The third round of the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship is heading back to Switzerland after four years and will be held at Frauenfeld-Gachnang on Saturday 8th and Monday 10th of April. Here are some things you must be to know for this Easter week action!
NEW LAYOUT:
With MXGP returning to Frauenfeld, Switzerland, after a four-year hiatus, anticipation is running high as competitors gear up for another thrilling round of racing. Although, this year’s event holds a twist, as the race will unfold at the Schollenholz circuit, a track that has not hosted a Grand Prix since the early ’80s. The shift in location is sure to keep racers on their toes, as the majority of the paddock will be navigating its challenges for the first time.
UNIQUE CALENDAR:
The GP of Sardegna was a little bit controversial due to the low number of riders that assisted. But you have to consider this: Despite being a great track, the Island of Sardinia is a quite complicated trip for riders and teams. However, for this weekend we expect full gates in every class with 48 riders in MXGP, 38 in MX2, 52 in WMX, and a record number of 99 in the first round of the EMX125!! For MXGP and EMX125 will be crucial to do a good job in Time Qualifying sessions if any rider wants to take part in the races.
HOMETOWN:
The return of the MXGP of Switzerland will be also the return of local hero Arnaud Tonus since his last GP back in Pietramurata in 2021. The last time Tonus raced in front of his home crowd was in 2017. And It was a special one because he won his first-ever race in the MXGP class. However, a crash in the second race kept him out of podium contention. It will be nice to get him back on the gate. Tonus will be riding for Yamaha Motor Switzerland wearing his iconic #4 on his back.
Of course, another native rider to cheer for will be title contender Jeremy Seewer, who expects to earn his first podium of the season and regain some valuable points after two rough weekends when he found on the soil while battling for the top spots.
The other home riders Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Valentin Guillod and JK Racing Yamaha’s Kevin Brumann will be the ones to be carried by the home crowd and could use that to get some great opportunities to score big points. Guillod with two top 20s so far has shown some glimpse of his potential and could capitalise on riding at home while Brumann could really kickstarts his first full MXGP season this weekend at Frauenfeld.
RACE QUALIYING POINTS:
Red plate holder Jorge Prado has been unbeatable at the Qualifying races winning back-to-back so far, but he can´t finish on top in both rounds due to second-race failures on Sunday, finishing sixth in both second-race and third overall. Anyway, he is still remaining at the top of the standings thanks to those wins. Jorge Prado has 100 points, Jeffrey Herlings 93, and Maxime Renaux and Romain Febvre both with 78. But if you take away those qualifying points, then will have Jeffrey Herlings as the new points leader with 84 points over Prado with 80, and then Renaux 70 and Febvre 66.
HERLINGS LOOKING TO TIE EVERTS RECORDS:
Red plate holder Jorge Prado has been unbeatable at the Qualifying races winning back-to-back so far, but he can´t finish on top in both rounds due to second-race failures on Sunday, finishing sixth in both second-race and third overall. Anyway, he is still remaining at the top of the standings thanks to those wins. Jorge Prado has 100 points, Jeffrey Herlings 93, and Maxime Renaux and Romain Febvre both with 78. But if you take away those qualifying points, then will have Jeffrey Herlings as the new points leader with 84 points over Prado with 80, and then Renaux 70 and Febvre 66.
And speaking of Herlings, The Bullet released his new series on YouTube. You can watch the first episode here:
LOOKING FOR REDEMPTION:
As I said above, Jeremy Seewer will be looking for redemption after two eventful rounds which include crashes that put him down in 8th place in the championship standings. But Seewer will not be the only one to look for redemption this weekend. Frenchman duo Maxime Renaux and Romain Febvre also have some unfinished business. Both earned top 3 positions in the first race in Argentina with Febvre and Renaux being second and third respectively. However, Febvre ended fourth overall and Renaux sixth. Sardegna was similar with both riders taking part in the battles for top spots but ending out of the podium.
As I said above, Jeremy Seewer will be looking for redemption after two eventful rounds which include crashes that put him down in 8th place in the championship standings. But Seewer will not be the only one to look for redemption this weekend. Frenchman duo Maxime Renaux and Romain Febvre also have some unfinished business. Both earned top 3 positions in the first race in Argentina with Febvre and Renaux being second and third respectively. However, Febvre ended fourth overall and Renaux sixth. Sardegna was similar with both riders taking part in the battles for top spots but ending out of the podium. Another rider eager for redemption is Ruben Fernandez. Last round, the Spaniard only collect 10 points after an eventful day in Sardegna that shadowed his great performance in Argentina. He had a crash and a DNF, and now dropped from second to seventh in the championship standings.
Jorge Prado, despite being the championship leader, has some unfinished business too. He came short of winning his first win of the season not once, but twice. The GasGas Factory Rider went 1-1-1 in the previous rounds, but bad starts and some mistakes in the second moto of both GP`s vanishes his chances on climb at the top of the podium.
