For an MXGP rookie and a rider who seems to have the same desire as a young Jeffrey Herlings or Tim Gajser for victory, the 6-9-3-7-4 result from Red Bull KTM factory rider, Lucas Coenen probably doesn’t sit well with the young Belgian. Despite these results not maybe being to his liking, these results are pretty damn good for an 18-year-old having his first season on the 450.

In the pre-season races, you had the feeling it might be a short term deal in 2025 for Coenen, as he looked wild and really pushing way too hard, but come the opening GP in Argentina, he already seemed to have decided to take the slow and steady route. Maybe this unknown injury slowed him down and made him realize that the 450 bites pretty hard compared to the 250, or maybe, he is just a quick learner. I am going with the second opinion.

From that 7-8 and sixth overall in round one, all with the discomfort of his injury, he went to the mud in Spain for round two, but more crashing and a 9-8 for ninth overall wasn’t an improvement, but considering the mud, it was a bit of a lottery for everyone.

From Spain, it’s been magical to watch the Belgian racing, 3-3 and third overall in France, then a qualification race win, a moto one race win and an unfortunate DNF in Sardinia and everyone in the paddock was getting excited.

This kid is special, NO doubt about it and while his 3-6 and fourth overall in Trentino last weekend was a little backward step, it was also a sign of his speed, another crash and the excitement this young man brings to the MXGP class. When he gets it right, its going to be pretty to watch.

In my opinion, he IS another Herlings and if he can tap some of the magic and cut back the crashes, then he WILL be the next man in line in the World MXGP championship. Even higher than Romain Febvre, who for the last decade has been one of the best riders in the World.

Coenen is fourth in the World MXGP championship points, some 98 points behind leader Tim Gajser and 59 points behind Febvre. It will take a mammoth effort to get close to either guy, but I do think he can at least reel in Glenn Coldenhoff and maybe even Febvre.

While it is Gajser with eight moto wins from the opening five rounds (including Saturday) and Febvre has three moto wins, Coenen sits on two moto wins. Of course, Jeffrey Herlings, once up to speed will be a serious GP and moto winning contender and then its going to get really exciting.

That is probably something that I look forward to more than anything, is seeing Herlings vs Coenen, because while Gajser is the man to win the title and clearly a class above everyone else at the moment, those lightning bursts from a bad start, or the top speed, I still think that Herlings and Coenen might be able to match the Slovenian, or even be quicker on occasions.

There will come a time in 2025, that Coenen wins a GP and builds confidence and momentum, and when that happens, I am excited to see how Gajser, Febvre and Herlings respond.

Trentino - Lucas Coenen, 3rd and 6th for 4th overall in MXGP: “I didn’t feel so good on Saturday and the incident with the gate in the Heat race meant I had to ride from last to 11th. I knew I needed good starts today but couldn’t turn to the inside as much as I wanted. 3rd was good in the first moto though and then I was chasing for 2nd in the next race and thought I saw my opportunity. I made a small mistake and had to pick up for 6th. I’m mad…but we’ll get over it.”

Sardinia - Lucas Coenen, 1st and DNF for 7th overall in MXGP: “I felt good in Timed Practice and almost won the qualifying race, but things went even better in the first moto on Sunday. I made the start I wanted and then just controlled the gap. I don’t know what happened at the start of the second moto: I think somebody hit me into the first turn. I came back to 8th or 9th until I found another rider in mid-air and then crashed. The weekend was done. Good and bad. More luck next weekend I hope.”

France - Lucas Coenen, 3rd and 3rd for 3rd overall in MXGP: “What can I say? Speechless! That’s the first podium out the way. We had some difficult times lately, but we’ve finally kicked off: 3-3 for 3. I wanted to make another pass in the second moto, but it started raining and I just said “stay there and get the first podium. We now have two weeks off to rest and we’ll see what we can do in Sardinia. Thanks to the team and my physio, they worked so hard with me these last few weeks. I cannot thank them enough. We’re now looking forward to building confidence and see where we end up.”

Spain - Lucas Coenen, 9th and 8th for 9th overall in MXGP: “I had the speed on Saturday but got a little tight and 6th was OK from the heat. We had a lot of rain for Sunday. I crashed in the start and had to come back from last to 9th in the first moto, but the start was a lot better in the second race. It was a shame to have that little tip-over. The rest was history. P8: finito! Onto the next one.”

Argentina - Lucas Coenen, 7th and 8th for 6th overall in MXGP: “My first MXGP race was quite tricky. I didn’t have the best feeling on the track or the best speed but managed a good start in the Quali race until another rider ran into my leg and put me down. I had to fight hard to come back from last to 19th and that was tough. I reset for Sunday and did my best. I finished in the top ten twice and I’m really pleased. It’s almost like a win for me right now and we made some good points. We’ll keep building and swing even higher for Spain.”

JP/KTM images