The FIM Motocross World Championship is coming to Germany for the ninth round of the 2023 season, the hard pack of Talkessel Circuit in Teutschenthal always an exciting venue.
This venue also hosted the 2013 Monster Energy FIM MXoN and has long been a regular stop on the MXGP Calendar.
In the past, the top three in the championship, Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings, and Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre (pictured here) have all won on this track, which is an interesting fact and will add to the high-intensity competition.
The MXGP of Germany will also host the 6th round of the EMX250 and EMX125, with Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing Team’s Andrea Bonacorsi leading in EMX250, while MJC Yamaha Official EMX125’s Janis Reisulis leads the EMX125.
The MXGP of Germany marked the 11th stop of the 2022 series with a dominant Team HRC’s Tim Gajser who came out victorious in front of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer, in second, and Prado third.
In 2023, Prado is the leader of the championship as he arrives in Germany. He just finished on the second step of the podium in Latvia but lost some points to the winner of the GP, Dutchman Herlings.
The Spanish rider was not satisfied with his performance in Latvia and vowed to come in at Teutschenthal to win the Grand Prix. He has already won on this track in MX2 (2018, 2019) and will draw certainly from his experience to fight for the win.
Herlings couldn’t be more confident as he comes to Germany on the back of the perfect weekend with a qualifying race win and the two races on Sunday to win the MXGP of Latvia.
Herlings bounced back quickly after a missed Grand Prix of France and is closing in on Prado at the top of the championship and the track of Teutschenthal could be a good opportunity as he won once in MXGP in 2018 and twice in the MX2 class (in 2014 and 2016).
Herlings has been working on his starts and it shows as Herlings gets closer to the front quicker which has brought him a lot of success over the last couple of months.
Febvre is on a great form as he stepped on the last two podiums and added a race win to his name in France. In Latvia, the Frenchman went 6-2 for a 3rd overall and while he still has not won a GP this season yet, he has shown that he is a constant threat for podiums.
Febvre has won the GP of Germany in 2015 in MXGP during his MXGP World Champion year. His well-known technique and determination might be of great help to grab a first GP win this weekend.
Just 12 points behind in 4th is Team HRC’s Rubén Fernández, who went 9th overall in Latvia, although the Spaniard showed his usual consistency as he finished 3rd in race one to only encounter bike problems in race two and could not finish where he wanted.
However, his qualities are undeniable when all goes well with his bike as he seemed to have found the way to always fight for podium places since Switzerland. This weekend will be a good opportunity to get good points move towards the 3rd place in the championship.
Seewer is still 5th in the Championship as he managed to salvage good points in Latvia with a 7-5 for 5th overall. Seewer had to draw a lot of energy in race 1 to move up to 7th after a poor start and showed that he is one to be resourceful when things don’t go his way and never gave up.
The recent GP winner of France is on the rise and could well be one to watch in Germany this weekend on a track where he has not won yet.
Level on points in 6th place are two Dutch riders, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff and Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen both on 260 points.
Coldenhoff managed a strong 4-4 in Latvia to miss out the podium for only 1 point. The ‘Hoff’ is being steady recently as he is looking like he got into his usual rhythm to perform well.
Vlaanderen is mister consistent with 8 top 10s in as many GP this season however he has not broken the 5th place’s ceiling so far although he has shown his incredible reliability and a good speed. He seemed determined to fight for an attainable podium with his quality riding.
Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Mattia Guadagnini and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Maxime Renaux, 8th and 9th in the championship respectively are still out with injuries and will not participate in the MXGP of Germany however, 11 and 12 points behind in 10th position is the talented SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato.
Forato could well find himself in the top eight at the end of Germany as the Italian has shown great speed and control already in France despite having to retire, and in Latvia where he got the 7th place overall.
The Italian is an exciting rider to watch as showed that he can compete with the top riders this season. It will be interesting to see if he can keep it up his pace this weekend to score important points.
Home rider KTM Kosak Team’s Tom Koch is the first German rider in the championship in 18th place with 66 points and will be excited to be riding at home with the added support from the home fans. His best results were just outside the top 10 in 11th position in Spain and France.
Riding at home could give him that extra support to get into the top 10.
His team-mate, KTM Kosak Team’s Maximilian Spies, is another German rider that will surely try to draw from the home support to beat his best result of the season that he clinched in Latvia (12th overall).
KTM Sarholz Racing Team’s Henry Jacobi, the other home rider has made his comeback in France and Latvia and will use the home GP to get his fitness and speed back. The fast starter will want to get as many points as possible inn this special Grand Prix.
This weekend will also mark the return of JK Racing Yamaha’s Kevin Brumann to the competition after having to miss the MXGPs of France and Latvia due to an injury. He will be fully back on track in Teutschenthal.
Photo courtesy Kawasaki
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MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 393 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 378 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 306 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 294 p.; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 273 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 260 p.; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 260 p.; 8. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 203 p.; 9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 202 p.; 10. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 191 p.
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 367 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 355 p.; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 348 p.; 4. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 319 p.; 5. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 303 p.; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 273 p.; 7. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 259 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 232 p.; 9. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 223 p.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 160 p.