HYVINKÄÄ (Finland) 14 August 2022 – MXGP of Finland saw title celebrations as Team HRC’s Tim Gajser was crowned the 2022 MXGP FIM Motocross World Champion, joining many greats as a now five-time World Champion after securing his fourth championship in the premier MXGP class.
Overall, the journey to his fifth title has not been easy for the Slovenian but despite this, Gajser was the only rider to ever hold the red plate this season. To add to that, he has led the most laps out of everyone in the class (184), won a total of 13 races, 8 Grand Prix and has been on the podium 11 times, also more than anybody else.
But it was a momentous Grand Prix for Yamaha who for the first time in its history celebrated a 1-2-3 in the MXGP class as Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff, Jeremy Seewer and Maxime Renaux dominated the podium!
In MXGP race one, it was Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre who secured the Fox Holeshot ahead of Team HRC’s Tim Gajser, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Seewer and Glenn Coldenhoff and Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Brian Bogers.
Bogers wasted no time to get around Gajser and then Seewer to climb into second behind Febvre, while Coldenhoff dropped back a bit and was in a battle with his teammate Maxime Renaux.
All was looking good until Febvre crashed out of the lead which gifted Bogers the position. The Frenchman got going in second, ahead of Seewer and Gajser.
Renaux also made a mistake as he buried the front, but somehow managed to stay on. He didn’t lose any positions in the process but did lose time to Coldenhoff.
Bogers was 1.549 seconds ahead of Febvre and Seewer, but Seewer crashed and dropped back to sixth. Moments later, Febvre crashed too which promoted Gajser to second.
While Bogers controlled the race and with Gajser second, the fastest riders were the three Yamaha pilots behind the pair. Eventually, they pushed onto the rear wheel of Gajser who ended up being caught by all three.
Febvre was also looking to pass the Honda rider and with three laps to go Gajser was down in sixth.
Further down the field, Alberto Forato of SM Action Racing Team YUASA Battery got by Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado for eighth, as Prado got pushed down to ninth. This is how the pair also finished the race.
In the end, Bogers was the race winner ahead of Coldenhoff, Renaux, Seewer and Febvre.
In race two, Coldenhoff was the Fox Holeshot winner that time around with Febvre, JM Honda Racing’s Henry Jacobi, Seewer and Honda 114 Motorsports’ Ruben Fernandez just behind. Meanwhile, Gajser struggled down in 15th.
Coldenhoff led the way as Febvre crashed hard once again, which allowed Jacobi into second. By that point, Gajser was 12th as Febvre got going behind him in 13th.
Early on in the heat, Jacobi set the fastest lap of the race, while Bogers was pushing JM Honda Racing’s Ivo Monticelli for fourth.
Gajser then had Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass and Fernandez in his sights, though he also had Febvre pushing from behind which added to the pressure.
Gajser was able to pass Fernandez for ninth and later Jonass, as Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen passed Febvre and Jonass too not too long after that. Vlaanderen was also able to catch and pass Gajser.
Bogers was on track for a podium finish, before crashing with just four laps to go, which cost him a top-three overall finish after his big win in race one.
In the end, Coldenhoff was the winner ahead of his two teammates Seewer and Renaux, which was exactly how the overall podium ended up.
But the big celebrations came from Team HRC and Tim Gajser as they celebrated a fifth world title together!
While the title may be decided in the MXGP class, two rounds remain of the 2022 Motocross World Championship with Seewer third and Coldenhoff now moving up to third. Medals are still up for grabs which will make the next two GPs very interesting.
Tim Gajser: “It’s unbelievable! I am speechless. To win one world title is already a lot, but to win five with the HRC crew… We are an amazing team! Of course, we were struggling a little bit towards the end, I was a bit nervous but I’m glad it’s over! I want to say a huge thanks to all my crew, everybody around me, my girlfriend, Filippo, everyone at home watching, thank you very much guys, I am super happy!”.
Glenn Coldenhoff: "I've been waiting way too long! It's my first win on the Yamaha, I'm super happy I can finally gift them the win. Thanks to the whole team, we've been working hard. But I'm really pumped about the win. I also want to thank my family at home, who are not here and last but not least I want to thank me for believing in me!”.
Jeremy Seewer: “I struggled a lot yesterday morning. It’s not my favourite kind of track, I still need to put this thing together. Work on my bike and work on myself and don’t do too many mistakes and I did that today. Two solid rides, Glenn was super good in the second race, he deserved the win but it’s super cool to have three teammates on the podium, this has never happened which is amazing! Thanks to the whole crew. It seems like hard work pays off”.
Maxime Renaux: “I’m super happy for the team, it’s amazing to make a 1-2-3 on the GP podium. As a personal result, it’s good, not exactly what I was hoping for but we’re still on the podium which is great. It’s still my rookie season but I will work hard for the next races and especially next year”.
Main Photo: Tim Gajser | Top Photo: Glenn Coldenhoff
Bottom Photos: 1. Jeremy Seewer 2. Maxime Renaux
MXGP - Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Brian Bogers (NED, Husqvarna), 35:42.121; 2. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:09.623; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:13.050; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:14.875; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:15.802; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:29.472; 7. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:36.221; 8. Alberto Forato (ITA, GASGAS), +0:41.675; 9. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:48.904; 10. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Beta), +0:51.644;
MXGP - Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), 33:56.062; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:05.134; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:12.889; 4. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:14.139; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:28.197; 6. Brian Bogers (NED, Husqvarna), +0:32.984; 7. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:42.280; 8. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:47.037; 9. Henry Jacobi (GER, Honda), +0:51.404; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Husqvarna), +0:53.058;
MXGP - GP Top 10 Classification: 1. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 47 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 40 p.; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 40 p.; 4. Brian Bogers (NED, HUS), 40 p.; 5. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 32 p.; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 29 p.; 7. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 29 p.; 8. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 26 p.; 9. Alberto Forato (ITA, GAS), 23 p.; 10. Henry Jacobi (GER, HON), 21 p.;
MXGP - World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 674 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 570 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 525 p.; 4. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 517 p.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 506 p.; 6. Brian Bogers (NED, HUS), 391 p.; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 359 p.; 8. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 352 p.; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 325 p.; 10. Mitchell Evans (AUS, HON), 272 p.;
MXGP – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Yamaha, 715 points; 2. Honda, 681 p.; 3. GASGAS, 549 p.; 4. Husqvarna, 518 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 391 p.; 6. KTM, 269 p.; 7. Beta, 265 p.; 8. Fantic, 31 p.; 9. Suzuki, 10 p.;
In MX2 race one, the Fox Holeshot went to series leader Jago Geerts of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing who led the likes of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle, Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf and Roan Van De Moosdijk as well as Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Simon Längenfelder.
Geerts then made a mistake which allowed Vialle easily into first place, though this did not last long as the Frenchman made an error of his own and handed back the lead to the Belgian.
Moosdijk then passed his teammate for third, as Big Van World Kawasaki’s Mikkel Haarup started to close in on de Wolf also and was pushing the Dutchman for fourth.
Geerts was getting comfortable in the lead, as he set the fastest lap of the race. He also stretched out his lead over Vialle, which only grew as the race progressed.
But a couple of laps later, it looked like Vialle was ready to bounce back as he began to work away at Geerts’ lead. But Geerts was able to respond and the gap went back up to 4.001 seconds.
On lap eight, de Wolf passed Moosdijk back and climbed into third, as Geerts stretched his lead to 8.699 seconds. Further behind, Längenfelder made a mistake and crashed out of sixth, as behind him F&H Kawasaki Racing’s Kevin Horgmo applied pressure onto Liam Everts of Diga Procross KTM Racing, who he eventually passed on lap 14.
Haarup saw his race take a turn for the worse, as he crashed out of fourth after passing Moosdijk. He got going fairly quickly but his front wheel was jammed, so he crashed again. In the end, he came back to eighth.
Geerts won the race with a 13.983-second advantage over Vialle, with de Wolf third ahead of Moosdijk and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Thibault Benistant.
In race two, it was again Geerts with the Fox Holeshot, with Everts in a close second ahead of Team VRT KTM VERITISE’s Tom Guyon, Moosdijk, Vialle and Joel Rizzi of Riley Racing.
Vialle made a swift move into third, as Geerts crashed big out of the lead. He was stuck under his bike for quite some time before getting going again in 19th place.
Everts was the new race leader, but he had pressure from Vialle who was keen on taking maximum points and turn his weekend around. He did just that, as by the end of the opening lap he got himself into first place.
Moosdijk then stole second from Everts, who was also passed by de Wolf shortly after.
Vialle then made a big mistake and went off track which allowed Moosdijk easily into the front, with Vialle managing to stay second ahead of de Wolf. But Everts was also looking to fight back as he passed de Wolf again for third.
Geerts meanwhile was in 13th but made some good passes to arrive at ninth. The Belgian then made a few more moves to get onto the rear wheel of Haarup who was seventh. The two battled intensely which ended in tears as there was a collision between the pair. Haarup and Geerts went down, which meant that Geerts had to start all over again.
Moosdijk was looking good in the lead as he had more than a five-second gap to Vialle, but a mistake with just three laps to go allowed Vialle back into the lead, as de Wolf also got by. Then it was game on between Vialle and de Wolf, with the Dutchman applying an immense amount of pressure onto the Frenchman, but despite his best efforts, de Wolf could not make a pass stick.
Vialle ended up winning the race ahead of de Wolf, Moosdijk, Everts and Längenfelder.
A 2-1 result put Vialle back on the top step, ahead of de Wolf who secured his fourth podium this season, while Geerts was forced to settle for third.
Heading into the penultimate round of the 2022 campaign, Geerts leads with a 15-point advantage over Vialle, as Längenfelder remains third.
Tom Vialle: “Track was so hard. I had a tough Saturday and had to start from P9. But I managed to get a good jump, finish second in the race and then race two take the win, Jago I think crashed on the first lap. It was a tough one physically but I want to thank a lot the team for the hard work. We changed a lot the bike yesterday and today it worked amazing! See you in France, it’s going to be a good one”.
Kay de Wolf: “Yes ran out of time a little bit in the end. It was a difficult second race, I made a small mistake which got Tom past me, then I had to go back on him and try to give it all but I just missed out. But I’m happy with my riding this weekend and looking forward to France. I can’t thank the team enough, they are working so hard for us and I really appreciate it”.
Jago Geerts: “It was the perfect weekend until the second race. I crashed and then was coming back quite fast but came together with Mikkel after like 15 minutes, so then it was over. Tough second race, but I am happy with my riding and my performance. Looking forward to France next weekend, it’s a track that I like so I hope to get some points back there”.
Top Photo: Tom Vialle
Bottom Photos: 1. Kay de Wolf 2. Jago Geerts
MX2 - Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), 35:36.173; 2. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), +0:13.983; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:19.261; 4. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna), +0:26.318; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:41.242; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:41.439; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:47.176; 8. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Kawasaki), +0:51.479; 9. Simon Längenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:57.633; 10. Andrea Adamo (ITA, GASGAS), +1:30.319;
MX2 - Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 33:57.862; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:01.313; 3. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Husqvarna), +0:17.544; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:21.667; 5. Simon Längenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:27.197; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:28.570; 7. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:50.002; 8. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:58.595; 9. Tom Guyon (FRA, KTM), +1:03.891; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:13.468;
MX2 - GP Top 10 Classification: 1. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 47 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 42 p.; 3. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 39 p.; 4. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 38 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 30 p.; 7. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 29 p.; 8. Simon Längenfelder (GER, GAS), 28 p.; 9. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, KAW), 23 p.; 10. Tom Guyon (FRA, KTM), 20 p.;
MX2 - World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 676 points; 2. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 661 p.; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, GAS), 535 p.; 4. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 476 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 434 p.; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, KAW), 410 p.; 7. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 390 p.; 8. Andrea Adamo (ITA, GAS), 383 p.; 9. Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 358 p.; 10. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 257 p.;
MX2 - Manufacturers Classification: 1. Yamaha, 717 points; 2. KTM, 700 p.; 3. GASGAS, 590 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 545 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 430 p.; 6. Honda, 407 p.; 7. Suzuki, 4 p.;
The next round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will head to St Jean d'Angely next weekend for the MXGP of Charente Maritime!
MXGP OF FINLAND – QUICK FACTS:
Circuit length: 1680m
Type of ground: Hard Sand
Temperature: 27°
Weather conditions: Sunny
Weekend Crowd Attendance: 16,759
All the photos from the MXGP of Finland will be available HERE.
You can find the complete results HERE.
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