Cycle News Staff | April 11, 2023
The 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship returned to Switzerland for round three on Monday, April 10. A pair of Yamahas took home overall wins with Maxime Renaux in the MXGP class and Thibault Benistant in MX2.
MXGP
Jorge Prado took the holeshot in race one as the red-plate holder got out to the early lead. The GasGas rider went uncontested for the race win, the third of his 2023 campaign.
Renaux pushed his way into a podium position to finish second after passing Jeffery Herlings and Mattia Guadagnini. Romain Febvre also made several passes to take third.
Prado again grabbed the lead at the start of moto two with Herlings and Renaux in tow. Renaux made two quick passes before the end of lap one and found himself at the front of the field. While the top three remained close, Renaux was able to take the race win and the overall victory.
Febvre made a late-race charge and passed Prado for second, his 3-2 netting the Kawasaki rider third overall.
Prado held tight for third in the moto, knowing a 1-3 would give him second overall. Prado continues to lead the overall championship by 21 over Herlings.
VIDEO| MXGP of Switzerland Highlights
FIM MXGP
MX2
The first MX2 race started with Yamaha’s Jago Geerts grabbing the holeshot and early lead. He pulled away from the field on the rough and rutted track. However, on lap 14, the Belgian crashed spectacularly and was left with a mangled machine. He’d still remount and finish seventh.
Roan van de Moosdijk (Husqvarna) rode a quiet race in second but inherited the lead once Geerts hit the deck. Moosdijk went on to take the moto win.
Van de Moosdijk’s teammate, Kay De Wolf, took second, while Andrea Adamo (KTM) rounded out the podium.
Adamo started things off with a holeshot in race two over Yamaha riders Thibault Benistant and Geerts. The blue bikes passed Adamo’s KTM, with Benistant taking over the lead. Benistant went on to take the race win and was the weekend’s overall class winner.
Adamo claimed second in race two and second overall.
Geerts, once again, fell in moto two which dropped him to third in the race. He took fifth in the overall classification but still leads the championship by 20 points.
De Wolf clawed his way to fourth in the second moto for third overall. CN
MXGP
- Maxime Renaux (Yam) 2-1
- Jorge Prado (GG) 1-3
- Romain Febvre (Kaw) 3-2
- Jeffery Herlings (KTM) 5-4
- Calvin Vlaanderen (Yam) 4-7
MX2
- Thibault Benistant (Yam) 4-1
- Andrea Adamo (KTM) 3-2
- Kay De Wolf (Hus) 2-4
- Roan Van De Moosdijk (Hus) 1-8
- Jago Geerts (Yam) 7-3
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