Ryan Nitzen | July 18, 2022
Round 13 of the FIM MXGP World Championship took place this weekend in Loket for the MXGP of Czech Republic. Sunny conditions, packed crowds, and full gates made for a great day of racing as Yamaha riders Jago Geerts and Jeremy Seewer took their respective overall victories.
MXGP
A bit of musical chairs on the start line this weekend as Maxime Renaux returned from injury this weekend while Ruben Fernandez and Romain Febvre sat out in Loket. MXGP race one kicked off with Jorge Prado up front as usual, being chased by Tim Gajser and Jeremy Seewer. Seewer made his moves early on and passed Gajser on lap four before taking Prado just a few laps later. Seewer took off with the lead as Gajser followed through to second place. Renaux logged a great first race back and finished third.
Prado has his starts on lock. Photo: Juan Pablo Acevedo / GasGas
Prado and Seewer led the field off the start again in race two but the Yamaha rider quickly found himself in the front position. A small bobble from Seewer during the opening laps allowed his team mate Renaux to slip through while Gajser rode closely behind in third. The two Yamaha’s rode in tow for the rest of the race, with Renaux taking a race win in his first race back from a major back injury. Seewer’s 1-2 finishes earned him the overall with Renaux second and Gajser third. Gajser still leads the overall championship but Seewer now moves to second ahead of Prado.
Seewer took the win in race one. Photo: Yamaha
“It’s incredible to win this one, even though I feel like I could have gone 1-1 but I just made one mistake too much,” said Seewer. “I was a bit quicker, but Maxime (Renaux) was riding really well, and although I tried to catch him, I couldn’t make it happen, so I took the GP win, which is amazing after a tough week. I feel like I was not perfectly prepared for this one but I’m not giving up, there are still a few rounds left and I will fight for as many points as possible. We will see what we get and I will try to win some more.”
Seewer claimed the overall with 1-2 finishes. Photo: Yamaha
“To come back like this after such a bad injury wasn’t easy,” said Renaux. “We really made some big steps with the physio to be able to be here in good shape. It’s just amazing. I could not have dreamed of a better return to racing. To get a race win and be second on the podium is just fantastic. I am just super grateful because it could have been much worse and I am still not done for the championship, so I just hope to continue like this to the end of the season.”
Maxime Renaux finished second overall in his first race back. Photo: Yamaha
“It was a tough day out on the track today,” said Gajser. “I never really felt comfortable and couldn’t push like I wanted to so I couldn’t close that gap on the riders in front. It was still good to get on the podium and I still remain 125 points ahead in the championship, so in that respect I am happy, but I wanted to perform a little bit better for all the fans that came to support me. It was great to see and hear them all around the track and I appreciate every one of them for making the journey to come and see me ride.
2-3 finishes gave Gajser third. He still leads the points. Photo: Honda
Overall Results – MXGP
1 – Jeremy Seewer Yam 1-2
2 – Maxime Renaux Yam 3-1
3 – Tim Gajser Hon 2-3
4 – Glenn Coldenhoff Yam 4-4
5 – Jorge Prado GG 5-5
MX2
The points race in the MX2 division is one to watch this year as Tom Vialle and Jago Geerts continue to duke it out. However it was Thibault Benistant who started up front in MX2 race one while Vialle and Geerts were forced to fight through the pack. Vialle, the points leader, struggled and dropped off the pace as the race wore on. He finished and uncharacteristic 10th in the first race while title rival Geerts worked his way to third. Benistant ran away with the win while Simon Längenfelder claimed third.
Benistant ran away with the race one win. Photo: Yamaha
Geerts rebounded in race two and grabbed his first holeshot of the season just ahead of Vialle. The two points leaders found themselves locked in a battle at the front of the field as Vialle made a pass for the lead early on in the race. However, half-way through the race Vialle ran off the track on a downhill and surrendered the lead back to Geerts. He was unable to recover and Geerts ran off with the race win ahead of Vialle and Längenfelder. Geerts therefore took the overall win ahead of Benistant and Längenfelder. With his overall win, Geerts retakes the points lead by eight over Vialle.
Geerts rebounded with a win in race two. Photo: Yamaha
“I’m really happy with today,” said Geerts. “In the first race I struggled a little bit on the track, so before the second heat we made a small change on the bike, and I took the holeshot. I did make a small mistake on the first lap and Tom (Vialle) passed me, but after that I felt strong on the bike and good on the track. After 15-minutes I passed Tom back and pushed hard to win the moto. I also got the Championship Lead back, so it’s going to be nice to ride in Lommel at my home GP with the red plate next weekend.”
Geerts now leads the points in MX2. Photo: Yamaha
“I’m a bit disappointed because of the second race because my start was not bad, but I touched with the other guys in the first corner, so I had to start from a bit behind,” said Benistant. “I tried to push but on this track is not easier to make a comeback. I managed to fight back to fourth but for sure I wanted to win the second one to make it happen, the double race victory. But it wasn’t meant to be this weekend, so I will continue to work to be better in the next few races.”
1-4 finishes gave Benistant second overall. Photo: Yamaha
“It was a good weekend,” said Langenfelder “I was consistent and had two good starts. They were not perfect, but definitely good. I was feeling like I could make a pass for the lead in moto one, but he just did not make any mistakes. 2-3 for third overall is quite good! I took a lot of points too. Now we are looking forward to the sand next weekend.”
Simon Langenfelder landed on the podium with 2-3 finishes. Photo: GasGas
MX2
1 – Jago Geerts Yam 2-1
2 – Thibault Benistant Yam 1-4
3 – Simon Längenfelder GG 2-3
4 – Kevin Horgmo Kaw 4-5
5 – Tom Vialle KTM 10-2
Click here for more MXGP racing news.
