Renaux rises in Switzerland to take MXGP overall

Moto two victory seals Benistant MX2 round win at Frauenfeld.

Delivering success for Monster Energy Yamaha at the third round of the 2023 MXGP World Championship, Maxime Renaux claimed the overall victory in the premier class as Thibault Benistant stood tall in MX2 in Switzerland.

Victory in the second moto was decisive in Renaux scoring the round win, the Frenchman going 2-1 on the day to take his first GP honours of the season.

Red plate-holder Jorge Prado (Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing) emerged on top in the opening moto, but P3 in the final encounter saw him miss out on the overall by two points. Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre completed the podium with consistent 3-2 scores.

Round two winner Jeffrey Herlings (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was P4 in Switzerland courtesy of 6-4 finishes, as Calvin Vlaanderen rounded out the top five thanks to 5-8 results.

Notably, Jeremy Seewer (Monster Energy Yamaha) was cross jumped in the opening moto and after remounting only scored a single point from the outing, later rebounding to finish fifth in the second bout.

In terms of the MXGP Championship standings, Prado – who won the qualifying race in Switzerland – leads on 155 points, with Herlings second on 134 and Renaux third with 131.

After recovering from a fall in the opening MX2 moto and finishing fourth, Benistant delivered in the final encounter to secure the overall with a 4.929s victory ahead of Andrea Adamo (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).

Adamo finished second for the round with 3-2 scores, as Kay de Wolf (Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing) went 2-4 to complete the top three. Teammate and race one winner Roan Van De Moosdijk concluded the round P4, managing eighth place in race two.

Red plate-holder Jago Geerts (Monster Energy Yamaha) rounded out the top five with 7-3 results, suffering a sizeable fall in the opening moto.

Geerts leaves Switzerland still in possession of the MX2 red plate, as Benistant – who was also victorious in the qualifying race – moves up to second, 20 points behind the lead, with de Wolf in third a further three points back.

The second round of the Women’s Motocross World Championship also took place at Frauenfield, as Courtney Duncan (Kawasaki) took the overall honours ahead of race two winner and points leader Lotte Van Drunen (Kawasaki). Daniela Guillen (GasGas) completed the top three with 3-4 scores.

Tomac + WC = Great Starts

Skill, preparation, attitude, strong bike, luck all combined with the Works Connection Pro Launch Device give Eli a very successful night at the Glendale SX.

Rocky Mountain Ticket to Ride...It Doesn't Get Much Better

Rocky Mountain Ticket to Ride. If you’re not familiar, each year at the GNCC banquet two winners on each night (2 ATV and 2 bike) are selected for a trip to Utah to ride in the Moab area with our friends from Rocky Mountain ATV/MC, and additionally we send along a member of the GNCC staff. Rocky Mountain takes care of the entire trip, and everyone raves about how much fun it is. Last weekend saw the dirt bike portion of the Ticket to Ride take place and it was a great time. 

The winners also bring along a guest to ride as well, and this year’s group was a really solid one. WXC racer Taylor Johnston won one of the spots and brought along JDay Womens Pro and occasional WXC competitor Savannah Kipp, and the other winner was Vet A class racer James Bower who brought fellow Vet A competitor Tom Truxell. On our end, I got the pick to go for the first time (everyone assumed I had been before, but I hadn’t!) and I was absolutely blown away at how great of riders everyone was, as well as how much fun it really was. The rocks out in the Utah desert are polar opposite of what we have here. 

Naturally, as an east coast off-road rider you expect rocks to be slick but the rocks out there provide perfect traction, even when they’re wet! Day one we rode the White Wash Sand Dunes area, which is chocked full of awesome sand, rocks and tons of free roaming riding. You can just about go ride anywhere you want. Our entire group managed to ride right on top of each other’s rear wheels through the entire day and for day two Just Deschamps and the crew from Rocky Mountain decided our group would be fit for something a little more technical on day two. 

Day two we rode the Temple Mountain area which is much more technical single track type trail that even features the famous “Five Miles of Hell” loop, which we opted to skip since we were all on borrowed bikes. Regardless, there were still a lot of really tough and technical sections to contend with, but like I said, there’s nothing but pure traction on those rocks. At one point, Justin even mentioned that this was the first time they had taken the Ticket to Ride group to the Temple Mountain trails, which was pretty cool to hear. 

Overall, it was an absolutely awesome experience that I could go on and on about, including raving about just how cool and high tech the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC facility is… If you ever see it, it gives you a real appreciation for what it takes to fulfill even the smallest order. Huge thanks to Justin and Chance from Rocky Mountain for making the two days of riding absolutely epic, and also a big thanks to Rachel Bretzing for organizing flights, hotels and other arrangements, plus driving everyone to and from the airport. 

RJ Hampshire

Five Questions: RJ Hampshire

Post: Dylan Wills

Rockstar Husqvarna rider's take on Seattle and his recent 450SX debut.

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire’s 2023 Monster Energy Supercross campaign has been the best start to a season in his career, showing a wealth of consistency to go along with the blistering speed that we’re all aware of. He was granted the opportunity to step up to the 450SX class while his usual 250SX West series was on hold, where he impressed during his first showing in the premier class at Daytona. The 27-year-old features in this latest Five Questions feature.

Is there anything you picked up racing in the 450 class?

The best way to practice is to race – [Jett Lawrence and Cameron McAdoo] weren’t racing and I was, so any knowledge that I could take away from that was going to be positive. Daytona was awesome, I don’t think many people expected me to ride like that. I was actually really sick for the two-weeks leading up to it, so I didn’t really feel well up until about Thursday this past week. I got back on the 250 and got my health back to being good and right away I felt awesome, I don’t know if it was from riding the 450 or what. We didn’t really change much on the bike, it is just so to replicate the 450 when you’re jumping back onto a 250, my riding style is completely different between the two bikes. It’s kind of all out on the 250.

What was it like getting that heat race win in Daytona?

I was pretty beaten up after Oakland, but I just told myself to pull it together and that we were going racing in Daytona. I think I had four days on the 450 leading up to Daytona, the last time I rode supercross on a 450 was probably about 2017, so I haven’t touched a supercross track on a 450 since then. The team were all for it, but the first couple of days on the bike were not good, then it came down to the few days before Daytona and I had my first good day on it, then Wednesday the team showed up and we did 30-40 minutes of testing and decided to go racing. You couldn’t have painted a better picture, that was an awesome experience and debut. I knew I wasn’t ready to battle for a main event win, but man it was cool. I was stoked the team gave me an opportunity.

Can you take us through the track conditions in Seattle and maybe compare it to past years?

Yeah, I just raced Indy, well I didn’t race but I did practice and this track had a lot of similarities, it got beat down so fast. I was first heat race out and they had kind of fluffed it up, but it went straight back to having deep ruts while the berms were actually kind of dry and slick, especially before the finish, so that made it hard to get into a flow.

Did you find the Seattle layout was a hard track to pass on?

I struggled in the heat race, my start was bad, and I was still in sixth with like three laps to go. But, in the main event, I did pick some areas out, I had that line into the sand before the wall, but you had to almost catch the guy in front of you off guard to make it.

When you passed Cameron, was that a spot you had picked out, or did that opportunity just present itself and you made the most of it?

The first time, kind of, but the second time, I thought it was their last lap, my pit board said ‘two to go’ two laps before that. We kind of got side-by-side going down the whoops, I was sending it cause I thought it was the last lap and there was a lapper between us, I saw he wasn’t going to protect that inside so I squared up and went for it, but I thought that was the last corner, last lap so that’s why I went for it like that.

Team HRC General Manager

Pereira de Freitas interview

Marcus Pereira de Freitas the Team HRC General Manager for the MXGP class has seen a very up and down start to the 2023 season. Having been to the highs of an MXGP championship with Tim Gajser in 2022, the Team HRC suffered the lowest of lows as the Slovenian, five-time World Champion suffered injury in a pre-season race and will miss the opening six or seven rounds of this year’s championship.

The team then saw Ruben Fernandez made his first appearance for the team at the opening round of the Argentina Grand Prix and take a very surprising victory. 

Question: Obviously you had the start of the season with that stunning win by Ruben in Argentina. Can you explain how that felt?

Pereira de Freitas: Argentina was just an amazing event for us at Team HRC. Ruben went there and just rode superbly, and to win the second moto was a big achievement, but to then take the overall was just a massive boost of confidence to him and everyone in the team. What a start to Ruben’s time with Team HRC! He has worked so hard over the winter to be in this position so he deserves a lot of credit, and then to put it together here is amazing. He certainly didn’t make it easy after race one, but he came out and rode flawlessly in race two, taking the victory and the overall. It was just such an impressive performance, and a great way to start his year and a great moment for the whole team who all work so hard to make moments like this possible.

Question: Even on the Saturday in Argentina he looked very strong?

Pereira de Freitas: We are all very happy with Ruben’s performance. It is never easy to start on a new team, and especially with a big crowd supporting him, he could easily have been nervous, but he was calm and relaxed and just went out and rode really well. The fourth place not only gives him the seven points for the championship, but also fourth gate pick for the two races, so we are going to work hard to make sure he can go out there and repeat the result from today.

Question: Saturday in Riola Sardo was good, better than expected I would think after Rubens past races in sand?

Pereira de Freitas: Overall, it was a very good day for Ruben and the team. He showed his sand skills today and we are very happy with his riding in all three sessions. Each time he went out on the track he got better and better, from 11th in free practice to fifth in timed practice and then he was in the top five for the majority of the qualification race, only dropping to sixth when he tried to make a pass for second place a couple of laps from the end. 

Question: Sunday though, it didn’t go well and it was really difficult for the team and Ruben?

Pereira de Freitas: Unfortunately, it was a tough day once again in Sardinia. Riola Sardo certainly hasn’t been kind to Team HRC but we won’t dwell on that and instead focus on getting things right in Switzerland at the next round. Ruben knows what he is capable of, and he showed some really good signs throughout the weekend, so the talent is there, he just made mistakes at the wrong time and on this track that is really costly.

Herlings Back on the Gas!

MXGP Sardegna

SX Points Tied Going to Arizona

Tomac vs. Webb who can sustain the intensity needed to win this title. The Hurrican demonstrates intensity.

Tomac Wins His 50th

Tomac ties Stewart all-time with 50th win in Seattle

 Post: Aaron Durant

Sexton recovers for fifth after crashing out of lead.

Image: Octopi Media.

The 2023 Monster Energy Supercross visit to Seattle’s Lumen Field proved to be impactful as Eli Tomac drew even with Cooper Webb in the points standings with a historic 50th career victory.

With Tomac’s victory over Webb by a margin of 4.798s, the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider also tied James Stewart on the sport’s all-time wins list.

Kevin Moranz, the consistently great-starting privateer, grabbed the holeshot with room to spare and successfully led the race’s first lap. With a charging Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) behind, Moranz went over the berm in a bowl turn and got stuck on the tough blocks, falling to the back of the field.

Sexton assumed the race lead with Ken Roczen (Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki) close behind, along with Tomac, Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki), and Webb (Red Bull KTM).

A mistake for Cianciarulo and a quick run through the whoops for Tomac promoted the points leader and reigning champion into third, and he then set his sights on Roczen in second. With just over 14 minutes remaining, Tomac rocketed past Roczen, but the two traded positions two additional times after mistakes from the other on the fading track.

With 10 and a half minutes on the clock, Sexton fell victim to the challenging conditions and went over the handlebars, falling to fourth from the lead. Tomac assumed the lead, with Webb just over 2s behind. Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas) and Sexton got by Roczen for third and fourth before Roczen fell victim to a surge from Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki), dropping from a podium spot to sixth.

A late-race charge toward Tomac was not to be for Webb as the KTM rider settled for second, finishing just under 5s back from Tomac at the checkered flag.

Earning extra reason to celebrate on his birthday, Barcia captured his third podium of 2023 with his fourth top-four result in as many rounds. Sexton ended the night in fifth, failing to back up his Detroit victory and losing more championship ground.

Roczen, Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM), Cianciarulo, Christian Craig (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), and Justin Hill (Team Tedder Monster Energy Mountain Motorsports) comprised the remainder of the top 10.

One red plate will become two as the series returns to action April 8 in Glendale. Tomac and Webb will both carry red number backgrounds inside State Farm Stadium as they carry 248 points into the season’s 12th round. Sexton’s Seattle fate has him 22 points back heading to Arizona after a weekend off.

Surprise... Seattle Might Be Wet!

MORNING REPORT

Well, it's wet, though it might not end up being much of a mudder tonight. Some rain persisted overnight and the tarps were finally lifted off the track this morning early to reveal some water in the low-lying areas. But that might be the worst it gets as no more rain is expected to fall throughout today and the track should only wear in more as the day goes on. Hopefully we end up with a solid racetrack by the evening.

As for the storylines, Red Bull KTM's Cooper Webb enters tonight with a three point lead in the championship over Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Eli Tomac. Honda HRC's Chase Sexton won last week in Detroit but was penalized seven points after jumping on the red cross flag which pushed him down to 17 points back in the championship entering Seattle. Many other riders like Ken Roczen, Aaron Plessinger, Justin Barcia, Jason Anderson, and more have shown race winning speed of late making this 450SX class very interesting as we begin the homestretch of the championship.

The 250SX West class is back in action this weekend after a little over a month off going back to mid-February when they last raced in Oakland. Honda HRC's Jett Lawrence has a commanding lead over Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's RJ Hampshire and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Cameron McAdoo, but perhaps a tricky track tonight could shake things up.

Practice will begin shortly and then we'll roll right into qualifying where you can watch Race Day Live and eventually the main broadcast this evening. View the full broadcast schedule below. Let's get going in the PNW!