2019 MXGP of Sweden
Round 16 – Uddevalla
The sun shone down on the Uddevalla circuit for Round 16 of the MXGP championship, with Jorge Prado laying claim to the MX2 championship in front of a large Swedish crowd.
It wasn’t all Prado’s day however, with Tom Vialle taking the round win, his first in the MX2 class on the back of a 2-2 result, while Calvin Vlaanderen was second for the round, with Prado third, still on the podium. Aussie Mitchell Evans finished 11th in Race 1, improving to seventh in Race 2, while New Zealand’s Dylan Walsh went 10-9.
Glenn Coldenhoff won his second GP of the season in MXGP ahead of Tim Gajser and Pauls Jonass.
MXGP Race 1
Jeffrey Herlings marked his return not only with a pole position from Saturday’s qualifying, he took the FOX Holeshot and led the opening MXGP race from Glenn Coldenhoff, Pauls Jonass and Romain Febvre. Gajser was quickly into second place after passing Coldenhoff while Jeremy Seewer slipped over in the first lap.
Gajser was all over Herlings, but the Dutchman remained calm and in the lead at this debut after a few weeks off the bike. Gajser went down in a corner and dropped back to fourth place giving Herlings a major lead. After two laps the lead was more than two seconds as Coldenhoff and Febvre battled for second place.
Herlings held the control of the race, but wasn’t getting far away from Coldenhoff while Febvre and Gajser closed in on the Dutch riders while Jonass remained in fifth place. Coldenhoff moved into the lead on lap 10 after Herlings’ mistake and Febvre was also all over Herlings. Febvre and Gajser both went past Herlings, who started to really struggle with arm-pump.
After 12 laps Coldenhoff continued to lead followed by Febvre, Gajser, Jonass, and Herlings in fifth place found himself fighting with Arnaud Tonus for fifth when suddenly Herlings crashed and Tonus ran into him and both went down. Herlings got going again, although Tonus was done for the race as his bike started blowing smoke. Herlings decided to retire from the race.
Coldenhoff and Febvre battled side by side in the last laps but Coldenhoff managed to hang on and he won his third race of the season ahead of Febvre and Gajser.
MXGP Race 2
The second MXGP gate dropped and Febvre took the FOX holeshot followed by Gajser, Tonus, Seewer, Jonass, Tommy Searle, Gautier Paulin, Herlings and Coldenhoff.
Febvre and Gajser were pushing hard to ensure the lead as the French held only a bunch of seconds lead over the Slovenian after five laps while back in the leading pack Seewer and Coldenhoff battled for fifth place. Finally, on lap nine Coldenhoff moved past Seewer while Gajser was still looking for a way past Febvre.
Gajser went for a wild pass on Febvre, but the Frenchman managed to remain in the lead. In the meantime Herlings managed to reach the sixth position after a start in 8th as Tonus dropped back in the field in seventh. On lap 13 Gajser eventually moved into the lead followed by Jonass, Coldenhoff and Seewer.
JWR Yamaha rider Kevin Strijbos moved into 10th place in the late stages of the race and Herlings was closing up on Seewer for fifth position. Febvre crashed down hard and was forced to a DNF; Febvre has been taken to the hospital for further examinations.
Coldenhoff was all over Jonass in the last lap and was fighting hard for the overall victory. Coldenhoff went through Jonass ensuring a second GP win of the season while Gajser won his 16th race of the season from Coldenhoff and Jonass.
Glenn Coldenhoff won the MXGP of Sweden ahead of Tim Gajser and Pauls Jonass.
Glenn Coldenhoff – P1
“It was a tough weekend but I’m very satisfied. Jeffrey was in front of me in the beginning of the first race, and it is really difficult and Febvre was close at the end and I got a little nervous, but I kept it on for the win. I’m very happy about my riding now”
Tim Gajser – P2
“Overall I was quite happy with the weekend. In the first moto I had a solid start and was in second place, but then I made a mistake and two guys passed me. It was really difficult to pass them back but I was able to finish in third. The second moto went a lot better, with another good start putting me in second once again. My riding was good and I was feeling comfortable but I didn’t want to pass him too early in the race because I saw that we had a good pace and I didn’t want to give him any lines. Then with five laps from the end, I made a push to pass him and I made it happen, immediately pulling out a gap. I could then see the battle behind and I could see the battle for second, so I knew when Glenn passed Pauls that I would finish second overall. Still, it was a good performance and I’m happy with the day.”
Pauls Jonass – P3
“I’m really happy with my performance today – it feels great to be back on the podium again. It makes all the hard work by myself and the whole of the team worth it and it shows we are definitely making progress, which was the goal this season. My starts were better this weekend, which helps a lot at this track, and I was then able to keep a good pace and stay with the top guys. The bike was great all weekend – we were able to make some changes to the suspension settings, which helped a lot here in Sweden. There was a lot of Latvian fans here this weekend and they made it feel like a home race for me, so thanks to them and I’m glad I was able to give them a good result.”
Jeremy Seewer – P4
“This weekend I am taking away a lot of positives, but also a lot of negatives. I am extremely happy to come out of this weekend alive because I felt like the track was really sketchy. I didn’t feel good on the track, I felt quite far off from my level, although I did feel better in the races today even though I crashed twice in the warm-up trying to find the limit. I got two good starts, I crashed in the middle of a Yamaha sandwich in the first race and came back to seventh, which for me was a good finish, especially on this kind of track. In the second race, I got another good start but I immediately felt uncomfortable on the sketchy track, so I just rode smart with no mistakes, playing with the bumps and took absolutely no risk. I did not even know where I finished because so many guys crashed. So, I am just happy to finish safely.”
Gautier Paulin – P6
“The rain coming into this weekend was good for the track. The track was nice and my bike was working good. I had a really good start in the first race, but then I stalled the bike in front of the pit lane and that cost me a few places. The second moto was a bit harder. My start was not as good and I struggled to make some passes and move forward, so I finished around eighth, I think. Anyway, we keep moving forward.”
Arnaud Tonus – P7
“It was a tough day. First race was going alright but I had bad luck with Jeffrey (Herlings) crashing in front of me, and my bike got stuck there. That was a shame. I only finished 12th. In the second race I rode really good the whole moto and crashed at the end and that was also a shame. Another tough weekend. There has been a few in a row now but all I can do is learn from it and come back next weekend.”
Jeffrey Herlings
“The problem was that I took the holeshot! Yesterday [leading] was fine for twenty minutes but in the first moto I was really struggling with arm-pump. We made some changes to the bike to have the suspension a bit softer because I was not at my normal pace. I led for the first twenty and then couldn’t hold on so well and had a small tip-over. Another rider hit my bike and damaged it pretty bad so I couldn’t finish, which was a shame because I think I could have been fifth-sixth. In the second moto I didn’t get a holeshot: which was pretty good because I don’t feel comfortable leading yet. I was around 8th and worked my way up to 4th. Together with 1st yesterday it hasn’t been bad practice for less than two weeks on the bike. We can still work for a few more races until the ultimate goal in Assen.”
Arminas Jasikonis – P12
“It was a really tough day for me here in Sweden. Qualifying went okay and the bike felt good, I was just suffering with my stomach a little and didn’t have the strength to push any harder. It’s a shame because there were a lot of Lithuanian fans here today to support me. There’s two weeks now till the next round, so I hope to come back stronger in Turkey.”
2019 MXGP of Sweden Results
Source: MCNews.com.au