Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Jeremy Seewer’s performance in the final race at the third round of the FIM Motocross World Championship on the rough and rugged circuit of Valkenswaard is telltale sign that his physical condition is improving. He was seventh in the Grand Prix classification. Monster Energy Wilvo Yamaha MXGP’s Gautier Paulin was robbed of a podium finish after a nasty crash in the final race. His teammate Arnaud Tonus braved the racing for some points in face of the pain he is in. Paulin’ s third-place finish in the opening race of the weekend gave the Frenchman enough points for eighth overall. Tonus was eighteenth.
Jeremy Seewer’s fitness was put to the test on the energy sapping ‘Eurocircuit’. Although the track is not his favourite, the Swiss rider demonstrated what a good attitude could do. Following the first gate-drop he well in sixth place for 20-minutes until the effects of arm-pump dropped him back to eighth.
Slightly disappointed, Seewer managed to regroup and emerged from his slump in Race 2. Although his start was not so good after he collided with another rider. The 24 year-old put in a supreme effort onboard his YZ450FM and forced his way through the field to finish an incredible sixth place.
Chilly temperatures didn’t affect the hot pace Gautier Paulin ran in Race 1. The 29 year-old challenged the top-three right off the gate and gave chase to Max Anstie, Antonio Cairoli and Tim Gajser. On Lap-7 the Frenchman had a lucky escape when he narrowly missed a fallen Gajser on the blindside of a ski jump. He inherited third-place in that incident, and went on to take claim of another 2-points after Anstie crashed out of the lead.
Valkenswaard is a track that demands respect. Its hard and edgy base topped with sand tends to leave the riders searching for traction or hitting holes that were not necessarily visible. Paulin lost his footing on a wavy section of the track. As a result he lost one position to Clement Desalle and finished the race in third-place.
A blindingly fast opening lap in the final race saw Paulin push his YZ450F past seven riders as he stormed from a 16th place start and up into the top-ten. His form, aggression and line selection was incredible as he quickly navigated his way across the unforgiving square-edged bumps. With his vision impaired by the roost that came off the back wheel of the rider in front, he missed his line and crashed at speed.
Paulin remounted his bike and salvaged 13th position, while his teammate Arnaud Tonus could not find any rhythm or flow this weekend. He was 13th in Race 1 and after a couple of mistakes he could only muster 20th in second and final race of the day.
Paulin finished on the same points as Seewer in the Grand Prix classification. Seewer was seventh, Paulin was eighth while Tonus was eighteenth.
The next round of the FIM MXGP World Championship will take place in five days time at the picturesque venue of Pietramurata, Italy.
Gautier Paulin
8th MXGP Grand Prix Overall, 28-points
“We had a tough Saturday but we had some things to work on going into Sunday. We regrouped well and had a good meeting to discuss what needs to happen for Sunday. We started well in warm-up but I made quite a bit of mistakes in section four and that cost me second place in the first race. In the second race I had a bad start and then got from that bad start I got a bit frustrated, and then I made some mistakes and on a track like Valkenswaard there is no room for mistakes, as you could see with many of the top riders crashing. I ended up in the roost from the riders in front and I could not see much and on this track I needed to be precise and then I missed my line and I was full throttle and just lost control of the bike and then it was totally damaged, so I did my best to finish the race. I was 13that the end and that was what I could do. Back to work tomorrow and I will be back in Arco di Trento.”
Jeremy Seewer
7th MXGP Grand Prix Overall, 28-points