Cycle News Staff | September 20, 2023
Round 18, the penultimate race of the FIM Motocross World Championship, was held on Italian hillsides of Maggiora Park for the MXGP of Italy, September 16-17. Rains soaked the track in the days leading up to the Grand Prix, which made for slick and challenging conditions on race day.
Jorge Prado ran his new gold number-one plate at the front of the field in race two. Photo by Juan Pablo Acevedo
MXGP
Yamaha’s Jeremy Seewer and Jago Geerts were the day’s GP winners, but Jorge Prado and Andrea Adamo clinched the overall championships in the 450cc and 250cc classes, respectively.
Prado stacked the odds in his favor with a holeshot and the early lead in race one. Seewer and title rival, Romain Febvre, stayed close in the early stages, but a crash and a later bike malfunction dropped Febvre out of the race. Febvre’s misfortune allowed Prado to run away with the race win and clinch the title in the process. Seewer finished second, with Alberto Forato in third.
GasGas’ Jorge Prado celebrates clinching the 2023 MXGP title at Maggiora Park, the Spaniard’s first premier-class world championship. Photo by Juan Pablo Acevedo
Race two saw Prado sporting his new gold number-one plate at the front of the field. He battled the frustrated Febvre for the first few laps before the Kawasaki rider earned his redemption by taking control of the lead. Febvre ran away with the win over Tim Gajser. Behind them, Prado dropped back and eventually fell to sixth, dropping him out of the overall win. Seewer climbed up to fourth, which gave him the best score of the GP. After all of the shake-ups in the results, Seewer took the overall with 2-4 finishes ahead of Prado and Ruben Fernandez.
“I didn’t even know I won the GP,” said Seewer. “Things fell in my favor for once, which was nice. I feel like it was my turn to have some luck after so many stints of bad luck this season. I was super happy with my riding today, which was actually nothing special because the track did not have too many lines.”
Jeremy Seewer topped the day’s MXGP class with his 2-4 score. Photo by Full Spectrum
Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez improved from his fifth place in moto one with a third overall in moto two resulting in a fifth place in the points standings. Photo by Bavo Swijgers
“I am so happy,” Prado said. “It is a pity about that mistake in the second moto, but I am the new world champion. So much hard work has gone into this, from myself and the team, and I knew that I could make this happen. I have held the red plate since round one—I cannot ask for anything better. This is a dream.”
The MX2 class launches from start. Photo By Ray Archer
MX2
A similar situation took place in the MX2 division as the title was also up for grabs for KTM’s Andrea Adamo. With Simon Laengfelder controlling the front of race one, Adamo and Jago Geerts duked it out for second and third. The two early-season rivals went at it, with Adamo eventually making a big mistake late and solidifying his spot in third.
Jago Geerts won the overall in MX2 and second in the Championship Standings. Photo by Full Spectrum
Race two saw Laengfelder and Geerts leading again, with Adamo charging forward from the back. He moved up as far as third while his KTM teammate, Liam Everts, ran fourth before crashing out of the race. This costly mistake gave Adamo the advantage he needed to clinch the title even with a pair of thirds on the day. The Italian native claimed his first world title in front of his home country. Geerts went on to take the race win and the overall ahead of Laengfelder’s 1-2.
Simon Laengenfelder just missed out on a tiebreak via a second in the final moto. 1-2 scores put him second overall in Italy and second in the championship standings. Photo by Juan Pablo Acevedo
KTM’s Andrea Adamo clinched the MX2 title. Photo By Ray Archer
“I came to Maggiora not thinking about the GP win and mainly about the first chance to take the title,” said Adamo. “I’m really happy with my motos. They were very consistent even though I didn’t have the best starts. Maybe I got lucky at times this season, but every single race, I tried to do the maximum I could: sometimes it is P2, sometimes P5, and sometimes P1. Nothing more. I can accept when someone is faster than me, and I held this strategy all season; now I’m a world champion!” CN
Adamo is the first Italian MX2 champion since Red Bull KTM Team Manager Tony Cairoli in 2007. Photo By Ray Archer
VIDEO | MXGP of Italy 2023
MXGP
VIDEO | Jorge Prado – GasGas’ First MXGP World Champion!
Prado
2023 FIM MXGP of Italy Round 18 Results
MXGP
- Jeremy Seewer (Yam) 2-4
- Jorge Prado (GG) 1-6
- Ruben Fernandez (Hon) 5-3
- Alberto Forato (KTM) 3-5
- Tim Gajser (Hon) 9-2
MX2
- Jago Geerts (Yam) 2-1
- Simon Laengenfelder (GG) 1-2
- Andrea Adamo (KTM) 3-3
- Kay de Wolf (Hus) 9-4
- Thibault Benistant (Yam) 7-5
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