The 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship comes to the well-known circuit of Uddevalla for the MXGP of Sweden that is marking the fifteenth round of the campaign.
This week will also mark the 25th event in the Swedish circuit’s history which has hosted many amazing races since its first introduction to the Motocross World Championship in 1958 when home rider Lundin Sten won in 500cc. This historic track became an unmissable and regular stop in the calendar since the 2000s. Throughout the years, legends of the sport have raced and won many times on the hard pack of the Glimminge Motorstadion. The record winners in Uddevalla are Stefan Everts and Antonio Cairoli with 6 GP wins each while Joël Smets managed 3 wins.
Coming into this Grand Prix, Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre has shown in 2015 that he can win in Uddevalla like Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff in 2019. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings and Team HRC’s Tim Gajser will arrive with an extra boost of confidence knowing they all won twice. Seewer (MXGP 2022 and MX2 2017), Gajser (2017 MXGP, 2015 MX2) and Herlings (2013, 2014 in MX2).
Along with MXGP and MX2, the EMX250 and EMX125 presented by FMF Racing will compete this weekend in their 7th and 8th round respectively this season. In EMX250, Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing Team’s Andrea Bonacorsi is the Red Plate Holder with 2 Round wins and 6 podiums out of 6 rounds. MJC Yamaha Official EMX125’s Janis Martin Reisulis still tops the Championship in EMX125 presented by FMF Racing and won the last 2 rounds.
The 2022 MXGP of Sweden was held in Uddevalla, marking the 15th round of the season and it was Jeremy Seewer who took his third GP wins of that season in front Tim Gajser and Glenn Coldenhoff.
Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado continues his path at the top of the Championship as he got his 13th podium in Finland out of 14 GPs this season. Prado also won his 11th race of the season which is by far the most of any rider this campaign. The rest of the season seems bright for the Spanish rider if he keeps his strong record and performances over the last stretch of the campaign.
Behind in 2nd position, Romain Febvre won an eye watering 5 Grand Prix in a row in Finland which is his personal best winning streak. Febvre mentioned that he feels at one with his bike and the results are totally proving that fact. The only shadow in all these incredible performances is that he is still trailing by 98 points on the leader Prado which is credit to the Spaniard who keeps winning races and RAM Qualifying Races. Febvre is still not down and will fight until the end to get as close as possible.
Jeremy Seewer is still 3rd in the Championship and has been very consistent over the last 6 GPs with two podiums and four 4th places. The Swiss is always fighting for podiums and is a GP winner this season with his victory at the MXGP of France. The end of the season is going to be interesting with a final sprint for the 3rd spot with his Teammate Glenn Coldenhoff who is in great form and shows great speed. Coldenhoff is now 4th, 25 points behind Seewer, thanks to his 4 podiums in the last 6 Grand Prix. Everything is still at play between them and it will be a battle of the teammates for the 3rd place in the Championship. Last year, it was advantage to Seewer as he won in Sweden while Coldenhoff was on the podium in 3rd place.
Team HRC’s Rubén Fernández unfortunately lost many points after having to retire from the MXGP of Finland following a crash in Race 1 while he was 5th. That was blow as he felt good during the weekend, getting the 3rd place in RAM Qualifying Race. The Spanish rider has still a lot to give this season and hopefully Sweden could be a good weekend for him.
Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen is 6th in the Championship and got closer to Fernandez after Finland, 12 points behind. He is a race winner this season but is yet to climb on the podium which is something he is chasing for. He will have to defend his position now with the return of Jeffrey Herlings.
Herlings is 7th due to his injury that made him miss 4 GPs. The ‘bullet’ got an amazing 5th overall on his return which shows just how much quality he is able to produce when he is on a bike. Herlings comes to Uddevalla with the confidence that he performed very well on his comeback. We know that when the Dutchman is riding, he always has a chance to win.
SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato who is a solid 8th in Championship has finished 12th overall in Finland and has struggled to find his consistent flow recently but we know that the Italian can perform as he has done it many times this season. He will definitely want to bounce back in Sweden.
Ship to Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Valentin Guillod, 9th in the Championship, got stopped in his ascension before Lommel and had to sit out Flanders and Finland after sustaining an injury in training. The Swiss is set to make his comeback in Sweden which will give him the chance to show that he was on a good dynamic before getting injured.
De Baets Yamaha MX-Team’s Benoit Paturel made his way into the top 10 in 10th position. The French rider who is a privateer showed that with consistency and good performances come reward. He is also getting more regularly around the top 10 and will want to be even more incisive over last stretch of the season.
Tim Gajser finished 6th overall in Finland which demonstrates that he is slowly getting back to the top which is exciting for the Championship. The Slovenian gets better and better and the last GPs will be a good test to gauge where is his level at before next season. Going in Uddevalla where he finished 2nd last year will be a good way for him to perform to his best.
Home hero JWR Honda Racing’s Alvin Östlund will be riding his home Grand Prix in Sweden on the back of his season’s best finish in Finland, 9th overall. He is now 16th in the Championship and can expect to go even higher if he confirms his last showing in Uddevalla.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 720 points;
2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 622 p.;
3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 550 p.;
4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 525 p.;
5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 489 p.;
6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 477 p.;
7. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 418 p.;
8. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 350 p.;
9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 276 p.;
10. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 204 p.;
2022 MXGP of Sweden – MGP Top 3:
- Jeremy Seewer
- Tim Gajser
- Glenn Coldenhoff
Last year, the MXGP of Finland was won by Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts ahead of Tom Vialle and Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo is at the top of the Championship and showed the reason why he is there in Finland where he got a perfect win with a 1-1 for the first time of his career. The Italian grows in confidence and has now confirmed that he is can win races and GPs at the same time. With Jago Geerts getting unfortunately injured in Finland, the Italian will have one less rival for the title.
Jago Geerts was on his way to fight for the title with Adamo with 3 GP wins in a row but will now miss many GPs due to his crash in Finland in Race 1 which put a blow to his hopes of winning his first MX2 Title.
The next pursuer of Adamo is his teammate Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Liam Everts who climbed to the 3rd place thanks to his podium in Finland. Everts got pack up on the podium after Sumbawa and rode superbly. Everts is getting closer to another win this season and Uddevalla could be the perfect opportunity to put pressure on Adamo for the title.
Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf is down to 4th in the Championship after missing out on the MXGP of Finland. His participation in the MXGP of Sweden is still not guaranteed. However, Simon Laengenfelder is 9 points behind de Wolf and has an incredible momentum after getting his 4th podium in a row. Since his comeback the German rider looks unstoppable with great speed on all surfaces. He is treating the rest of the season to get great sensations for next season but could well win few GPs before the end of the season.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant is 6th and had to miss out the MXGP of Finland to focus on his health. His position is also getting threatens by Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen who finds himself only 1 point behind in the Championship. L.Coenen has been excellent over the last 2 GPs getting a podium at his home GP in Lommel and the 4th place in Finland. He has found his consistency and the Belgian has shown this season that he can win races with 4 race wins which is the 2nd most of the campaign behind Geerts.
Now 8th in the Standings, Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Roan Van de Moosdijk has missed out on the last 2 GPs due to injury. F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo is 38 points behind and got his third top 5 in a row. Horgmo is really consistent this season and got better and better as the season went on. However, he is still chasing after his first podium of the season having finished 4th twice in Argentina and the Czech Republic.
TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team’s Jan Pancar got back to his usual standards with a 9th overall in Finland and kept his place into the top 10 although Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Rick Elzinga who is 11th, 9 points behind is getting used to his new bike and has grabbed two 6ths overall in the last two Grand Prix to reduce the gap with Pancar.
VHR Racing Team’s Isak Gifting will be the home hero this weekend in MX2 as the 16th in the Championship will battle on his home ground. The Swedish rider has clinched three top 10s over the last 5 GPs which will give him some confidence to approach this weekend from the best of ways.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 619 points;
2. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 559 p.;
3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 532 p.;
4. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 501 p.;
5. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 492 p.;
6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 462 p.;
7. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 461 p.;
8. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 433 p.;
9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 395 p.;
10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 273 p.;
2022 MXGP of Sweden – MX2 Top 3:
- Jago Geerts
- Tom Vialle
- Simon Laengenfelder
TIMETABLE (Local TIme / CEST)
SATURDAY: 09:00 EMX125 Free Practice Group 1 , 09:30 EMX125 Free Practice Group 2, 10:00 EMX250 Free Practice, 10:30 MX2 Free Practice, 11:00 MXGP Free Practice, 11:50 EMX125 Qualifying Practice Group 1, 12:25 EMX125 Qualifying Practice Group 2, 13:00 EMX250 Qualifying Practice, 13:40 MX2 Time Practice, 14:15 MXGP Time Practice, 15:00 EMX125 Race 1, 15:45 EMX250 Race 1, 16:35 MX2 RAM Qualifying Race, 17:25 MXGP RAM Qualifying Race
SUNDAY: 09:40 EMX125 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.
