Gajser & Geerts motor to wins at Matterley! MXGP of Great Britain – Race Report, Results and Highlights

The nineteenth and ultimate round of the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship wrapped the season in style at Matterley Basin.

Race Report and Images courtesy of MXGP – Feature Image courtesy of Dave Rich

On a windy day at Matterley Basin which made riding even harder, the riders displayed some huge performances on the last outing with Team HRC’s Tim Gajser coming out victorious with a perfect win going 1-1 and showing that he is back on top. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Jeremy Seewer finished the season with a back-to-back podium getting the second place overall in front of his future teammate Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre.

In MX2, the battle raged on between for the Grand Prix win and the second place in the Championship and it was Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts who came out on top for his last MX2 Grand Prix, clinching the silver medal along the way on the last race of the season. Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Simon Laengenfelder finished on the second step of the podium after a race win and got the bronze medal of the Championship while MX2 World Champion Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo celebrated his title with another podium in third place.

The beautiful track of Matterley Basin witnessed some amazing moments and incredible battles throughout the weekend to close the exciting 2023 season in style. The MXGP and MX2 final podiums did add to the celebrations with Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado receiving his Gold Medal officially and his trophy while Romain Febvre and Jeremy Seewer received their silver and bronze medal. In MX2, the podium reshuffled for the Championship podium with Andrea Adamo receiving the Gold Medal, Jago Geerts the silver medal and Simon Laengenfelder getting his hand on the Bronze Medal. The day ended with the MXGP Awards where all the Champions of the season got celebrated and received their prizes along with the winners of the FOX Holshot, Acerbis Best Lap and Athena best rider competitions.

In Race 1, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff managed to snatch the FOX Holeshot just in front of Jorge Prado. Coldenhoff fought with the Gold Plate over the first corner but took the lead. Prado kept going but made a costly mistake on lap 6 as he fell and moved down to 4th after getting passed by Tim Gajser and Jeremy Seewer.

The front three riders pulled away with Coldenhoff at the lead who looked very composed but Gajser started to increase his pace and try several times to pace an excellent Coldenhoff. However, Gajser managed to find the opening on lap 12 of 14 and flew to victory. Coldenhoff was pushed to the limit by his teammate Seewer but Seewer was the quickest on the last lap and the pass stick to go 2nd. Coldenhoff had to settle for 3rd in the end.

Prado did very well to come back to touching distance of first Seewer and then Coldenhoff but could not pass them and finish 4th. Romain Febvre didn’t get the best start and found himself in 6th behind Team HRC’s Rubén Fernández. While chasing after the Spaniard, Febvre got an issue whit his goggles tears which made him lose some time. After regrouping, the French rider picked up the pace and managed to benefit from Fernandez’s fall to move up to 5th. He even managed to close in on Prado but settled for 5th in the end. Fernandez quickly got back up after tipping over and passed Standing Construct Honda MXGP’s Pauls Jonass on lap 6 to go and finish 6th. Jonass made a mistake in the last couple of laps and moved down to 9thwhere he finished.

Team Gebben Van Venroy Yamaha Racing’s Calvin Vlaanderen rode well and was 8th but fell down on lap 8 and lost a position to a surprising Harry Kullas. Vlaanderen quickly took the 8th place back and settle there until the end. Kullas could maintain his pace but finished at a good 12th in the end.

Best season’s finish for KTM Kosak Team’s Tom Koch who displayed a strong ride as he gained a couple of positions during the race to finish 8th while the consistent De Baets Yamaha MX-Team’s Benoit Paturel showed again his talent to finish 10th.

In Race 2, Coldenhoff again got an amazing start and took the FOX Holeshot to take the lead in front of Gajser but this time didn’t lead as long as in the first race and conceded the lead to an impressive Gajser. The Slovenian pulled away and looked very composed and confident on his bike. No one could touch him this weekend as he went 1-1 for a perfect win which is the best way to finish his season and encouraging for next year.

Unfortunately, Coldenhoff could not concretised his amazing starts and laps led as he got overtaken by few riders to finish 5th and missed the podium by not much with a 4th overall. Febvre was o of the riders to push through the whole race after finding himself in 5th place on the opening lap. He overtook Fernandez and Coldenhoff to go 3rd o lap 5 of 14 and kept racing harassing his future teammate Seewer until he passed him on lap 9 to finish 2nd, forcing his way to the 3rd place overall.

Solid the whole weekend Seewer thought he would secure the 3rd spot in race 2 when a late charge Fernandez caught him by surprise on the last lap to finish 3rd while Seewer finished 4th but still went 2nd overall. Fernandez with a 6-3 finished 5th overall.

Vlaanderen keeps being very solid and a confident top 10 rider as he gained few positions to finish 6th to go 7-6 for 6th overall. Vlaanderen showed oe last time that he is one of the most consistent riders of the season. Behind him was Jonass who is riding superbly since his return to get another top 10 finish going 9-7 for 7thoverall. V Ship to Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Valentin Guillod got a good start going 6th on the opening lap but then lost few positions to settle for 8th and 11-8 for 9th overall. One of the best performers in Great Britain was Koch who finished again in the top 10 and riding the whole way through in 9th without getting overtaken. Koch got his best finish of the season with the 8th overall which is ideal before his Monster Energy FIM MXoN in Ernée with Team Germany.

Home hero MRT Racing Team Beta’s Ben Watson got support from the home fans and went 13-11 for 13th overall before heading to the nation with Team GB. Few riders didn’t compete today including Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Maxime Renaux, Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Mattia Guadagnini and SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery MXGP’s Alberto Forato which should comeback for the MXoN and compete with Team Franc for Renaux and Team Italy for Guadagnini and Forato.

Jorge Prado: “It was a great season, a pity about that last round as I thought I had a good speed. I was just expecting to do a bit better but hey, it was great year. I cannot ask for anything better. This was the main goal and we got it done. I’m super happy and I want to say a big thanks to Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Team and everyone behind me because this Gold Plate looks great!”

Romain Febvre: “It was a pretty good season, It was the year I won the most GPs in a season so it means something and I also had the speed. The first quarter of the season was not great but the rest really good and im up here on the podium today again. Another second place in the Championship so I’m very happy and let’s keep working for next year”

Jeremy Seewer: “I feel good and bad about this season. Obviously I had a crash in Switzerland ad hit my head and I struggled to come back and it took a while to come back where I wanted to be but I turned it around which is the most difficult and I come back to fiinsh third I the Championship with few GP wins which is incredible. Of course I will be entirely satisfy when this medal will be a gold one but anyway I think I can be proud of what I achieved.”

Tim Gajser: “I couldn’t wish for a better end of the season, you know. Achieving 1-1 in Matterley Basin that I always enjoy. I was really enjoying it today. The track was quite tough but I managed to take two solid starts so I think it was really good to lead some laps too so I’m really happy. I want to say thank you to all my team who worked so hard especially when I came back from injury and I’m so happy that we could finish the season strongly and I am super motivated for next year”.

MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 

MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 

MXGP – Grand Prix Classification:

MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 921 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 854 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 759 p.; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 695 p.; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 654 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 599 p.; 7. Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 490 p.; 8. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 456 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 363 p.; 10. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 314 p

MXGP – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Yamaha, 939 points; 2. GASGAS, 937 p.; 3. Kawasaki, 870 p.; 4. Honda, 786 p.; 5. KTM, 749 p.; 6. Beta, 324 p.; 7. Husqvarna, 80 p.;

Simon Laengenfelder took the best start once again to get his 11th FOX Holeshot this season and the lead in front of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant and Jago Geerts. In 3rd, Geerts quickly got under pressure from Andrea Adamo on lap 3 while Laengenfelder pulled away from Benistant and set a fastest lap.

Benistant managed to get a solid race even when his teammate Geerts started to increase his pace behind hm and pushed hard to not lose many points for the silver medal in MX2. Laengenfelder was riding his own race when on lap 8 of 12, he got caught by Benistant and Geerts who were pushing each other. Laengenfelder held on at the lead to win his 8th race win of the season.

Geerts threw everything at Benistant until the very last corner when the pass seemed very possible. In the end Benistant showed a lot of determination to stay 2nd while Geerts had to settle for 3rd, losing 5 points on Laengenfelder in the Championship and jeopardising the silver medal of the championship

The MX2 World Champion Adamo has showed a lot of consistency during the race like he did the whole season as he rode the whole race in 4th. Behind, things seemed to settle in the top 10 as not many riders managed to overtake each other keeping the status quo with Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Roan Van de Moosdijk, Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Liam Everts finishing in 5th, 6th and 7th place respectively.

In Race 2, Everts rose above everyone from the gates drop to clinch the FOX Holeshot however he couldn’t keep the lead as long as he wished with an impressive de Wolf launching a successful move to take the lead on lap 2 of 14. De Wolf showed impressive pace in front of Adamo who passed his teammate Everts on lap 3. Both riders were composed and de Wolf eyed a great podium for the last GP of the campaign but Geerts had other plans.

Following an average start for his standards, the Belgian found himself 5th behind his rival for the 2nd place in the Championship, Laengenfelder. At that point, Geerts was out of the podium and third in the final standings but he was determined to show his best level as he first overtook Laengenfelder on lap 3, then Everts on lap 4 to move up to 3rd. It was still not enough as Laengenfelder also passed Everts on lap 7 to secure his 2nd place in the Championship. That is when Geerts paced forward even more to join the front two riders. His pace was outstanding as he dived inside Adamo to go 2nd on lap 12. At that points Geerts was back on the podium and took back the silver medal but he wasn’t ready to stop until no riders was in front of him. On lap 13, after being heroic for most of the race, de Wolf could not defend on Geerts, lost the lead and the podium with it. The Dutch rider tried to fight back but it was too late and Geerts flew to victory win the Grand Prix of Great Britain and the 2nd place in the Championship on his last MX2 race.

De Wolf agonisingly finished 4th overall while Adamo went 4-3 for 3rd overall. The MX2 World Champion finished his immense season on a good note before heading to the Nations. With his 4th place, Laengenfelder secured the 2nd place on the podium but lost the final championship battle with Geerts. Laengenfelder still got the Bronze Medal like last season. Everts had to settle for 5th to go 7-5 for 6th overall.

Benistant rode solidly the whole race in 7th position and even passed Van De Moosdijk towards the end to finish 6th for 5th overall while Van De Moosdijk settled for 7 ad the 7th place overall.

Andrea Adamo: “I still need to have a bit more time to realise that I am World Champion as we didn’t have a lot of time between the races. It was a long season and the whole year was challenging as all races are tough. I always have been the consistent rider and I will bring that with me for next year. I am also very excited to go to the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations as we have a good team although my teammates didn’t have the best weekend here I hope we can have a strong one”

Jago Geerts: “I’m happy that I finished the season and my MX2 career on a GP victory here and overall I’m proud of all my season as I came back twice to finish in the end at the second place. It was good that I came out on top today and I am looking forward to ride in 450cc already at the Nations and then next season”

Simon Laengenfelder: “I felt very good this weekend and I felt fast, unfortunately Jago was the fastest in race two but I really can be proud of myself to come back after getting injured and miss three Grand Prix. It’s never easy to come back but I did well and I’m happy to be third again like last year”

MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 

MX2- Grand Prix Race 2 

MX2– Grand Prix Classification:

MX2- World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 826 points; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 759 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 755 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 734 p.; 5. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 577 p.; 6. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 573 p.; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 565 p.; 8. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 560 p.; 9. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 533 p.; 10. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 394 p

MX2- Manufacturers Classification: 1. Yamaha, 977 points; 2. KTM, 929 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 882 p.; 4. GASGAS, 817 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 584 p.; 6. Honda, 393 p.; 7. Fantic, 23 p