The fifteenth round of the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship in Uddevalla turned out to be eventful with weather changes throughout the day making the conditions a challenge for the World’s Best.
In MXGP, Jeremy Seewer returned to the top step of the podium for the second time this season, bringing to a halt Romain Febvre’s win streak, the Frenchman rounding out the round in second. Red Plate holder and fastest qualifier Jorge Prado finished third to keep a healthy cushion in the Championship Standings lead.
In MX2, Simon Laengenfelder also took his second Grand Prix victory, extending his podium streak to five in a row. Solid in second was Liam Everts who now has back-to-back podiums in front of his teammate and Red Plate holder Andrea Adamo who fought hard for his third step of the podium with a race win along the way.
In MXGP race one, Romain Febvre managed to pull out the Holeshot and took the lead in front of Jorge Prado. Febvre seemed to get a good grip on the race but Prado started to increase his pace and got closer to Febvre. Maybe due to the pressure applied by Prado or a loss of focus, Febvre made a mistake on lap seven of seventeen and crashed to let Prado take the lead. Prado didn’t need another opportunity to maintain the lead to win the race in front of Febvre who finished second.
Jeremy Seewer made a great start and was in third quickly, showing great speed and good control throughout the whole race to keep his position until the end and was never worried by the excellent and returning Pauls Jonass. Jonass made quite an impact for his first GP since his injury to ride in fourth place from start to finish.
Glenn Coldenhoff showed determination to overtake many riders on a difficult track after an average start. The Dutchman found himself ninth on the opening lap but charged forward. He first capitalised on mistakes from Tim Gajser and Maxime Renaux early in the race to move up to seventh. He then made an excellent pass on Australian Mitch Evans on lap eight and kept going to catch and overtake Rubén Fernández on lap fifteen. Coldenhoff finished in an excellent fifth place given the conditions. Fernandez solidly finished sixth in the end losing only one position while Gajser ended in tenth place. Renaux had to settle for thirteenth after another mistake as he tried to push for a move on Jere Haavisto on lap eleven.
The other impressive performer in race one was Alberto Forato who relentlessly pushed forward after starting twelfth on lap one. The Italian managed to maintain control of his bike throughout the race and climbed up to eighth by lap six. It took him until the last couple of laps to make a successful move on Evans on lap fifteen to finish seventh. Evans settled for ninth in the end after getting picked off by Jeffrey Herlings on the very last lap. Herlings showed that he never settles and managed to gain five positions to finish eighth.
As the rain fell on Uddevalla in between the two races, the start of the second race became vital and it was Seewer who clinched his eleventh Holeshot of the season taking the lead in that competition. Seewer found himself in front of Febvre from the beginning and managed to stay in the lead. The Swiss rider made a slight mistake mid-race but managed to stay on the bike and in the lead. From then on Seewer kept a three seconds gap between him and Febvre and won the race to go 3-1 and win his second Grand Prix of the season. Febvre could not manage to get close enough to pass and settled for second to go second overall and halting his incredible winning streak.
Renaux made a great start in the second race to go third and kept his rank although he got some heat towards the end of the race from Herlings who was fourth from the start. Renaux managed to keep his nerve and finished third. Renaux went sixth overall while Herlings finished fourth and get fourth place overall.
It was the same story for Gajser, Prado, Forato and Fernandez who all kept their rank from start to finish although they were following each other closely. Gajser finished fifth to go tenth overall while Prado went 1-6 to get on the second step of the podium. Prado keeps the Red Plate and moves closer to the MXGP Title with ninety-eight points in hand in front of Febvre.
Following the same kind of race Forato and Fernandez finished where they started in seventh and eighth place which was the same position they finished overall. Behind them, Coldenhoff was one of the few who gain position as he made a great move to squeeze past Jonass on lap nine to finish ninth for ninth place overall. Jonass finished tenth to go 4-10 and fifth overall. Jonass showed all his talent again to get into the top five on his return to racing.
“I feel so good,” a delighted Seewer said of his win. “I mean winning always feels great and especially today, it was super tricky with the weather, the rain, the track. Usually, our sport is very difficult and it’s also about the last ten minutes and how big are you? But today was just about mental strength. I thought I could do that many more races before today because I had the speed and everything but sometimes you need patience and it finally paid off. It shows that I have it all and it gives an extra boost of confidence and motivation. I’m super happy and thanks to the team so let’s keep it going.”
MX2
In MX2 Race One, the Holeshot went to Simon Laengenfelder just in front of Rick Elzinga. Laengenfelder did not stop there and continued with the lead. The muddy and tough conditions were ideal for the German who loves these conditions as he led from start to finish to win his fourth race of the season.
Liam Everts quickly placed himself second after a few corners after passing Elzinga. Everts’ pace saw him get an edge on Elzinga and although he never went close to Laengenfelder the Belgian comfortably finished in second place. Elzinga also had a solid race to finish third and never worried about riders behind him to snare his season’s best finish.
Sacha Coenen made a good start to get to fourth on the opening lap in front of pole winner Kevin Horgmo. In a remake of the Qualifying Race, Horgmo got closer and showed good speed while S.Coenen started to get tense although both riders made mistakes. Horgmo was denied a first attempt to pass by S.Coenen but the young Belgian fell on the exit of a turn which let the door open for Horgmo to pass him and move up to fourth. Horgmo kept his position until the end of the race. Despite crashing another time, S.Coenen kept his fifth place until the end to equal his season’s best finish although he was put under pressure in the last laps by Emil Weckman and home rider Isak Gifting.
Weckman made a great start in sixth place and Gifting got to seventh on his home GP. In the end, both Weckman and Gifting kept their position and although they entered into a Scandinavian battle, the Finnish rider Weckman held on to finish sixth in front of Gifting seventh.
David Braceras managed to stay the whole race in eighth place. Camden Mc Lellan followed the Spaniard in ninth until the checkered flag after having passed Championship Leader Andrea Adamo earlier in the race. Adamo didn’t have the best start as he got to ninth on the opening lap. Having goggle issues Adamo lost a position to Mc Lellan to drop down to tenth and stayed in that place until the end.
In race 2, Horgmo got a great start and took the Holeshot and the lead straight away in front of Adamo and Laengenfelder. The Norwegian looked really composed at the front but Adamo showed his determination and hunger as he reduced the gap with Horgmo. On lap five, Adamo caught up with Horgmo and made an excellent move to pass him and take the lead. Horgmo got distracted for a second and got overtaken by Laengenfelder a corner later. Adamo kept racing superbly and managed to bring the race win home and clinched an incredible podium given his first race. With a 10-1 Adamo got third overall to get important points in the Championship.
Laengenfelder kept charging but could not get close enough to Adamo and managed to finish second to go 1-2 and win his second Grand Prix of the season. Laengenfelder confirms race after race and after getting four podiums in a row finally managed to get to the top of the podium. For Horgmo, things went bad to worse as he was still eying his first podium of the season being third until lap fourteen. Everts was putting pressure and looked at making his move but at the same time, Horgmo’s bike failed on him and completely stopped, crushing his dream of a possible podium. Everts finished third to go 2-3 for second overall and get a back-to-back podium.
Mc Lellan kept performing to a great standard as he went from sixth on lap one to fifth as he overtook Braceras with a great move on the inside on lap eleven of seventeen. He gained another position with Horgmo out of the race and went to fourth while holding his ground superbly to keep Elzinga at bay behind him. In the end, Mc Lellan went 9-4 for fifth overall and his best finish of the season.
Elzinga made a great return to racing to gain four positions, going from ninth on lap one to fifth in the end, going 3-5 for fourth overall. Elzinga keeps improving in his rookie year and came back into the top ten in the MX2 Championship Standings.
Braceras had another solid race although he got overtaken twice, he managed to finish sixth to go seventh overall while the consistent Gifting showed up again in race two to go seventh for eighth overall in his home GP. S.Coenen struggled out of the gate to find himself seventh on lap one and made a mistake on lap three that made him lose position. In the end, the young Belgian finished eighth for sixth overall and improved his season’s best finish.
His brother Lucas Coenen unfortunately did not take part in the racing after his crash in time practice on Saturday as he suffered from a concussion that prevented him to get the green light for racing on Sunday.
“I was pushing until the end today,” Längenfelder said. “The track conditions were tricky and I liked it a lot. I thought I could catch up with Adamo in the second race but made a small mistake in the end. Overall, I am super happy with my second Grand Prix of the season and it is great to come back home with another trophy.”
Riders now head for the Grand Prix of the Netherlands will take place at Arnhem next weekend.
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 35:38.717
2 Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:11.326
3 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:19.740
4 Pauls Jonass (LAT, Honda), +0:25.198
5 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:25.499
6 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:28.600
7 Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), +0:29.976
8 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:45.542
9 Mitchell Evans (AUS, Kawasaki), +0:49.029
10 Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:59.124
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), 34:47.487
2 Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:07.210
3 Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:26.440
4 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:27.537
5 Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:28.745
6 Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:29.189
7 Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), +0:31.435
8 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +1:08.120
9 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +1:16.455
10 Pauls Jonass (LAT, Honda), +1:18.245
MXGP – Grand Prix Top 10 Classification:
1 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 45 Points
2 Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 44 Points
3 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 40 Points
4 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 31 Points
5 Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 29 Points
6 Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 28 Points
7 Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 28 Points
8 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 28 Points
9 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 28 Points
10 Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 27 Points
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 770 Points
2 Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 672 Points
3 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 603 Points
4 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 553 Points
5 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 521 Points
6 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 498 Points
7 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 456 Points
8 Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 380 Points
9 Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 281 Points
10 Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 230 Points
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), 34:19.765
2 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:05.936
3 Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:37.665
4 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:43.985
5 Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +1:05.004
6 Emil Weckman (FIN, Honda), +1:06.989
7 Isak Gifting (SWE, GASGAS), +1:09.115
8 David Braceras (ESP, Kawasaki), +1:20.182
9 Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Honda), +1:24.259
10 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +1:37.489
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 34:57.730
2 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:00.928
3 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:16.509
4 Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Honda), +1:02.032
5 Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:04.004
6 David Braceras (ESP, Kawasaki), +1:04.472
7 Isak Gifting (SWE, GASGAS), +1:18.979
8 Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +1:24.233
9 Emil Weckman (FIN, Honda), +1:35.745
10 Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:41.194
MX2 – Grand Prix Top 10 Classification:
1 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 47 Points
2 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 42 Points
3 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 36 Points
4 Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 36 Points
5 Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, HON), 30 Points
6 Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 29 Points
7 David Braceras (ESP, KAW), 28 Points
8 Isak Gifting (SWE, GAS), 28 Points
9 Emil Weckman (FIN, HON), 27 Points
10 Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 20 Points
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 663 Points
2 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 583 Points
3 Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 559 Points
4 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 546 Points
5 Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 501 Points
6 Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 462 Points
7 Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 461 Points
8 Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 433 Points
9 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 425 Points
10 Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 306 Points
