The MXGP of Switzerland, round three of the MXGP World Championship, was a tough pill to swallow for some of the top riders, including MX2 championship leader Jago Geerts, and MXGP title contenders Jeffrey Herlings and Jeremy Seewer. They ended up off the podium due to different`s mistakes, and naturally, those results cost several points heading into Pietramurata next weekend.
Starting for Geerts. After back-to-back wins, the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory rider has proved once again that he is his own enemy just like seasons before in which crashes and mistakes made all by himself cost him several championship points. This time he crashed while leading the first race, dropping to sixth place, and then save some points and finished third. His 6-3 wasn´t enough to keep his podium streak, even less his wins streak…But will be keep the red plate heading to round four with an advantage of 20 points over his teammate and GP winner Thibault Benistant. Of course, its too soon to talk about a “Panic bottom situation”, especially with just three rounds done and sixteen to go, but it`s inevitable to remember what happened last year…
“Today started really good. I took the holeshot and led basically the whole race until I had quite a big crash. It was strange. I took the same line that I was taking the entire race but got kicked over the ‘bars. The bike was quite banged up after that crash, with the handlebars completely bent. I still finished seventh. In the second heat, I didn’t feel too good. I was still sore, but still managed to finish third after another small crash. It was not the best weekend, but I still salvaged good points, so it was okay.”
Jeffrey Herlings carried a lot of hype coming to Switzerland after his great performance at Riola Sardo when he clinched his 100th GP win. However, this time was a different story for the Dutchman. He was 6-4 for 4th overall. Not a bad day at all, but in both races he couldn´t keep the peace to hold the rhythm in contrast to Maxime Renaux, Romain Febvre, or Jorge Prado, proving that he had a lot of work to do to get back on form. He arrived at Frauenfeld with 7 points of deficit behind Jorge Prado and now is 25 (the equal of a race) behind the Spaniard. Also, GP winner Maxime Renaux and second place Romain Febvre are right in the tail by 3 and 5 points respectively.
“I had a good gatepick after Saturday but the break in the schedule didn’t help me much. I felt a bit tight today and although I had a good start in the first moto I had some arm-pump and went backwards. It was a shame. I took the points. It was not a great weekend but not a bad one. I’ll look forward now to Arco next weekend and work from there.”
It was a similar story for Jeremy Seewer. Coming to his home GP there was a lot of expectations to see him finally on the podium, especially after the eventful two rounds he faced at Argentina and Riola. Unfortunately, the nightmare and the infortunes continued. A bad start and an early crash on Saturday`s RAM Qualifying Race forced him to make all his way to an impressive sixth place, which keeps alive the hopes heading to Monday’s races. But, once again, he faced another early crash, and this time he only could manage a frustrating 20th place…Then, in the second race was on a quiet fifth from the start to the end.
“I felt amazing here in Frauenfeld. I had good speed and was feeling good on the track, but it took only five laps until I was hit with the hammer again in the first race. My goal was to start solid and take decent points. It’s not like I lined up here to go 1-1, but what happened to me this weekend, was just a ‘wrong time, wrong place’ situation. Another rider made a mistake and went from left to right on a jump, and the next minute, I was on the floor. I was lucky not to get hurt. The bike was destroyed from that, and it was not fun to race with a bent bike in front of your home crowd. In the second race, I did my best, but after the impact of the crash in the first race, I felt sore and completely drained. It’s frustrating. But now I just hope I recover well, and as quick as possible. I’m already looking forward to being back on the gate in Trentino in few days.”
