The FIM Motocross World Championship embarks for Vantaa in Finland for the third Grand Prix in three weeks. The fourteenth round of the season will continue on sand track following Lommel for the MXGP of Finland.
The venue is not new to MXGP as it hosted the FIM Junior Motocross World Championship last year at the renowned track of Lavanko in the city of Vantaa. Vantaa is a historical place and first hosted the FIM Motocross World Championship in 1963 which was won by Torsten Hallman, 4-time World Champion. 30 years later in 1993 it was the legend Stefan Everts who clinched the victory in 250cc. The track saw a complete renovation in 2020 to get a fine sand track and softer surface. The circuit of Vantaa has been branded the ‘Finnish Lommel’. The 2023 MXGP of Finland will also mark the 70th anniversary of the Moto Club Vantaa and the 60th anniversary of the first GP in Vantaa.
The 2022 MXGP of Finland was held in Hyvinkää and marked the 16th round of the season where a full Monster Energy Yamaha podium happened as it was Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff who clinched the victory in front of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Maxime Renaux.
Still comfortable leader of the Championship Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado comes to Vantaa with a race win in Lommel and a 2nd place on the podium. Prado is doing everything right to keep this big points cushion at the lead after performing week in week out to consistently get podiums. The Spanish rider makes it difficult for his pursuers to catch him and he knows that he doesn’t need to win every GPs to get sacred World Champion at the end of the season.
Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre is simply unstoppable at the moment with an outstanding 4th Grand Prix win in a row in Lommel. Febvre showed an immense determination during race 2 in Lommel with a mountain to climb after finding himself 20th after the first few corners. Febvre managed the incredible feat to finish 2nd on one of the toughest tracks in the world to clinch his 4th Grand Prix. In that state of mind and form, Febvre showed that he can turn any bad situation into something quite impressive.
Jeremy Seewer is third in the Championship after another solid weekend finishing 4th overall. Seewer has not finished lower than 4th over the last 4 Grand Prix which proved that he found what he was looking for in the beginning of the season. Going to Finland, Seewer will want to make sure to increase the gap again with riders behind him in the Championship
Team HRC’s Rubén Fernández who is 4th in the Championship had to fight against himself on the tough sand track of Lommel as the Spaniard crashed a couple of times to get an 8th overall. Although Fernandez wants to fight for podiums, he is pretty consistent and is always one of the top riders on the track. Vantaa could be the perfect chance for him to get back on top and put pressure on Seewer in front of him in the Standings.
Glenn Coldenhoff arrives in Finland with another podium and will also get the opportunity to ride on sand again which will give him an advantage on this surface that he loves. As he mentioned, he found the click he needed to fight consistently at the front and is now eager to win a Grand Prix this season. Coldenhoff also won the MXGP of Finland last year. It could be the perfect timing for the Dutch rider to come to Vantaa, with his recent form and positive riding, to get what he wants the most, a Grand Prix win.
Unsurprisingly, 6th in the Championship Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderenperformed again very well at Lommel and managed to get 5th overall. Vlaanderen is really one rider who knows what consistent performances are but still chases after that first podium that has bizarrely escaped him so far this season. Vlaanderen will want to pull two good races on Sunday on a surface where he can express himself to finally jump on the podium.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings is still waiting to be able to come back on track although the season will be a missed one in the end for the five-time Motocross World Champion.
8th in the Championship, SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato came back to great performances with a 6th overall. That will boost his confidence as he will come to Finland to get even better results. Ship to Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Valentin Guillod got injured in training leading to Lommel which puts a small stop into his good results this season. Guillod is set to miss out on Finland to come back stronger in Sweden.
Team HRC’s Tim Gajser had a complicated round in Flanders going 15-13 but as he mentioned, the five-time Motocross World Champion is treating the rest of the season like a training for next season, to get back to the top.
Last year, the MXGP of Finland was won by Tom Vialle in front of Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts
Coming to the last third of the 2023 season, the MX2 Championship Title is really open with several riders still in the chase.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo leads the Championship by thirteen points and has shown in Lommel a huge improvement on sand which will be vital in Vantaa. Adamo also has been one of the most consistent riders this season and always showed that no matter what happens in a race he will fight his way up to the front of the pack. This is all down to his quality, skills and determination which put him at the top of the Championship.
With his excellent run of three GP wins in a row, it is obvious to say that Jago Geerts has the momentum with him as he comes in Finland with 13 points off the lead. The Belgian rider got what he wanted at his home GP, the maximum points possible over the weekend to put pressure on Adamo. Knowing that he could potentially get the Red Plate back in Vantaa will be the additional motivator for the on-form rider.
Kay de Wolf missed out on the Grand Prix of Flanders in the end as he retired from the GP on the first lap of race one. That meant that he has lost a place to Geerts and is now 3rd in the Championship and will miss the MXGP of Finland.
4th in the Championship, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Liam Everts gained a place in the Championship thanks to his solid performance at his home GP last weekend with a 4th overall. Except for Czech Republic, Everts had performed to very high standards with no lower finish than 5th over the last 5 GPs. Everts responded to his dip in Loket from the best of manners with a solid weekend in Lommel on sand. Going to another sand track in Vantaa will be another opportunity for the Belgian to get closer to the 3rd place in the Championship.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant has been quite unlucky over the last weeks and that continued with Lommel where he picked up an injury following a fall in the RAM Qualifying Race and decided to miss out Sunday races to focus on recovery and his health.
Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder is getting back to his best as he achieved 3 podiums out of the last 3 Grand Prix. The German rider did the incredible feat to perform that well on one of the toughest sand tracks while he could only trained once on sand since coming back from injury. Laengenfelder is very fast and grows in strength every time he races. The 6th in the Championship will be one to watch in Finland as he has all the talent to top the podium as he has shown it in Spain this season.
Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Roan Van de Moosdijk is 7th in the Championship now as he has missed Lommel and will not take part in the MXGP of Finland after getting injured in Loket.
Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen is 8th in the Championship and finally made it back to the podium after his thunderous Grand Prix win in Sumbawa. The rookie L.Coenen took the opportunity to compete on his first MX2 home GP to get back to the front. He got 2nd overall and showed great speed on sand which will be needed in Vantaa.
F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo is 9th in the Championship and comes to Finland on the back of two top 5 and good confidence. Horgmo has found back his consistency and his speed which is going to be important to go to another sand track. TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team’s Jan Pancar who is 10th in Championship has been less incisive over the last two Grand Prix finishing out of the top 10s with some crashed in Lommel. The Slovenian will need to bounce back to stay in the top 10 because Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Rick Elzinga behind him is starting to be consistent and got his season’s best finish in Lommel in 6th place.
The MXGP of Finland will be a home GP for Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Emil Weckmanwho will come back home on the back of a 13th overall in Lommel. The Finnish is 14th in the Championship and will be giving his all to get into the top 10 this weekend. He will be able to count on the amazing support from the home fans who will add an extra boost for Weckman to ride his best in Vantaa.
