Now in the final four rounds of the MXGP season, a mini tour of Scandinavia kicked off the end of the season, starting in Sweden. Uddevalla hadn’t been on the schedule in nearly three years due to the pandemic, with Glenn Coldenhoff and Tom Vialle coming out on top in 2019. Vialle needed a similar run today, as his MX2 Championship hopes were fading fast with this run Jago Geerts has been on. Not that the Belgian has been lights out, but Vialle has done himself no favors.
Meanwhile, on the Tim Gajser front, we are in the endgame of the MXGP class title hunt. Although the 243 had a real chance to clinch the World Championship today, he needed an abysmal outing from Jeremy Seewer more than anything. Not helping things was that the Swiss Yamaha rider was on a good run as of late as well. Would things change on Sunday?
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MX2 Class Recap
Moto 1
Sunday started close to perfect for Vialle, despite losing out on the holeshot to Kevin Horgmo, he got by Simon Laengenfelder and then the Norweigan Kawasaki rider on lap one to get the lead. Geerts was right behind him in the sequence as well which probably helped out. As for the No. 93, an early battle with Horgmo proved costly. After swapping second place in the opening six laps, Geerts took the spot, but not before Vialle took off from the field. Probably would have wanted Geerts to finish a few more spots back, but Vialle has to take what he can get at this point in the year.
Moto 2
Laengenfelder led the pack of four from the previous Moto, plus Thibault Benistant, to the holeshot line in the later race of the day. Once again, Vialle was running ahead of Geerts, but the decider in this one was the No. 28 tipping over from second on lap four. A very odd fall in the second corner all things considered. Horgmo also hit the deck in this Moto, surrendering fourth to Roan Van De Moosdijk who was on a strong rebound run.
Vialle ended up running down Geerts by the time the white flag came out, but his efforts were in vain. Geerts had enough of a gap to secure a 2-1 Grand Prix win. Good for his third in a row and sixth on the year. Although he didn’t gain anything on Vialle in the points, he didn’t lose any ground either and sits pretty with six Motos to go.
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MX2 Class Top 10 Results
1st No. 93 Jago Geerts 2-1
2nd No. 28 Tom Vialle 1-2
3rd No. 516 Simon Laengenfelder 4-3
4th No. 24 Kevin Horgmo 3-5
5th No. 11 Mikkel Harrup 5-8
6th No. 74 Kay De Wolf 7-7
7th No. 189 Thibault Benistant 6-9
8th No. 39 Roan Van De Moosdijk 13-4
9th No. 253 Jan Pancar 12-6
10 No. 72 Liam Everts 8-10
MX2 Class Point Standings After Sweeden
1st No. 28 Tom Vialle 502 Points
2nd No. 93 Jago Geerts 498 Points (-4)
3rd No. 516 Simon Laengenfelder 395 Points (-107)
4th No. 24 Kevin Horgmo 356 Points (-146)
5th No. 11 Mikkel Haarup 332 Points (-170)
MXGP Class Recap
Moto 1
Valentin Guillod recently announced to run on the Swiss Des Nations team, picked up a surprise holeshot to kick things off for the 450s. However, he ran wide right passed the holeshot line and gave the lead to fellow bLUcRU rider Maxime Renaux. Not getting the start he wanted at all meanwhile was qualifying race winner Mitch Evans. The Australian got a relatively good start but went down on his own just three corners into the race. This put him back in 31st, but Evans put on a monster ride, making up 21 spots in just over 30 minutes.
For the Monster Energy Yamaha trio of Renaux, Seewer, and Coldenhoff, this was exactly how they drew it up. The three held the top three spots in that order respectively for the entire Moto, holding off Gajser and Jorge Prado who ended up fourth and fifth here. For Renaux, this already marked the fifth Moto win of his rookie season, quite the impressive feat given the competition.
Moto 2
Just as the field was getting to the holeshot line, Red Bull GasGas rider Mattia Guadagnini had a horrific-looking crash. He got incidentally hit going into the first corner and went straight into the sponsor boards lining the corner. The best possible news is this looked far worse than it was, and the Italian went the distance, finishing in 21st. Also having a rough start was Renaux, who got hit by Pauls Jonass just a few corners later. The two made contact going to the tabletop jump, and Renaux was then hit by Ben Watson after he fell. This sadly ended his day, which looked to be rather promising by all accounts.
The hard charger early on was Gajser, who got by Evans, Febvre, and Calvin Vlaanderen to jump into second by the end of lap one. Evans being up front was a good sign as well after he likely emptied the tank in the first Moto. Based on his run here, he had energy to spare, as the No. 43 Honda HRC rider stuck in fourth the entire race. If not for that first Moto wreck, a podium finish was a real possibility. Gajser meanwhile didn’t have the time to get to/by Seewer, whose 2-1 was enough for the Grand Prix win. Not bad after getting put in the Steiner Recliner by Lewis Phillips in go-karts. It is not all bad for Gajser either, whose Championship situation becomes crystal clear. If he finishes top 5 in Moto 1 next weekend in Finland, he wins the World Title.
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MXGP Class Top 10 Results
1st No. 91 Jeremy Seewer 2-1
2nd No. 243 Tim Gajser 4-2
3rd No. 259 Glenn Coldenhoff 3-5
4th No. 3 Romain Febvre 6-3
5th No. 61 Jorge Prado 5-6
6th No. 43 Mitch Evans 10-4
7th No. 32 Brent Van Donnick 8-9
8th No. 959 Maxime Renaux 1-DNF
9th No. 303 Alberto Forato 11-10
10th No. 92 Valentin Guillod 9-12
MXGP Class Point Standings After Sweden
1st No. 243 Tim Gajser 645 Points
2nd No. 91 Jeremy Seewer 530 Points (-115)
3rd No. 61 Jorge Prado 496 Points (-130)
4th No. 259 Glenn Coldenhoff 478 Points (-170)
5th No. 959 Maxime Renaux 466 Points (-172)
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