The FIM Motocross World Championship returned to the picturesque venue of Pietramurata, Italy, for round four of the current campaign. Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing's trio leapt onto the hard pack with momentum on their side, following a prosperous outing in Switzerland one week earlier, and put that to good use.
Kay de Wolf enjoyed another consistent day of on-track action on his FC 250, but was hindered by a couple of mediocre starts on the tricky layout. '74' did well to advance from the lower half of the top ten to fifth in moto one and made a bid for a podium in the second moto, but came up ever so short. Fifth was the position that he ended lap one in and he finished in fourth place, just a couple of seconds from third, for fifth overall on the day. Fourth is his current ranking in the championship standings.
Roan van de Moosdijk had a similar experience at the Grand Prix of Trentino, the fourth fixture, as he started in the lower half of the top ten each time and attempted to make progress on the slick surface. '39' went from eighth to sixth in moto one and then seventh to sixth in moto two. The rather consistent 6-6 scorecard meant that he slotted into seventh overall. Sixth is where he is sat in the standings.
Eighth overall was where Lucas Coenen, the third FC 250 rider in the top ten on the day, was classified. Coenen made more passes than most across the two motos. Going from outside of the points to eleventh in moto one was a very good showing, then he was even better when the track was at its roughest. '96' made an error in turn two of moto two and found himself in last, but he clawed his way back to ninth. 7-9 for eighth overall was a consistent scorecard on the hard-pack layout.
Kay de Wolf: "I gave it everything that I had today, but it was difficult to make progress. My starts were not the best. I want to work on that and keep getting better, so we will focus on the upcoming races."
Roan van de Moosdijk: "It was a decent weekend. I was sixth in every race this weekend, so it seems that I was the sixth fastest this weekend! I struggled a bit in the first moto and made improvements for the second moto, which worked. The result does not really show that though! We will get back to work for Portugal."
Lucas Coenen: "I was at the back at the start of moto one, but came back to P7. I did all that I could on this track. I made a mistake in the second turn of moto two and had to come from last, so there was more work to do. I came back to P9. We made some good improvements this weekend, so we will get back to work and come out swinging in Portugal."
There is a break in the schedule now, as the fifth stop of the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship will be run in Portugal on April 30.
Download high-res images from the Grand Prix of Trentino here.
Results – 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship, Round Four
MX2 – Overall
1. Andrea Adamo (KTM) 44pts; 2. Liam Everts (KTM) 40pts; 3. Jago Geerts (Yamaha) 39pts… 5. Kay de Wolf (Husqvarna) 34pts; 7. Roan van de Moosdijk (Husqvarna) 30pts; 8. Lucas Coenen (Husqvarna) 26pts
MX2 – Moto One
1. Jago Geerts (Yamaha) 35:33.508; 2. Andrea Adamo (KTM) 35:36.579; 3. Liam Everts (KTM) 35:37.299… 5. Kay de Wolf (Husqvarna) 35:48.413; 6. Roan van de Moosdijk (Husqvarna) 36:08.377; 7. Lucas Coenen (Husqvarna) 36:09.284
MX2 – Moto Two
1. Simon Langenfelder (GASGAS) 35:42.114; 2. Andrea Adamo (KTM) 35:48.164; 3. Liam Everts (KTM) 35:49.387… 4. Kay de Wolf (Husqvarna) 35:53.387; 6. Roan van de Moosdijk (Husqvarna) 36:09.547; 9. Lucas Coenen (Husqvarna) 36:21.359
MX2 – Championship Standings
1. Jago Geerts (Yamaha) 205pts; 2. Andrea Adamo (KTM) 183pts; 3. Thibault Benistant (Yamaha) 182pts… 4. Kay de Wolf (Husqvarna) 173pts; 6. Roan van de Moosdijk (Husqvarna) 147pts; 9. Lucas Coenen (Husqvarna) 102pts