Following many months of testing, the Wilvo Yamaha MXGP squad travelled to the spectacular setting of Argentina for the opening round of the FIM Motocross World Championship. Arnaud Tonus, who won a moto in the premier division a year ago, was unfortunately out of action with a shoulder injury, so Shaun Simpson and Jeremy Seewer represented the team in the premier division.
Jeremy Seewer, who was making his debut in the MXGP class, immediately stole headlines on the first day of racing, as he jostled with the established contenders and sat comfortably inside of the top five in both practice sessions. ‘91’ then engaged in a race-long duel with Jeffrey Herlings in the qualifying heat but narrowly missed out on the position and crossed the line in eighth. Shaun Simpson, who ended the timed practice in ninth, clawed his way up from tenth to fifth in what was an impressive ride.
The Wilvo Yamaha MXGP team entered race day knowing that the tools were in place to acquire impressive finishes at the opening round. The first of two MXGP motos fired into life at midday and both riders were inside of the top ten once again. Shaun Simpson had the best start, as he ran eighth early on and had his sights set on the top ten. A mistake cost him a handful of positions, however, as he dropped to thirteenth before collecting himself and clawing his way up to eleventh. The second moto was much more pleasant for Simpson. After starting eighth, he jumped up to seventh and then stayed there the whole race. A 11-7 scorecard gave him seventh overall and twenty-four points on the day.
Jeremy Seewer had a consistent time of it in the first encounter, as he started tenth and put his head down. The MXGP rookie jumped up to seventh by the finish and recorded lap times that were competitive with those inside of the top five. It was certainly positive, but a crash early on in the second moto stopped him from building on that. Seewer utilised all of the power within his YZ450F to start inside of the top ten, then spent the rest of the moto chasing the pack after that mistake. Seewer refused to give in and eventually crossed the line in twenty-fourth. The fourteen points that he gained on the day left him fourteenth overall.
The second round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will be held extremely close to the Wilvo base in The Netherlands in two weeks.
Shaun Simpson: “The goal this weekend was to come out inside of the top eight and I have managed to achieve that. I am slightly disappointed with the first race today but, all things considered and looking back at yesterday, I can honestly say that I am really enjoying myself. I think that come the next few races, we can turn the screw a bit more and try to get ourselves back into the top five.”
Jeremy Seewer: “It was a solid weekend overall. I showed some good speed on Saturday and then in the first race on Sunday, but crashed in the second race and that cost me some points. It was a great weekend with the team and I am looking forward to the rest of the season.”
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