Jeremy Seewer – 2-1 for 1st
Bas Vaessen – 16-18 for 17th
Jeremy Seewer made it two wins in a row for the Suzuki World MX2 team, scoring a second and a first, in what were very difficult conditions at the Agueda track in Portugal today. He battled hard for every place, eventually passing his title rival Pauls Jonass in the second moto to secure the overall victory in another hot MXGP. The Swiss rider still seats 38pts off the championship but is in a good run of form as the series takes a three-week break before the Czech GP in Loket.
“It was an amazing weekend”, said Seewer. I won two GPs in a row and this was definitely one of the best GP wins so far. It certainly wasn’t easy and took a lot of hard work, especially when I was battling with Jonass, my title rival. I’m just really happy with how my second moto went; I had a better start and I could follow the two in front and I could find some good lines and make the difference that I was looking for yesterday. The start in the first moto wasn’t that great, not quite enough for me to be able to follow the top two as a gap started to appear. Luckily, I could make the pass on Thomas Covington on the last lap, which gave me the second place that allowed me to win the overall. I’m really happy with how the RM-Z250 performed today. We had to make some changes from yesterday because the track is quite special here and we had to adjust the bike to the track. Now I get to look forward to the next GPs; I like Loket, I like Lommel as it’s where I mostly live now and of course it’s going to be awesome for the third GP when we head to my home country of Switzerland. I’m really excited to keep this momentum going as I fight for the MX2 championship.”
His teammate Bas Vaessen wasn’t able to continue his good recent run of results, struggling to get to grips with the conditions as the dry and dusty track caused problems for a lot of riders. “I had a lot of bad luck today. In the first moto I didn’t get a great start and was around 25th on the first lap. I got back to around 15th or so but made a small crash trying to pass another rider. Fell back after that but still then got back up to 16th so my riding was ok. In the second moto I had a pretty good start but in the first I ran into Stephen Rubini and my foot got stuck in his rear wheel and it took quite a long time to get it out. Once it was out I was way behind and spent the entire moto in no man’s land, so not really too much I can say about that race. I didn’t really have a great feeling with this track so I can’t wait until the round in the Czech Republic which should hopefully go a lot better.”
General Manager Stefan Everts was pleased to once again see a Suzuki rider on top step of the podium and had this to say about the weekend: “Jeremy rode really hard and he had to fight really hard, especially in that second moto. It was a tough weekend for him but he bounced back well from yesterday to come away with the overall win today. He showed really good speed to pass Covington and Jonass in that second race and take the win, which after his second place in race one, was good enough for his fourth victory of the year. It’s an important win for him mentally, to beat Jonass like that and while we didn’t gain any points in the championship, there are still seven rounds left and still plenty of racing to take place. I’m excited for the next one in three weeks, where hopefully he can make it three wins in a row.”’
Unfortunately, Hunter Lawrence and Zach Pichon were missing from the MX2 and EMX250 classes as a result of injuries sustained a few weeks ago. For Lawrence, he is giving time for his back to heal up after having a couple of compressed vertebrae, along with a small fracture. Pichon is still struggling with his trapezius injury that happened after a crash in Russia but with a gap in the schedule now, they both are looking forward to returning at the next rounds in their respective championships.
For the Suzuki World MX2 team, that is in the hillside venue of Loket in the Czech Republic on the July 23rd, where Seewer will be trying to make it three wins in a row as the battle for the MX2 title continues.
MX2 Moto 1: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 34:12.844; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki World MX2), +0:01.767; 3. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +0:02.700; 4. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:34.420; 5. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), +0:38.345; 6. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:40.144; 7. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:44.133; 8. Ben Watson (GBR, KTM), +0:51.100; 9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:53.761; 10. Anthony Rodriguez (VEN, Honda), +0:58.934; 16. Bas Vaessen (NED, Suzuki World MX2), +1:22.599.
MX2 Moto 2: 1. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki World MX2), 34:25.343; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:03.900; 3. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +0:23.396; 4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:27.102; 5. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:39.413; 6. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:48.293; 7. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:52.955; 8. Anthony Rodriguez (VEN, Honda), +0:57.398; 9. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Honda), +1:04.117; 10. David Herbreteau (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:05.952; 18. Bas Vaessen (NED, Suzuki World MX2), -1 lap(s).
MX2 Overall: 1. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki World MX2), 47 points; 2. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 47 p.; 3. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 40 p.; 4. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 34 p.; 5. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 33 p.; 6. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 26 p.; 8. Anthony Rodriguez (VEN, HON), 24 p.; 9. David Herbreteau (FRA, KAW), 20 p.; 10. Iker Larranaga Olano (ESP, HUS), 20 p.; 17. Bas Vaessen (NED, Suzuki World MX2), 8 p.
MX2 Points Standings: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 501 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki World MX2), 463 p.; 3. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 377 p.; 4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 363 p.; 5. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), 355 p.; 6. Thomas Covington (USA, HUS), 303 p.; 7. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 241 p.; 8. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 233 p.; 9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 221 p.; 10. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Suzuki World MX2), 199 p.; 17. Bas Vaessen (NED, Suzuki World MX2), 114 p.
