Currently third in FIM Motocross World Championship points behind class front-runner Jorge Prado and Romain Febvre, Monster Energy Yamaha MXGP competitor Jeremy Seewer has taken a win in France and placed inside the top five in all but one round from the first 12 this season. And he thinks it’s actually been better than that.

“Honestly, I feel a lot better than what the results show,” says Swiss native Seewer. “I’ve felt good. I worked hard during the wintertime to be in really good shape but for some reason with many GPs, things didn’t really click for me, you know? There were always small things happening and there was a bit of bad luck and all sorts of other stuff, but overall I was still collecting points. Sometimes, though, I wasn’t collecting enough

points and that was frustrating. I’m a bit too behind in the championship to be really satisfied and happy, but that’s my point of view

Speed, tenacity and being error-free on race day are the attributes Seewer believes he will need to adhere to firmly in order to cut into Prado’s championship lead.

“There are two or three strong racers right now — me, Prado and Febvre doing a little better than the others, but you can never make any mistakes because there are still three or four other guys being quite strong and being able to run our pace,” he notes. “Maybe not for the full moto, but still, the class over here is quite competitive.

“The strongest tool I have is my consistency and I will be consistent to the last moto of the year, where others will falter sometimes,” vows Seewer. “At the beginning most of the racers start strong, but then towards the end of the year they lose momentum. I don’t know if they lose focus, lose motivation, whatever it is, they lose something. I will always be the same towards the end or even better. I just want to keep pushing and keep working and getting better every weekend. I think this is what will make me strong for the last few races of the year.

“It is never easy. Especially in Europe because the racing is so different in every country that we go to. We’ve also been racing in cold weather, like when we raced in Switzerland. And then the tracks are so much different everywhere we go to. We have sand tracks and hard tracks.

“You also have to be in great shape and you have to deal with the pressure. Also now, we also have to now deal with a two-day weekend. That can be quite tiring. It’s a huge difference racing two days — especially now with the qualifying races having points. It’s a lot tougher than it used to be. In the past if some guy was behind you pushing for P3, you were like, ‘Yeah, right. You can have it. I’ll follow you and see your lines and I’ll learn for tomorrow.’ Now it is more like, ‘Hey, I’m not going to let you pass because I need that point!’ It’s a whole different story now and that changed the whole weekend and makes everything a lot more intense than in the past.”

Beginning with the MXGP of Flanders, set for the sandy Lommel circuit this Sunday in Belgium, there are seven grands prix left to be run. Can Seewer make a run at Spanish GASGAS works rider Prado and take a serious swing at his first FIM Gold Medal?

“I mean if you are honest and the guy leading right now doesn’t do anything silly, I think it’s a fairy tale,” he admits.” But we know how racing works. It is never done until it’s actually really done. Yeah, I mean I will keep pushing and keep trying to collect as many points as possible and to win races. From there we will see at the end of the year.”

That push starts at Flanders this weekend on some of the deepest and nastiest motocross racing sand there is. For Seewer, that’s a good thing as it’s become a home away from home in more ways than one.

“I feel pretty good about Lommel this weekend. I’m living 10 minutes from the track most of the year. I ride there a lot and I’ve been racing there plenty of times,” he explains. “It’s a sandy GP — that’s the opposite of what I grew up on. As a kid I did not do well in sand, but now I’ve adapted to it and I’m confident and I’m strong on that type of terrain. I’m looking forward to it. It’s kind of a home GP for me. It’s going to be good.”