The 14th round of 19 in the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship in Vantaa, the MXGP of Finland, produced some eventful races throughout the weekend.
The riders deliver incredible performances for the third week in a row and gave the Finnish public a lot to cheer on.
In the MXGP class, Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre got his personal record with five Grand Prix victories in a row and continues to be the top rider at the moment while Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado finished second again and scored a lot of points too thanks to his win in race two.
Closing the podium was once again Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff who gets a back-to-back podium confirming his great form.
In the MX2 class, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo managed to get his first perfect GP win with an excellent 1-1 that extends his lead in the championship.
Finishing second overall in the MX2 class and getting his fourth podium in a row was Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder, who finished in front of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Liam Everts, consistency putting him back on the podium.
In MXGP race one, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer took his 10th holeshot of the season and kept going at the lead in front of Prado and Febvre.
Febvre quickly charged on Prado in the opening lap to overtake his closest rival and move up to second.
Febvre kept his impressive level as he found the way past Seewer to take the lead on lap two of 19.
On this tough track, Seewer stayed in touch the whole race with the Frenchman but could do nothing to prevent Febvre’s 6th victory of the season.
Seewer managed a strong race as he had to defend on Prado for most of the race with the front three riders separated by three seconds for many laps. In the end Seewer finished second and Prado third.
Dutch rider Coldenhoff had a quiet race as he trailed further back from the top three riders but still got a comfortable cushion with his pursuers. In the end Coldenhoff managed a podium-hopeful fourth place.
The fifth place, on the other hand, got fought for during the whole race.
Team HRC’s Rubén Fernández showed a good start in third, but got overtaken in the opening lap by Prado and Coldenhoff to move down to fifth.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings was behind Fernandez after the start and took two laps to dive on the inside of the Spanish rider and moved up to fifth.
However Fernandez didn’t throw the towel and came back on the back wheel of Herlings on lap seven. Fernandez dug deep and was able get the fifth place back.
Fernandez then crashed on lap 13 and had to retire from the race and the GP in the end. Herlings got goggles issues and had to go to the pit stop to change them on lap 10 while he was sixth. He moved down to 11th and had to battle back again to finish eighth in the end.
Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen and Team HRC’s Tim Gajser, who were 7th and 8th since the opening lap respectively, followed each other and befitted from Fernandez and Herlings misfortunes to move up one position and finish 5th and 6th in the end.
It was a strong showing for SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato after his 6th place in Flanders as the young Italian managed to pass riders regularly during the race and did not make mistakes to finish 7th.
Unfortunately, he didn’t confirm in the second race as he finished 18th. The two riders from Standing Construct Honda MXGP, Jeremy Van Horebeek and Brian Bogers did very well again to get a top 10 as they managed to finish 9th for Van Horebeek and 10th for Bogers.
In MXGP race two, Prado took also his 10th holeshot to go level with Seewer.
Prado kept going at the lead with Febvre on his tail but with both riders riding at the same speed it was difficult for Febvre to find a way to pass Prado. Prado’s consistent and strong pace made him win the race to go 3-1 and get on another podium, regaining some lost points on Febvre from race one.
Febvre knew that he was winning the overall in second place and, despite trying to find an opening, he settled for second in the end. Febvre went 1-2 to incredibly get his personal record of five GP wins in a row.
Coldenhoff showed up again as he did in Flanders with a great start to go 3rd on the turn of lap one.
He then had to managed Herlings pushing behind him the whole race. Coldenhoff kept his cool and composure to bring the third place home synonymous of third overall.
It was a back-to-back podium for the ‘Hoff’ that will give him even more confidence for the next GP in Sweden. Herlings settled for 4th to go 8-4 and a good fifth overall on his return to the competition.
Seewer had a sense of urgency in race two after an average start compared to his usual standards as he found himself seventh on the turn of lap one. He rode with a strong pace to overtake first Gajser on lap 11 of 19 for 6th and then a lap later Vlaanderen to move up to fifth and finish there. Unfortunately, although level on points with Coldenhoff, the Swiss rider just missed out on the podium to his team-mate.
Gajser showed that he is getting back his flow and speed as after getting overtaken by Seewer and Vlaanderen on lap 11 and moving down to seventh, the Slovenian managed to stay in touching distance and capitalised on Vlaanderen’s fall to finish sixth in the end.
Going 6-6 for sixth overall which is his best finish of the season. Vlaanderen had to settle for seventh in the end, and seventh overall maintaining his perfect run of top 10s this season.
Van Horebeek managed to overtake several times in race two which was an impressive feat given that it was not easy to pass on this track. He finished 8th for an 8th overall.
Coming out of retirement to replace Pauls Jonass after his injury for the past three European GPs with Standing Construct Honda MXGP; Van Horebeek showed that he did more than just filling the gap as he got three top 10s.
Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Mitch Evans managed to get an 11-10 to get another top 10 to bounce back from Lommel.
Romain Febvre: “It was a good weekend overall. I had the speed every time I was on the track. I just feel one with the bike and the confidence is growing, that’s the most important.
“I managed some good move, but in the second race it was just harder. I came close few times could not pass. But I knew it was going to be enough for a GP victory. That is five in a row I beat my personal record so let’s keep it like this for a few more GPs.”
Photo courtesy Kawasaki
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RESULTS AND STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 14 OF 19:
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), 34:11.808; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:01.341; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:04.529; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:20.353; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:29.129; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:32.550; 7. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), +0:34.128; 8. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:37.678; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Honda), +0:41.939; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, Honda), +0:45.907.
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 33:50.401; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.319; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:03.755; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:05.683; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:11.470; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:38.334; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:43.163; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Honda), +1:03.007; 9. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Honda), +1:04.857; 10. Mitchell Evans (AUS, Kawasaki), +1:05.648.
MXGP – Grand Prix Top 10 Classification:
1. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 47 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 45 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 38 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 38 p.; 5. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 30 p.; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 30 p.; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 25 p.; 9. Alvin Östlund (SWE, HON), 21 p.; 10. Mitchell Evans (AUS, KAW), 21 p.
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 720 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 622 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 550 p.; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 525 p.; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 489 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 477 p.; 7. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 418 p.; 8. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 350 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 276 p.; 10. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 204 p.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 34:53.171; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:02.805; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:16.381; 4. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:18.547; 5. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:25.722; 6. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:28.851; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:34.335; 8. David Braceras (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:48.293; 9. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:52.001; 10. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Honda), +1:00.386.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 34:36.893; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:07.299; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:07.569; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:10.835; 5. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:15.789; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:17.331; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:21.015; 8. Isak Gifting (SWE, GASGAS), +0:39.789; 9. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:50.091; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:20.158.
MX2 – Grand Prix Top 10 Classification:
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 44 p.; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 36 p.; 5. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 32 p.; 6. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 30 p.; 7. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 27 p.; 8. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 27 p.; 9. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 20 p.; 10. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, HUS), 20 p.
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 619 points; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 559 p.; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 532 p.; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 501 p.; 5. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 492 p.; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 462 p.; 7. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 461 p.; 8. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 433 p.; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 395 p.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 273 p.