Team Suzuki Press Office – April 18.
Jeremy Seewer continued his high momentum in the 2015 FIM MX2 Motocross World Championship by finishing as runner-up overall on his Factory Team Suzuki World MX2 RM-Z250 under bright sunshine at Leon for the Grand Prix of Mexico.
The 21-year-old Swiss is currently second in the championship standings and has ended a hectic and cosmopolitan phase of the GP calendar – trips to Qatar, Thailand, Holland, Argentina and now Mexico – with an excellent rack of trophies (four-in-a-row) and points that mean ‘#91’ is enjoying the best season of his young career to-date.
Leon welcomed MXGP for the third year running and in better weather conditions compared to the cooler and changeable climate found in 2015 when the Grand Prix was rain-hit. The narrow and twisting layout featured some big jumps and technical sections through the rutted soil. The altitude of the Guanajuato region also meant some mapping and engine tweaks to optimise performance and the team worked diligently to ensure the RM-Z250 not only kept Seewer at the front of the pack, but was also potent away from the gate.
A strong start in the first moto saw Seewer circulating in the top-four and he moved into third once Pauls Jonass crashed and lost four positions. Unable to withstand pressure from an impressive Vsevolod Brylyakov, Seewer slipped to fourth but again profited from another’s misfortune when Max Anstie retired with two laps to go. He made it across the line with his fifth top-three classification of the season and watched by 33,000 spectators trackside (weekend figure).
Cloud cover moved over for the second race and provided some slight respite from the sunshine but the track was getting rougher and harder to judge in terms of ruts and braking bumps. Seewer was again among the first four at the crucial moment of moto two: Jeffrey Herlings and Max Anstie broke free but Seewer kept a solid pace and distance over Aleksandr Tonkov to again make sure of third position.
After notching a career-best second place in Thailand and Holland, he has now walked the second-step of the box again and for the fourth Grand Prix on the trot.
“Jeremy just keeps on going and to have this level of consistency and remain second in the championship is fantastic; we’re really happy,” commented General Manager Stefan Everts. “I know this is not one of his best tracks and he has struggled here in the past. He had a tough first moto but was more settled in the second and we are seeing this quite a lot this year, so we know where to work more. He is really improving and even though there is a long way to go, we could not be more satisfied at the moment.”
The MX2 world championship picture holds Seewer as a firm second; 58 points behind Herlings but with a gap of 26 over Jonass.
Seewer will now head back to Europe and look to shake-off the effects of jetlag this week before the opening round of the 2016 ADAX MX Masters (German Championship) at Drehna.
Jeremy Seewer:
“I’m really happy to again be in second spot and to have a fourth podium in a row now feels amazing. I actually struggled all weekend - through the qualification race and the first moto – with the amount of water on the track, but I could push more in the second race. It was not easy this time and I fought hard. I’d like to thank everyone in the team because we are all trying so much and we will try to keep this consistency and see where we end up.”
MX2 Moto1: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:11.123; 2. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Kawasaki), +0:33.978; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki World MX2), +0:38.195; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:40.758; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:53.207; 6. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:54.852; 7. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +0:56.232; 8. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:56.696; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), +1:17.721; 10. Jorge Zaragoza (ESP, Honda), +1:23.832.
MX2 Moto2: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:35.640; 2. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:44.423; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki World MX2), +0:47.549; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:57.008; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:59.649; 6. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, Kawasaki), +1:00.716; 7. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +1:06.097; 8. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +1:31.849; 9. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +1:41.666; 10. Jorge Zaragoza (ESP, Honda), +1:56.479.
MX2 Overall result: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki World MX2), 40 p.; 3. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 37 p.; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 32 p.; 6. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 28 p.; 7. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 27 p.; 8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 26 p.; 9. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 25 p.; 10. Jorge Zaragoza (ESP, HON), 22 p.
MX2 World Championship standings (after 5 of 18 rounds): 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 250 points; 2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki World MX2), 192 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 166 p.; 4. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, YAM), 163 p.; 5. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 132 p.; 6. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 126 p.; 7. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 121 p.; 8. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 117 p.; 9. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 89 p.; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 82 p.
