Jonass finishes 11th in first Dutch MXGP moto as Herlings wins thrilling battle
In the first MXGP moto of the Dutch round of the motocross world championship, Latvia's Pauls Jonass finished 11th, while home rider Jeffrey Herlings won a close fight against fellow Dutchman Kay de Wolf.
At the Dutch round of the FIM Motocross World Championship, held on the sand track in Arnhem, Latvian rider Pauls Jonass finished 11th in the first MXGP moto. It marked an improvement after a difficult qualifying session the previous day, where the Kawasaki rider crashed right after the start and could only recover to 17th place.
In the moto itself, Jonass completed the first lap in 12th position and gradually moved forward, reaching ninth place by lap five and holding that spot for several laps. However, on lap 13 he was passed by Kevin Horgmo and by his own teammate Romain Febvre, who had crashed early in the race and lost ground before regaining pace later on. Jonass ultimately crossed the finish line in 11th place.
A second Latvian, Edvards Bidzāns, also competed in the MXGP class at this round. After being at the back of the top thirty on the first lap, he improved to finish 25th.
A gripping fight for the win
The first moto delivered a memorable battle in front of around 30,000 spectators, as two home riders, Jeffrey Herlings and Kay de Wolf, fought for the win. Tom Vialle led off the start, but Herlings quickly took over the lead before making a mistake and dropping to third. On lap six, de Wolf moved into the lead, building an advantage of more than two seconds.
In the second half of the race, with five minutes remaining on the clock, Herlings retook the lead, though he nearly lost his advantage on the final lap after stalling his bike. Herlings ultimately took the win, with de Wolf finishing second and Tim Gajser third after passing Vialle during the race.
With this victory, combined with Febvre's tenth-place finish, Herlings further extended his lead in the season standings, now up to 134 points.
