Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Maxime Renaux celebrated an exhilarating victory at the third round of the FIM Motocross World Championship in Frauenfeld, Switzerland. Displaying exceptional skill around the rough, rutty and hugely technical Schollenholz circuit, the Frenchman secured a 2-1 finish for the overall win. At the same time, teammates Jeremy Seewer and Glenn Coldenhoff faced hurdles throughout the weekend. Seewer made a strong comeback with a fifth place finish in the final race for 11th overall, while Coldenhoff managed eighth in race one, resulting in 15th overall.

Words: Monster Energy Yamaha MXGP | Images: Eva Szabadfi

The FIM Motocross World Championship returned to Frauenfeld, Switzerland, for the first time since 2018, and to the welcome sight of thousands of loud and enthusiastic Swiss fans. After a drizzly Saturday, and a day off on Easter Sunday, the old-school track was impeccably groomed and ready for a thrilling day of Grand Prix action.

Determined to advance in the championship standings, Renaux showed an incredible return to form. After finishing in second position in the opening race, the tenacious Frenchman swiftly took the lead on the first official lap of race two and charged to a flawless race win – his first of the season.

Seewer and Coldenhoff both faced some significant challenges throughout the weekend. Another rider took out Seewer on the opening lap of race one, which caused some damage to his YZ450FM, while Coldenhoff was faced with similar troubles after he was caught in a first-turn pile-up in race two.  Both, however, braved the rough and technical track, Seewer with bent handlebars and a broken clutch lever and Coldenhoff with no front brake lever, to score a single point for 20th position, respectively.

The 13-points Coldenhoff scored in race one combined with the 1 from race two put him in 15th for the Grand Prix. At the same time, Swiss fan-favourite Seewer delighted the home crowd with an impressive battle against Jeffrey Herlings in Race Two, ultimately scoring 16 points for fifth after a minor mid-race error.

Renaux’s stunning triumph narrows the gap to just three points from second place in the championship standings. He is third, while Coldenhoff and Seewer hold seventh and eighth positions.

The next round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place in Pietramurata, Italy, this weekend.

Maxime Renaux

MXGP of Switzerland Winner, 47-points

3rd MXGP Championship Standings, 131-points

“It feels good to finally get on the podium, especially with a win in race two. It was great. I didn’t get the best starts today, but I was good around the first corner and fast in the first lap, so this put me in a good position. In race two, I just took the lead and never looked back. It felt great. Now we need to try to keep momentum, and to work on the starts to make my life a little bit easier. I am looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Jeremy Seewer

11th MXGP of Switzerland, 17-points

8th MXGP Championship Standings, 79-points

“I felt amazing here in Frauenfeld. I had good speed and was feeling good on the track, but it took only five laps until I was hit with the hammer again in the first race. My goal was to start solid and take decent points. It’s not like I lined up here to go 1-1, but what happened to me this weekend, was just a ‘wrong time, wrong place’ situation. Another rider made a mistake and went from left to right on a jump, and the next minute, I was on the floor. I was lucky not to get hurt. The bike was destroyed from that, and it was not fun to race with a bent bike in front of your home crowd. In the second race, I did my best, but after the impact of the crash in the first race, I felt sore and completely drained. It’s frustrating. But now I just hope to recover well, and as quickly as possible. I’m already looking forward to being back on the gate in Trentino in few days.”

Glenn Coldenhoff

15th MXGP of Switzerland, 14-points

7th MXGP Championship Standings, 90-points

“It was a terrible weekend for me. I crashed in the start of the second race. My jump was good, but I got tangled up with some other riders and crashed. I had to start from dead last, and with no front brake lever because it broke off. Riding on a track like this without the front brake is almost impossible. I still took 1 point, which is better than none, but we have to look at the positives when the weekend was so disappointing for me.”