A phenomenal start to the Grand Prix saw Seewer secure his second consecutive Pole Position with a stunning Qualifying Race win on Saturday afternoon. Coldenhoff had to overcome some health struggles to Qualify fifth, while Renaux finished eighth.
In much rougher, drier and hotter conditions, the opening MXGP race was fiercely competitive. The race started with Seewer dicing second position back and forth with Brian Bogers, Romain Febvre and Tim Gajser as Coldenhoff and Renaux fought to break into the top 10.
Despite low energy levels, Coldenhoff kept grafting and soon found himself in a position to capitalize on the mistakes of his rivals, one of which was Seewer, who fell while challenging third with three laps remaining. As a result, Coldenhoff ended up fourth, Renaux was fifth and Seewer was sixth.
While most of the MXGP fraternity spends hours in Lommel throughout the off-season learning the finesse it takes to ride deep sand with ease; it is still difficult to match the speed of the Dutch and Belgian riders. The evidence was Coldenhoff’s stunning victory in race two over fellow Dutchmen Vlaanderen and the eventual Grand Prix winner Bogers – all Dutch riders.
Seewer recovered from a crash on lap 3 to finish fifth, while Renaux did all he could with an ‘off’ feeling to finish sixth.
Now with the most demanding Grand Prix behind them, Seewer remains second in the Championship Standings, while Coldenhoff has moved up to fourth, bumping Renaux back to fifth.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP team will have a one-week break before heading into a triple-header that will see the last three European rounds in Sweden, Finland and France.
