HRC factory Jeffrey Herlings has won the Saturday MXGP qualification race with a solid performance in the deep sand of Riola. The Dutchman had defending world champion, Romain Febvre on his back wheel for most of the race, with Tim Gajser finishing third. Incredible ride from Lucas Coenen, who went down in the opening corner and was last, but came back to finish fifth, on the back wheel of Vialle.

Jeffrey Herlings: He (Febvre) was riding so good and he has a lot of experience and is the world champion last year. Happy with this win, second in a row and looking forward to tomorrow.

Romain Febvre: I think I was fast, and I had some good lines and close the gap on Jeffrey. I feel really good and we made some changes to the bike and it works good in the sand. I took the holeshot, so that is good.

Tim Gajser: I was feeling okay. The track was rougher than time practice and very demanding. I was a bit behind in the start and it was a mess, but then I found my rhythm and the start was missing. Hopefully tomorrow I can get a good start.

Championship points are now Lucas Coenen 142 points, Tom Vialle 136pts Jeffrey Herlings 134pts, Tim Gajser 124pts and Romain Febvre 122pts.

MXGP Qualification Race

Herlings a magnificent start, but Febvre also super quick into the opening lap and it was Febvre, Herlings, Vialle, Adamo, Gajser, Jonass, Renaux, Van Doninck, Van De Moosdijk, and Fernandez 10th. Coenen 20th and de Wolf 18th after a slip over in the opening corner.

Herlings all over the back wheel of Febvre and Fernandez crashed and dropped out of the top ten. Top seven all former or current world champions, with Febvre, Herlings, Vialle, Adamo, Gajser, Jonass, Renaux those seven. Herlings into the lead in a great pass on the Frenchman.

De Wolf into 14th and Coenen 16th as those two make their way through the pack. Soon after de Wolf was 12th and Vialle starting to pull back to lead of Herlings and Febvre. Coenen now 13th. Coenen the quickest lap in the moto, despite pushing through traffic.

De Wolf into 10th place on lap four and Coenen also looking to pass Vlaanderen and Forato to get to the Dutchman. Top ten on lap four was Herlings, Febvre, Vialle, Gajser, Adamo, Jonass, Renaux, Van Doninck, Van De Moosdijk and de Wolf.

Herlings continued to lead, just from Febvre, with Vialle also not far back and Coenen all over the back wheel of De Wolf for eighth place. Top eight now all former world champion as de Wolf takes that 8th place, with Coenen next and Van Doninck 10th.

De Wolf and Coenen in a great battle as they give Renaux all sorts of problems as they thrash their way through the field. Coenen passed De Wolf and went to pass Renaux, but the Frenchman closed the door. Coenen into seventh place. Coenen into sixth place as he passed Jonass.

De Wolf into seventh with a pass on Jonass, and Coenen and De World now fifth and seventh after their turn one crash. Van Donick and Forato both passed Jonass, to drop the Latvian out of the points in 11th place. Gasjer all over Vialle for third. Febvre pushing Herlings again and Gajser pushing Vialle. Gajser into third place.

Coenen now just 13 seconds behind Herlings and a couple of seconds behind fourth placed man, Vialle. Coenen all over the back wheel of Coenen. What an impressive ride by Coenen. Herlings wins it from Febvre and Gajser.

MXGP - Qualifying Race - Classification

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 25:23.299; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:04.323; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:08.742; 4. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:12.629; 5. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:13.475; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:30.965; 7. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:35.222; 8. Alberto Forato (ITA, Fantic), +0:38.553; 9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:45.847; 10. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Fantic), +0:47.807; 11. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KTM), +0:49.354; 12. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:55.544; 13. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:56.832; 14. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +1:09.877; 15. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, KTM), +1:17.089; 16. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Honda), +1:20.927; 17. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Ducati), +1:22.018; 18. Maximilian Spies (GER, KTM), +1:22.916; 19. Jago Geerts (BEL, Beta), +1:23.367; 20. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +1:25.659; 21. Ben Watson (GBR, Triumph), +1:27.995; 22. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, Yamaha), +1:28.728; 23. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:28.956; 24. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Ducati), +1:36.940; 25. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), +1:38.254; 26. Matteo del Coco (ITA, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 27. Rick Elzinga (NED, Beta), -2 lap(s); 28. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Ducati), -3 lap(s);

MXGP - World Championship Classification

1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 142 points; 2. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 136 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 134 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 124 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 122 p.; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 119 p.; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 89 p.; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 83 p.; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, DUC), 73 p.; 10. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 67 p.; 11. Alberto Forato (ITA, FAN), 59 p.; 12. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 57 p.; 13. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, KTM), 52 p.; 14. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 48 p.; 15. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 32 p.; 16. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 32 p.; 17. Brent Van doninck (BEL, FAN), 29 p.; 18. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 29 p.; 19. Thibault Benistant (FRA, HON), 24 p.; 20. Jago Geerts (BEL, BET), 23 p.; 21. Ben Watson (GBR, TRI), 21 p.; 22. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KTM), 14 p.; 23. Enzo Lopes (BRA, HON), 7 p.; 24. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 7 p.; 25. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 5 p.; 26. Joaquin Poli (ARG, KAW), 5 p.; 27. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), 4 p.; 28. Noah Ludwig (GER, KTM), 4 p.; 29. Lars van Berkel (NED, FAN), 3 p.; 30. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 2 p.;