The Grand Prix of Latvia hosted the seventh round of the 2021 FIM Motocross World Championship earlier today. The sandy circuit of Kegums, which features a harder base than the previous round in Belgium, has occupied a spot on the schedule since 2009. The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP squad were hungry for more success in Northern Europe.

Glenn Coldenhoff was the strongest of the YZ450FM-mounted trio in race one, as he showed podium speed and fought at the front of the pack throughout the day. Fighting for third for so much of the first moto, he eventually took seventh at the chequered flag. A freak technical problem forced him to withdraw from the second moto prematurely, unfortunately, but he still did enough to take twelfth in the overall classification. Coldenhoff is now eighth in the standings, six points from the rider in seventh.

Jeremy Seewer had a steady day in the sand, despite mediocre starts on the difficult circuit. Seewer climbed from fourteenth on lap one to ninth in moto one, then moved from ninth to seventh in moto two. That was despite an incident with a downed rider! It was a day of progress. Seewer took seventh in the overall classification and still sits in sixth in the championship standings. 21 points is the deficit to a spot in the top five.
 
It was a similar day for Ben Watson, who struggled to find his flow on the tricky track. Watson progressed to thirteenth in moto one, after starting fifteenth, but really found his feet in the second stint. Ending lap one in seventeenth, he moved into tenth at the finish. That also left him in tenth in the overall classification; he has put his YZ450FM into the top ten at the last six events. Solid consistency in his first term on the bigger bike. Watson is also tenth in the championship standings.

There is a break in the 2021 FIM Motocross World Championship calendar now. The next round, the Grand Prix of Turkey, will be held on September 05. The following round will be run at the same Afyonkarahisar venue on September 08.

Glenn Coldenhoff: "Everything started well today. I felt good this morning with a good time in qualifying. I took a very good start in the first moto, and I was battling up front, but at halfway I did not feel very well so I let the pace go a little bit and slowed down a bit, which was not the best. I still managed to get seventh, which was okay for the first race. In the second race I was in fifth for 12 minutes before I had a mechanical issue, so that race was a DNF that we are not happy about. We now have time to work on a few things. We will spend the time we have wisely and will work hard to get better."
 
Jeremy Seewer: "I usually love Kegums. I did not feel the flow this year though. I tried to adjust the bike and manage myself, to get better, and that worked a bit. Having tenth gate pick did not help though. I was ninth in the first moto with a few mistakes; I did not feel the flow or at my best. [Calvin] Vlaanderen crashed in front of me in the second moto and I just ran into his bike; I brought it home in seventh for seventh overall after that."
 
Ben Watson: "I am not too happy with how today went. Qualifying was the same story. I do not take enough risk and you see it in my lap times. At this level it is impossible to get a good time without risk. I felt like I struggled quite a bit mentally and emotionally today, so I found it hard to push to the level that I needed to be at. I felt a bit better by the end of the day. I have to be happy that I have come away healthy, and we can now focus on the next race."