Team Suzuki Press Office – July 14.
Jeremy Seewer missed the podium for the first time this season in the European EMX250 series, the fifth round of which took place across the rough sand of Hyvinkää at the Grand Prix of Finland.
The Swiss recovered from a mediocre start to secure fourth position on his RM-Z250 and still retains second place in the standings with three races remaining. The trip to Finland – the first in 13 years for the premier classes of the FIM Motocross World Championship – saw Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Max Anstie again fighting through the pack but setting excellent lap-times and making exciting progress to classify eighth overall.
Bumpy and physically demanding, Hyvinkää was a sandy scratchers course, with a short lap-time and largely flat topography. Seewer did his best to chase a fifth consecutive trophy but in the end the gap to the top three was too much to breach. The 18 year old rests 14 points behind Valentin Guillod with round six to take place at Loket on August 4th for the Czech Grand Prix. In the same moto Jorge Zaragoza raced to 11th place for his first significant result in the EMX250 campaign this year.
Anstie’s recent spate of misfortune remained in place on Saturday as he became embroiled in the first corner pile-up that claimed several riders, among them World Champion Jeffrey Herlings, for the qualification heat. The Brit fought through from the rear of the pack but 22nd meant a tough starting ranking for the two 35 minute and two-lap motos. The ‘#14’ faced a similar tale on Sunday. On both occasions he gave the team cause for animated support as he gained ground and ranks with every lap. In Moto1 he pushed from 21st to 11th and then shone later in the afternoon by rising from 20th to seventh.
The Briton is ninth in the MX2 table and just seven points behind Alessandro Lupino. The next major appointment for Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe will take place on home turf. A brand new and temporary circuit will be constructed inside the Lausitzring asphalt facility for the Grand Prix of Germany.
Max Anstie:
“We made hard work of it again on the starts but I felt good out there. I came in feeling happy. I just focussed on my racing and had my goals each lap which was to gain or to pass the next guy in front of me. I bounced around the track and had fast feet. I tried to pass as many as I could and I think I did a good job of that. When the track was flat in the beginning we struggled a little bit but when it got bumpier and bumpier then it started coming to me. Today really showed who could keep the rhythm and who could keep going; some of those guys had a big gap on me at the beginning. All in all a good track. I am still not where I want to be but I feel I rode solid and with the same intensity that I have all the time.”
Jeremy Seewer:
“The track was very different today. There was a lot of water so it was more slippery. It took me a while to find my rhythm and I struggled. Fourth isn’t too bad and I’m pleased with my development in the sand because at somewhere like this place last year I would have been pushing to get in the top ten. I missed the podium for the first time but we are there still there for the championship.”
Finnish MX2 and EMX250 Image Gallery: CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS
MX2 Moto1: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:10.242; 2. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:55.951; 3. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), +1:06.978; 4. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +1:08.956; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:09.288; 6. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), +1:19.595; 7. Harri Kullas (FIN, KTM), +1:22.445; 8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:25.400; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:28.936; 10. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Honda), +1:30.326. 11. Max Anstie (GBR, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), +1:30.933.
MX2 Moto2: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 38:52.389; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:51.963; 3. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), +1:07.402; 4. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:12.693; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), +1:24.516; 6. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Honda), +1:25.710; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), +1:26.426; 8. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:27.144; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), +1:28.444; 10. Harri Kullas (FIN, KTM), +1:30.968;
MX2 Overall result: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 40 p.; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 30 p.; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Honda), 26 p.; 6. Harri Kullas (FIN, KTM), 25 p.; 7. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), 25 p.; 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 24 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 21 p.;
MX2 World Championship Standings (after 12 of 17 rounds): 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 592 points; 2. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 441 p.; 3. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 383 p.; 4. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 343 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 326 p.; 6. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), 313 p.; 7. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 292 p.; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Kawasaki), 259 p.; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 252 p.; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, Yamaha), 221 p.
European EMX250 Overall result: 1. Mike Kras (NED, Suzuki), 29:37.902; 2. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), +0:03.315; 3. Brent Van Doninck (BEL, KTM), +0:14.135; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), +0:26.817; 5. Jesper Jonssen (SWE, Suzuki), +0:51.037.
European EMX250 Championship Standings (after 5 of 8 rounds): 1. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 119 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 105 p.; 3. Damon Graulus (BEL, KTM), 83 p.; 4. Ceriel Klein Kromhof (NED, KTM), 68 p.; 5. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 65 p.
