2022 FIM Motocross World Championship
Round 1 – MXGP of Great Britain – Qualifying
The 2022 MXGP of Great Britain has seen the first day of action conclude with qualifying at Matterley Basin witnessing Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Maxime Renaux and Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Simon Längenfelder top the proceedings.
Qualifying also saw Jed Beaton and Mitch Evans putting in strong performances, with Beaton debuting in the premier class and finishing the day ninth fastest, while Evans took it easy for his return from injury, claiming P18.
MXGP
In the MXGP qualifying race, it was Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Seewer with the holeshot but his new teammate and MXGP rookie, Maxime Renaux, was able to slip past and take over the lead. Team HRC’s Tim Gajser move into second too, with Seewer leading his other teammate, Glenn Coldenhoff.
Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado was able to find a way past Coldenhoff to move into fourth. Honda 114 Motorsports’ Ruben Fernandez was also running well just behind the #292.
Much of the qualifying race was a battle between Renaux and Gajser, with the Slovenian making several attempts to get by the young Frenchman. But his attempts never came to fruition as Renaux was able to hold off the four-time world champion.
While things seemed to be going well for one rookie, it was not the same for another one as Mathys Boisrame who was filling in for the injured Jeffrey Herlings of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing had a big crash in the qualifying race and did not finish the session. There is no update yet whether he will start the races tomorrow.
As the race progressed, it looked like Prado was within striking distance of Seewer, but the Yamaha rider was quick to respond, and Prado lost ground.
With two laps to go, Gajser was still not giving up on Renaux, as Fernandez was able to get by Coldenhoff for fifth place.
In the end, Renaux went on to win his first ever qualifying race in MXGP, with Gajser second, Seewer third, Prado fourth and Fernandez rounding out the top five.
Maxime Renaux – P1
“It’s really good to start my MXGP rookie season like that. I managed to lead all the laps of the race even with Tim behind me pushing hard to catch me. I tried to manage the lead and don’t make any mistakes. I wasn’t expecting to do so good but I knew I had good potential, I wasn’t really sure about the start because the 450 is a new bike so I didn’t know what to expect from the starts. I feel confident even with the power increase and for sure tomorrow will be really important to make a good start, get the front row and make the same thing I did today.”
Tim Gajser – P2
“It was a good qualifying race overall. Second place is good enough for the first race of the season and I felt like my speed and my riding is in a strong position. Obviously, the points scoring races are tomorrow so they are the most important races, so that is now my focus, to get good starts and score some good points for this season opener.”
Team F&H’s Australian Jed Beaton displayed immaculate speed throughout the day as he posted seventh-fastest time during practice on his MXGP debut and confirmed this pace with a strong ride from fourteenth to ninth during the first eight minutes of the Qualifying race. The low intense sunshine of a February late-afternoon under brilliant blue skies urged a degree of caution and he wisely consolidated the position to the chequered flag.
Jed Beaton – P9
“A 450 is pretty different to the 250s I have raced previously in my career but I have some good people around me which has helped the transition. I already feel pretty good and we are trying to build every week. The sun was pretty low by the end of the day so it was difficult to see the lines but I have a good gate-pick for tomorrow.“
After what was a wretched 2021 year that saw him recovering from a wrist injury sustained at the 2020 MXGP of Spain, Mitch Evans wasn’t putting any pressure on himself for these opening MXGP rounds. His goal is to work himself back up to speed, and the first step for that was to complete the qualification race.
A mid-pack start didn’t give him the best chance of a strong result but he fought throughout the race and would have finished in the top 15, if it wasn’t for an off-track excursion. Instead, he was 18th and as a result, will have an outside gate-pick for the races on Sunday.
Mitch Evans – P18
“This was my first MXGP race for a long time, so I’m happy to get through it with my wrist feeling pretty good. The sun was low which caused some problems, so that made it difficult, but overall, I’m happy with the day. Now I just want to put in two solid results tomorrow and start to feel more comfortable riding in this MXGP class again.”
MXGP of Great Britain Qualifying Results
| Pos | Rider | Nat. | Time/Gap |
| 1 | RENAUX Maxime | FRA | 26:32.6 |
| 2 | GAJSER Tim | SLO | +00:01.5 |
| 3 | SEEWER Jeremy | SWI | +00:04.5 |
| 4 | PRADO GARCIA Jorge | SPA | +00:25.1 |
| 5 | FERNANDEZ Ruben | SPA | +00:35.3 |
| 6 | COLDENHOFF Glenn | NDL | +00:39.7 |
| 7 | VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy | BEL | +00:40.8 |
| 8 | FORATO Alberto | ITA | +00:41.7 |
| 9 | BEATON Jed | AUS | +00:43.1 |
| 10 | VLAANDEREN Calvin | NDL | +00:50.0 |
| 11 | BOGERS Brian | NDL | +00:50.9 |
| 12 | KJER OLSEN Thomas | DEN | +00:58.2 |
| 13 | LUPINO Alessandro | ITA | +01:13.7 |
| 14 | JACOBI Henry | GER | +01:14.5 |
| 15 | GUILLOD Valentin | SWI | +01:17.9 |
| 16 | VAN DONINCK Brent | BEL | +01:19.1 |
| 17 | TIXIER Jordi | FRA | +01:19.8 |
| 18 | EVANS Mitch | AUS | +01:29.3 |
| 19 | WATSON Ben | GBR | +01:31.4 |
| 20 | KOCH Tom | GER | +01:37.0 |
MX2
In the MX2 qualifying race it was Simon Längenfelder with the holeshot ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle and Kay De Wolf of Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.
While the majority of the field were clean into the first corner, unfortunately one of the riders that was caught out was Liam Everts of DIGA PROCROSS KTM Racing. He did not continue with the race.
Längenfelder continued to control the field, as Vialle was looking to get by De Wolf for second. Further down the field was Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jago Geerts and Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Roan Van de Moosdijk, who was making his debut on Husqvarna inside the top five.
Geerts then set the fastest lap of the race as Längenfelder started to get comfortable in the lead. De Wolf then crashed out of second and dropped down to fifth. He quickly started to come under pressure from Andrea Adamo of SM Action GasGas YUASA Battery, but was able to hold the position.
Längenfelder went on to win his first ever MX2 qualifying race with a 2.555 second advantage over Vialle and Geerts. Moosdijk finished fourth and De Wolf fifth.
Simon Längenfelder – P1
“I had a really good start and after I managed to lead every single lap of the race. I did only a small mistake that you could see from MXGP-TV, but despite that I managed to do all properly. Being in the De Carli team is a big change for me also moving to Italy but I have to say that having so many great people around me in the team is amazing and I’m so happy to be in this team.”
Conrad Mewse – P2
“It was a difficult and steady qualifying for me because I didn’t have a good start and I couldn’t do the passes that I wanted in the first lap. I had some problems with my goggle lens with the sun. In the end I managed to finish 8th that is not so bad, and I will try to keep some energy for tomorrow. Starting from the 8th gate is good for me and tomorrow for sure I’ll go for two solid starts and be there with the guys in front.”
MX2 of Great Britain Qualifying Results
| Pos | Rider | Nat. | Diff. First |
| 1 | Laengenfelder, Simon | GER | 26:35.8 |
| 2 | Vialle, Tom | FRA | 00:02.6 |
| 3 | Geerts, Jago | BEL | 00:12.7 |
| 4 | Van De Moosdijk, Roan | NED | 00:21.3 |
| 5 | de Wolf, Kay | NED | 00:22.4 |
| 6 | Adamo, Andrea | ITA | 00:24.5 |
| 7 | Fredriksen, Hakon | NOR | 00:29.7 |
| 8 | Mewse, Conrad | GBR | 00:34.6 |
| 9 | Horgmo, Kevin | NOR | 00:36.0 |
| 10 | Guadagnini, Mattia | ITA | 00:42.3 |
| 11 | Rubini, Stephen | FRA | 00:44.3 |
| 12 | Sydow, Jeremy | GER | 01:03.7 |
| 13 | Brumann, Kevin | SUI | 01:15.8 |
| 14 | Gifting, Isak | SWE | 01:16.8 |
| 15 | Facchetti, Gianluca | ITA | 01:30.0 |
| 16 | Karssemakers, Kay | NED | 01:32.7 |
| 17 | Nilsson, Samuel | ESP | 01:48.5 |
| 18 | Haberland, Paul | GER | 01:56.3 |
| 19 | Pancar, Jan | SLO | 01:57.2 |
| 20 | Polak, Petr | CZE | 02:20.0 |
| 21 | Collings, Adam | GBR | 1 lap |
| 22 | Edberg, Tim | SWE | 1 lap |
| 23 | Haarup, Mikkel | DEN | 2 laps |
| 24 | Ludwig, Noah | GER | 2 laps |
| 25 | Olsson, Filip | SWE | 3 laps |
| 26 | Everts, Liam | BEL | 10 laps |
