the first MX2 race until he lost control over the first jump on the course and crashed.
The Spaniard remounted and regained ground to 17th position. Later in the afternoon he seized the second moto holeshot but had another big ‘off’ at the same spot. Jorge finished the race but outside of the points.
Watch: Jorge Prado crash at the MXGP of Europe
Also watch: Fan captures Jorge Prado’s huge crash
“This weekend I didn’t have any luck,” said Prado. “I think I had the speed and condition to make a good result but it just didn’t happen. I don’t know how I crashed in the first moto but it was a big one. I tried to lift the bike up and lost control. It was a hard hit. I tried my best after that and the result was not too bad after such a big crash. I went to the second moto knowing I didn’t have anything to lose and had the holeshot but just lost the rear of the bike. I was lucky to land just to the side of the fence. So I was fortunate in some ways but not in others. It has been a bittersweet week, and I need to learn from it.”
Julien Lieber pulled out of the second moto with an unspecified injury, and in the second round of the EMX250 European Championship, Miro Sihvonen walked the top step of the rostrum with his KTM 250 SX-F.
After back-to-back events in Italy and Holland Red Bull KTM Factory Racing can regroup with a free weekend before looking to the trip to Kegums for the Grand Prix of Latvia on May 7.
