Last year, 18,000 fans cheered on the top riders of the scene at the Motocross World Championship round in Frauenfeld, which fortunately also included two Swiss permanent starters, Jeremy Seewer and Valentin Guillod. The expressions of sympathy for the other local heroes, who only treated themselves to their home Grand Prix with a wild card, were no less. It remains to be seen how many spectators will line the Schollenholz route this year on August 24 and 25, but it is likely to be at least in the same order of magnitude.

Jeremy Seewer has been the Swiss figurehead in the Motocross World Championship for many years. The 30-year-old from Bülach made his debut in the World Championship in 2012 and has so far won 13 Grand Prix. He won five times in the MX2 World Championship and eight times in the top MXGP class. He was also runner-up in the world championship five times. In 2016 and 2017 in the MX2 category and in 2019, 2020 and 2022 in MXGP. Last year he was third in the World Championship and experienced a small setback at his home GP in Frauenfeld with an untypical 20th place in the first GP race on Easter Monday. But that's yesterday's news and his gaze is exclusively on the future.

He says about his motocross future: "I have three or four years left in the World Championship. I still feel young, physically fit and see no reason why I shouldn't still be at the front in the next few years. Let's take my current teammate Romain Febvre as an example. He's 32 and still capable of playing for the World Cup. So I don't see a problem there."

At the moment he is fifth in the MXGP standings. His best individual results were third heat places and his best GP in 2024 was the one in Maggiora, Italy, where he stood on the GP podium as a day kicker. For comparison, in 2023 he managed two heat wins, won the MXGP of Sweden and finished the season in third place in the World Championship. Jeremy Seewer explains that things are not going quite as well in his first Kawasaki year as last year: "At the moment I still have a few problems with the setup and I'm not really one with the bike yet. But I'm sure that if everything fits together, I can still keep up with the top 3."

He does not want to say much about his switch to motocross newcomer Ducati, which has already been rumoured by many sides. Only this much: "At the moment there is nothing official. We are working on it, but it is still too early to say anything concrete about it."

Looking back on his somewhat disappointing result at his home Grand Prix 2023 in Frauenfeld, he explains: "I've had many home GPs and most of them have been positive. It just wasn't as I wanted it to be. But it is human that not everything always goes perfectly. I've put that behind me and I'm looking ahead. I'm coming back to Frauenfeld highly motivated and will do my best. If it's a top-3 result, that would be perfect, if it's fourth, fifth or sixth, then that's just the way it is."

Valentin Guillod's first start in the Motocross World Championship even dates back to 2010. But that didn't stop him from becoming European champion in the EMX250 class in 2013. His best World Championship year was 2015, when he finished fourth in the MX2 World Championship. To this day, the now 31-year-old from Freiburg regularly finishes in the top 10 with even individual breakaways even further ahead. For example, this season to a fourth heat place in Indonesia. With seventh place on the day as the best Swiss, he also has good memories of his home GP in 2023.

Although he liked it very much, he refrains from big sayings and announcements for this year. He says: "The races on the Swiss track will be my highlight of the season. Of course, I'll do my best, I just want to have a good weekend and make the fans happy."

A little more concretely, however, he then names a place in the top 5 as his goal for Frauenfeld. "I hope that the crowd in Frauenfeld and the great atmosphere will give me the extra energy to get me into the top 5."

Valentin Guillod explains that he can still ride at this level despite his comparatively high age in motocross: "I've had a few good moments and a few difficult moments in my career, but at the moment everything is going wonderfully. Maybe that also has to do with my older age and greater experience."

In terms of his next motocross years, he has similar thoughts to Jeremy Seewer. He formulates it as follows: "My plan is to continue to race MXGP in 2025, if possible with my current team. Overall, I think I can still ride at this level after that. It could work until I'm 35."

Not the entire World Championship season, but a large part of the races will be contested by Kevin Brumann again this year. Although the 20-year-old from Ehrendingen could still easily compete in the MX2 World Championship, he has preferred to compete with the very best of the top class since 2022. In 2021, he competed in five Grands Prix in MX2, then he went to the top. And that at the age of just 18. In 2023, he was able to finish in a very good 14th place in Frauenfeld in the second GP heat, which he achieved as his best finishes two more times that year. His 27th place in the final World Championship, with only half of all runs, was also impressive.

Kevin Brumann explains that he moved up to MXGP so early: "I competed in my first race in the 450cc class in the German ADAC MX Masters at that time, and it went very well right away. After that, I trained several times with the 450 and it went better and better. So we decided to switch to the big class permanently. In MXGP, you also learn from the best."

He almost scored points in both races last year in Frauenfeld, but in the first heat it came to nothing. "In the first race it was a bit stupid because I was shown the blue flag on the last lap, although I was regularly ahead of Jeremy Seewer in 20th place. I let him pass and only finished 21st behind him," he looks back. His 14th place in the second race and plenty of points (7) finally compensated him.

Otherwise, he can only talk about fond memories of Frauenfeld 2023. "It was breathtaking when you went into the formation lap and every Swiss cheered you on. It was a very nice feeling to have a home race. I think that will be the highlight of the season for me again this year."

Of course, Kevin Brumann wants to follow in the footsteps of Jeremy Seewer and Valentin Guillod in the foreseeable future. He says: "That's the goal, to be as fast as they are. But for that to come true, I still have to train a lot."

Of the current Swiss riders, Arnaud Tonus has been in the World Championship business for the longest time, unfortunately now only at his home GP. The 33-year-old from Geneva got his first taste of World Championship air in 2009 and experienced his best season in 2019, when he finished fifth overall in the MXGP class. Well over a year ago, he showed his skills again by finishing a strong 13th in the first MXGP race on Easter Monday.

Loris Freidig will also only start at his home Grand Prix. The 26-year-old from Thörigen no longer dreams of a great World Championship career, but concentrates on civilian life, which he likes to combine with the Swiss championship and regional races. Last year in Frauenfeld, a 27th place was his best running result, i.e. points (up to 20th place) are not impossible under certain circumstances.

Either way, there is no question that he can do it, because apart from becoming Swiss champion in the 250 cc class in 2020, he was able to win a European Championship race in the EMX2T class (two-stroke up to 250 cc) against strong international competition in the same year. At the end of the season, he finished fourth in the table.

The year before (2019) he had contested eleven MX2 Grands Prix, where he narrowly missed his first world championship point in the second heat with 21st place in the world-famous "sandbox" in Lommel, Belgium.

He explains that he didn't go any further in the World Cup with the following words. "I didn't want to get into debt because of motocross or do everything on credit. I work full-time and first and foremost I have to earn money for life. I want to do the sport on the side, but still as well as possible and as professionally as possible. The World Cup has no place there. For the World Cup, you have to travel around so much and take so much time off, it just doesn't work. I don't want to work just to compete in the World Championships."

However, his home World Championship race is set for him. "This will also be the case in the future. If I have the level and am accepted as a wild card driver, I always like to be there. Of course, that's always a highlight and I'm looking forward to it again."

This is probably also because he remembers last year very fondly. "The result wasn't great, but it was still a great experience. Especially because it was the first time on this track, where I raced the Swiss Championship as a child. I also had my first national successes on this road. And now to drive the World Championship in front of so many fans there was simply sensational," he recalls.

And what does he think about scoring points in the World Championship? "That's my big goal and a childhood dream of mine. But I also know the level and speed that the World Cup riders go. This is not without its challenges. But if everything fits on a good day, why not?"

Nico Greutmann from Merishausen has prospects for top placings this year in the European Championship class EMX250. He has regularly finished in the top 10 and is currently ninth in the intermediate rankings. His best heat result in 2024 was a fifth place.

Pascal Haudiquert image story Swiss GP