Brent van Doninck eighth in the MXGP of France

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Brent van Doninck of JM Racing Honda finished inside of the top ten at round seven of the World Championship MXGP in Villars sous Ecot in France. With a 10-8 score in the motos he took eighth overall. Camden McLellan made his comeback in the MX2 class and managed to score a solid twelfth position in the second moto.

The track of Villars sous Ecot was really sketchy on Saturday. Long, deep ruts made it difficult for the riders. Van Doninck found his rhythm immediately in the qualifying heat and started to pass the riders in front of him. In the closing stages of the race he tried to pass Valentin Guillod who was riding in eighth place but he wasn’t able to make a pass stick and due to a mistake by himself in the final corner he lost a position to Matt Guadagnini and came home in tenth position.

In both motos on Sunday things were going well for him again. He managed to finish in tenth and eighth place in the motos which gave him eighth place overall. After seven rounds he sits in twelfth position in the championship now!

McLellan didn’t took a good start in the qualifying heat on Saturday and due to a mistake in the beginning of the race he lost some valuable time. During the race he found his rhythm and charged back to eighteenth position.

Due to a lack of race rhythm he crashed in the beginning of the opening moto as well and had to be satisfied with 23rd position. In the second moto he took a much better start and was riding inside of the top ten in the first half of the race. In the second part of the race he started to become a bit tired but he kept fighting and finished the race in a strong twelfth position.

In two weeks from now the series continues in Kegums in Latvia.

Overall MXGP France:
1 Jeremy Seewer 47 Pnt
2 Romain Febvre 45 Pnt
3 Jorge Prado 38 Pnt
4 Ruben Fernandez 34 Pnt
5 Calvin Vlaanderen 29 Pnt
8 Brent van Doninck 24 Pnt

World Championship Standings MXGP:
1 Jorge Prado 342 Pnt
2 Jeffrey Herlings 318 Pnt
3 Romain Febvre 263 Pnt
4 Ruben Fernandez 263 Pnt
5 Jeremy Seewer 243 Pnt
12 Brent van Doninck 113 Pnt

Overall MX2 France:
1 Thibault Benistant 47 Pnt
2 Andrea Adamo 40 Pnt
3 Liam Everts 40 Pnt
4 Lucas Coenen 39 Pnt
5 Kay de Wolf 34 Pnt
16 Camden McLellan 9 Pnt

More misfortune for Brent van Doninck in the MXGP of Spain

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Brent van Doninck of the JM Racing Honda team has had more misfortune at round six of the world championship MXGP in Arroyomolinos in Spain. Van Doninck was riding in tenth position in the opening moto till his chain came off the bike which forced him to retire from the race. Because this happened in the final lap he was still classified in sixteenth place and scored five world championship points. In the second moto he had nasty get off and didn’t finish the moto.

The track of Arroyomolinos was hard and slick on Saturday. The temperatures were high as well so it was a physical demanding day for the riders. Brent set the fifteenth fastest time in time practice and was motivated to do better in the qualifying heat. Things went wrong for him at the start because he collided with a few other riders and crashed. Because the race was red flagged he had to start again. This time he didn’t took a good start and had to play catch up. This went well till he came behind Alessandro Lupino. In one of the corners Lupino hit the brakes really hard and because Brent wasn’t able to avoid him, he hit his rear tyre and crashed. Despite the crash, Brent still managed to finish the race in thirteenth position and was ready to go for the Sunday.

In the opening moto he had a good rhythm and everything went well for him. Brent worked himself up from eleventh to tenth position and was riding in this position till the last lap. Unfortunately he had misfortune because his chain came off the bike which forced him to retire from the race. Because he was still classified in sixteenth position he scored five points.

In the second moto he had another set back because on the finish jump he lost control over his bike and had a nasty get off. Because he hit the ground pretty hard with his head, he wasn’t able to continue and had to retire from the race.

Brent finished in twentieth position in the overall classification and sits in thirteenth position in the world championship standings. In two weeks from now the series continues in Villars Sous Ecot, France!

Overall MXGP Spain:
1 Jeffrey Herlings 50 Pnt
2 Mattia Guadagnini 40 Pnt
3 Ruben Fernandez 38 Pnt
4 Jorge Prado 38 Pnt
5 Glenn Coldenhoff 33 Pnt
20 Brent van Doninck 5 Pnt

World Championship MXGP standings:
1 Jorge Prado 294 Pnt
2 Jeffrey Herlings 288 Pnt
3 Ruben Fernandez 224 Pnt
4 Romain Febvre 214 Pnt
5 Maxime Renaux 202 Pnt
13 Brent van Doninck 88 Pnt

Brent van Doninck scores top ten position in the MXGP of Portugal

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Brent van Doninck of JM Racing Honda has scored a top ten moto finish at round five of the world championship MXGP in Agueda, Portugal. Van Doninck scored this position in the second moto. In the first moto he was forced to retire from the race after his chain came off the bike.

Van Doninck started his weekend strong on Saturday. He set the tenth fastest time in time practice and qualified himself in a strong seventh position. Van Doninck had a good rhythm on the track and was looking forward to the races on Sunday.

In the opening moto on Sunday he got a set back because his chain came off the bike and due to this he was forced to retire. In the second moto he took a decent start but in the second corner he went to wide and lost several positions. Van Doninck managed to take them back in the first couple of laps but then had a little dip. After a small mistake he finally finished the race in tenth position.

Brent van Doninck: ‘’I want more than this tenth position. I would like to finish around seventh or eighth position. When we look at my results from the beginning of the year this has to be possible. Of course a top ten finish is not bad in MXGP. We need a little bit more luck as well because here in Portugal we only score in one moto.’’

Van Doninck finished in fifteenth position in the overall classification and sits in thirteenth place in the world championship standings.

Before the start of the first MX2 moto, the organization had watered the track. Joel Rizzi was struggling in the muddy, slippery conditions and finished in 21st position. In the second moto he took a good start and was riding inside of the top fifteen in the first half of the race. Then disaster struck the young Brit because a stone ripped the gear shifter out and damaged the bike. This resulted in a DNF of Rizzi in the second moto.

The World Championship continues in Arroyomolinos in Spain next weekend.

Results MXGP Portugal:
1 Jeffrey Herlings 3-1
2 Romain Febvre 2-3
3 Jorge Prado 1-6
4 Ruben Fernandez 7-2
5 Jeremy Seewer 5-4
15 Brent van Doninck DNF-10

World Championship Standings MXGP:
1 Jorge Prado 246 Pnt
2 Jeffrey Herlings 229 Pnt
3 Romain Febvre 214 Pnt
4 Maxime Renaux 202 Pnt
5 Ruben Fernandez 182 Pnt
13 Brent van Doninck 83 Pnt