Steve Cox | August 20, 2017
2017 MX GP of Sweden Results: Trying weather conditions that challenged racers both in tire choice as well as goggle preparation were the theme of the day at round 16 of the 19-round Monster Energy MXGP World Championship, in Uddevalla, Sweden, where defending MXGP World Champion Tim Gajser finally climbed his way back up to the top spot on the podium after injuries hampered his earlier efforts this season.
Gajser grabbed the lead from 2015 champ Romain Febvre when Febvre crashed out of the lead in the first moto, then led the rest of the way. Red Bull KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings worked his way forward from the tail end of the top 10 to land second at the line, just in front of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Gautier Paulin, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Clement Desalle, KTM’s Glenn Coldenhoff, Febvre, and points leader Antonio Cairoli. The Red Bull KTM superstar started very poorly in the opening moto and had to fight his way up to his mediocre finish.
2017 MX GP of Sweden Results
In MXGP moto two, Febvre took the holeshot, in front of Herlings and Honda’s Gajser. Gajser battled with Herlings until Herlings suffered a mechanical and dropped out of the race, and from there, Febvre took the moto win over Gajser, whose 1-2 finishes were good enough for the overall victory. Then came Paulin, Desalle, Coldenhoff, Jeremy Van Horebeek, and then Cairoli, who again found himself struggling mid-pack at the start.
Still, Cairoli carries a 101-point lead over his teammate Herlings, which means he can clinch his 9th world championship as early as the next race in Florida.
2017 MX GP of Sweden Results
In MX2 competition, Red Bull KTM’s Jorge Prado Garcia went wire-to-wire to win moto one over Suzuki’s Jeremy Seewer and points leader (and Red Bull KTM teammate) Pauls Jonass. American Thomas Covington, of the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna team, had a terrible opening moto, falling in the first turn and then only being able to recover for 16th by the end of the race.
2017 MX GP of Sweden Results
But moto two was another story. Prado Garcia again took the early lead, but he was soon joined by Seewer and a fight between Australian Hunter Lawrence (Suzuki), Covington and Jonass. Seewer was the first to relegate Prado Garcia out of the top spot, and Lawrence soon followed. Then came Covington and Jonass as Prado Garcia continued his slide rearward (eventually finishing fifth in the moto).
Covington, then third, went after Lawrence, and after Lawrence went down, he had a clear track to chase down Seewer. Seewer had slowed his pace a touch out front, and in the last three laps, Covington was picking up speed, cutting between 1 and 1 and a half seconds off of Seewer’s lead until, on the last lap, Covington put in the fastest lap of the race – a 1:52.452 (no other racer in the class got into the 1:52s at all during moto two) – and just nipped Seewer at the line, winning by an astonishing 0.055 of a second!
Seewer took the overall with his 2-2 score, but the hero on the day was American Thomas Covington, who will be heading to Florida with the rest of the GP regulars for the MXGP of the USA at WW Motocross Park in Jacksonville, Florida, on September 3rd for round 17 of the 19-round championship. After this championship is over, Covington will be headed to England to join fellow Americans Zach Osborne and Cole Seely to represent Team USA at the 2017 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations on September 30th/October 1st in Matterley Basin.
Results:
MXGP
1. Tim Gajser (Hon) 1-2
2. Romain Febvre (Yam) 6-1
3. Gautier Paulin (Hus) 3-3
4. Clement Desalle (Kaw) 4-4
5. Glenn Coldenhoff (KTM) 5-5
MX2
1. Jeremy Seewer (Suz) 2-2
2. Jorge Prado Garcia (KTM) 1-5
3. Pauls Jonass (KTM) 3-3
4. Conrad Mewse (Hus) 4-8
5. Thomas Covington (Hus) 16-1
MXGP Points Standings
1. Antonio Cairoli 631
2. Jeffrey Herlings 530
3. Gautier Paulin 526
4. Clement Desalle 519
5. Tim Gajser 453
MX2 Points Standings
1. Pauls Jonass 669
2. Jeremy Seewer 624
3. Benoit Paturel 504
4. Thomas Kjer Olsen 497
5. Julien Lieber 436
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