Seewer's new life as a Yamaha factory rider
A well-deserved eighth place in the final rankings of the MXGP world championship earned Jeremy Seewer the Rookie of the Year title. For 2019, the former MX2 vice world champion awaits the biggest challenge of his career: confirming himself as a Yamaha factory rider alongside Romain Febvre.
Of course, the 24-year-old Seewer brings his knowledge of the YZ450F with him from his Wilvo Yamaha period. On the other hand, Michele Rinaldi's Monster Energy Yamaha team is the third team in as many years for the spectacular Swiss. Jeremy always competed on Suzuki, both as a youth rider and at the beginning of his professional career.
As a brand new Yamaha factory rider, the younger Jeremy also has to fill some tough shoes because he replaces the experienced Jeremy Van Horebeek. Not only did 'the Jerre' drive for the Italian top team for five years, he also made a striking debut there. Just like Josh Coppins, David Philippaerts and Febvre, he immediately made his mark in his first season for Rinaldi. The above foursome either immediately became world champions, finished second or played for the title. In short, the bar is high.
At first glance, Seewer's move within Yamaha Motor Europe's racing structure seems relatively minor. Especially compared to the tumultuous winter of 2017 and 2018, when Jeremy only received confirmation about his new home at Wilvo after the break-up of the Suzuki factory team. However, Stefan Everts' ex-poulain is the first to indicate that his internal transfer required a lot of adjustment.
At the end of 2018, the #91 started its new adventure with an official test and a trip to Japan. “It's the same… and yet it's not,” Jeremy explained exclusively to Adam Wheeler. “What struck me when I returned to a factory team was the enormous amount of experience. Wilvo was a great team and I really can't say anything bad about it, but you felt that it was still a young team just starting out. Now we are once again in a team where technicians have 20, 30 years of experience. And they also have a lot of experience with the Yamaha. They help me make progress in every area. It was the same in the past with Suzuki and Sylvain Geboers.”
“The switch in itself is very positive for me. At the same time, it is indeed another adjustment. To a different mechanic and a different group of people,” Seewer continues. “For example, I have the same suspension but a different suspension specialist. Which means it's kind of like starting from scratch again. As always, that takes some time. But I have been welcomed very warmly. Especially during the test in Japan last year. You can tell from everything that Yamaha is really pushing hard at the moment.”
The corridors are buzzing with rumors about the future of Yamaha's factory team. It appears that Wilvo will take over from Rinaldi Motorsport, which means that the operational activities of the Yamaha factory MXGP team would also be closer to Yamaha Motor Europe's headquarters in Schiphol. On the one hand, that would be remarkable for a team that has been in the MXGP for barely two years. On the other hand, Wilvo Yamaha MXGP was responsible for the only GP victory for the brand with the crossed tuning forks. After all, Shaun Simpson won the Indonesian GP in 2017.
This year the Dutch 'dream team' from Bergeijk is counting on Gautier Paulin and Arnaud Tonus. For the time being, there is still uncertainty about how Yamaha's MXGP activities will be organized from 2020.
Tekst: Adam Wheeler
Photos: Yamaha racing
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