What We Learned at the 2023 MXGP of Argentina

Get the real lowdown at the latest MXGP round from the only American media outlet with someone on the ground at every 2023 FIM World Motocross Championship event….

Fernandez won, but Prado leads the championship

This qualifying race points situation is going to take some getting used to. It’s also going to test the maths skills of an entire motocross community on a Sunday afternoon because it certainly isn’t easy to know wtf is going on. Everyone knew that Ruben Fernandez would take the GP overall, but adding in that third points total is really hard, especially when you have a couple of people who are close. It’s a weird deal. And the name “qualifying race” really doesn’t work anymore. It needs to be renamed to “Sprint Race” or something because getting points for qualifying just doesn’t make sense for a lot of people. And should it also count towards the overall? Lots of questions after round one…

Bucket list event

I’ve been to every outdoor national venue bar one, so unless Pala is the most spectacular venue on the planet (Ed note: it isn’t) then Villa La Angostura is the best place ever to hold a dirtbike event and as a motocross fan, you should make it your goal in life to attend an MXGP race here. It is truly amazing scenery, fans, track, food, racing, town, everything.

The only thing that sucks is that it takes approximately 132 hours to get there. But once you’re here, wow.

Jeremy Seewer owes Hunter Lawrence a steak dinner

You probably think that Jorge Prado or Ruben Fernandez is the most popular rider in Argentina due to their Spanish speaking ability. You’d be wrong. Jeremy Seewer takes that honour and it is all down to Hunter Lawrence. Way back when young Hunter was in the GPs, he wore an Argentinian football jersey for the parade lap before a race. The crowd loved it. Fast forward a few years and Seewer, in a smart-move with Alpinestars made an actual race jersey with the Argentinian football shirt on it. It is genius and now the crowd loves him. The noise they made when he was chasing down Herlings in moto two was deafening and well worth (what I would consider) the heresy of wearing another nations’ football kit.

How Seewer came back and got 7th after this qualifying crash is amazing:

Speaking of steak dinners… due to the current economic crisis, you now get the best steak of your life for about $15.

Prado likes the qualifying race points, but won’t come out and say it

Short races for the best starter on the planet, it’s a no-brainer. But because practically every other rider isn’t a fan he’s being diplomatic about it.

Prado doesn’t like the lappers, and definitely came out and said it

He wasn’t diplomatic when he told the press that they need to figure out a solution with the lappers. And honestly, he could be right. As we’ve seen in SX and now as Benistant and de Wolf found out, when really fast guys have to pass slow guys, there can be problems and whilst the FIM/Infront can be commended for getting more bikes on the gate, the disparity in speed is going to cause problems moving forward.

Main image: Team HRC