The fifteenth round of the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship in Uddevalla has been an eventful Grand Prix down to the weather changing during the day making the conditions change between the first and second races.
In MXGP, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer finally got back on top for the second time this season in front of Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre who stopped his winning streak but still got the second place on the podium. Rounding the podium was the Red Plate Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado who won a race again to keep a nice cushion at the lead in the Championship Standings.
In MX2, Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder also got his second Grand Prix victory and got back on top, extending his podium streak to five in a row. Solid second was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Liam Everts who gets a back-to-back podium in front of his teammate and Red Plate Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo who fought hard to get on the third step of the podium with a race win along the way.
The MXGP of Sweden attracted many Swedish fans despite the changing weather with everyone present gifted with an impressive Air Show with Jas 39 Gripen just before the first MX2 race to kick-off the MXGP of Sweden with a flying start.
In race 1, Romain Febvre managed to pull out the FOX Holeshot and took the lead in front of Jorge Prado. Febvre seemed to get a good grip on the race but Prado started to increase his pace and got closer to Febvre. Maybe due to the pressure applied from Prado or a loss of focus, Febvre made a mistake on lap 7 of 17 and crashed to let Prado take the lead. Prado didn’t need another opportunity to maintain the lead and win the race in front of Febvre who finished 2nd.
Jeremy Seewer made a great start and went 3rd quickly, showing great speed and good control throughout the whole race to keep his position until the end and never getting worried by the excellent and returning Standing Construct Honda MXGP’s Pauls Jonass. Jonass made quite an impact for his first GP since his injury to ride in 4th place from start to finish.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff showed an incredible determination to overtake many times on this difficult track after an average start. The Dutch man found himself 9th on the opening lap but charged forward as he knows how to do it. He first capitalised on mistakes from Team HRC’s Tim Gajser and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Maxime Renaux early in the race to move up to 7th. He then made an excellent pass on Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Mitch Evans on lap 8 and kept going to catch and overtake Team HRC’s Rubén Fernández on lap 15. Coldenhoff finished at an excellent 5th place given the conditions. Fernandez solidly finished 6th in the end losing only one position while Gajser ended at the 10th place. On his side Renaux had to settle for 13th after another mistake as he tried to push for a move on Jere Haavisto on lap 11. Haavisto finished 11th in the end.
The other impressive performer in race one was SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato who relentlessly pushed forward after going 12th on lap 1. The Italian managed to keep a good control of his bike throughout the race and went up to 8th already on lap 6 and it took him until the last couple of laps to make a successful move on Evans on lap 15 to finish 7th. Evans settled for 9th in the end after getting picked by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings on the very last lap. Herlings showed that he never settles and managed to gain 5 positions to finish 8th.
As the rain fell on Uddevalla in between the two races, the start became vital and it was Seewer who clinched his 11th FOX Holeshot of the season taking the lead in that competition. Seewer who found himself in front of Febvre from the beginning managed to stay at the lead. The Swiss rider made a slight mistake mid-race but managed to stay on the bike and at the lead. From then on Seewer kept a 3 seconds gap between him and Febvre and won the race to go 3-1 and win his 2nd Grand Prix of the season. Febvre could not manage to get close enough to pass and settled for 2nd to go 2nd overall and stopped his incredible winning streak with another great performance and a podium
Renaux made a great start in the second race to go 3rd and kept his rank although he got some heat towards the end of the race from Herlings who was 4th from the start. Renaux managed to keep his nerve and finished 3rd showing that we will be able to count on him for the rest of the season. Renaux went 6th overall while Herlings finished 4th and get the 4th place overall.
It was the same story for Gajser, Prado, Forato and Fernandez who all kept their rank from start to finish although they were following each other closely. Gajser finished 5th to go 10th overall while Prado went 1-6 to get on the second step of the podium. Prado keeps the Red Plate and moves closer to the MXGP Title with 98 points in hands in front of Febvre.
Following the same kind of race Forato and Fernandez finished where they started in 7th and 8th place which was the same position they finish overall. Behind them, Coldenhoff was one of the few who gain position as he made a great move to squeeze past Jonass on lap 9 of 16 to finish 9th in the end for the 9th place overall. Jonass finished 10th to go 4-10 and 5th overall. Jonass showed all his talent again to get into the top 5 on his comeback.
Jeremy Seewer: “I feel so good. I mean winning always feels great and especially today, it was super tricky with the weather, the rain, the track. Usually, our sport is very difficult and it’s also about the last 10 minutes and how big are you? But today was just about mental strength. I thought I could do that many more races before today because I had the speed and everything but sometime you need patience and it finally paid off. It shows that I have it all and it gives an extra boost of confidence and motivation. I’m super happy and thanks to the team so let’s keep it going.”
Romain Febvre: “I get the FOX Holeshot in the first race and was leading so I thought that this was going to be my race but I made a mistake and gave the lead to Jorge (Prado). In the second race was the same with a good start but I was just second and could not pass Seewer. Happy to be on the podium again with a 2-2 and I’ll try to win next time.”
Jorge Prado: “The first race went perfectly but the second race I got a bad start and got stuck behind Gajser and the other guys. I tried everything to pass Gajser towards the end of the race but couldn’t pass. It was a pity because I thought I rode very well this weekend and I am happy to get third although I didn’t win the overall but we will work for it. The Championship is looking good so thanks to everyone.”
In Race 1, the FOX Holeshot went to Simon Laengenfelder just in front of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Rick Elzinga. Laengenfelder did not stop there and continued with the lead. The muddy and tough conditions were ideal for the German who loves these conditions as he led from start to finish to win his 4th race of the season.
Liam Everts quickly placed himself 2nd after few corners after passing Elzinga. Everts’ pace made him get an edge on Elzinga and although he never went close to Laengenfelder the Belgian comfortably finished in 2ndplace. Elzinga had also a great race to finish 3rd and never worried about riders behind him to get his season’s best finish.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Sacha Coenen made a good start to get to 4th on the opening lap in front of F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo. In a remake of the RAM Qualifying Race, Horgmo got closer and showed good speed while S.Coenen started to get tense although both riders made mistakes. Horgmo was denied a first attempt to pass by S.Coenen but the young Belgian fell on the exit of a turn which let the door open for Horgmo to pass him and move up to 4th. Horgmo kept his rank until the end of the race. Despite crashing another time, S.Coenen kept his 5th place until the end to equal his season’s best finish although he was put under pressure in the last laps by Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Emil Weckman and home rider VHR Racing Team’s Isak Gifting.
Weckman got a great start to 6th place and Gifting got to 7th on his home GP. In the end, both Weckman and Gifting kept their position and although they entered into a Scandinavian battle, the Finnish rider Weckman held on to finish 6th in front of Gifting 7th. F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s David Braceras managed to stay the whole race in 8th place. JM Honda Racing’s Camden Mc Lellan followed the Spaniard in 9th until the checkered flag after having passed Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo earlier in the race. Adamo didn’t have the best start as he got to 9th on the opening lap. Having goggle issues Adamo lost a position to Mc Lellan to move down to 10th and stayed in that place until the end.
In race 2, Horgmo got a great start and took the FOX Holeshot and the lead straight away in front of Adamo and Laengenfelder. The Norwegian looked really composed at the front but Adamo showed his determination and hunger as he reduced the gap with Horgmo. On lap 5, Adamo caught up with Horgmo and made an excellent move to pass Horgmo and take the lead. Horgmo got distracted for a second and got overtaken by Laengenfelder a corner later. Adamo kept racing superbly and managed to bring the race win home and clinched an incredible podium given his first race. With a 10-1 Adamo got 3rd overall to get important points in the Championship.
Laengenfelder kept charging but could not get close enough to Adamo and managed to finish 2nd to go 1-2 and win his second Grand Prix of the season. Laengenfelder confirms race after race and after getting 4 podiums in a row finally managed to get to the top of the podium. For Horgmo, things went bad to worse as he was still eying his first podium of the season being 3rd until lap 14. Everts was putting pressure and looked at making his move but at the same time Horgmo’s bike failed on him and completely stopped, crushing his dream of a possible podium. Everts finished 3rd in the end to go 2-3 for 2nd overall and get a back-to-back podium.
Mc Lellan kept performing to a great standard as he went from 6th on lap 1 to 5th as he overtook Braceras with a great move on the inside on lap 11 of 17. He gained another position with Horgmo out of the race and went to 4th while holding his ground superbly to keep Elzinga at bay behind him. In the end Mc Lellan went 9-4 for 5th overall and his best finish of the season.
Elzinga made a great comeback and displayed an immense performance on this hard and technical track to gain 4 positions, going from 9th on lap 1 to 5th in the end, going 3-5 for 4th overall. Elzinga keeps improving on his rookie year and came back into the top 10 in the MX2 Championship Standings.
Braceras had another solid race although he got overtaken twice, he managed to finish 6th to go 7th overall while the consistent Gifting showed up again in race two to go 7th for 8th overall in his home GP. S.Coenen struggled out of the gate to find himself 7th on lap 1 and made a mistake on lap 3 that made him lose position. In the end, the young Belgian finished 8th for 6th overall and improved his season’s best finish.
His brother Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen unfortunately did not take part in the racings after his crash in time practice on Saturday as he suffered from a concussion that prevented him to get the green light for racing on Sunday.
Simon Längenfelder: “I was pushing until the end today. The track conditions were tricky and I liked it a lot. I thought I could catch up with Adamo in the second race but made a small mistake in the end. Overall, I am super happy with my second Grand Prix of the season and it is great to come back home with another trophy.”
Liam Everts: “The two F&H Kawasaki guys made life difficult for me in the second race but it was a super fun racing and I had great fun this weekend. I felt fast so it was a shame I could not be at the front from the beginning because I felt I had the speed to compete with Andrea (Adamo) and Simon (Laengenfelder), but that’s the way it is. Another podium and P2 so I’m super happy and we’re going to keep on pushing”
Andrea Adamo:”In the end, the weekend was 50/50 for me with two different races. I got a difficult start on the first race and it was hard to pass and I didn’t want to take too much risks but I lost some points to Liam (Everts). In the second race I went all in because the conditions were better and everything was better so I am so happy. Thanks to the whole team for all the hard work and let’s go for the next one.”
Words and Photos by MXGP
