MXGP World Championship won by Prado in Italy
Adamo secures 2023 MX2 title at the penultimate round.
Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado secured the 2023 MXGP World Championship with a race one victory at Maggiora, as Andrea Adamo was crowned MX2 world champion at the penultimate stop of the season. Meanwhile, a consistent Jeremy Seewer and Jago Geerts won the overalls on the day.
Qualifying race winner Prado shot to the early lead in moto one, and from there was able to grab a decisive race win to clinch the title – his first in the premier class.
Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre crashed out of third and was shortly after ruled out of the race with a mechanical issue. Febvre would bounce back to win moto two, however, because of his moto one misfortune he concluded the round ninth overall.
Consistency paid dividends for Seewer, who notched a 2-4 scorecard to take the round win, edging freshly-crowned champion Prado on countback who was sixth in race two after remounting from a fall.
Completing the overall podium was Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez (5-3), as KTM-mounted Alberto Forato (3-5) and Team HRC’s Tim Gajser (9-2) featured in positions four and five. Gajser was just 1.628s from victory in what was an exciting race two.
The world championship success in Italy didn’t end with Prado, as Adamo got the job done in MX2 to clinch the title on home soil with one round remaining.
It was Jago Geerts (Monster Energy Yamaha), however, who won the round with a 2-1 scorecard, leading race one winner Simon Laengenfelder on countback as the Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing rider notched 1-2 finishes.
A pair of thirds for new world champion Adamo saw him secure the title, as closest rival Liam Everts (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) crashed out of contention in the latter stages of race two after notching a P4 result in the opening bout.
Fourth overall was Kay de Wolf (Nestaan Husqvarna Factory), going 9-4 at Maggiora, as Monster Energy Yamaha’s Thibault Benistant (7-5) rounded out the top five.
The final round of the 2023 MXGP World Championship takes place on 23-24 September at Matterley Basin – the MXGP of Great Britain.