Seewer Wins Italian GP As Vaessen Scores Career Best

Jeremy Seewer – 1-2 for 1st

Bas Vaessen – 7-4 for 5th

Jeremy Seewer took the MX2 overall win at the MXGP of Italy, in what was a scorching weekend at the Ottobiano track. Extremely hot temperatures made even completing the motos a real challenge, but onboard his RM-Z250, Seewer finished first and second in the two races to secure his third overall victory of the season. Backing him was Suzuki World MX2 teammate Bas Vaessen who put in career best rides to go seven-four for fifth overall, on what was a great weekend for both riders.

“I am really happy to win the GP,” said Seewer. “It was my third this year but my first in the sand which is especially pleasing. It wasn’t really my favourite track; I came here Friday to look at it and I’m a fan of natural tracks, uphills, downhills, like the last few rounds. However, it all seemed to work out. I was feeling so good on the bike, we didn’t change anything on the RM-Z250 all weekend and I was one of the fastest and I’m pretty happy with how everything went. The first race I just tried to get out front early and make a gap so I didn’t have to push too hard, and that’s what I was able to make happen. The second moto was really tough though; I tried to follow Pauls Jonass but a berm broke and I just made a mistake and once you stop here in this heat, your whole body starts to overheat. I still pushed and I came back to try and pass Thomas Covington for second. When I tried the first time my bike hit neutral, which meant no engine braking and that caused us to collide and we both went down. We both got up ok and it took me a few more laps to finally get around him but with five laps to go I was totally gone. Two years ago, I struggled in Thailand with the heat and I was scared that it would happen again so I just tried to finish the race, and that’s what I did. I’m super happy with the overall and now we try to do it all over again in Portugal next weekend.”

For Vaessen, a sandy track was always likely to suit the Dutch rider but it was still an extremely impressive display from the youngster to put in the best rides of his MX2 career.

Words and photo courtesy of Team Suzuki News Service.