Febvre gets the better of Prado in Finland | Adamo sweeps MX2

MXGP 2023

Round 14 – MXGP of Finland, Vanta

The MXGP of Finland made up round 14 of the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship in Vantaa over the weekend, where Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre took his personal record to five Grand Prix victories in a row.

Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado finished second once again, including the race two win to keep Febvre honest, and closing out the overal podium was Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff, making it a back-to-back podium as his form continued.

In MX2, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo took his first perfect GP win with an excellent 1-1 that extends his lead in the Championship.

Filling out the MX2 overall podium and getting his fourth podium in a row was Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder in front of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Liam Everts who made the return to the podium for the first time since Sumbawa-Indonesia, with a consistent weekend.

A rapid getaway saw Aussie Mitch Evans prominent entering the first turn in race one but he emerged eleventh after being pushed wide and, dropped to twelfth, then eventually regained eleventh seven laps from the end of the race.

Ninth for twelve laps in race two, he eventually surrendered one position as he faced vision problems with broken goggles to come home tenth for the same placing overall on the day. The Australian remains fourteenth in the series standings but is now just fifteen points from a top-ten ranking despite missing the opening four rounds of the series.

Mitch Evans

“I felt more comfortable today; it’s just a shame about race two. A rock hit the cannister on my roll-offs on the first lap so I was wiping my goggles all moto.”

MXGP of Finland, Vanta – Video Highlights

MXGP Race One

Race one saw Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer take his 10th FOX Holeshot of the season and hold on to that lead in front of Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado and Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre.

Febvre charged Prado for second, and made a pass stick on Seewer during lap two. Seewer stayed in touch the whole race, but could do nothing to prevent Febvre’s sixth victory of the season. He did have to defend from Prado for most of the race, holding Prado off for second.

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff had a quiet race as he trailed the top three riders with a comfortable cushion from his pursuers, finishing fourth.

RelatedPosts

Fifth huge batch of high quality images from MXoN 2024 – Gallery E

October 17, 2024

Fourth huge batch of high quality images from MXoN 2024 – Gallery D

October 15, 2024

Fifth on the other hand was hard fought for the whole race. Team HRC’s Rubén Fernández had a strong start but was overtaken in the opening lap by Prado and Coldenhoff, dropping to fifth.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings was behind Fernandez and took two laps to dive on the inside of the Spanish rider and claim fifth. However Fernandez didn’t throw the towel in and came back on the back wheel of the ‘bullet’ on lap 7.

Fernandez dug deep and was able get the fifth back, only to crash on lap 13 and retire from the race and the GP. Herlings had goggles issues and had to pitstop to change them on lap 10 while he was sixth, dropping to 11th and eventually finishing eighth.

Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen and Team HRC’s Tim Gajser were seventh and eighth from the opening lap respectively and befitted from Fernandez and Herlings’ misfortunes to move up to fifth and sixth.

SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato managed to pass riders regularly during the race and avoid mistakes to finish seventh.

The two riders from Standing Construct Honda MXGP, Jeremy Van Horebeek and Brian Bogers closed out the top 10 respectively, just ahead of Australia’s Mitch Evans in 11th.

MXGP Race One Results

MXGP Race Two

Prado took also his 10th FOX Holeshot to go level with Seewer in race two and kept the lead, Febvre on his tail but both riders matching speed, Prado taking the eventual victory and Febvre settling for second.

Coldenhoff slotted into third from race start, and then had to manage Herlings pushing behind him the whole race, keeping his cool and composure for third. Herlings settled for fourth on his return to the competition.

Seewer demonstrated a sense of urgency after an average start compared to his usual standards, finding himself seventh. He overtook Gajser on lap 11, and then a lap later Vlaanderen to move into fifth, where he finished.

Gajser showed flow and speed, managing to stay in touching distance and capitalise on Vlaanderen’s fall to finish sixth. Vlaanderen settling for seventh.

Van Horebeek finished eighth, Alvin Östlund ninth and Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Mitch Evans moved into the top 10.

Febvre took the overall, two-points ahead of Prado, Coldenhoff rounding out the podium, Seewer missing out despite tying on points. Herlings rounded out the top five, and Evans was 10th.

Prado leads the MXGP standings on 720-points, Febvre second on 622 and Seewer leads Coldenhoff on 550 to 525-points.

Romain Febvre – P1

“I have felt one with the bike for a long time now and my confidence is growing every week. I had the speed every time I went on the track this weekend but, as we already saw yesterday, it is not easy to pass here. I could make two decisive passes early in the first moto; Seewer kept me on my toes but I was always in control. It was more difficult in race two; I had the speed again and I came close several times but some parts of the track were getting really tricky and you had to take care. I tried to stick to Jorge and hope he would make a mistake but he didn’t, so in the last two laps I concentrated on riding my own race because I knew second was good enough for the overall. Five-in-a-row, and I did it on the team’s home soil ! I have now beaten my personal best from 2015 so let’s keep it going.”

Jorge Prado – P2

“It was a positive weekend! I won two of the three races this weekend. I am focused on the championship, but my goal is to win when I get onto the track. The pace was good in the second moto – it was nice to lead every lap of that one. I had a lot of fun with my Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing team this weekend, so thank you to them.”

Glenn Coldenhoff – P3

“Another podium; you should always be happy with that. But, at this point, I just want to win. That’s what we are working for. We’re not too far off, so we have planned some testing next week, and we will keep working towards it. There are not too many rounds left now, so I hope to be on top soon. Hopefully, I can make it happen in Sweden already.”

Jeremy Seewer – P4

“I had everything to fight for the win today, so it’s frustrating. It feels like this is the story of my season this year. I struggled a bit with bike set-up, but I managed to adjust throughout the moto, but it takes too much time, and then when I’m feeling good at the end of the race, it’s too late. It’s just frustrating because I am fit and fast, but the results aren’t where I want them to be. Now we have a little break to regroup before Sweden.”

Jeffrey Herlings – P5

“The first moto was a bit unfortunate because a stone hit my goggle and the roll-off broke in two. I was around 5th, I think, but had to pull-over to change and that put me back to 12th. In the second moto I was battling the top guys and had the speed, so I was very happy with that. To have just one day on the bike this week, come back and then be 5th overall is a pretty good return. We were looking at this like a ‘preparation run’ so 5th overall is great and the team did an amazing job. I’m looking forward to Sweden and we’ll aim for the top five so we can go for the podium and maybe the win at Arnhem.”

Tim Gajser – P6

“Another week and improvements were definitely made. Of course I’m not completely happy with the results but I can see progress and I can also see where things can be better, so that’s important. Now I have a weekend off so I can get some good practice in and just work on some things, so that hopefully I can be challenging further forward in Sweden, which is a track that I like.”

Ruben Fernandez – DNS

“Things were going well, until they weren’t. After a third in the qualification race yesterday I was feeling good about today. I had a decent start and was not too far from the podium spots and was preparing to put in some strong laps to finish off the race but when I came over the jump near the pitlane I hit a bit of a kicker and went over the handlebars. It was a big crash, but thankfully after getting checked out by the doctors, I was told there was nothing serious, just a lot of bangs and bruises. Now the plan is to rest up and have another check-up by the doctor sometime this week to make sure I’m back to 100% by the time Uddevalla comes around in a couple of weeks.”

MXGP Race Two Results

2023 MXGP of Finland, Round Overall

MXGP Standings – Top 25

MX2 Race One

The opening MX2 race saw the FOX Holeshot taken by Simon Laengenfelder ahead of Andrea Adamo. After the first couple of corners, closest chasers were  Liam Everts, Fantic Racing MX Hakon Osterhagen and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts.

Osterhagen made a great start but and Geerts could not avoid him and crashed too, forcing him to retire. Osterhagen got back up and moving but had to retire with a bike problem in the end.

Adamo put immense pressure on race leader Laengenfelder and on lap dove up the inside to take the lead. The German didn’t give up however, and tried to answer straight away, but couldn’t make it stick and settled for second as a result.

Everts stayed out of trouble and rode a consistent race to get finish third. Behind him F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo got a good start, riding to fourth.

Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen found himself 11th on lap one, but found his flow and on lap seven really started his charge forward. The young Belgian moved into sixth on lap 16 – after getting the better of brother Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Sacha Coenen on lap 11 and of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Rick Elzinga a couple of laps later.

He kept charging to overtake WZ Racing Team’s Oriol Oliver and finished in fifth. Oliver sixth, Elzinga seventh, Braceras eighth. S.Coenen was ninth, and Camden McLellan rounded out the top ten.

MX2 Race One Results

MX2 Race Two

Fastest out of the gate in race two was Adamo, but teammate Everts took the lead. Elzinga had a great start to find himself quickly in second.

Adamo dropped to fourth, behind teammate S.Coenen but quickly lined up a successful pass. Adamo made a perfect move to pass Elzinga on lap 2, to get closer to his teammate and race leader Everts.

Adamo closed on Everts and swept up the inside of the Belgian on lap seven to take the lead, where he’d finish.

Laengenfelder displayed one of the more impressive performances of the season as he put his head down, passed nearly every rider in front of him with ease and set several fastest laps, going from tenth to second.

Lucas Coenen rounded out the race two podium, not far off Laengenfelder, Everts fourth and Elzinga fifth.

Round out the race two top-10 were Coenen.S, Horgmo, Gifting, Oliver and Pancar.

The MX2 round overall went to Adamo with a perfect scorecard, Laengenfelder second and Everts third.

The standings are likewise led by Adamo on 619-points, Geerts on 559 and Everts third on 532.

Andrea Adamo – P1

“Honestly, I did not expect this result today. I came here with the same mentality of trying to take the best finish possible and then seeing where we end the day. I was feeling good and enjoying the track and I had two good starts. I was never in the lead after the second corner though! So I still had work to do in both motos. A perfect day in the end so I’m happy. I knew if I could put things together then I could win. We were close in the Czech Republic and Lommel was not easy. I came here to reset and we did a great job.”

Simon Längenfelder – P2

It is very nice to have another podium! I did not expect to get back to second in moto two, but I felt so good on my MC 250F. I found some nice lines as I was coming through the field. I am going from race to race at the moment and trying to do my best with the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing team.”

Liam Everts – P3

“This weekend was pretty tough actually even though we were quite consistent with results and we were able to battle at the front and get back on the box. It was good to lead for a while in the second moto but then I had to go into defense mode and lost the tow with Andrea. I should have been looking forward instead of always hitting the inside all the time. I cramped-up a bit and they got me at the end. It will be good to have a weekend off now.”

Lucas Coenen – P4

“I am happy with how I rebounded after the setback in the qualification heat – we made the best out of the situation. I made good progress in moto one and was so close to second at the end of moto two. Everything is going in a good direction now. We will take this momentum into the final part of the season.”

Kevin Horgmo – P5

“I started good in the first moto and rode solid all moto. I was alone most of the race; I couldn’t quite close to Everts but I had a big gap to the rest. I had a good feeling again in race two and was sixth for a long time. I was close to Sacha all moto but just didn’t have the extra speed to make any moves. Of course I want more, but everyone found it difficult to pass here this weekend.”

Rick Elzinga – P6

“I arrived in Finland feeling a bit under the weather. I had a fever this week and a sore throat, but luckily, I felt much better on Saturday. But after a strong P.5 finish in Qualifying yesterday, I didn’t feel the best today. In the first race, I had too much wheel spin on the gate but fought my way back from around 12th to sixth but was a bit tired at the end and finished seventh. Luckily in the second race, I had a much better start and was fighting up front which was really nice. I managed to finish fifth, which was a good step in the right direction and shows I’m making progress, so I am really happy with that.”

Sacha Coenen – P7

“Saturday went quite well. I was not pushing and had a good flow. I messed-up the start of the first moto and it felt like I was in last place. It was a hard fight to come back to 7th but then my front brake was a bit damaged and seemed to be sticking; that affected the last the last ten minutes but we could keep going and 9th was OK. I almost had the holeshot in the second moto, so that was much better and I made a couple of mistakes on the first lap. I lost some positions and I also think that cost me the win. My riding was quite OK today so for that I’m happy and we’ll see what we can do in Sweden.”

MX2 Race Two Results

2023 MXGP of Finland , MX2 Round Overall – Top 25

MX2 Standings