Argentina GP: Who Impressed?
Argentina hosted the 3rd round of the World Championship at a new venue and they built a pretty cool track that made great racing. Gatedrop will take a look at some riders that impressed over the weekend.
MX2
No one expected it but when Herlings DNF’ed the first moto it meant that there was a good chance that someone would win their first GP ever. Dylan Ferrandis took full advantage of Herlings crash and rode awesome to take a 1-2 and win the overall! He was riding really aggressive all weekend but made it work except for the crash in the second moto but he was still able to finish an impressive second.
Dylan is now full of confidence and said after the podium “It’s a shame I crashed because I’m sure I could have ran with Herlings”, both riders are now equal on points and Dylan is more motivated than ever, if he wins the title this year he will most likely go to USA next year which has been his dream since day one so he will do everything to win this title!
Switzerland has produced some top riders in the last few years and Jeremy Seewer is one of them. Suzuki obviously have full confidence in him as he’s the lone rider in the team in MX2 which comes with a lot of pressure but Jeremy is dealing with it very well. Jeremy is expected to get regular podiums this year and it didn’t take him long, the third GP and he’s on the box already!
It looks as though Jeremy has worked hard in pre-season, his first time preparing for the season as a professional! He looks a lot faster this year and I am sure he will get plenty more podiums, as he’s the main man in the team this year he has a similar package to what Glenn Coldenhoff last year too so that’s helping him too!
What a weekend it was for Adam Sterry making his GP debut! In the qualification race on Sunday he got the holeshot; he can say he holeshotted his first ever GP race – awesome! Unfortunately he dropped it around the second corner but came from last to 18th which was okay. But on race day he was brilliant, an 11th place finish in race one sandwiched between Tonkov and Gajser who are both factory riders! He got another 11th place finish in the second moto for an 8th overall.
Honestly, I would love to see Steve Turner just put him in MX2 for the rest of the season. This GP shows he has the ingredients to be a GP rider and learn from the best. However, if they stick with the plan and does EMX250 then he could definitely win the title!
Last week Kemea Yamaha decided to put Brent Vandoninck in MX2 GP’s for the rest of the season. Based on this GP it appears that they have made the right decision. In the first moto he started 12th and worked his way into 8th by the end of the moto which is a really good result. In the second moto he was running 8th again but his front wheel locked up so he unfortunately had to retire but he definitely has the speed. Brent “knows he can do better”, I feel like if everything clicks for him and Sterry then it won’t be too long until they are factory riders. I still find it odd Husky are only running Tonkov in MX2 as one of these guys would have been the perfect signing for them!
MXGP
Thailand wasn’t the best GP in the world for Max Nagl after he dominated in Qatar but he said he “didn’t take any risks” as the track was dangerous. After Saturday I wasn’t sure if Nagl had the speed to win as he finished third but Cairoli and Villopoto pulled away from him but he “wasn’t comfortable with the track and would fight on race day”. Race day turned out to be a completely different day for the humble German and he was true to his word. Unlike Max he got a bad start but came from 8th to 3rd and left everyone he passed, RV especially won’t be too happy about that! If he had gotten a better start he definitely had the speed to win the moto. In the second moto he did get the start he wanted and just like he did in Qatar, he dominated!
On his day Max Nagl is unbeatable and so far this season he looks up for this title, who would have thought before the season that max would have won three out of six moto’s? What he is doing is incredible, can he keep it up? Italy is up next and that should suit him perfectly.
The first two GP’s went terrible for an injured Christophe Charlier but Argentina was encouraging for him. He had a brilliant first moto as he finished 7th and just behind Paulin, that should surely give him some confidence. 24MX Honda have had a pretty bad start to the season so that result will give them hope that Christophe has some more good moto’s in him this season.
He was running 6th in the second moto but unfortunately crashed and got back to 16th but the most important thing for him is that his speed was good. Italy is next which are conditions that he excels in so if he can get a couple of top 10’s there then I am sure he will come good!
Fair play to Todd Waters, this guy is so solid! In reality some guys behind him are probably quicker but he keeps it on two wheels and rides solid every lap. A ninth overall for the Aussie is great especially considering the depth in the class; I am really impressed with him so far this season.
The real test for Todd though will start now though as the series goes back to Europe, if he can keep getting top 10 overalls it will be awesome for him.
Article: Andy McKinstry
Pic: MXGP
