Seewer Fights to Fifth at MXGP of Lombardia

07-11-2021

Seewer Fights to Fifth at MXGP of Lombardia

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Jeremy Seewer fought hard for a top-five finish at the 17th and penultimate round of the FIM Motocross World Championship in Mantova, Italy. He was fifth overall. Teammates Glenn Coldenhoff and Ben Watson finished 11th and 13th, respectively.

The opening race started with Seewer claiming his fifth Fox Holeshot of 2021 before being elbowed back to third position by the current championship leader, Romain Febvre and MXGP title challenger Jeffrey Herlings. But, despite an incredible start, the Swiss star ended the opening lap in 15th after an unavoidable fall caused by Herlings crashing in front of him. After freeing his YZ450FM from the entanglement with the former World Champion, the ‘91’ dug deep and charged hard to finish fifth position.

In the second race, Seewer put in one of his best rides of the season as he stormed through the field from outside of the points to finish strong in fifth position

As a new recruit to the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP team in 2021, Glenn Coldenhoff has spent the best part of the season testing various settings that will allow him to challenge the podium more frequently. Despite an ‘off’ feeling all day, the Dutch rider powered his YZ450FM to a top-five start in race one, but felt his set-up was not optimal and ended up being shuffled back to 11th.

After making some changes to the bike ahead of race two, Coldenhoff noticed some improvements but needed some time to adapt to the alterations. The '259' started to feel better in the closing stages, but ran out of time and ended up 12th at the flag.

At the same time, Ben Watson had a challenging day with riders falling in front of him at turn-one in both races. Despite being at a considerable disadvantage, starting from the back of the pack, the 24-year-old Brit salvaged 4 points for 17th in race one and 13th in race two.

The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP team will return to Mantova for the 18th and final round of the 2021 FIM Motocross World Championship on Wednesday, 10th November. Seewer and Coldenhoff are sixth and seventh in the standings, respectively, while Watson is 11th.

For more results from the MXGP of Lombardia, click here.

Jeremy Seewer

5th MXGP of Lombardia, 32 points

“Results-wise, this was not the day I expected or wanted, but speed and confidence-wise, it was really good. Mantova is a tough track. It’s definitely not my favourite, but still, I have the speed for the podium. Today I didn’t manage to put the motos together, but looking at the positives, I took the holeshot in race one, but Jeffrey (Herlings) crashed, and I hit him and this turned my race upside down. I had to fight through the pack. In the second moto, I completely messed up my start. I entered the first corner buried in the pack and came back to the front really strong. In terms of my riding, it was one of my best rides this year, especially on this kind of track. I am happy with it. Only the result on paper doesn’t reflect my speed, but now we work to be back fighting upfront at the final round on Wednesday.”

Glenn Coldenhoff

11th MXGP of Lombardia, 19-points

“Another tough day. Starting in Timed Practice with only the 17th time. But, we know that I am a good starter, so I was able to get a good start in race one, but unfortunately, I didn’t have a good feeling on the track and went backwards. Before the second race, we made some ‘quite big’ changes to the set-up of the bike, and it was definitely a bit better, but still battling around 13th or 14th. Not where we want to be. But, we hope to bring more confidence into the final round on Wednesday.”

Ben Watson

13th MXGP of Lombardia, 12-points

“It’s been a difficult day for me. I struggled in qualifying, which meant I had a bad gate pick in both races. I was blocked in both races with people crashing in front of me, so I had to come from the back of the pack. I felt okay with my riding, but nothing special, and in the MXGP class, you need to reach that next step if you are to make passes and move through the field quickly. I did feel a lot better in the second race and came from the back to 13th, but I still want more. So, Wednesday, we try again.”