The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP squad entered Lommel, a venue that is renowned for being the toughest track in the world, hungry for success. The bottomless sand played host to round six of the 2021 FIM Motocross World Championship and the third race in succession.

Jeremy Seewer was the strongest of the YZ450FM-mounted trio; he raced to fifth in moto one after a race-long battle with a certain nine-time champion. A heavy downpour at the halfway point made things even tricker on the riders, as if the power-sapping sand was not enough to contend with, but Seewer still crossed the line in fifth. A handful of mistakes in the wet second moto restricted him to eighth, a solid result given the treacherous conditions. That scorecard left him in seventh overall on the day and pushed him to sixth in the standings.

Glenn Coldenhoff entered the opening moto with a spring in his step, after qualifying in fifth, but a problem exiting the starting gate meant that he had to work his way forward from dead last. Coldenhoff did that well – he advanced into ninth at the chequered flag. Unfortunately, the second moto followed a similar pattern. A crash on lap one left him right at the back and facing yet another challenge. Thirteenth was the position that he advanced to in that moto, which left him down in eleventh overall. Coldenhoff is seventh in the championship standings.
 
Entering one of his favourite Grands Prix, Ben Watson was eager to continue making progress in his first term aboard the YZ450FM. Watson did just that in the first moto, as he looked great whilst chasing the top five early on. The heavy rain caused an issue with his goggles, however, so he stopped for a new pair and charged on to take twelfth, despite a crash towards the end of the race. A consistent ninth in race two left him in the same spot in the overall classification. Ninth is also where he now sits in the championship standings, after gaining a spot today.
 
The 2021 FIM Motocross World Championship will continue next week, as round seven is set to be held at Kegums in Latvia. The event will be the fourth round in succession.

Jeremy Seewer: "The results could have been better. I was fifth in the first moto but could have been third without the small mistakes. I went for tear-offs… Water went behind them and you cannot really avoid that. I could not really attack ahead after that. I had a good start in moto two but had to stop to avoid another rider in the second turn. That messed up my good start. I made another mistake myself, so ended up in the pack and had to fight to eighth."
 
Ben Watson: "I had a decent start in the first race, and I was again following the front guys; I was just sat there with them. It started raining heavy after five or six laps and water got behind the laminates, so I stopped for new goggles. It was not ideal – I lost five or six spots. I felt good once I was back on track. I feel like I rode much better than my results show today."
 
Glenn Coldenhoff: "It was a really disappointing day. I felt alright on the track this morning, but I made a mistake myself in the start of the first moto and had to come from dead last. Conditions were really tough, but no excuses. I made a mistake, and then I had a really terrible moto and finished ninth. In the second moto, I had a good start but struggled to get one tear-off off and came together with Jeffrey [Herlings]. Again, I had to start from far back. These results are very, very disappointing; I feel my riding was not good enough. I cannot really explain, because I had a very good week and was more than ready for this GP. Now, back to the drawing board and we will try and regroup for next week."