The 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship lands in Türkiye for the seventeenth round of the season. The Grand Prix of Türkiye will be held in Afyonkarahisar as it has been every season since 2018 (except for 2020).
The MXGP of Türkiye will host MXGP for the 5th time in its history on a track where Jeffrey Herlings won 3 times in the MXGP class and Team HRC’s Tim Gajser won once last year in 2022 on his road to the 2022 MXGP World Title. The MXGP Red Plate Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado also won in 2018 in MX2 which shows that he will be racing on conquered land to inch closer to the MXGP World Title.
Along with MXGP and MX2, the EMX250 and WMX will compete this weekend in their penultimate and final round respectively this season. In EMX250, Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing Team’s Andrea Bonacorsi is still the Red Plate with 3 Round wins and 100% podiums. Bonacorsi could be crowned this weekend in Turkiye as with two rounds left to go, BT Racing Team’s Kay Karssemakers is second trailing by 54 points which means that if the gap does not go down under 50 points after the Turkish round, Bonacorsi would be crowned before the last round in Great Britain.
The final round of WMX will also be taking place in Afyon where Big Van World MTX Kawasaki’s Courtney Duncan will fight to keep her Red Plate and win the WMX World Championship. However, Duncan will have to stay strong as her two closest rivals will not let her have a field day. RFME GASGAS WMX Team’s Daniela Guillen and Lotte Van Drunen are respectively only 16 and 23 points behind and can still possibly win the Title and will do everything to reverse the situation and that will offer an electrifying finish.
The 2022 MXGP of Türkiye was held in Afyon, marking the last round of the season and it was Tim Gajserwho came out victorious in front Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer and Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre.
With every GPs passing, the leader of the Championship Jorge Prado gets closer to the title thanks to his consistency. Prado won his 13th race wins in The Netherlands and climbed on his 15th podium, showing once more his tenacity. The Red Plate, with Tim Gajser, are the only riders competing this weekend who have won in Afyon previously which will be a welcomed fact for the Spaniard to win his 3rd Grand Prix of the season.
Solid 2nd in the Championship, Romain Febvre, has won his 6th Grand Prix in The Netherlands increasing his impressive stats for this season. Fresh from signing another deal with Kawasaki Racing Team for next year and being selected for Team France at the MXoN in Ernée on 6-7-8 October, the Frenchman has an incredible momentum and this will definitely help him to fight for GP wins until the end of the campaign.
Jeremy Seewer got a great back-to-back podium in The Netherlands after his Grand Prix victory in Sweden. He also solidified his 3rd place in the Championship. The Swiss rider can expect a successful end of the season after showing great speed recently and keeping his fast starts on point with 11 FOX Holeshots so far, levelled with Prado.
4th in the Championship is Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff who bounced back from Sweden with a good 4th place as he narrowly missed on the podium. Coldenhoff showed that he is resourceful with 5 podiums this season although he is still working towards an important Grand Prix win.
Team HRC’s Rubén Fernández had a tough weekend in The Netherlands with an 11th overall although the Spaniard was not lucky as he crashed on the start straight in the first race to then having to change his goggles and lost precious time. He recovered back to 17th place while he finished well into the top 10 in race 2, showing a much better speed. He is well established in 5th in the Championship and has won 1 Grand Prix this season, proving he has all it takes to win again.
Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen is 6th in the standings after showing consistency throughout the whole season and has a race win to his name. His home GP in The Netherland didn’t go as planned as he crashed after a duel with SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato in the first race. He didn’t get injured but did not feel good enough to start in Race 2. He is expected to get back to action in Turkiye.
The return of the MXGP of The Netherlands was supposed to be a great communion between the Dutch fans and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings. It started from the best of manners with Herlings topping the Free Practice but he unfortunately sustained an injury during the session and had to retire from the Grand Prix.
Alberto Forato, is 8th in the Championship and may well get to 7th with Herlings not present. Forato got 7th in the last two outings and will want to get a first podium before the end of the season, starting with the MXGP of Türkiye. The Italian has been very consistent this season and is on course to have his career’s best season in MXGP.
Ship to Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Valentin Guillod is 9th in the Championship with many top 10s this season. Guillod got 14th in The Netherlands as he tries to get back to his usual form after coming back from injury in Sweden. The Swiss rider has shown a lot of potential this season and is well worthy of a final top 10 finish. It will be hard to keep his 9th place in the championship with the return of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Maxime Renaux who is getting better and better since coming back from injury.
With two 6th place finishes over the las two GPs, Maxime Renaux is getting back into his flow after few months and proved that he is one rider to watch over this end of the campaign. The Frenchman will need and want to get back to 100% soon after getting selected for the MXoN with Team France.
Tim Gajser is 17th in the Championship after missing most of the season but got his best result of the season in The Netherlands with a 5th overall. With 4 top 10s out of the last 5 Grand Prix the Slovenian is getting very close to a podium finish and will certainly be one to watch in Afyon after having won in Türkiye last season.
The MXGP of Turkiye will also the opportunity for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Mattia Guadagnini to make his return after few months out due to an injury sustained in France. The young Italian will use this Grand Prix and the rest of the season to get his flow and race rhythm back.
Championship Standings
1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 821 points;
2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 729 p.;
3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 652 p.;
4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 600 p.;
5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 542 p.;
6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 498 p.;
7. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 456 p.;
8. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 414 p.;
9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 295 p.;
10. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 260 p.;
11. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 224 p.;
2022 MXGP of Türkiye – MXGP Top 3:
- Tim Gajser
- Jeremy Seewer
- Romain Febvre
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo still leads the Championship by 72 points. The Red Plate comes to Türkiye on a back of a good 5th place overall considering that he fell in race 2 to go 2-5. Adamo also showed that he can ride very well on sand this season which is very positive for the future. The Italian could get closer to the title if he puts on a great performance in Afyon.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Liam Everts won in The Netherlands his second Grand Prix of the season and reduced the gap with his teammate and leader Adamo. The Netherlands also marked the 3rd podium in a row for the Belgian who is confirming this season and showed that he has all the skills to win. The last 3 Grand Prix will be intense if he wants to overturn this gap in the Championship. Everts will also be representing Team Belgian at the MXoN in October which may add to his confidence.
Jago Geerts surprised everyone when he returned to the competition in The Netherlands after injuring himself again in Finland. The Belgian with 6 GP wins this season did not take long to get back at it and got the 4th overall. Geerts is 102 points behind Adamo and while it is mathematically possible to lift up the MX2 crown, it will be really complicated. Being picked for the Belgium Team for the MXoN, the Belgian will want to use these last Grand Prix to get back to his best, starting with Türkiye.
4th in the Championship, Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder is on a roll as he got his 6th podium in a row in Arnhem with the 3rd overall. Laengenfelder is a force to reckon with as he gets consistency at the highest level. The German rider seems really happy with his riding and performances. With his current form, we can anticipate another strong performance from Laengenfelder in Afyon.
Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen gained two places in the Championship as he is now 5th. L.Coenen finished 2nd in Arnhem and got another strong weekend and his 3rd Podium of the season. The young Belgian showed incredible speed this season and when everything goes right, he always has chances of podiums. L.Coenen has also been picked for Team Belgian for the MXoN which is another achievement for the rookie and which will give him an extra boost to perform to his best until the end of the series.
While Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf is still out and in recovery, his teammate Roan Van De Moosdijk who is 7th in the Championship came back from injury on his home GP and finish at an encouraging 8th place. This is a positive result before going to Afyon to ride towards a podium finish like he did last year and get back to his level.
Now 8th, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant is still recovering while F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo who is 9th, may gain some places in the Championship after Türkiye. The Norwegian managed to finish 6th overall in Arnhem and has performed very well so far although he is still racing after his first podium of the season which could come in Afyon if he can get two solid races.
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Main Photo: MX2 Start Turkiye 2022
Bottom Photos: 1. Andrea Adamo; 2. Jago Geerts
Championship Standings
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 705 points;
2. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 633 p.;
3. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 603 p.;
4. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 595 p.;
5. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 511 p.;
6. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 501 p.;
7. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 462 p.;
8. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 462 p.;
9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 460 p.;
10. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 325 p.;
2022 MXGP of Türkiye – MX2 Top 3:
- Tom Vialle
- Jago Geerts
- Roan Van De Moosdijk
TIMETABLE (Local Time / GMT+3 )
SATURDAY: 09:30 WMX Free Practice, 10:00 EMX250 Free Practice, 10:30 MX2 Free Practice, 11:00 MXGP Free Practice, 12:25 WMX Qualifying Practice, 13:05 EMX250 Qualifying Practice, 13:45 MX2 Time Practice, 14:20 MXGP Time Practice, 15:05 WMX Race 1, 15:45 EMX250 Race 1, 16:35 MX2 RAM Qualifying Race, 17:25 MXGP RAM Qualifying Race
SUNDAY: 09:45 WMX Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX250 Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.
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Or visit the official MXGP website mxgp.com
