sun-drenched St Jean D’Angely and a 41,000 spectator-packed hillside at the historic racing venue created a noisy, atmospheric and memorable 2016 Grand Prix of France and Team Suzuki World MX2’s Jeremy Seewer took his RM-Z250 to third place overall as Bas Vaessen also tasted champagne with his second podium of the EMX250 series.

Round 10 of 18 in MXGP landed on the west coast of France for the first time since 2014 and the steep hard-pack climbs, descents and off-cambers meant a tough and technical test. The Swiss celebrated his seventh rostrum finish of the year and resumed his haul of trophy collection after missing ‘the box’ in the last two meetings.

Under bright skies and occasional high clouds, Seewer made the best possible start to the first moto by earning the holeshot. He briefly led from a charging Benoit Paturel and then could do little about Jeffrey Herlings as the world championship leader barrelled past and then hunted the Frenchman to win once more. Seewer rode a lonely moto to third place. In the second race he again was almost first into the opening turn – his preparation with the team to improve his performance from the line obviously bearing fruit.

Seewer could do little about Herlings again and Max Anstie and Paturel ran to top-three positions as Seewer defended fourth place from Pauls Jonass. His 3-4 meant 38 points and a clear third spot overall for the day. The #‘91’ is a solid second in the world championship with a 31-point margin over Jonass; a cushion he expanded by six points today.

In the EMX250 category, and the feeder class to Grand Prix, Bas Vaessen was also uncorking a bottle from the third step of the podium. The Dutchman recovered from a so-so start and mistake in the formative stages of the first moto on Saturday to fight back to seventh place. On Saturday he was fantastically astute with his speed, line and positioning around the first uphill ‘S’ section to move into fourth and then third. A busy race with Mathys Boisrame kept the RM-Z250 rider on his toes and Vaessen kept cool and composed to make sure of his third ‘top three’ moto result of the season. With a 7-3, the team were able to cheer two riders into the winner’s circle and Vaessen now sits third in the EMX250 standings, seven points clear of the absent and injured Hunter Lawrence.

Suzuki were missing representation in the premier class for the first time in many years with untimely wrist injuries for Kevin Strijbos and Ben Townley. Both of the riders were not quite fit enough to be able to compete in France but are expected to recover in time for the next fixture in a fortnight.

The British Grand Prix at Matterley Basin near Winchester will bring the FIM Motocross World Championship to round 11 in two weeks’ time and will hopefully see the Team Suzuki World MXGP and MX2 line-up close to full force.

资料提供 [ Suzuki Racing ]