MXGP of Sweden

•  Promising performance from Seewer in race one, fourth before a crash forced him to retire
• Top 10 for Guadagnini in race one at Uddevalla
  

The 16th stop on the MXGP calendar took place this weekend in Uddevalla, on Sweden's southwest coast, at a venue that's hosted the iconic summer round of the FIM Motocross World Championship for over 50 years.

On the hard, rocky track, with sand mixed with granite from the nearby quarry, Jeremy Seewer, who qualified 14th in Saturday's qualifying race, managed to get a fine jump to emerge in the lead group and battling for sixth. Mattia Guadagnini, starting from a wider gate after finishing 17th in the qualifying heat, did well to bring his Desmo450 MX into the top 15. By lap three, Jeremy had moved into fourth and was setting a solid pace, but a heavy crash on the downhill section forced him to retire. Meanwhile, Mattia made excellent progress, climbing as high as eighth before eventually crossing the line in 10th.

Despite his nasty crash, Seewer bravely lined up for moto two alongside Guadagnini. Once again, the Swiss rider got off to a great start but was boxed in at the first corner and was in 12th after the opening lap. Guadagnini, aiming for a strong launch, ran wide near the holeshot stripe and crashed into the barriers, dropping to the back of the field. Digging deep, Seewer admirably maintained a consistent pace to secure 11th and salvage some valuable points. Guadagnini, unable to recover into the scoring positions, came home 22nd. In spite of the setback, Seewer still holds ninth in the championship standings, while Guadagnini sits 17th.

Next up, MXGP heads to Arnhem for the final European round of the season. The Dutch Grand Prix will unfold on the deep sand of the Arnhem circuit - a venue that holds special significance for the Desmo450 MX, which made its racing debut there a year ago with Antonio Cairoli.

Mattia Guadagnini: “It was quite a positive weekend, where we made a big step forward. In the first race, with a decent start, I managed to find myself in the middle of the pack. With a few crashes from the riders in front of me and a few good passes, I climbed up to eighth place, staying there for most of the race. Then a rider passed me, and on the penultimate lap, I lost another position. The second race didn't go the way I wanted. At the start, I tried everything I could to stay ahead, but I overdid it and went wide on the barriers, finding myself last. In an attempt to recover, I crashed twice, but I kept going to finish the race even though I was out of the points.”

Jeremy Seewer: "Very positive start to today and then very negative very quickly in the first moto with the big crash. I had a really good start, we worked hard, even yesterday, and finally found a little bit of the issue we had. I'm back on the start, which is something we needed  - it wasn't there the last few races - and it cost us a lot. Also, my riding has improved. I think we're at the best point we've ever been with the bike, so that's something positive. My pace in the first moto was pretty good, just an unlucky crash. I take the positives from it. I'm not injured, just some bruises. In the second moto, I had a really good jump, really good start again but got squeezed somehow - a bit unlucky - but the start was there. For that, we need to improve our position. If I'm in the top seven or something, then I can battle for the holeshot. But overall, it was a positive day. We learnt a lot again. We went in a good direction after a long period of struggling. I think even in the sand next weekend, we shouldn't be as far off, so it should be better.”