Thrilling racing action also fired up the fans

 

The first day of the MXGP of Switzerland 2024 in Frauenfeld is history and already delivered everything that was expected of it. Exciting races and respectable performances from a number of local heroes warmed the hearts of the 4,000 or so fans even more. But that wouldn't have been necessary, as the merciless heat on Saturday, August 24, was a little too good for the weather. But that's complaining on a high level, because it's better this way than the other way around.

 

After or between the training sessions of the five racing classes, it was up to the kids in the MXE electric bike series to line up behind the starting gate for the first drop of the weekend. The other four classes gradually switched to race mode in the afternoon.

 

 

According to the best comes last, the top World Championship class MXGP contested its RAM qualifying race at the end of the day, which, as always, decided the starting grid for the two Grand Prix races on Sunday. On top of that, the first half of the world championship points were up for grabs.

Once again, the Spaniard Jorge Prado scored the most (10), meaning that the current world championship runner-up made up one championship point on championship leader Tim Gajser. The Slovenian could get over it, as his lead has only shrunk marginally to nine points.

 

Jeremy Seewer could also have ended up in this area, who was right at the front with a very good start in second place. However, a small mistake cost him second place and possibly even victory. The 30-year-old from Bülach said afterwards: "I basically had a good speed today, which is a positive thing. In the end, I finished fifth, but I had the potential for third or second place, or maybe even could have won."

Specifically, he explained the unfortunate situation as follows: "I wanted to take the lead and made a small mistake. That just happens in our sport, especially on this demanding track. Nevertheless, it's a good starting position for tomorrow."

 

Behind Jorge Prado and Tim Gajser and ahead of Jeremy Seewer respectively, the current World Championship bronze medallist Jeffrey Herlings from the Netherlands and last year's Frauenfeld winner Maxime Renaux from France took third and fourth place.

 

 

Valentin Guillod from Freiburg also delivered a very strong home performance, moving up from the back of the field to eleventh place after his crash right at the start of the race. "Unfortunately, I had a crash right at the start and was then, I think, 37th. To get so far forward again from there was okay and is a good starting position for Sunday. I want to give something back to the great fans who created a great atmosphere today," were his explanatory and forward-looking words after the qualifying race.

He continued: "I struggled a bit with my physical condition because it was very hot today. But everyone had the same problem, it was just that I was really struggling. In any case, I had to slow down a bit temporarily. In the end, I finished eleventh, just behind tenth place. All in all, that was okay."

 

The third best Swiss rider was Kevin Brumann from Ehrendingen, who also had to catch up from the bottom of the field and ultimately finished a good 18th. In Sunday's Grand Prix heats, that would mean three world championship points, which is his declared goal for his home race.

 

 

Arnaud Tonus, Nicolas Bender and Alessandro Contessi still have some way to go to achieve a similar result. They finished 27th, 29th and 30th in the showdown race on Saturday.

 

The start phase also brought a negative experience for Loris Freidig from Thörigen. His race ended on the spot in the big hullabaloo in the first bottleneck. Robin Scheiben from Thurgau also fell hopelessly behind, but still finished the race in 31st place out of the 40 riders who started.

 

The MX2 category, in which Belgian Lucas Coenen won the qualifying race ahead of world championship leader Dutchman Kay de Wolf and German Simon Längenfelder, will take place without any Swiss riders this year. Instead, there will be plenty of Swiss riders in the European Championship classes this weekend.

 

 

In the EMX250, the greatest hopes rested on regular European Championship starter Nico Greutmann. The rider from Merishausen came to Frauenfeld in sixth place in the European Championship. In the first race on Saturday afternoon, he was already sniffing at a podium finish when he also made a small mistake and had to make do with seventh place. At least that didn't change his sixth place in the standings.

 

 

Another driver from Freiburg, Luca Diserens, achieved a great respectable success, showing off his skills in fourth place in the early stages of the race. He finished this race in a very good twelfth place among the European Championship drivers who regularly finish in front.

 

 

While there were only points up to tenth place in all classes today, Arthur Steffen, Thomas Oechslin and his twin brother Samuel can also hope for European Championship points on Sunday alongside Nico Greutmann and Luca Diserens, as they finished 19th, 21st and 23rd in the first heat. Remo Schudel started his home race in 31st place.

 

In the smaller EMX125 class, Ryan Oppliger from western Switzerland set off some fireworks. He was the first to cross the holeshot line at the exit of turn 1 and also came back from the start lap in the lead. Even though some of the European Championship favorites still managed to catch him, his 13th place was very much to his liking and that of the red and white-clad fans.

 

 

While Noryn Pulsini at least cleared the qualifying hurdle and finished 29th, Noe Zumstein, Tristan Blanc and Dany Henzer missed out on a place in the two qualifying heats. As Noe Zumstein finished 21st in his training group, narrowly missing out on qualifying, he can still hope to move up as a reserve rider on Sunday.

 

The MXE race was won by Austrian Ryan Gabriel ahead of Frenchman Lucas Bos, who thus clinched the title early. Samuel Mathys from Feuerthalen represented the Swiss colors alone and was able to celebrate sixth place on his debut in this series.

 

 

The main day Sunday (25.8.) starts at 9:45 am with the second race of the EMX125, followed by the warm-up sessions of the MX2 and MXGP world championship classes. The EMX250 and MXE will then hold their second heats and, from 13:15, 14:15, 16:10 and 17:10, the world championship riders will take it in turns to fight for heat and Grand Prix victories and other important world championship points. The MX2 will kick things off.