The FIM Motocross World Championship stages the 13th round of the 2023 series in Belgium, where the deep sand of Lommel will surely test riders at this MXGP of Flanders.
The track at Lommel has been completely renewed which will give riders added work to figure it out before the qualifying races today (NZ time).
However, one thing will not change is that the famous sand of Lommel will give an edge to the sand-specialists of the categories.
Since its first edition in 1990, when Finnish rider Pekka Vehkonen won, many incredible riders got to race and win on the sand of Lommel.
Belgium’s Stefan Everts won once in 1995 while Italian Antonio Cairoli won three times in 2012, 2011 and 2014.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings also has written his name to the winners’ list in 2017, 2018 in MXGP and 2011 in MX2.
The current Red Plate Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado (pictured here) won four times already (2017, 2018, 2019 in MX2 and 2020 in MXGP).
On-form Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre also won in 2021 while Team HRC’s Tim Gajser won three times in MXGP (in 2019 and twice in 2020)
The Monster Energy MXGP of Flanders will also host the seventh round of EMX125 presented by FMF Racing and the unique round of EMXOpen
In 2022 the MXGP of Flanders in Lommel marked the 14th stop of the season and saw a surprising Standing Construct Honda MXGP’s Brian Bogers in Lommel winning in front of two other Dutch riders, Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff.
Prado will come to Lommel with more points to spare than last weekend in Loket, thanks to his win in qualifying and his 2nd place on the podium in Czech Republic.
While the leading red plate-holder was not feeling completely fine with some stomach issues, he still managed to get on the podium which shows his incredible resilience and adversity this season. Having won in Lommel four times, it is easy to foresee another incredible performance this weekend for Prado.
Febvre won his third Grand Prix in a row which speaks for itself in term of performance and how good he feels on the bike.
He has shown incredible speed and good starts but made few mistakes when he was at the lead in Loket which costed him precious points although he still won the overall. He looks like a man on a mission and going to Lommel, it will be interesting to see if he can extend his winning streak to four on a track where he already won.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer gained a place in the Championship as he overtook Team HRC’s Rubén Fernandez, thanks to his consistency and the 3rd overall last weekend.
The Swiss rider has stepped on two out of the past three podiums. Despite riding at the lead during last weekend in Loket, Seewer could not manage to hold on to it and felt a bit frustrated as he has this winning mentality that makes him want to win every races.
However, Seewer will come to Belgium with many positives, encouraging performances and results. He is determined to battle for the win.
Fernández is now fourth in the championship and has finished 6th overall.
Fernandez had somewhat of a quiet weekend as he was not really involved in the fight for the podium which he has been used too this season.
Fernandez is also now competing with his team-mate Gajser on the track which will definitely need some adjustment to find the perfect balance.
Gajser has made it to 7th overall on his very first Grand Prix following his injury in pre-season.
This was a good and encouraging first test for the 2022 World Champion who will build on these invaluable first feelings on the track in competition mode. Lommel is also a winning ground for the Slovenian who came out victorious three times in the past.
Coldenhoff didn’t ride as quick as in Indonesia but the Dutch is still a force to reckon with as he managed a 5th overall keeping on his confident riding.
The ‘Hoff’ is a rider that showed he can be very quick and coming back on the sand of Lommel after his first race win of the season in Sardinia will definitely give him a lot to be confident about in approaching this weekend racing.
The other Dutch rider, Vlaanderen has superbly won race two in Loket for his first race win of the season. Vlaanderen finally got rewarded following a consistent season although he missed on his first podium as he fell short in 4th overall.
But he now knows that he is winner-worthy this season which will give him that extra boost of confidence on top of getting on the podium last season in Lommel. Vlaanderen may be one of the good surprises again this weekend on a surface he enjoys.
Understandably, Herlings has moved down the ranks after missing few Grand Prix following his neck injury and will not be competing in Lommel.
Eighth in the championship, SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato had a bit of a dip in form in Loket with a 12th overall but he is still a solid top 10 rider.
He is just ahead of Ship to Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Valentin Guillod who had to retire in race two in Czech Republic for a 17th overall finish.
Home Hero Standing Construct Honda MXGP’s Jeremy Van Horebeek will come back to Lommel on a back of two really good performances and two top 10s for his only two appearances this season.
Competing in front of his home fans will be an incredible experience for the Belgian as it could give him an edge to perform well this weekend.
Photo courtesy GasGas
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RESULTS AND STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 12 OF 19:
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 614 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 510 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 465 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 452 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 428 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 402 p.; 7. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 386 p.; 8. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 302 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 276 p.; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 203 p.
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 531 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 496 p.; 3. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 491 p.; 4. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 462 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 447 p.; 6. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 433 p.; 7. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 390 p.; 8. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 372 p.; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 328 p.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 253 p.