World MXGP champion Jorge Prado sure made a statement in Turkey last weekend. On a track that Tim Gajser and Jeffrey Herlings have dominated and with Gajser having all the momentum, the young Spaniard again came out and showed us why he is one of the best of his era.

Lucas Coenen in the MX2 class continued to fight for a World title, and while still a long way behind in the points, he isn't giving up just yet. Below are the comments from the riders.

Jorge Prado: "I really needed this victory. I was so unlucky in the first moto, my pants opened on the first lap, and then in the last ten minutes the lens came off the frame of my goggles. It’s a shame to have so much bad luck when it was a moto think I could have made passes and gone for the win. Then I came back strong in the second moto with a strong start. I made a little mistake and Gajser passed me - but I reacted straight away to regain position. We gained more points this weekend, and that is the goal right now. Let’s go on to the last two rounds of the season - to make a last big push, and see how it ends!”

Tim Gajser: After winning the qualification race I was excited to go racing today, but I didn’t quite have the same feeling on the track today. What they did overnight didn’t really make the track better and it was very one-lined and I couldn’t make the pass in that second race. Still, I can’t be too disappointed as I’m still leading the championship with two rounds remaining and I’m confident I can get the job done. A big thanks to all the team for all their effort and we’ll keep building for China next weekend.

Lucas Coenen: "It was a strong comeback after struggling in Switzerland. I made fewer mistakes here in Turkey. The first moto was slower to start, as I followed Simon Längenfelder’s lines, learning where to gain speed and make passes. In the second moto, I was behind Kay, and even though the track was tough to pass on, I went for it and took P1! I'm thrilled with the result, and with two rounds left, I’m excited to keep pushing for more fun and good results."

Kay de Wolf: "It was a challenging weekend in some respects. I felt great in qualifying, but something happened that I shouldn't have. Today was tough, especially this morning. In the first moto, the track was really slippery, making passing difficult. However, I turned things around in the second moto. It was a good step forward for the overall picture. Now we head to China, ready to fight for another win."

Simon Längenfelder: "I have been feeling good all weekend here in Türkiye. The track changed a lot from Saturday to Sunday, but I enjoyed both conditions. It was really difficult to pass. The second moto, in particular, was tough to get that fourth position and keep it when you're sandwiched between two riders. But we made it happen; third overall, which feels really good. We’re going to head to China happy and ready to fight for more!"

Jeffrey Herlings: “I believe Jorge, Tim and me were the fastest guys this weekend but they both finished on the podium and I crashed in the first moto and lost a lot of time, as well as burning my arm on the exhaust. In was in quite some pain. I had to come from last for P10. I managed to be good in the second moto but it was almost impossible to pass on this track. We just followed each other. No podium today. I’m looking forward to China. The season is coming to an end and two races to go. Realistically the championship is going to be very difficult but we’ll do what we can.”

Liam Everts: “A positive weekend. Winning the quali race was a good thing and then I was with the leaders in the first moto until I tucked the front. I worked my way back to P3: it was a good moto actually. In the second race I didn’t feel that comfortable in the beginning but then found a way to push later on. I just missed the podium so I’m a bit gutted about that. We need to work a bit more on the starts. If we can get that better then we’ll be on a very good way. We’ll have some fun in China.”

Andrea Adamo: “Not the best weekend. I compromised the GP a bit by not finding my speed on Saturday or getting my starts when the track was difficult for passing. The first moto was solid but the second one I lost a lot of time in the beginning. We will have another chance in China.’

Lotte Van Drunen: “I can't believe it. I'm still so young and we worked so hard for it and now to do it already is something incredible. I want to give a big thanks to my dad because he's the man behind all this. And thanks to my mom, my brother, my friends and family, my team, my trainers, everybody supporting me. This is crazy!Dreams do come true. That's what we can see now. It's been quite a great season. I've had some bad results, but I've also had really good results. My starts were bad and also all shots. So, yeah, I think this could never have been better. I'm really proud of myself and everybody around me, because without them this would have never been possible”

Mathis Valin: “It was really a good weekend. It's been a long time since I do 1-1, so it was quite good. We worked a lot these last weeks to get there, so it was better this weekend. And we can see the work we do. Now we focus on the last round. We have the red plate, and we need the champion one now!”

Daniela Guillen: “First I want to say congratulations to Lotte. And yeah,, today was a good day for me because I won the race, so I finished very well the championships. Which isa good feeling, I had my rhythm and then I finished well. I want to say also thank you to my team for this year and my mum and my sister. Thank you.”

Kiara Fontanesi: “Honestly, it would have been much better to win a GP, but it wasn't this GP that would have changed my life. And important for me was to come back to the end for sure if I didn't lose that much time in the last lap I couldn't win and win the GP and it would have been amazing but really it wouldn't change anything in the championship. So I'm just really happy it's the first race I'm doing without my kids here so I just want to say ciao to them!”

Jeremy Seewer: "With a start like that it always makes life easier. I've been feeling good all weekend but I even surprised myself today; those top-three have been so fast this year so to beat them was an achievement. I took the holeshot in race one and soon got a gap so I could relax and play with the track. I kept pushing for half the race, then I could move into cruise mode to control the race. My riding was good in the second race too but I got squeezed after the gate and had to ride through the pack. I almost caught Glenn, which would have given me P2 overall, but the most important success this weekend was that moto win; We've been working for this and the hard work finally paid off."

Romain Febvre: "At the start of the first race another rider hit me and I crashed in the start straight; I was dead-last and came back pretty well with a good speed, but on this track it's so difficult to pass that I lost time just to come back in the top-ten. Then it was more difficult, even if my lap times were just one second slower than the leaders even while I was behind other riders. It's a shame as I was sure that a good result was possible, and I used a lot of energy in this comeback. Second moto my start was good; I was immediately fourth and I was able to follow the leaders for the first ten minutes but then they made the gap."

Ruben Fernandez: Difficult day today, although I had some good speed in that first race before the crash, riding in sixth place until the very last lap. That was disappointing and I think that affected me a bit in race two but I kept fighting as much as I could and 10th overall is still okay and something I can build upon. Without that crash, it would have been a really good day, but even with it, I can take a lot of positives from the weekend and I am looking forward to China and seeing what I can do there and trying to finish this season strong.

Ferruccio Zanchi: After yesterday I was very excited to ride today, but things didn’t quite go to plan. I did manage to get my first holeshot in the first moto so that was great and really good for the team because they work so hard and getting the holeshot shows that my Honda CRF250R is competitive. From there though, it didn’t go so well as another rider then crashed right in front of me and I had nowhere to go. I got back to 11th but then crashed near the end and finished 17th. Race two was better but I hoped to be higher than 10th but I’m determined to improve and put in two good final rounds of the season.

Mikkel Haarup: “We’re done with round 18, and it’s been a really good weekend. On Saturday I was fastest in Free Practice, Time Practice, and then I was third in the Qualifying Race, so this set me up for a good GP. I had a great start in the first moto but then fell a few corners into the race, and that gave me a lot of work to do. I made it all the way back up to sixth and just missed fifth, so that wasn’t too bad. Another good start in race two put me in fourth early on, and then I moved into third. Overall I just missed the podium again, but I’m pleased with my riding and I’m looking forward to the next two rounds.”

Mattia Guadagnini: "This weekend was all about staying consistent and pushing through. In the first moto, I struggled a bit to break into the top 10 but managed a solid 12th place, earning important points. I knew I had to step it up in the second moto, and I was able to improve, finishing 10th. It's not where I wanted to be, but I’m happy with the progress and points. Now, I’m looking forward to giving my all in China and finishing the season strong!"

Camden McLellan: “This weekend was a little frustrating but also positive at the same time. I had a great start in race one but then crashed when I clipped Mikkel’s bike just a few turns into the race. It was a shame as it was my best start in a little while but that’s how racing goes sometimes. Then in the second one, I had another small crash and got back to seventh. We now head to China for the next one and I’m feeling good and healthy so I think it’ll be another good GP for me.”

Maxime Renaux: "My feeling? Bittersweet. Really satisfied of my first moto where I finished second. However, I wasn’t in the good flow but I defended my place tooth and nail. I don’t want to be a troublemaker in the fight for the title, but I fight for my place. In the second moto I squandered my chances for a podium with an early crash. I had to come back from far, not easy on this track. "

Andrea Bonacorsi: "Another top 10 result. Not bad, but it could have been better. A pity that my foot peg broke in the second moto. I think I must have hit a stone or so. Due to the broken foot peg, I couldn’t push anymore. That was too dangerous. So I had to slow down and lost a few places at the end. A disappointment, because I felt really good on this track."

Glenn Coldenhoff: “The weekend didn’t start well; I had a huge crash in free practice and was really sore. I could barely walk, but we did some checks, and fortunately, there was no major damage. It was still really hard to bend my knee, especially on Saturday. Finishing 12th in the qualifying race wasn’t ideal going into Sunday’s races. I had to start far on the outside, as they closed a lot of gates on the inside with fewer riders here. It was tough to get a good start, but I managed it pretty well. I had to take some painkillers because my knee and also my neck hurt a lot in warm-up, so in the end, going 6-5 in the races was pretty good. I would have signed up for that result straight away after yesterday. I felt I had decent speed. In the past two weeks, we worked a lot on the bike, especially on the suspension, and I felt like it helped me out big time. ​​I think we took a big step forward and can be happy. It was quite a positive weekend – in terms of the bike, speed and my riding. That boosts my confidence going into China, where I got a moto win and second overall the last time we raced there. We still have two more chances to get on the podium this season, plus the Motocross of Nations, of course.”

Rick Elzinga: Overall, the weekend was OK although Saturday was not so good. With the team I turned things around for today and felt better and better as the day went on. I had a poor start in the first race but came through to eighth so that was not too bad. Then in Race Two I had a great start, but in turn three, I got blocked off and dropped down the field. I managed to get back to sixth, which was good and I was happy with my riding, but I should have been closer to the front.

Karlis Reisulis: My first race was going pretty good, battling with Thibault early on, but I seemed to lose my rhythm and that made the race quite tough. It was quite a difficult track to make passes on and in Race Two I moved from eighth to seventh and that was it although I did close in on Rick near the end so my fitness is good, but overall I should have been better today.

Thibault Benistant: This weekend was quite difficult for me. I struggled with arm pump a lot and that meant I couldn’t ride like I know I can. The goal is to ride freely and enjoy the races, but unfortunately that didn’t happen this weekend.

Ivo Monticelli: On Saturday the feeling with the bike and the track was good and I set good times in practice. Unfortunately, I didn't get off to a great start in qualifying, but the pace was good and I recovered to 15th position. On Sunday in the first heat I made a better start and in the second half of the race I lapped really fast. Until a few laps from the finish I was in 11th position but in the final I was overtaken by Herlings and Guadagnini and finished 13th. In the second one I did not start well and finished only 17th. The track was very hard and there were very few good lines. In these conditions it was very difficult to overtake. Overall the weekend was positive for me, because I showed that I have the speed to aim for the top ten. Now we will return home to prepare for the final round in Spain at the end of the month.

Brian Bogers: “I had to dig deep this weekend. I didn’t have much time to prepare on tracks like this one, and I think that showed in my riding. Physically, I felt quite good, I got better every time towards the end, but by then, I had already lost too much time in the beginning. I expect the surface in China to be a bit different, and typically, Spanish tracks suit me well, so I am looking forward to the last two races of the season.”

Josh Gilbert: “Turkey was another new track to me on the GP calendar this year. It was an impressive set up and the track looked great, it didn’t race as I thought it would and it didn’t develop the best over the weekend being quite one lined. I had a great start in the quali race and had two solid motos.”

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