Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider Calvin Vlaanderen secured his second consecutive podium finish with a third-place finish at the MXGP of Lombok. Clearly comfortable in the hot and humid conditions and in tune with his Yamaha YZ450FM, Vlaanderen battled for third in race one before repeating the same result in race two. For Andrea Bonacorsi, a pair of tenth-place finishes saw him finish ninth overall.
With a modified and reversed circuit in Lombok, all drivers had to tackle a new circuit for their second visit to the venue to complete the double-header in Indonesia. One thing remained the same a week later: the weather, with high temperatures and humidity creating challenging racing conditions.
Continuing to establish himself as an elite MXGP rider, Vlaanderen demonstrated his incredible fitness in the first moto to catch and pass reigning MXGP World Champion Jorge Prado on the penultimate lap to secure third place in the opening race.
The South African continued his momentum in race two, passing the first corner in the top five. An intense battle for third place then began, but Vlaanderen pushed hard to move into third by the end of the first lap, targeting the leading riders. Although he was unable to put them under pressure, the number 10 broke away from the rest of the field and crossed the line in third, just under 12 seconds behind eventual race winner Jeffrey Herlings. With two third-place finishes, Vlaanderen moved onto the overall podium in third for the second consecutive GP and remains comfortably fourth in the Championship standings.
The MXGP of Lombok saw Bonacorsi show great consistency. Although the Italian was feeling the effects of the heat and humidity, he placed 10th in both races to place ninth overall. Thanks to his good points, Bona remains 14th in the championship standings and just five points behind 12th place.
After a very successful Indonesian double-header, Vlaanderen and Bonacorsi will now return to Europe for the 13th round of the MXGP in the Czech Republic on July 20-21.
Calvin Flanders
3rd MXGP of Lombok, 40 points
4th MXGP Championship standings, 429 points
“What a weekend and what a ride! I’m so happy to be back on the podium from last weekend. I had two good races and I had to work hard to get there in the first race. I saw Jorge Prado fading a bit so I made a change late in the race and caught him. Then in the second race I had a few fast laps at the start and even though I couldn’t catch the leaders I still opened up a nice gap behind me. So 3-3 for third and another podium, so I’m really happy.”
Andrea Bonacorsi
9th MXGP of Lombok, 22 points
14th MXGP Championship standings, 167 points
“This GP was quite difficult. I had some good starts, I was in the top five, which made things a bit easier. But this weekend the heat really affected me, which made things difficult. But now we can go back to Europe, regroup and prepare for Loket in a few weeks.”
