Situated approximately 50 kilometers South-East of the Latvian capital, Riga, the Zelta-Zirgs circuit hosted an intense seventh round of the FIM Motocross World Championship. The vast and flowing track layout proved difficult to navigate, with the loose and sandy top-soil hiding many square edged bumps, which some riders found mentally challenging due to the level of risk being slightly higher than usual.
Glenn Coldenhoff was able to get off to a great start in the opening race of the day. The Dutchman maximized the power of his YZ450FM to exit the first turn inside the top-three before being relegated to fourth by Jeffrey Herlings. After that, the ‘259’ did his best to withstand the pressure from Antonio Cairoli, Romain Febvre and Pauls Jonass but felt his energy levels were not optimal, and he ended up finishing seventh.
Two positions further back, Seewer finished ninth after struggling to get comfortable on the rough and bumpy surface. At the same time, Watson felt he suffered from some mental fatigue and only managed to finish 13th.
In the one-hour break between races, the trio did their best to regroup for the final race of the weekend. Coldenhoff and Seewer got off to great starts, both placing their YZ450FMs inside the top-10. Determined to bounce back stronger, Coldenhoff was geared up to finish inside the top-five but was forced to withdraw from the race due to an unusual technical problem. Meanwhile, Seewer made some changes to his bike set-up, but it didn’t improve his feeling on the tricky Zelta Zirgs circuit. The Swiss rider still pushed hard to finish seventh, even after an unlucky crash caused by the bike of a fallen rider laying on a blind spot on the track.
Confronted by a mixture of things such as the intensity of the MXGP class, four back-to-back races, an average qualifying position, and a very challenging circuit, Watson tried to make the most of an ‘off day’. The 24-year-old Brit put in a spirited ride for 10th in the final race and 10th overall.
After four consecutive weekends of Grand Prix racing, the team is looking forward to a hard-earned three-week break in the calendar where they hope to regroup for the next cluster of MXGP rounds. The eighth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place on September 5th in Afyonkarahisar, Turkey.
