Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Jeremy Seewer made a spirited return to the top-five at the MXGP of Sardegna in Riola-Sardo as Ben Watson yielded sixth. Meanwhile, Glenn Coldenhoff made the most of an ‘off’ day to end the 10th round of the FIM Motocross World Championship inside the top-10, in ninth.
Dealing with stifling hot temperatures, the summery climes of Sardinia paired with a physically demanding deep sand track was the ultimate test of man and machine. Still battling the effects of Epstein Barr Virus, Seewer was restricted to how hard he could push but still saw a big improvement in his physical condition compared to how he felt at the previous round in Turkey. Focusing on his own rhythm and understanding how his body will respond, the ‘91’ charged hard in both races to finish fifth in Race 1 and sixth in Race 2 for fifth overall.
Confirming what a good start can do, Watson powered his YZ450FM to two incredible starts and battled upfront for the first 15-minutes before fading back to seventh position in both races. Despite losing some positions to some of the classes’ more experienced riders, the 24-year-old Brit was fast, consistent, and thrilled to finish on the cusp of the top-five in sixth overall.
The narrow, rough, and bumpy Riola circuit proved incredibly difficult to pass on. Despite being one of the strongest sand riders in the world, Coldenhoff struggled to find his flow in the opening race and could only battle back to 10th after a poor start.
In the final race, the ‘259’ rocketed out of the gate and was cruising to an easy fifth-place finish before a sudden crash on lap 6 spoiled any chance of a decent result. Making a quick remount, the 30-year-old rejoined the race in 17th position and took two laps to regroup before charging back to 10th for ninth overall.
Following the results from the Grand Prix of Sardegna, all three riders have maintained their positions in the championship standings. Seewer remains sixth, Coldenhoff eighth, and Watson 10th.
The next event for the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP team will be the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations in Mantova, Italy. The event will take place next weekend on September 26th, where Glenn Coldenhoff will proudly represent The Netherlands in the country’s title defence. Ben Watson will also be in action. He will represent Team Great Britain as they aim for their first podium since Assen, The Netherlands, in 2019.
Jeremy Seewer will, unfortunately, miss this years’ edition of MXoN as he concentrates on making a return to good health.
The next round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place on October 3rd in Teutschenthal, Germany.
Jeremy Seewer
5th MXGP of Sardegna, 31-points
6th MXGP Championship Standings, 280-points
“Turkey was super low for me, but for some reason, after that, things have started improving. I didn’t do anything crazy, I just tried some new things and then after that, things started to improve. Before this race, I managed to do two days of riding, which I couldn’t do before Turkey, so there is some improvement. I am still not where I want to be or as sharp as I should be, but today’s results show that I am not too far off even with this sickness. I am feeling positive we can fight this virus out of my body, and we will see how I feel next week recovering from this race as it was one of the toughest of the season with the heat and the track. I’m looking forward to another solid two weeks and hopefully will be better again in Teutschenthal.”
Ben Watson
6th MXGP of Sardegna, 28-points
10th MXGP Championship Standings, 171-points
“There are positives to take away from today, but also room for improvement and areas that still need work. After Turkey, I came into today with a goal of two motos inside the top-10, and I know I can do better than that, but after last weekend, I wanted to make a realistic goal. It’s not always easy to bounce back. I had my best qualifying of the season; it still wasn’t great, P.14, but still a small step forward. Looking forward to next week now.”
Glenn Coldenhoff
9th MXGP of Sardegna, 22-points
8th MXGP Championship Standings, 234-points
“In the first moto I didn’t feel too good, I was struggling a lot. Feeling really bad, I managed to finish 10th. I made some changes before the second race and was already feeling better, and my start was also a lot better. I was feeling good in the beginning, but I made a small mistake and then had a big crash. It then took me a few laps to get back into my rhythm. I felt like I could push at the end, which was really good because I got back to 10th position. The result is still terrible, but I am happy to finish on a positive note, with a good feeling on the bike because my feeling is the most important.”