Paulin Delights with Podium Performance at British Grand Prix

Monster Energy Wilvo Yamaha MXGP’s Gautier Paulin celebrated his first podium of the season at the second round of the FIM Motocross World Championship in Winchester, England, with a stunning third place finish. The result sees the Frenchman move up into third in the MXGP Championship Standings. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Jeremy Seewer moves up to seventh position in the championship chase after a solid top-five finish in Race 2.

The spectacular hard-packed, fast and jumpy circuit of Matterley Basin played host to the British Grand Prix where Paulin put his YZ450F on the third step of the podium. The 28-year-old Frenchman was brilliant in the opening race where he capitalized on an error of a rider in front of him, and as a result of his smooth and masterful performance he was able to turn his top-three start into a second place finish. An unchallenged third place in Race 2 confirmed his speed and fitness, and allowed him to uncork a bottle of champagne for the first time since the Grand Prix of Lombardia in August last year.

Monster Energy Wilvo Yamaha MXGP’s last podium was back in April 2017 where Arnaud Tonus finished third at the MXGP of Trentino. Tonus was less fortunate this weekend. The Swiss rider ran a hot pace in every session. He pushed hard and made some great passes to finish sixth in the first race, but had his Grand Prix bought to an abrupt end halfway through Race 2 when another rider hit him with such force that his foot-peg broke and he could not complete the race.

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Jeremy Seewer put in a Spartan ride this weekend with two fantastic starts and two relentless races where he dug deep for eighth in Race 1 and a season best fifth place finish in Race 2. The Swiss rider was seventh overall in the Grand Prix classification and has progressed to seventh in the MXGP Championship standings.

Filling in for Romain Febvre, Dean Ferris’ return to racing did not go to plan. The Australian got faster with every lap completed throughout the weekend, but did not get a chance to prove his potential with a fall at the start of Race 2 cutting his Grand Prix short.

Ferris fears a knee injury and will be examined by medical professionals. The next round of the FIM Motocross Grand Prix will take place in Valkenswaard, The Netherlands, on the weekend of March 24th.

Gautier Paulin

3rd MXGP Overall, 3rd MXGP Championship Standings

“Every weekend on the box is a good weekend. I was happy with the first moto. In the second moto I was riding stiff in the beginning, but overall we had a good weekend and made a big step forward since Argentina. This was always the goal and this is what we are working really hard towards. I am really happy with my team Monster Energy Wilvo Yamaha MXGP and the work they are putting in.”

Jeremy Seewer

7th MXGP Overall, 7th MXGP Championship Standings

“To be honest, I expected to feel better coming into this round after Argentina, but I still found I was struggling a bit with my lungs. We also had some issue with the weather being so bad in Belgium that I couldn’t do too much riding, but still very surprised with my positive results this weekend. My speed was good and I feel like in the first few laps I can run the pace, which is something I couldn’t do in Argentina. I had three good starts this weekend and a good pace. I am still struggling a little bit with the race intensity but I managed to finish inside the top-five in the second moto, which was great. I know I can still improve, so I am heading into the next GP with a really good feeling.”

Arnaud Tonus

13th MXGP Overall, 14th MXGP Championship Standings

“Overall my weekend was good. I had a good feeling on the track. Everything went well until the second moto where I got cleaned out by another rider for no reason at all. I had huge impact and broke my foot-peg so I could not finish the race, which is really disappointing.”

Dean Ferris

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider

“It was a tough weekend, but I got more comfortable in every session. I thought the last fifteen minutes of the race I found my groove and had some really good lap-times, so I was content with that. In moto two, I went down on the start and I have hurt my knee, so that will need to be assessed.”

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