A big day in the sand in Sardinia for the Red Bull KTM boys, with Lucas Coenen and Simon Langenfelder extending their championship points leads and showing good speed heading into Trentino this coming weekend. Here are the rider comments from Sardinia.

Lucas Coenen: “I made a gap in the second moto but it grabs you so quick! I went on my ear, and it took a lot of energy out of me. I said to myself ‘I cannot lose this one…’. I’m so pumped and we worked so good with the team. I’m really happy with the double race win.”

Jeffrey Herlings: I came close in that second moto, and I felt like I had enough energy to go for another 10 minutes, I just need to improve my speed to really fight for the win. The first moto, I got a good start, in fact in both races I got good starts, so that’s a positive but I couldn’t keep Lucas behind me. I gave it everything and I’m happy that I was able to match his speed for a bit and really close up near the end but winning is the goal and I know the Honda HRC PETRONAS team are working really hard to make that happen so it’s down to me to get on the top step of the podium.

Simon Laengenfelder: “I must say I’m really proud of what I could do today and the team also. We put in some serious hours to get my bike figured out for the sand and it seemed like it worked. I’m super-happy to win back-to-back. I could ride very freely. I was able to jump the bumps and the suspension worked really nicely. I had a lot of trust in the bike.”

Sacha Coenen: “The weekend started good on a challenging track, and the first moto was good also. I don’t know what happened at the start of the second it was quite a high-speed crash so I was lucky not to hurt anything. I was pleased with how I could come back then…so, not such a bad weekend after all. I was having fun out there.”

Kay de Wolf: “That one means a lot. Sardegna is one of the toughest tracks we go to and in that second moto it was very tough at the start. I think I was almost last, but in the sand you can always find different lines, and I just kept believing I could come back. Every lap I was passing guys and getting more into the flow. When I got into third, I just gave everything to bring it home. To take my first MXGP podium like that, in these conditions, is pretty special. I’ve always loved riding in the sand and this feels like a big step for me in this class.”

Liam Everts: “It was a really tough weekend physically, the sand here just drains you, so I’m happy to come away with another podium. The first race was good, I could ride my own pace and make the pass when it mattered. In the second one I didn’t get the best start, so I knew it was going to be a fight, but I stayed calm and just worked my way forward. At the end it was all about managing the pressure and bringing it home. Two podiums in a row and moving up to third in the championship is really positive, especially on a track like this.”

Romain Febvre: "I was quite strong in the first race but I missed my flow on the track in the second moto. Today was not great but it was still good points for the championship. The starts were really positive all weekend and I hope we can carry those on to all types of track; we made some changes about the front fork and it was working really good in the deep sand. I crashed three laps from the end of the first moto; it didn't lose me any positions but it cost me some energy which was missing in the second moto so I couldn't find my flow. I try my best every time I race but today it was not quite enough for the podium."

Pauls Jonass: "The first moto was a big improvement on yesterday but I lost my rhythm a little mid-moto before I got going again at the end. I made a good start in race two but then I crashed at the second turn; I wanted to go for the inside but I couldn't turn in traffic and went over the berm into the wall. That was a pity and I came forward again; I felt good riding alone but it was difficult to make passes. It was a typical Riola; it's always tough here."

Tim Gajser: “It was a difficult Sunday for me. In the first moto I crashed twice and had to come back from the back of the field, so it was all about taking as many points as possible. In the second moto I had a better start and felt strong early on. I made some good passes to move into third, but then I had a highsider in a fast section. It took me a couple of laps to recover and get back into a rhythm, but I kept pushing and managed to come back to eighth. It’s not where I want to be, but I gave it everything, took the points, and now we look ahead.”

Maxime Renaux: “It was a really tough weekend for me. I’ve been sick all week, with it peaking on Friday and Saturday. And that during one of the toughest Grands Prix of the year. I knew I had to rely on my mental strength. On Saturday, I was just happy to get through the day. Although I felt a bit better on Sunday, I was still far from being at full physical capacity. In the first moto I had an unfortunate crash in the second corner, which meant I had to come back from the back. In the second moto I gave everything I had and managed to finish sixth. Considering the circumstances, it’s a solid result.”

Rubén Fernández: Very happy with my riding today and I think I showed my improvement in the deep sand, after all my work this winter. With 14th gate-pick, I managed to get two good starts and just put myself in the right position in both races. Conditions were very tough out there and I’m riding against a lot of sand specialists, so the goal was to ride consistently and try to avoid any big mistakes. I think I did that well, so to go five-five is a good result and gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.

Tom Vialle: A frustrating day because I felt I rode a lot better than my results show. My starts were good in both races – including a holeshot in race one – and my speed was good for the majority of both races, I moved into third midway through the second moto and I felt good, but overall I just made too many mistakes in this deep sand and that really costs you a lot of energy. It’s frustrating because I definitely could have got more points, but it was still good to see that my sand riding is still amongst the best in the world.

Janis Reisulis: It was quite a positive weekend for me. I felt really good on the bike from the start and had strong speed throughout, which showed with the pole position in Time Practice and a solid result in the Qualifying Race. Sunday was also positive. In the first moto I rode well and managed things as planned, but in the second race I pushed a bit too hard early on, had a crash, and it was difficult to come back from that. Even so, there are a lot of positives to take away, and we know where we need to improve. I really appreciate the work from the whole team, and I’m confident we’ll keep building from here.

Karlis Reisulis: Overall, I think it was a positive weekend. The first moto wasn’t the easiest, as I was still dealing with a small injury from yesterday, but I did my best to fight through it. The second moto was much better though. The track was really tough with a lot of ruts and braking bumps, but I managed to work my way up to sixth and then into fifth in the final laps. To finish fifth in these conditions is something to build on, so I’m happy with the progress and I’m looking forward to the next round.

Valerio Lata: I never really felt the flow and the second moto was tough. I know that sand isn’t my strongest, but I really need to fight and work out a way to get closer to the front because there was definitely a chance to score good points in both races. Next weekend is Trentino, which is much better for me, and I know I want to rebound and do my very best.

Andrea Adamo: “Pretty happy about the weekend. P6 in the Quali race and P6 in the first moto. I made some passes and the results weren’t bad. Second moto I had a bad start and couldn’t find the flow in the first laps but then got a rhythm and again came through. I was passing for P7 with five laps to go but unfortunately I had a crash and hit the ground pretty hard. It was tough to recover after that. A so-so second moto but I’m happy about the speed, riding and everything in general. We have some positives from this GP, so we will work on the negatives. This is my learning year but I still want to do good and I’m looking forward to Arco now. I’m motivated to get there and go again.”

Calvin Vlanderen: “I just really struggled the whole weekend to get comfortable and to allow myself to push on the track. I just couldn't find the comfort to push but it matured with my riding, my speed is just not there. We changed the shock for the second race and I felt like we made some good improvement. So that was positive, and we keep going we don't give up and we'll be in Arco fresh and ready to go.”

Andrea Bonacorsi: “I have to first of all thank the whole team and all the staff, because they put a lot of effort and even if I came back in the hardest race of the year, both for me and for the bike, we have seen positive things and we've seen that I can be in front and fight; we have to stay positive, we have Arco and then a month without races, so I'm sure that we'll be able to catch up a lot and then we'll show what we really are made of from there.”

Mathis Valin: "The first moto was pretty short. I made a good start but directly on the first lap I had problems and had to stop. We changed to the second bike for race two but I didn't have the same feeling with the clutch at the start. After a few laps I found my flow and could push. The speed was there and I wasn't far from P3 at the end; I tried for several laps to find a way past Reisulis but I had no tear-offs left."

Kay Karssemakers: "It was a good weekend for P7; I was consistently fast to the finish in both motos. I made a good start in the first moto and was sixth for twenty minutes before I lost my rhythm for a couple of laps but I found it again at the end to make eighth place secure. I rode a really good first turn in the second moto to come out fifth but Farres pushed me off the trck at turn two and I had it all to do again from outside the top-ten. I fought to the end and found my flow mid-race to finish seventh. We are building every week; it was our first goal to be always top-ten and we are already there; the next step is to push for top-five and I hope I can be on the podium before the end of the season."

Francisco Garcia: "I am so annoyed with myself for that stupid mistake on the first lap, but I came back for second overall and kept the red plate. Now we go back to base to train as hard as possible to avoid mistakes and focus for the next race to win again."

Jeremy Seewer: “It was a difficult weekend, on one of the most challenging tracks for us; we must continue to work hard to improve.”

Camden McLellan: “Sunday here in Riolo Sardo is done, and overall, it was an okay day, but I made things difficult for myself. I actually had two good starts but got caught up with another rider and ended up at the back both times. In the first race I also went down on the opening lap, so I had to fight through from last up to sixth and was close to fifth but couldn’t quite make the move. The second race was similar as I started far back again and wasn’t really able to make the impact I wanted. There are some positives, but also clear areas to improve. Now the focus is on a good week of rest and recovery before Arco, which is a special place for me as it’s where I took my first win last year. I’m looking forward to going back there and I’m aiming for a strong weekend.”

Guillem Farres: “It was a bit of a frustrating weekend here in Riolo Sardo. Saturday started well with a good feeling on the track and second in time practice, which gave me a strong gate pick for the qualifying race. But a bad start and a small crash in that one meant I had to come through the field, and I eventually finished 10th. Sunday was similar in many ways. Another poor start in the first moto and a crash on the opening lap left me at the back, but I fought through to seventh. In the second moto I finally got a good start and moved into second, pushing for the lead for most of the race, but a late crash with a lapper cost me a lot of time and I could only finish 10th. It’s frustrating because the speed is there, but I just need to put everything together across the whole weekend.”