Jeremy Seewer takes first ever MX2 overall
By TMX Archives on 8th Mar 17
After two treacherously difficult motos in the deep mud of Indonesia, Suzuki World MX2 rider Jeremy Seewer came out victorious for his first ever overall result today aboard his RM-Z250.
It rounded-off a great day for the Swiss rider because he was also able to win his first ever race in the first moto with a clever approach that minimised any mistakes and kept himself on two wheels while everyone around him crashed.
While he may not have been the fastest, he was definitely the smartest and in such horrible conditions, this was by far the better option as the record books will now show him as the 2017 MXGP of Indonesia MX2 winner.
There was also good news in race two as Seewer got the holeshot, closely followed by fellow Suzuki rider Hunter Lawrence; who came from the middle of the gate to sweep into second place round the first corner. Unfortunately, the young Australian's day wouldn't go exactly to plan in terms of results, but at certain times of the race, he was easily the fastest rider out on the track.
Bas Vaessen also showed good speed, making passes throughout both races, even reaching as high as sixth in the first moto. However, his day was also ruined by small mistakes and other riders, which ended up leaving him unable to finish the second race.
The main positive though was Seewer, and as other championship contenders struggled, he moved himself right back into contention as he now sits in second place in the title race with 72pts. He had this to say about the action: "It's just an awesome feeling to win. It was done in some strange circumstances, I couldn't raise my hand up at the end of race two because it wasn't definitely done with the red flag, but once I got back to the pits, I knew.
"First moto, I got a bad start and I was thinking back to Qatar, and how it can't happen again, but the first turn because of my good gate-pick I could turn-up the inside and still come out fifth. Some guys were then flying past me and I thought maybe I was going too slow, but then the next lap, they'd get stuck. I just kept going, racing my own race and then suddenly on the pit board I saw I was in first. I just tried to finish it and that's how it ended up. In mud races it isn't about doing the fastest laps, it's about surviving, you need to make your laps without mistakes because if you make a mistake, you are dead. I'm just happy though, we've come a long way to get here, and to get the win is massive.”
Lawrence wasn't able to quite make it happen with his finishes but still had a positive outlook on his performance: "Speed is good, but I'm not happy with the results although really, anything could have happened in those conditions. The first moto I got a great start, fourth around the first turn but then I had a couple of crashes and the second one I got the bike stuck in a big bog-hole and I couldn't get the bike out. They needed like four-or-five guys to get my bike out so I ended up outside the top 20. The second moto I again got a good start, right behind Jeremy, so a good day for the Suzukis off the start line. I then again had a couple of crashes before they red-flagged the race, so not great. Just happy to be coming home in one piece as it was like a minefield out there.”
The last member of the team, Bas Vaessen, gave us his thoughts on the races despite them not going the way he would have liked: "First moto I didn't have the best start but after a couple of laps I felt comfortable and moved from like 20th to sixth or seventh. I was running really well and was catching the top five but then I got caught in the mudhole. Someone crossed over into my line just before it and I had to stop and then got stuck. They had to get my bike out with a stick. Second moto I had a pretty good start, but then I got completely taken-out by someone. I was stuck under my bike and eventually got out in like last place. In the next couple of laps I passed like 10 or 12 guys until my radiator just stopped working, all the fluid had leaked out after the crash. I felt I could have made up a lot of points here, I felt I could have had two motos inside the top-10 but luck just wasn't on my side here.”
Overall though, for the team with the good starts and with Seewer's victory, it was a big step forward and gives the all the members a boost heading into Argentina.
Suzuki MXGP General Manager Stefan Everts gave his verdict on the weekend where Suzuki picked-up its first win of 2017: "I think Jeremy rode a very smart race, he stayed calm and won the first moto. He avoided the big mudhole, which played a big part in the results, and kept it running. Then in the second moto when conditions were extremely difficult, he tried to stay on two wheels and finished second. He did a great job to finish two times on the podium and that shows his real riding talent. It's very important that he did that this week after Qatar, as he had a big gap to the leaders and now he's closed that big time, so I'm really happy with that. He also had the holeshot in the second moto which is his first holeshot, also for the team, so that's good.”
