Yamaha domination at MXGP of Switzerland 2023

2023 MXGP
Round Three – MXGP of Switzerland

Round Three of the FIM Motocross World Championship took place over the Easter weekend at the brand-new track of Frauenfeld, where victory went to Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Maxime Renaux, who won for the first time of the season, while also marking his first podium. Second on the podium was Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado and third Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre.

In MX2, it was also a first with Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant winning for the first time in 2023, in front of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo and Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf.

The second round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship saw Big Van World MTX Kawasaki’s Courtney Duncan taking the victory. This was a tough battle across the board and spanned over Saturday and Monday where riders gave their best to get to the top while also having had to fight against a downpour on Saturday making the track a bit harder going.

MXGP of Switzerland Highlights

MXGP Race One

In the MXGP Race 1 in Frauenfeld Jorge Prado took the FOX Holeshot to keep his impressive start record and kept the lead from start to finish. His teammate at Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Mattia Guadagnini got off very well as he found himself 2nd over the first 5 laps.

However, Maxime Renaux who passed Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings on lap 2 to get to 3rd place powered through to overtake also Guadagnini on lap 6 for 2nd. Renaux went on to keep his 2nd place until the end without being able to get too close to Prado.

Guadagnini made a mistake on lap 10 and moved down from 3rd to 7th and got overtaken again several times to finish at the 9th place. Herlings was not on the same form as in Sardinia as the “bullet” went 4th on lap 2 when Renaux overtook him.

He could not hold his 4th place as he got passed successively by Romain Febvre, Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen and Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez between lap 9 and 11 to move down to 6th where he would stay until the end.

Febvre was riding impressively coming from 5th place on lap 1 and passed Herlings for 4th on lap 9 after an intense battle that lasted many laps. He then found himself 3rd after Guadagnini’s fall on lap 10. The Frenchman tried to attack his compatriot Renaux for second but settled for 3rd in the end.

Vlaanderen and Fernandez got to 6th and 7th during the first 8 laps and kept following each other throughout the whole race. The two riders managed to pass Herlings mid-race and went to 4th for Vlaanderen and 5th for Fernandez on lap 11 until the end.

Valentin Guillod from Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz, riding at home showed a lot of qualities as the Swiss stayed in the top 10 throughout the whole race.

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He stayed in 9th position behind Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP team’s Glenn Coldenhoff in 8th from lap 1 to 12. As Coldenhoff overtook Guadagnini for on lap 13 for 7th, Guillod did the same a lap later and passed Guadagnini for 8th.

Guillod made the Swiss public cheered loudly when he made his move on Coldenhoff on lap 15 for 7th. Guillod finished 7th while Coldenhoff settled in 8th.

De Baets Yamaha MX-Team’s Benoit Paturel who finished 10th show a strong performance as the he went from 13th on lap 1 to steadily go up the rank without getting overtaken throughout the race.

Riding at home Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer crashed early on in the first lap which hindered his chances to win his home GP. The Swiss finished 20th.

MXGP Race One Results (Top 20)

MXGP Race Two

In Race 2, Prado again clinched the FOX Holeshot to make it 100% for the weekend. However, it was not the same scenario than in race 1 as Renaux was all over Prado’s rear wheel over the opening lap. After an unfruitful try, the Frenchman managed to pass Prado and take the lead. Renaux showed great composure to keep the lead until the end.

Prado 2nd quickly started to get threatened by Febvre who looked very comfortable on the compact hard-pack. Febvre overtook Herlings on lap 2 and was on a mission to catch Prado up as he clocked the fastest time of the race on lap 8.

Febvre made several attacks on Prado until lap 12 when he found the gap and muscled his way to overtake the Spaniard for 2nd. Febvre would go on to finish 2nd while Prado 3rd.

Herlings pretty quiet in race 1 kept a low profile as after finding himself 4th on lap 2 kept going throughout the whole race without being too worried by Seewer behind him. Seewer had much quieter and better race as he found himself 5th after lap 1 to keep this place until the end.

SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato, Vlaanderen and Fernandez managed to stay together the whole race. Forato got the better out of Fernandez on lap 3 to get to 6th.

An advantage that he will keep the race. Fernandez then got under attack by Vlaanderen and moved down eventually to 8th in lap 5 while Vlaanderen moved up to 7th and they kept this order until the end.

Guillod did another strong performance as the circuit of Frauenfeld seemed to suit him. Guillod went from 12th on lap 1 to overtake another Swiss Kevin Brumann on lap 3 for 11th.

Then he showed determination as he successively passed MRT Racing Team Beta’s Alessandro Lupino on lap 6 and capitalised on Pauls Jonass surrender on lap 8 to get to 9th.

Lupino eventually finished 11th. Finally Guillod finished 9th getting another top 10 for the GP while MRT Racing Team Beta’s Ben Watson managed to 10th in the end after climbing his way from 14th on lap 1.

In the end, Maxime Renaux won his first GP of the season in front of Jorge Prado 2nd who is still the Red Plate holder, thanks also to winning another RAM Qualifying Race again, and Romain Febvre 3rd with his first podium of the season.

It was also the return of Arnaud Tonus on his home ground as a Wildcard rider. The Swissman finished 13th in race 1 and unfortunately could not finish the second race. However this gave a lot to cheer for the public as they welcomed and cheered for the rider throughout the all GP.

Maxime Renaux – P1

“It feels good to finally get on the podium, especially with a win in Race Two. It was great. I didn’t get the best starts today, but I was good around the first corner and fast in the first lap, so this put me in a good position. In Race Two, I just took the lead and never looked back. It felt great. Now we need to try to keep momentum, and to work on the starts to make my life a little bit easier. I am looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Romain Febvre – P2

“The track suits me and I’ve been feeling good all weekend. My starts have been really good, almost alongside Jorge, but the first-turn was a mess each time; I got pushed out the first time and I went too wide myself the second time and bounced off the bank. I had to work really hard for that third place today and at the finish I was really close to winning the GP; I had to pass Jeffrey both motos, Jorge too in race two and I came behind Maxime but I was getting filled in with rocks everywhere. My thanks to the entire KRT team; we have come a long way in the last two weeks with understanding the bike. My championship is really starting now.”

Jorge Prado – P3

“The first moto was very good! I had the holeshot in the second moto and tried to break away, but I did not have the same flow. I struggled, but got third and second overall. I extended my championship lead and that is the most important thing. I am riding well and staying consistent, so I want to keep going in this direction.”

Jeffrey Herlings – P4

“I had a good gatepick after Saturday but the break in the schedule didn’t help me much. I felt a bit tight today and although I had a good start in the first moto I had some arm-pump and went backwards. It was a shame. I took the points. It was not a great weekend but not a bad one. I’ll look forward now to Arco next weekend and work from there.”

Mattia Guadagnini – P10

“I felt better today! I had a really good start in the first moto, second, but got arm pump and started to make mistakes. I had a small crash and lost my rhythm, so I was just trying to survive after that. I got pushed off the track in the first turn of the second moto and had to come back from dead last. It was not easy on this track, but I got back to twelfth. I was riding good today and think that I could have done a lot better.”

Jeremy Seewer – P11

“I felt amazing here in Frauenfeld. I had good speed and was feeling good on the track, but it took only five laps until I was hit with the hammer again in the first race. My goal was to start solid and take decent points. It’s not like I lined up here to go 1-1, but what happened to me this weekend, was just a ‘wrong time, wrong place’ situation. Another rider made a mistake and went from left to right on a jump, and the next minute, I was on the floor. I was lucky not to get hurt. The bike was destroyed from that, and it was not fun to race with a bent bike in front of your home crowd. In the second race, I did my best, but after the impact of the crash in the first race, I felt sore and completely drained. It’s frustrating. But now I just hope I recover well, and as quick as possible. I’m already looking forward to being back on the gate in Trentino in few days.”

Glenn Coldenhoff – P15

“It was a terrible weekend for me. I crashed in the start in the second race. My jump was good, but I got tangled up with some other riders and crashed. I had to start from dead last, and with no front brake lever because it broke off. Riding on a track like this without the front brake is almost impossible. I still took 1-point, which is better than none, but we have to look at the positives when the weekend was so disappointing for me.”

MXGP Race Two Results (Top 20)

MXGP Round Overall

MXGP Standings – After Round Three

MX2 Race One

In MX2, Jago Geerts started strongly as he got the FOX Holeshot and took the lead with Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Roan Van de Moosdijk behind him in 2nd and Benistant 3rd. The three riders followed each other for a while as Benistant tried few attacks on Van de Moosdijk.

Geerts was looked to go all the way but all went down when he crashed on lap 15 leaving Van de Moosdijk taking the lead until the end to win the race.

Benistant also crashed on lap14 to going down to 4th. Benistant eventually kept the 4th place until the end, however it was not the same for Geerts who got overtaken quickly after his fall by Kay de Wolf and Andrea Adamo and then by Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder and Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen. Geerts finished 7th in the end.

De Wolf 6th on lap 1 moved up to 5th quickly on lap 4 and stayed patient behind Adamo 4th at the time. Adamo capitalised on Geerts’ fall on lap 16 to get to 4th and also on Benistant’s crash to find himself 2nd on lap16.

De Wolf on his side overtook Geert on lap 16 and made his move on Benistant on lap 17 to get to 3rd behind Adamo with 3 laps to go. De Wolf showed good qualities to overtake Adamo in the last lap for 2nd. Adamo finished 3rd in the end.

One of the comebacks of the day was Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen who fell on the first turn and found himself 16th on lap 1.

The young rider steadily climbed his way up with some really great moves along the way notably as breathed pass Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Liam Everts on lap 13 for 7th. He eventually passed Geerts with two laps to go to finish 6th. Everts was really consistent as he went from 7th on lap 1 to 8th in the end.

F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo and TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team’s Jan Pancar went 9th and 10th on lap 1 respectively. While Horgmo went up the rank to 8th place on lap 7, Pancar went down to 12th place between lap 4 and 12 but found his rhythm to get back to 10th in the end. Horgmo got overtaken by Coenen on lap 10 to keep his 9th position until the end.

MX2 Race One Results (Top 20)

MX2 Race Two

In race 2, it was Adamo who clinched the FOX Holeshot and led the pack early on although the Italian was under threat by the duo from Monster Energy Yamaha Benistant and Geerts. Eventually Geerts got the best of Benistant and attacked Adamo on lap 2.

This was the moment Benistant chose to attack both riders and get the lead. Adamo moved down to 2nd and Geerts to 3rd. Benistant was the fastest of the pack and started to pull away from Adamo and Geerts.

Benistant showed great composure to keep his ride clean and quick to eventually win the race. Adamo and Geerts would fight until the end. Geerts took the edge between lap 9 and 13 to go 2nd but like in the first race Geerts fell and Adamo passed him to finish 2nd. Geerts settled for 3rd in the end.

Laengenfelder was a solid 4th from start to near the end. De Wolf went from a poor start, being 8th on lap 1 to attack everyone in front of him and pass Horgmo (who would finish at a good 7th place), then Elzinga (who finished 11th) and also Everts on lap 14 for 5th. The last lap was when Laengenfelder could not keep his position with De Wolf showing great technique move up to 4th and leave Laengenfelder finishing 5th. Everts settled for 6th.

Like his teammate De Wolf, Van de Moosdijk got an average start in 11th after lap 1 but managed to get up to 8th in the end although this was not the race he would have liked to do after winning race 1.

Pancar again rode strongly as he managed to keep riding in the top 10 throughout the whole race and finished 9th in the end.

Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Emil Weckman who went 13th after lap 1 held on and stayed within touching distance of F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s David Braceras (finishing 13th) and the American Jack Chambers from Big Van World MTX Kawasaki who was competing for the first time in MX2 and got a good first experience finishing 12th in race 2 and 15th in race 1.

Weckman managed to overtake both riders to get to 11th on lap 17 and finally overtaking WZ Racing Team’s Oriol Oliver for 10th. Oliver ended up 13th.

In the end, Benistant clinched his first GP win of the season and second of his career in front of Adamo solid second and Kay de Wolf who gets a back to back podium after his second place in Sardinia.

Thibault Benistant – P1

“To win the GP is so good. I was close a few times last year, but it happened only once, so I finally got it done today. It’s a little confidence boost to get this victory. I am really happy to have all of the hard work pay off. I have been on the podium at every round this season, so I am happy with my consistency. I think this is the key.”

Andrea Adamo – P2

“A really good weekend for me. A solid one. The track was a bit different to what we are used to but I enjoyed it: something different is also cool! I think we can all be quite happy with 2nd overall today. Now we’ll go back to Italy for some training and get ready for Arco. We are confident at the moment and I hope we can try for the same result or even better.”

Kay de Wolf – P3

“I am pretty happy with my weekend! I have been practicing on hard pack tracks a lot, so I am hopeful that we can keep doing this. I had a bad start in the second moto and had to work my way up, but we did that well and landed on the podium. This is my second podium in a row and I am really happy about that.”

Roan van de Moosdijk – P4

“I am really happy with the progress that we have made in recent weeks. The team and I have been working very hard, so that win in the first moto was a nice reward. It was a shame to miss the podium after that, of course, but I will try to keep the ball rolling next weekend.”

Jago Geerts – P5

“Today started really good. I took the holeshot and led basically the whole race until I had quite a big crash. It was strange. I took the same line that I was taking the entire race but got kicked over the ‘bars. The bike was quite banged up after that crash, with the handlebars completely bent. I still finished seventh. In the second heat, I didn’t feel too good. I was still sore, but still managed to finish third after another small crash. It was not the best weekend, but I still salvaged good points, so it was okay.”

Simon Langenfelder – P6

“I did not get the best start in the first race, but I battled my way up to fifth. It was not an easy track, with so many ruts and bumps! I enjoyed it though. I had a better start in the second moto and made some passes. I had a little bit of bad luck with backmarkers at the end. Being fifth twice is not what I expect, but it was okay.”

Liam Everts – P7

“My Quali race went well and my pace was good but in the first moto I got held-up, tipped-off and struggled to find my rhythm. In the second moto I was 5th for most of the race until Kay [De Wolf] got around me at the end. P6 for 7th overall though felt like an improvement. I liked the track here. It was better on Saturday; more lines and slower but a bit faster today. It was an unusual weekend but we made the most of it.”

Kevin Horgmo – P8

“For sure we didn’t get the results we wanted this weekend but we bounced back as good as we could from our misfortune yesterday. I had a mid-pack start in the first race but made some quick passes and finished ninth. I had more-or-less the same start in moto two; it took me some time to find my rhythm but it came better-and-better during the moto and I was really close to making another pass on the last lap.”

Rick Elzinga – P11

“This wasn’t the best weekend. I am still struggling with the comeback after I was sick a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t feel good on the bike in training last week and this weekend was the same. It showed. I had two good starts today but had arm-pump in the first race and in the second race was just poor riding. I have a few things to work on, which I will do this week and hope to be better in Arco.”

Lucas Coenen – P12

“There is not much to say about my day in Switzerland! My speed was good, so that was a positive, but I made too many mistakes and that hurt my results. I tried my best though and am looking forward to having another shot at Pietramurata.”

MX2 Race Two Results (Top 20)

MX2 Round Overall

MX2 Standings – After Round Three

WMX Race One

In the first race on Saturday, the first lap was eventful as MX Fonta Racing’s Kiara Fontanesi quickly took the lead after the first turns to see RFME GasGas WMX Team’s Daniela Guillen all over a rear wheel making a move early to take the lead off Fontanesi. The two riders were followed by JK Racing Yamaha Charli Cannon and Courtney Duncan, 3rd and 4th respectively after lap 1.

Still in the first lap we saw Nancy Van De Ven of Ceres 71 Racing remake the same mistake as in Sardinia as she crashed quickly and could not restart, missing on good points.

Duncan passed Cannon on lap 2 as the Kiwi looked really quick on her bike and caught the front two Guillen and Fontanesi. Cannon kept her 4th position until the end.

The front three created a gap with the rest of the pack as a three-way battle went on between lap 2 and 5. Fontanesi eventually took the lead as she passed Guillen on lap 4 while Duncan in 3rd position at the time, tirelessly put pressure on Guillen. Guillen could not contain Duncan’s speed on lap 5 and moved down to 3rd.

It was then all about Duncan piling pressure on Fontanesi who bravely resisted for 2 laps but Duncan was too quick and finally passed Fontanesi on lap 7 and kept the lead until the end. Fontanesi finished 2nd and Guillen settled for 3rd.

Getting in 5th place after lap 1 Lotte Van Drunen had to battle to keep this position as she moved down to 7th on lap 4 but fought her way back up, as she overtook Sara Andersen on lap 8 and Fantic Maddii Factory Racing’s Lynn Valk with two laps to go on lap 10, showing her great technique to settle for 5th in the end.

Valk had a good run oscillating between 7th and 5th throughout the whole race to finish in 6th position while Andersen rode a similar race and finished 7th.

Britt Jans-Beken and Larissa Papenmeier, 8th and 9th after lap 1, followed each other until Papenmeier managed to pass Jans-Beken on lap 7 to finish 8th while Jans-Beken settled in 9th.

WMX Race One Results (Top 20)

WMX Race Two

On Easter Monday, the race 2 started with Van Drunen taking the lead in front Van de Ven and Duncan.
Van Drunen never got troubled upfront as she increased the gap all way through the second race.

Van de Ven 2nd for the first 2 laps could not contain Duncan on lap 3. Van de Ven kept her good pace and tried to make a charge on Duncan on the last lap but Duncan held on to finish 2nd and Van de Ven 3rd.

Behind them Guillen did not start as she wanted and found herself 6th behind Valk. A wonderful and tough battle ensued over 7 laps with Valk resisting every attack from the Spanish rider. At the end of an intense fight Guillen managed to pass but Valk respnded directly to get back to 5th. However on lap 7 Guillen made good another move and this time made her pass stick to get to 5th. Valk kept her 6th place until the end.

Guillen continued with determination as she breathed pass Fontanesi on lap 8, and finished 4th in the end. Fontanesi was 4th for the first 7 laps and with Guillen overtaking her on lap 8 she remained at a good 5th place.

Andersen had a strong race throughout as she never got overtaken and kept her 7th place from start to finish. Cannon rode a good pace too as she went 9th in the first 3 laps and capitalised on Papenmeier’s mistake (8th at the time) on lap 4, to go up to 8th along with Giorgia Blasigh who followed Cannon over the whole race to finish at a good 9th place.

Papenmeier fought back after her mistake and went from 13th to 10th overtaking along the way, Danee Gelissen (12th in the end), Shana Van der Vlist (17th in the end) and Jans-Beken (11th in the end) with 2 laps to go to finish 10th.

In the end, Courtney Duncan was on the top of the podium in front of Lotte Van Drunen in 2nd place and Daniela Guillen 3rd. The second round of the WMX in Switzerland has been very competitive and Duncan showed her quick pace winning her first GP of the season while Van Drunen delivered another strong performance as she takes the Red Plate as she tops the Championship.

Charli Cannon finished the weekend in fifth overall and now holds the same position in the standings.

Courtney Duncan – P1

“I was in my element on Saturday – I love long ruts and tricky conditions – but there weren’t heaps of lines this morning and everyone could go fast after they bulldozed the track. I made a pretty good start but it was more difficult to make a difference. I was trying my best to win again but it just didn’t happen; it was a little frustrating but we racked back good points in the championship this weekend and won the overall. Twenty career GP wins is awesome – I’m stoked – and I’m confident heading to Spain next month.”

Lotte van Drunen – P2

“My first red-plate – it’s amazing. I enjoyed the track already on Saturday and my riding was good but it was difficult to pass and I ended up crashing. But straight after the finish I told my dad I was going to win today. I’m not really thinking about the championship yet this year; I just want to get on the podium every weekend and see first how the season develops.”

WMX Race Two Results

WMX Round Overall

MX2 Standings – After Round Three