French riders dominated at the weekend’s MXGP of Switzerland, round three of the world series at the brand-new race circuit of Frauenfeld.
At the end of the day, the overall GP wins went to Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Maxime Renaux, who won for the first time this season, as well as claiming his first podium. Second on the podium was Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado and third was Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre.
In MX2, it was also a first with Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant winning for the first time in 2023, in front of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo and Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf.
In the MXGP class opening race of the weekend, Prado (pictured here) took the holeshot to keep his impressive start record and kept the lead from start to finish. His team-mate at Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing Mattia Guadagnini got off very well as he found himself 2nd over the first 5 laps.
However, Renaux, who passed Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings on lap 2 to get to 3rd place powered through to overtake also Guadagnini on lap 6 for 2nd. Renaux went on to keep his 2nd place until the end without being able to get too close to Prado.
Guadagnini made a mistake on lap 10 and moved down from 3rd to 7th and got overtaken again several times to finish at the 9th place. Herlings was not on the same form as in Sardinia as he dropped to 4th on lap 2 when Renaux overtook him.
Herlings could not hold his 4th place as he got passed successively by Febvre, Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen and Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez between lap 9 and 11 to move down to 6th where he would stay until the end.
Febvre was riding impressively coming from 5th place on lap 1 and passed Herlings for 4th on lap 9 after an intense battle that lasted many laps. He then found himself 3rd after Guadagnini’s fall on lap 10. The Frenchman tried to attack his compatriot Renaux for second but settled for 3rd in the end.
Vlaanderen and Fernandez got to 6th and 7th during the first 8 laps and kept following each other throughout the whole race. The two riders managed to pass Herlings mid-race and went to 4th for Vlaanderen and 5th for Fernandez on lap 11 until the end.
Swiss rider Valentin Guillod from Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz, riding at home showed a lot of qualities as he stayed in the top 10 throughout the whole race.
He stayed in 9th position behind Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP team’s Glenn Coldenhoff in 8th from lap 1 to 12. As Coldenhoff overtook Guadagnini for on lap 13 for 7th, Guillod did the same a lap later and passed Guadagnini for 8th.
Guillod made the Swiss public cheered loudly when he made his move on Coldenhoff on lap 15 for 7th. Guillod finished 7th while Coldenhoff settled in 8th.
De Baets Yamaha MX-Team’s Benoit Paturel, who finished 10th, showed a strong performance as the he went from 13th on lap 1 to steadily go up the rank without getting overtaken throughout the race.
Riding at home Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer crashed early on in the first lap which hindered his chances to win his home GP. The Swiss finished 20th.
In Race 2, Prado again clinched the holeshot to make it 100% for the weekend.
However, it was not the same scenario than in race 1 as Renaux was all over Prado’s rear wheel over the opening lap. After an unfruitful try, the Frenchman managed to pass Prado and take the lead. Renaux showed great composure to keep the lead until the end.
Prado in 2nd quickly started to get threatened by Febvre, who looked very comfortable on the compact hard-pack. Febvre overtook Herlings on lap 2 and was on a mission to catch Prado up as he clocked the fastest time of the race on lap 8.
Febvre made several attacks on Prado until lap 12 when he found the gap and muscled his way to overtake the Spaniard for 2nd. Febvre would go on to finish 2nd while Prado 3rd.
Herlings found himself 4th on lap 2 and kept going throughout the whole race without being too worried by Seewer behind him. Seewer had much quieter and better race as he found himself 5th after lap 1 to keep this place until the end.
SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato, Vlaanderen and Fernandez managed to stay together the whole race. Forato got the better out of Fernandez on lap 3 to get to 6th.
An advantage that he will keep the race. Fernandez then got under attack by Vlaanderen and moved down eventually to 8th in lap 5 while Vlaanderen moved up to 7th and they kept this order until the end.
Guillod did another strong performance as the circuit of Frauenfeld seemed to suit him. Guillod went from 12th on lap 1 to overtake another Swiss Kevin Brumann on lap 3 for 11th.
Then he showed determination as he successively passed MRT Racing Team Beta’s Alessandro Lupino on lap 6 and capitalised on Pauls Jonass surrender on lap 8 to get to 9th. Lupino eventually finished 11th.
Finally, Guillod finished 9th getting another top 10 for the GP while MRT Racing Team Beta’s Ben Watson managed to 10th in the end after climbing his way from 14th on lap 1.
In the end, Renaux won his first GP of the season in front of Prado 2nd who is still the leading rider, keeping the red plate, thanks also to winning another qualifying race, and Febvre 3rd with his first podium of the season.
It was also the return of Arnaud Tonus on his home ground as a Wildcard rider. The Swiss rider finished 13th in race 1 and unfortunately could not finish the second race.
However this gave a lot to cheer for the public as they welcomed and cheered for the rider throughout the all GP.
Photo courtesy GasGas
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RESULTS & STANDINGS:
MXGP:
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 33:47.857; 2. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:06.298; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:14.572; 4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:17.538; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:22.113; 6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:30.112; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +0:34.759; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:43.139; 9. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GASGAS), +0:44.964; 10. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:47.953.
MXGP- Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), 33:34.904; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:07.825; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:17.970; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:21.320; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:26.839; 6. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), +0:31.325; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:38.761; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:43.814; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +0:53.484; 10. Ben Watson (GBR, Beta), +1:07.193.
MXGP – GP Top 10 Classification:
1. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 47 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 45 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 42 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 33 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 32 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 29 p.; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 26 p.; 8. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Ben Watson (GBR, BET), 21 p.; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 21 p.; (BEL, HON), 25 p.; 9. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 25 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 20 p.
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 155 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 134 p.; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 131 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 129 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 101 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 94 p.; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 90 p.; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 79 p.; 9. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 76 p.; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 76 p.
MX2 CLASS:
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna), 33:58.764; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:04.536; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:06.482; 4. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:11.947; 5. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:15.602; 6. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:16.425; 7. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:25.844; 8. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:36.352; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:44.341; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:03.899.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), 33:47.845; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:04.929; 3. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:07.755; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:08.543; 5. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:10.647; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:14.336; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:15.593; 8. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna), +0:47.308; 9. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:48.721; 10. Emil Weckman (FIN, Honda), +0:49.673.
MX2 – GP Top 10 Classification:
1. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 43 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 40 p.; 4. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 38 p.; 5. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 34 p.; 6. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 32 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 28 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 26 p.; 9. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Emil Weckman (FIN, HON), 20 p.
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 159 points; 2. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 139 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 136 p.; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 131 p.; 5. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 112 p.; 6. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 111 p.; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 94 p.; 8. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 94 p.; 9. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 72 p.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 66 p.