The FIM Motocross World Championships head back to Europe for the 12th round of the 2023 season, the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic, this weekend.
The famous circuit of Loket will host a MXGP Grand Prix for the 26th time and will mark the return of the MXGP Paddock in Europe after the doubleheader in Indonesia.
Loket has been present in the MXGP Calendar since 1995 when Joel Smets won the first edition. Since then, many legendary riders raced on the circuit such as Stefan Everts who won 3 times, Mickael Pichon, also 3-times winner in the early 2000s and of course the one who won the most with 4 GP wins, Antonio Cairoli.
Several riders still in activity have also been victorious such as Red Plate Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado who won twice in MX2 (2018 and 2019) and once in MXGP in 2021. Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre also won here in 2015 and 2019 in MXGP as well as Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer who won last year’s Grand Prix.
The MXGP of Czech Republic will also host the finals of the EMX65 and EMX85, the unique round of the EMX2T and two rounds of the Junior e-Motocross Series, one on Saturday and one on Sunday (Sunday and Monday NZ time).
The MXGP of Czech Republic marked the 13th stop of the 2022 season and saw Seewer getting the best out of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Maxime Renaux second and Team HRC’s Tim Gajser (pictured here) third last year.
This year the Grand Prix will be special as it is marking the long-awaited return of 2022 motocross world champion Gajser to the competition after getting injured in pre-season.
The comeback of the defending champion will be a huge excitement of his own for every motocross fans. All eyes will be turn on him to see how he feels on the bike and if he can deliver something special during the weekend.
Leader in the championship by more than 100 points, Prado continues his impressive campaign with another podium in Lombok-Indonesia as he also extended his lead in the championship thanks to his win in the qualifying race.
Prado has led laps in all but the MXGP of Spain this season and is a model of consistency which will make it even harder for his rivals to catch him up. Prado has won three times in Loket, which will definitely be an added advantage for the leading red plate holder.
Febvre, second in the championship is unstoppable at the moment with a back-to-back win in Sumbawa and Lombok and has the momentum with him as he managed to get on top and coming out victorious of the great battles with Prado, Seewer and Dutchman Glenn Coldenhoff over the past couple of Grands Prix.
The Frenchman made it known that he was here to win and there is no doubt that he is a big threat every time the starting gates drop. This weekend will be another good chance to win on a circuit where he already won twice.
Gaining a place in the championship with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings not taking part in Indonesia, Team HRC’s Rubén Fernández has not been in the best form in Indonesia compared to his usual results as he finished 5th and 6th overall.
These results are good but riders behind him such as Seewer and Coldenhoff picked up important points in the meantime to close the gap with the Spanish rider.
There is no doubt that now back in Europe with his team-mate Gajser also returning to the competition, Fernandez will give all he has to maintain this third position in the championship.
Fourth in the championship we find Jeremy Seewer, who comes back in Europe with a podium in Sumbawa-Indonesia and a 4th place in Lombok-Indonesia which places him in the best position to attack the rest of the season from an advantageous position.
The Swiss star has now found the formula to be consistently riding at the front with a GP win and good results over the past five GPs. One thing is sure is that the winner of the 2022 MXGP of Czech Republic will come back to Loket to win again.
His team-mate, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Coldenhoff is another one with a newly-found confidence that saw him getting two podiums over the past four GPs and showed incredible speed.
His starts are on point too, which mean that he is able to fight for the win more often than not. Coldenhoff is fifth in the championship, only 25 and 24 points adrift from Fernandez and Seewer respectively, which is a good indicator of where he could be in a few GPs if he keeps that consistency.
Herlings is sixth in the championship which makes sense given that he has been out now for virtually three GPs, counting Germany, where he got injured.
He will not be back in Loket as he is still in recovery.
Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen is still seventh with a good margin.
Vlaanderen comes to Loket on the back of a seventh place overall in Lombok-Indonesia. He struggled with sickness during his time in Indonesia and will have used this time off to regroup for Czech Republic.
However his consistency this season speaks for itself with 100% of top 10 which shows how prepared he is for all type of tracks and conditions.
In eighth place is the Italian SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato who finished 8th in Lombok-Indonesia despite feeling unwell over the weekend, demonstrating his aptitudes to perform no matter what conditions.
Forato is a rider that is on the rise as he showed dazzling flashes over the last GPs. We can only anticipate that he will get closer and closer to podium finishes when the young rider will get everything aligned.
Ship to Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Valentin Guillod keeps showing his talent as the season goes. Recently crowned French motocross champion, the Swiss rider has never been that confident and it shows in his performances.
He equalled his season-best finish in Lombok-Indonesia with a sixth overall and rode consistently well into the top 10.
Guillod seemed to get faster as we now see him riding more often at the front of the pack.
Photo courtesy Honda
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STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 11 OF 19:
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 562 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 459 p.; 3. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 415 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 414 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 390 p.; 6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 386 p.; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 357 p.; 8. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 285 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 265 p.; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 203 p.
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 488 points; 2. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 462 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 452 p.; 4. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 441 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 420 p.; 6. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 417 p.; 7. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 346 p.; 8. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 341 p.; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 291 p.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 242 p.