Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Jeremy Seewer and Glenn Coldenhoff finished fifth and sixth at the fifth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship in Agueda, Portugal. At the same time, Maxime Renaux pushed through some adversity to round out the top 10.
Coldenhoff emerged as the top Yamaha rider in Race One after a hard charge from 10th to fourth place in the closely contested Portuguese Grand Prix. At the same time, Seewer pushed hard to finish fifth, while Renaux battled through some physical issues and a small crash to finish 13th.
With renewed determination in Race Two, Seewer powered his YZ450FM to an impressive holeshot and challenged a place in the top three. Despite his best efforts, however, the ‘91’ felt a slight lack of confidence in pushing the pace on the opening lap, resulting from the mayhem he encountered in the first four rounds and crossed the finish line in fourth.
With renewed determination in Race Two, Seewer powered his YZ450FM to an impressive holeshot and challenged a place in the top three. Despite his best efforts, the ‘91’ felt a slight lack of confidence in pushing the pace on the opening lap, resulting from the mayhem he encountered in the first four rounds, and crossed the finish line in fourth.
Coldenhoff and Renaux faced a disadvantage, lining up in 15th and 24th positions due to the outcome of the Qualifying Race. Nevertheless, both riders charged forward from deep in the field, with ‘The Hoff’ rallying to finish seventh, while Renaux had another minor crash due to his condition and eventually fought back to 11th.
Now, the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP team sets its sights on the next round of the FIM Motocross World Championship, which is scheduled to take place in Madrid, Spain, just 500 kilometers east of Agueda, in six days. Renaux will enter the Spanish Grand Prix fourth in the Championship Standings, while Coldenhoff and Seewer make up the top eight.
Seewer: “Today’s result is not amazing. It’s not a podium or a win, but through all the struggles this season, I feel like we have made a big step. I have to focus on the positives. I’m back in the game on the start, and I’m physically strong and ready. I just need to work to pick up the pace in the first laps because I’ve lost a lot of confidence after all the crashes I have had during the first few laps at the previous GP’s. Overall, this is a step in the right direction. We want more, but I understand this will take time, and I think soon I will make another step, and we will be back in the fight.”
Renaux: “I don’t have a lot to say about this weekend. It was a very tough weekend for me, starting Saturday with the technical issue I had in qualifying. Because of this, I had to start from dead last this weekend, which, as everyone knows, the start position is very important. I had to work hard in both motos, which was not easy as I struggled with a physical issue, which made everything much tougher. I gave my best to salvage as many points as possible for the championship, but we know it’s not enough. From here, we will work to be as close to 100% healthy in Spain, and then we will go for it again.”
Coldenhoff: It was a tough weekend. I rode so bad yesterday, but luckily, I managed to turn it around today, but it did mean I had a bad place on the gate, making a good start almost impossible. Still, I managed to make the most of it in both races. I pushed hard in Race One and got fourth, which was a good ride after starting from quite far back. In the second race, I started around 10th and found it quite hard to fight back with the track being quite dry and dusty with gnarly bumps, but I got back to seventh, which was enough for sixth overall. Not the results we are working for. So, back to the drawing board, and we hope to bounce back in Spain.”
Words and image: Yamaha