2023 MXGP of Patagonia Race Report and Results

By Team TMX on 15th Mar 23

News Motocross

Images: Juan Pablo Acevedo and Bavo Swijgers

The 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship fired into life over the weekend of March 11/12 at the Patagonia racetrack in Villa La Angostura, Argentina where the high-speed layout seemed to suit the Spaniards with Jorge Prado (Red Bull GASGAS) and Team HRC Honda’s Rueben Fernandez unexpectedly running 1-2 in the MXGP class while Jago Geerts (Monster Energy Yamaha) dominated the MX2 division.

There have been a few tweaks to the FIM Rule Book ahead of the new season with the biggest twist being the fact that Saturday’s Qualification races now carry championship points – 10 for the winner, nine for second and so on, all the way down to one point for a 10th-place finish.

Geerts took an early lead in the MX2 championship by dominating the qualifier to secure a full quota of points. Second on Saturday was Red Bull KTM’s new signing Andrea Adamo with Red Bull GASGAS runner Simon Laengenfelder placing third. There were no real shocks in the MX2 class other than a DNF for Mikkel Haarup (Big Van World MTX Kawasaki) who’d go to the gate last for Sunday’s points-payers.

Prado had been on the pace in MXGP from the first qualifying session, so it was no surprise when the 22-year-old rocketed to victory in the qualifying moto. What was a surprise was that Red Bull GASGAS teammate Mattia Guadagnini placed second after grabbing the holeshot. Former MX2 world champion Maxime Renaux picked up eight world championship points for third with Fernandez fourth and KRT#s Romain Febvre a fighting fifth.

There was disaster for Monster Energy Yamaha’s Jeremy Seewer in the qualifying heat as he nosedived over a tabletop and had to hit eject with just two laps remaining in the race. Running fourth at the time, Jeremy was lucky to walk away from the wreckage albeit with zero championship points to his name.

While conditions were bright on Saturday, cloudy skies and light rain dampened things for race day. However, if anything it actually improved the track conditions and everything was set for a fantastic season opener.

Geerts was simply unstoppable in MX2 and comfortably won both motos to take home maximum points for the weekend. The soon-to-be 23-year-old Belgian was joined on the podium by Adamo who ran a consistent 3-3 to claim second overall and third-placed Thibault Benistant (Monster Energy Yamaha) who took 2-8 finishes.

In the MX2 World Championship classification, Geerts took a 60-point haul home to Belgium with Adamo 11 behind and Benistant third on 41 championship points. While the MX2 day podium mirrored the series standings, the same couldn’t be said in MXGP where the addition of qualifying race points really mixed things up.

Prado took race one easily enough with another dominant display while Febvre fought through the pack to secure the runner-up spot from Renaux who survived a mid-race get-off to take third spot. MXGP returnee Jeffrey Herlings bagged fourth ahead of Fernandez who had challenged for the lead early on but slipped down the running order.

Seewer’s lucky streak continued as he hit a backmarker and went down eventually finishing 17th – a lap behind the leaders.

Sole Brit Ben Watson took the MRT Racing Team Beta to a very promising 12th place having yielded to Calvin Vlaanderen (Gebben van Venrooy Yamaha) on the very last lap.

Race two saw Glenn Coldenhoff (Monster Energy Yamaha) cross the holeshot line in first place but immediately he ran wide, bounced off the bank and would find himself seventh as the baying pack exited turn two. Pauls Jonass (Standing Construct Honda) held the early lead with Fernandez, Prado and Renaux right there with him. 

Fernandez soon took over the lead which he’d hold until the end – a masterful performance from the 450 rookie. Herlings, meanwhile, was making big moves through the pack and took over second just a few laps in.

Seewer had a much more convincing second moto and moved into third place at around the 20-minute mark. The Swiss ace would then hold position behind Fernandez and Herlings to finally put some decent points on the board.

Behind the first three, Jonass hung tough for fourth ahead of Febvre and Prado who looked to be playing it safe rather than going for broke.

And the strategy paid off (to a degree), as while Fernandez topped the podium on the day it was Jorge who leads the world championship after the opening weekend of action.

Getting through the GP classification first, Fernandez took the win on 41 points ahead of Herlings and Prado who tied on 40 – second going to the Dutchman courtesy of his better second race.

However, chuck the quali race points in and it’s a different story with Prado leading the way on 50, ahead of Fernandez on 48 and Febvre with 44 – three more than fourth-placed Herlings.

A 15th in race two saw Watson 15th overall in the GP and 15th in the world championship classification on 15 points. A decent start to the series for the 25-year-old Brit riding the unproven Beta.

Results MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina

MXGP Overall

MX2 Overall 

FIM Motocross World Championship series standings after round one

MXGP: 1 Prado 50, 2 Fernandez 48, 3 Febvre 44, 4 Herlings 41, 5 Renaux 40, 6 Jonass 36, 7 Guadagnini 33, 8 Vlaanderen 26, 9 Coldenhoff 28, 10 Seewer 24… 15 Watson 15

MX2: 1 Geerts 60, 2 Adamo 49, 3 Benistant 41, 4 Laengenfelder 37, 5 Horgmo 36, 6 Van de Moosdijk 36, 7 Elzinga 33, 8 De Wolf 31, 9 Everts 31, 10 Pancar 20

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