Standing Construct GASGAS Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff secured two impressive sixth-place results aboard his MC 450F machine to finish eighth overall.
The opening MXGP moto saw Coldenhoff start well, completing the first lap in sixth and then continuing to ride strongly throughout the race. Moving forward to fifth on lap two, Glenn held his position until lap seven when he dropped back one place to sixth, where he stayed until the chequered flag. Glenn completed the first moto just 30 seconds behind race winner Jeffrey Herlings.
Although not getting such a good start in the second race, Coldenhoff nevertheless completed the opening lap inside the top 10, before battling back-and-forth between eighth and ninth throughout the opening nine laps. In moving into seventh on lap 10 he showed impressive late-race speed, continuing to push hard during the closing laps of the race. Moving into sixth on lap 11 he rounded out the race without mistakes to match his first moto result and bring the season’s opening GP to a positive close.
Earning 30 world championship points from the MXGP of Great Britain, Coldenhoff sits just eight points behind second placed Tim Gajser heading into round two.
“It was a solid weekend for me, two sixth-place finishes is a very good start to the championship,” said Coldenhoff. “Qualifying yesterday wasn’t great, which didn’t give me the greatest gate pick for today’s races. But it was what is was and this morning in warm-up I felt great and posted the third fastest time. That gave me some confidence heading into the races. My first moto start wasn’t great, but I pulled through from around 10th to sixth, so it was good to get the championship started with a positive result. The second moto was very similar to the first. I felt good, felt like my speed was there and had some good battles. I know that if my starts are better I can fight with the guys that were ahead of me this weekend. I’m looking forward to the next GP, it’s one of my favourites and I hope to get some solid results there too.”
For Coldenhoff’s teammate Ivo Monticelli the first round of the 2020 MXGP series was a challenging one. Showing strong form to work his way to 10th following a 15th place start, the Italian looked set for a promising opening-moto result. Pushing hard, a fall resulted in the Italian landing heavily on his elbow, which resulted in pain in his left shoulder. Forced to bring his first race to an early end, he then ran as high as 15th in the second moto before another fall saw him drop back to an eventual 24th.
MXGP – GP Classification
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 47 points;
2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 38 p.;
3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 38 p.;
4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 35 p.;
5. Mitchell Evans (AUS, HON), 34 p.;
6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 32 p.;
7. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 32 p.;
8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, GAS), 30 p.;
9. Henry Jacobi (GER, YAM), 23 p.;
10. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 21 p.;
