World MX Rnd 13 – Matterley Basin, Great Britain
— Weather: Bright, high cloud
— Temperature: 20 degrees C
— Attendance: 26,500
The crowded track of Matterley Basin hosted the 13th round of the FIM Motocross World Championship, where Antonio Cairoli and Ken Roczen handed two more victories to KTM. The penultimate round of the UEM EMX125 series also took place today and Damon Graulus obtained his maiden overall round win.
The second race of MX1 was red flagged, as there was a heavy crash between Billy Mackenzie and Tanel Leok. Both riders were fighting for the sixth position, when Leok landed on Mackenzie’s back wheel. In order to assist the riders in the best possible way, the race direction decided to stop the moto and all the MX1 riders lined up again 30 minutes after the races was stopped. Fortunately, both riders are not seriously injured, Leok has some pain on his back and Mackenzie in his neck and he was still dazed and a bit confused after some hours of the accident.
– MX1
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX1’s obtained his fifth GP victory of the season at a track he defined as one of the best ones of the season. In the first race he had a good start but he made a mistake and had to push again from the 12th position to finally end third. In the second heat he got the holeshot and dominated it from beginning to end. The Italian is now 82 points ahead of Frossard, so his fifth World Title is closer than ever.
CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Pourcel did an incredible first race, riding second most of it and overtaking Frossard by the end of the heat. In the second one, Pourcel started really well but he was too short on a jump and he had a crash, which made him pull out from the race. However, as that race was red flagged, he was able to start again and he crossed the finish line third, which let him be on the second step of the podium.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Frossard won the Lovemytime holeshot award, as he took the holeshot in the first race. The runner up of the series was leading the heat when he braked too much and stalled the bike at a corner and then his compatriot Pourcel overtook him. Frossard obtained two double second places, but he had to settle down with the third step of the podium just one point behind Cairoli and Pourcel.
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Nagl has improved one position in the championship and he is now fourth thanks to his fourth overall place. The German did not have great starts, but he did two incredible recoveries and he managed to finish fifth in both heats.
Completing the top five was PAR Honda’s Anderson, who was the best British rider in the MX1 class. Anderson, who has been picked up to represent Great Britain at the Monster Energy FIM MXoN, finished ninth and seventh in today’s races.
Barragán got involved in a tangle at the start of the first race and had to start pushing really hard from the 17th position, and when the Spaniard had recovered some places, he crashed again and crossed the finish line 14th. In the second race Barragan had and incredible start and he succeeded in keeping his initial fourth position, which gave him the final sixth overall place.
Boissiere struggled in both races and had to battle a lot in order to finish seventh overall ahead of Guarneri, who did not have great starts but managed to finish eighth and eleventh. Gonçalves could not be back on the podium this weekend and had had to settle down with a final ninth position. The Portuguese finished sixth in the first race, and although he started fourth in the second one, he crossed the finish line 14th.
Campano, on his first ride on the Monster Energy Yamaha, obtained a solid tenth position. The Spanish rider crashed at the start of the first race and had to fight from the dead last position to finish 15th. In the second heat Campano was riding third when the race was cancelled and in the re-rack he obtained a sixth position, the best one of this season.
Home rider Simpson was 14th overall after obtaining a 16-10 result. The Scot was a bit disappointed with his result, mainly because he was riding second when the second race was cancelled.
MX1 Race 1 | MX 1 Race 2 |
1 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 40’35.710 2 Steven Frossard Yamaha FRA 0’02.198 3 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 0’09.492 4 Tanel Leok TM EST 0’11.368 5 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0’28.223 6 Rui Goncalves Honda POR 0’45.513 7 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 0’48.209 8 Davide Guarneri Kawasaki ITA 0’50.811 9 Bradley Anderson Honda GBR 0’53.186 10 Anthony Boissière Yamaha FRA 0’56.013 11 Xavier Boog Kawasaki FRA 0’56.746 12 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA 1’00.278 13 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 1’04.001 14 Jonathan Barragan Kawasaki ESP 1’23.532 15 Carlos Campano Yamaha ESP 1’25.728
| 1 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 41’03.052 2 Steven Frossard Yamaha FRA 0’10.675 3 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0’27.600 4 Jonathan Barragan Kawasaki ESP 0’35.024 5 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0’39.874 6 Carlos Campano Yamaha ESP 0’42.526 7 Bradley Anderson Honda GBR 0’45.116 8 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0’53.694 9 Anthony Boissière Yamaha FRA 1’10.209 10 Shaun Simpson Honda GBR 1’21.384 11 Davide Guarneri Kawasaki ITA 1’31.942 12 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA 1’46.935 13 Matthias Walkner KTM AUT 1’54.456 14 Rui Goncalves Honda POR 2’30.734 15 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA -1 Laps |
MX1 Round Points | MX1 Championship |
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 45 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 44 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 32 5. Brad Anderson (GBR, Honda), 26 6. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), 25 7. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, Yamaha), 23 8. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Kawasaki), 23 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 22 10. Carlos Campano Jimenez (ESP, Yamaha), 21 | 1 Cairoli 554 2 Frossard 472 3 Desalle 461 4 Nagl 410 5 Bobryshev 387 6 Goncalves 371 7 Philippaer.. 308 8 Barragan 279 9 Boog 272 10 Dycker 268 |
– MX2
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Roczen obtained his eighth GP victory of the season and he opened the gap with runner up Herlings up to 43 points. The German admitted that he had a lot of fun at the track this weekend and that he is now looking forward to racing at home in two weeks time and try to obtain his maiden MX2 Title in front of his crowd.
The second position was for home rider Searle, who could not fulfil his goal of winning the GP, but he was very satisfied with his performance this weekend and with this second overall position. The CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit rider had a difficult first race, but he managed to move from an initial 11th position up to the second place. Searle admitted that hearing his crowed cheering for him during the heat helped him to made the moves and in the second race he succeeded in having a good start and crossing the finish line second.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Gautier was back on the podium this weekend, but he was not 100% satisfied with his riding. In the first heat he had a good start but he made a mistake and several riders overtook him. However, Gautier crossed the finish line fourth. In the second race, the French was riding 15th during the opening lap, but he got a really good rhythm and managed to finish fourth and be on the third step of the podium.
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Herlings missed the podium for just two points and finished fourth overall after being seventh and third at the races. Herlings was not confident with himself during the first heat and crossed the finish line seventh, but after talking to his team manager Stefan Everts, Herlings got an excellent start at the second race and rode second until the last lap, when he made a mistake and finished third.
Bike-it Cosworth Wild Wolf Yamaha’s Tonus, who was third yesterday in the qualifying race, managed to finish fifth overall, but he had to fight really hard to end in such position. Tonus got an initial 14th place in the first race and when he was moving up some places, he made a mistake and went down the ground. The Swiss ended ninth, but the fifth position in the second heat made him finish fifth.
Home rider Nicholls rode among the top ten positions during both races and thanks to his 8-6 result he finished sixth ahead of Charlier, who was 11th in the first race, but he managed to finish seventh in the second one, even riding with some plastic stuck on his rear wheel during some laps.
Anstie had to start from the very end of the gate as he got a DNF at yesterday’s qualifying race, but he was able to finish tenth and eighth and he obtained a final eighth position.
Tixier succeeded in finishing ninth, ahead of his teammate Roelants, who was third in the first race, but a mechanical problem during the second heat made him pull out while he was riding fourth.
Teillet obtained a fifth position in the first race but he got a DNF in the second one due to a problem with his bike when he was riding fourth.
Van Horebeek took part in the first moto and ended sixth, but his shoulder was hurting too much again and he decided not to enter the second heat.
MX2 Race 1 | MX 2 Race 2 |
1 Ken Roczen KTM GER 40’40.977 2 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 0’10.203 3 Joel Roelants KTM BEL 0’12.899 4 Gautier Paulin Yamaha FRA 0’29.008 5 Valentin Teillet Suzuki FRA 0’42.680 6 Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 0’53.352 7 Jeffrey Herlings KTM NED 0’58.725 8 Jake Nicholls KTM GBR 1’00.280 9 Arnaud Tonus Yamaha CHE 1’12.440 10 Max Anstie Kawasaki GBR 1’13.827 11 Christophe Charlier Yamaha FRA 1’16.973 12 Jordi Tixier KTM FRA 1’26.444 13 Harri Kullas Yamaha FIN 1’29.774 14 Nicolas Aubin KTM FRA 1’42.791 15 Elliott Banks-Browne Honda GBR 1’51.960 | 1 Ken Roczen KTM GER 41’03.904 2 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 0’13.704 3 Jeffrey Herlings KTM NED 0’17.926 4 Gautier Paulin Yamaha FRA 0’41.988 5 Arnaud Tonus Yamaha CHE 0’53.032 6 Jake Nicholls KTM GBR 0’55.481 7 Christophe Charlier Yamaha FRA 1’11.636 8 Max Anstie Kawasaki GBR 1’29.341 9 Jordi Tixier KTM FRA 1’42.062 10 Harri Kullas Yamaha FIN 1’47.777 11 Jose Antonio Butron KTM ESP 1’56.550 12 Pascal Rauchenecker KTM AUT 1’59.078 13 Nicolas Aubin KTM FRA 2’09.167 14 Nick Triest KTM BEL -1 Laps 15 Filip Bengtsson KTM SWE -1 Laps |
MX2 Round Points | MX2 Championship |
1. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), 50 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 44 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), 36 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34 5. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), 28 6. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 28 7. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 24 8. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), 24 9. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 21 10. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 20 | 1 Roczen 590 2 Herlings 547 3 Searle 479 4 Paulin 425 5 Tonus 353 6 Anstie 342 7 Osborne 295 8 Kullas 287 9 Aubin 242 10 Roelants 226 |
– KTM Report
Tony Cairoli of the Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing team fully capitalized on a second chance in the second MX1 moto in the British GP and converted a holeshot to moto victory to add enough points to his third place from the first race to take the day’s honors at Matterley Basin.
The Italian is now close to retaining his world championship title in his second season with the KTM factory team with a commanding 82-point lead and 100 only up for grabs.
All indications were that Matterley Basin was not going to be Cairoli’s day he got bumped at the start of the race then after several laps he made a mistake, went off the track and almost picked up some of the notorious green fencing that lines the course. He then came back from 11th to be third at the flag. Cairoli was around seventh at the start of the second race but again made another mistake , crashed and found himself back at 15th. Then the race was red flagged after a nasty crash between Billy Mackenzie and Tanel Leok and according to FIM rules, was completely re-started after a 30-minute break. This time Tony got away cleanly, grabbed the holeshot and charged into the lead. From that point on he was not challenged for the top spot as he took full advantage of his second chance to pick up the most points possible.
The rough and rutted conditions also made it a hard day’s ride for teammate Max Nagl who has been carrying a back injury. But the German rider still managed to finish overall fourth with a 5-5 result and is now in fourth place overall in the season’s standings and is still in with a chance to finish on the podium at the season’s end.
Cairoli now has the possibility of securing the title for KTM in the next round in Gelldorf, Germany in the second last GP of the season. KTM also has an attractive 62-point lead in the MX1 Manufacturers’ standings.
Tony Cairoli: “This was a good weekend for me and I managed to win the GP. It was quite a different track because it is wide and there were a lot of lines. Everyone likes it here and so do I. Its one of my favorites this season so far. I am just happy to win this GP. Now we only need a few more points to take the title in Gelldorf so I am very happy things are going so well for us.”
Max Nagl: The riding went really well for me today although it could be even better. But today I had bad starts and I always had to come from the back of the field and that costs a lot of energy and hard work. I managed to come back from 20th place to fifth in the first race and I also didn’t have a good start in the second race. But in the restart it was a bit better and I got up to fifth. Then (Carlos) Campano (of Spain) was pushing hard behind me and I had to keep blocking him so that I could hold on to fifth place for overall fourth. Now I have the chance to finish in the top three in the championship and that would be really nice for me.”
Ken Roczen was in a class of his own on the Matterley Basin near Winchester in the UK to take the British GP with two clear wins from gate drop to checkered flag. Roczen was untouchable in both motos to log his 18th moto win for the season and his eighth GP victory.
The German teenager now needs only four points to take the championship title and with the next GP at home in Galldorf, he will receive a huge ovation from the German fans. After Sunday’s race, KTM has also already secured the MX2 manufacturer’s title for 2011. It would be Roczen’s first career world title in MX2 in his second year with the Red Bull Teka KTM Factory racing.
What was a copybook ride for Roczen was less successful for his teammate Jeffrey Herlings. He finished with a 7-3 result on Sunday but a mistake in the final lap knocked the Dutch teenager from second to third in the moto and bumped him off the third place on the podium. With Herlings, as Roczen’s only rival for the title, sacrificing 24 points to Ken on Sunday now makes his teammate absolute favorite for the title. Jeffrey admitted later that he had some stomach problems and that it had been a disappointing weekend for him.
Jeremy van Horebeck, the third member of the KTM factory team, who was riding with a virus infection this weekend stayed with the front-runners in the first moto but eventually finished sixth. But with drained energy, he finished out of the points in race two. Another unlucky KTM rider in Matterley Basin was Joel Roelants of Belgium who finished third in race one, was also up the front of the field in the first half of race two but dropped back and did not make any points. It was also a good ride for HM Plant KTM UK rider Jake Nichols who finished overall sixth.
Ken Roczen: “In the first race I checked out the lines a bit to see what would be the perfect position for me and I made up some good points on Jeffrey. Then I got the holeshot again in the second race, even though it was hard because the track had started to get rough. But I was able to do it pretty good to finish first again. Now I have a solid gap in the championship standings and it was another great weekend for me.”
Jeffrey Herlings: “The weekend already started bad for me yesterday when I had a crash in the qualifying. I had quite a good start in the first race today but somehow I just didn’t have the speed. The bike was perfect but I was missing a bit of confidence and I just couldn’t catch the others. Then I almost took the holeshot in the second race but right from the start I didn’t feel well. I expected much more from this weekend.”
Jeremy van Horebeek: “My starts were perfect today. I was twice second, which is very good and the bike was awesome. I tried to push right from the beginning in the first heat but I had to slow down because I started to feel pain in my (recently injured) shoulder and I finished sixth. I got away well also in the second moto and I managed to even do a few laps in third and fourth place then I felt no power in my shoulder and decided to pull out because I didn’t want to take any risks.”
EMX 125
It was also a good day for KTM in the EMX125 races with Damon Graulus of Belgium and Dutch rider Brian Bogers on the top steps of the podium. British rider James Dunn had a good day out at Matterley Basin finishing fourth and Brent Van Doninck of Belgium was fifth. Eight of the top 10 finishers were on the Orange machines from Austria. The standings are still in the hands of Suzuki rider Simon e Zecchina of Italy but KTM riders Samuel Bernadini (Italy )and Tim Gajser of Slovenia are at second and third.
– HRC Report
Antonio Cairoli claimed his fifth victory of the 2011 FIM Motocross World Championship this afternoon at a superb Matterley Basin circuit for the Grand Prix of Great Britain. Additionally PAR Honda’s Brad Anderson celebrated his recent call-up to represent Team GB at the Motocross of Nations by taking fifth position overall on his British Championship winning CRF450R in front of an appreciative 26, 500 attendance. The thirteenth round of fifteen was run under bright, but cloudy skies and across a soft, rutted and flowing course that many riders claimed was the best of the year.
The injury list increased for the British Grand Prix and sadly two riders missing out on the action were LS Honda’s Ken De Dycker and Honda World Motocross team’s Evgeny Bobryshev. Both suffered recent neck injuries with De Dycker nursing a cracked C6 vertebrae and Bobryshev a fractured C7 after his crash last weekend while contesting the Belgian Championship. The Russian will miss the rest of the season with an expected recovery time of six weeks while De Dycker is also likely to sit out the remaining two rounds. In MX2 Swian Zanoni is still recovering from his broken wrist.
It was Anderson who animated the crowd and produced two gutsy rides to place ninth and seventh to earn the best overall standing. The Briton had to work hard on race-day as the second moto was re-run after fifteen minutes due to a scary collision between Tanel Leok and Billy Mackenzie that left both hospitalised.
Honda World Motocross’ Rui Goncalves was ninth overall. The Portuguese struggled physically on a track that became rougher and more technical as the day went on. He fought hard with Leok and Nagl in a close battle for fourth in the first outing, but was powerless to rise higher than fourteenth in the second moto.
LS Honda’s Shaun Simpson was left cursing his misfortune. The Scot was fourteenth in the final MX1 classification, but his ranking could have been much better. Simpson – in particular – was unlucky with the aborted second race. In the first he was inside the top six when he ran off the track and swallowed some green fencing in his rear wheel. He had a near-crash that led to a heavy impact with the handlebars leading to a position of sixteenth. A fantastic holeshot meant that he spent the entire second moto in second place and looked very comfortable for a top three finish until the red flags emerged. He could not replicate the feat on the restart and then had his speed clipped by a sore neck as a result of the earlier race incident.
Bobryshev is fifth in the MX1 World Championship standings, sixteen points in front of Goncalves.
The penultimate round of the series will take place in two weeks time at Gaildorf, Germany for the Grand Prix of Europe.
Rui Goncalves (Honda World Motocross) Race Result: 6th/14th Championship position: 6th “A really hard day and the track was tough to deal with. I don’t know why at the moment, but after ten minutes in the second moto I was finished and was just riding through trying to make the finish. It was so hard and I did what I could to stay on two wheels. I need to recover and work out what happened.”
Brad Anderson (PAR Honda) Race Result: 9th/7th Championship position: 24th “It was my starts that let me down today. If I had got away well then I think I would have been in the top five of that last one. I pushed hard to the end and with the results today I am really happy. I aimed for top ten and that what I did. The track wasn’t that gnarly in the beginning, but at the end it was brutal; but that suited me because everyone can go fast on a smooth circuit. I’m really looking forward to the Nations now.”
Evgeny Bobryshev (Honda World Motocross) Race Result: DNS/DNS Championship position: “I felt like maybe it was possible to ride, but after making the CTI scan the doctors said it would be too much of a risk, too dangerous, so now I have to wait six weeks and then see what is happening. We will have another medical opinion in a few days. It is a shame because the track look so nice here and for sure this is not that way I wanted to finish what had been a good season.”
Shaun Simpson (LS Honda Racing) Race Result: 10th/11th Championship position: 14th “I think that summed up my year a little bit; certainly the start of the second moto…when I finally think I have something to build on then it gets taken away from me. The first moto of the day was tough because I made a bad job of the first corner. I managed to get up to sixth or seventh, but then ran off the track. I got up to eighth or something like that then I hit my head really hard on the handlebars when I took a false neutral on one of the step-downs. I don’t know how I saved it and a few people told me I was so lucky. My neck was really sore, not broken like a few people, but even the weight of the helmet in that last race was killing me. If I get away with the front guys then I can settle down and make the speed. It shows with good starts what I might be able to do. When I am back in the pack I seem to struggle to relax and find the lines. I don’t know what I can do to get where I need to be.”
Roger Harvey, Honda Motor Europe Off-road Racing Manager: “We are obviously counting the cost of some injuries to the guys, but what a day for Brad and the PAR Honda team. Although Brad does not compete in the World championship he has proved to be the fastest in the UK this year and showed today that he has the drive and the speed to race with the best here at the GPs. Rui had a few problems and it was great to see Shaun in second position until they stopped that second race. We will try to regroup a little bit and finish the season in the best way we can.”
– Yamaha Report
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Steven Frossard finished third overall a well-received Matterley Basin for the Grand Prix of Great Britain and the thirteenth stop of fifteen on the FIM Motocross World Championship schedule. The Frenchman posted his sixth podium result on the factory YZ450FM and has moved up to second position in the MX1-GP standings in what is just his first term in the category and his first as part of the decorated works set-up.
The weekend began well for the team with Frossard feeling comfortable on the excellent racing surface in southern England. The 24 year old fought with Christophe Pourcel for pole position across the spectacular jumps and carved, soft mud that permitted different, grippy line choice before settling for second position without risk in the final two laps.
Bright skies greeted race-day and Frossard led almost all of the opening moto ahead of Pourcel. He had collided with a fence post and ripped off the right radiator shroud earlier in the sprint and this had an effect on his riding. ‘183’ broke too hard into a tight right turn four laps from the flag and was passed by his countryman. He then went on the attack but was able to draw up to the rear wheel of the former world champion.
Frossard led the first fifteen minutes of the second moto until a dramatic crash between Billy Mackenzie and Tanel Leok led to the race being stopped. On the restart Frossard worked his way into third and then demoted Pourcel to reach second place. Sadly Antonio Cairoli was beyond reach. With his brace of runner-up positions Frossard earned the lower step of the rostrum but was consistently quick and close to victory all through the event.
The team were at full strength in the UK thanks to the transfer of 2010 MX3 World Champion Carlos Campano to the awning. The Spaniard fills David Philippaerts’ saddle for the final three events of the series and got off to a positive start by equalling his best ever moto result. Campano was motivated, strong and aggressive. He had some bad luck in the first moto when he slipped off on the first corner but set some impressive lap-times to recover back to fifteenth. In the second race he started brilliantly and was pressuring Shaun Simpson for second place until the premature halt. In the ‘third’ moto the 25 year old from Sevilla rode to sixth position to match a previous best obtained in 2009. Campano was tenth overall.
Anthony Boissiere, currently fifteenth in the MX1 standings, was able to post scores of tenth and ninth for a very solid seventh overall at Matterley; it was the Frenchman’s highest classification of the year.
Frossard trails world champion Tony Cairoli by 82 points but with Clement Desalle and Evgeny Bobryshev set to miss the rest of the season through injury he defends a gap of 62 over Max Nagl in fourth. Grand Prix meetings in Germany (Gaildorf) and Italy (Fermo) remain and a maximum of 100 points still to win.
Steven Frossard, 3rd position: “Yesterday I had a great race with Christophe and it was a lot of fun to ride like this. This is the best track this year. In the first moto I made the holeshot and had a little problem with my arm and I also broke the radiator shroud when I hit a post. It affected my riding a little bit. I led for thirty minutes but made a mistake in one of the corners and then pushed really hard to try and win the moto. I made a great start in the second moto and went to the front but after fifteen minutes we had to stop. We went again and I was third but I think I pushed a bit too much and felt tired. Cairoli was fast and I couldn’t catch him. In the beginning I was trying to think GP by GP but now my goal is to finish second. It is a bit difficult because everyone says I will finish there, so I want to keep focussed. I am happy with the way the championship is going but at the start of the year I was close to Antonio and Desalle but lost points through some mistakes. I am learning and will improve on this for next year.”
Carlos Campano, 10th position: “I’m happy. In the first race I had a crash on the first corner and was far behind but I found a good rhythm and could come back to fifteenth. I felt good on the bike and the track and was motivated for the second moto. I started ahead and slotted into third. I was on the point of taking second but then they stopped the race. I hoped I might be able to make the same start but it didn’t really happen. I got stuck behind Goncalves and Barragan and Nagl caught us. I finally passed Goncalves and pushed hard to get behind Nagl but could get him at the end. I think this was an important forward step and I loved the bike and the track. I don’t notice so much difference with the factory bike and my YZ450F but at the end of the motos when the track is really rough then I can really attack the other riders and I am far less on the limit compared to the other. It means less mistakes. I have to thank the team for all their work. They didn’t put any pressure on me and I did the best I could. I had a lot of problems this year and I am really grateful for this opportunity.”
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Gautier Paulin guided the factory prototype YZ250FM to third overall at a crowded and sunny Matterley Basin for the Grand Prix of Great Britain and the thirteenth outing of fifteen in the FIM Motocross World Championship. The Frenchman racked-up his seventh podium finish in the MX2 division in front of 26,500 spectators and across one of the best tracks this year.
Matterley offered the grip, lines and hefty jumps amidst a wide and open layout for the riders to enjoy and express themselves and the paddock were mostly unanimous in their praise of the massive facility.
Paulin rode to third position in Saturday’s qualification heat, just ahead of Bike it Cosworth Wild Wolf Yamaha’s Arnaud Tonus and was a constant threat for more silverware. A first moto run to fourth was repeated in the second race but the performance was more impressive considering a poor start that left him near the rear of the pack. The English dirt was also rougher and more technical later in the afternoon so Paulin’s trawl back in to podium contention was great to chart and excellent in its execution.
New MX2 British Champion Tonus was fifth overall but was hoping for slightly better after his encouraging start to the Grand Prix. Two crashes in the first moto and an off-track excursion in the second meant a scorecard of 9-5. Team-mate Zach Osborne was back in Europe but ultimately was unable to compete at his crew’s home event. The American is recovering from his shoulder injury and has continued to train. The 21 year old is hopeful of again riding his YZ250F in two weeks in Germany.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Christophe Charlier was able to get back on the scoreboard in both motos for the first time since the Grand Prix of Sweden in July. The talented French youngster has been unfortunate with small injury niggles to his hand and shoulder but in the UK put the discomfort of a fortnight away from the bike (after his crash in the Czech Republic) to classify seventh (11-7) overall. Team-mate Harri Kullas wasn’t able to dial into the demands of the track and was handicapped by two lowly starts that meant the Fin was eleventh (13-10) in the final MX2 classification.
Paulin is 54 points behind Tommy Searle and third position in the standings with a grand total of 100 left on the table in 2011. Tonus is fifth and 11 points ahead of Max Anstie. Osborne is seventh and just in front of Kullas with Charlier eleventh on the fifth YZ250F.
The penultimate round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place at Gaildorf (Germany) for the Grand Prix of Europe in two weeks and then the final trip will be Fermo in Italy before the curtain-closing Motocross of Nations on September 19th. Paulin, Kullas, Tonus, Osborne (and in MX1 Frossard and Campano) will also represent their countries at the mammoth event that will take place at the French circuit of St Jean D’Angely.
Gautier Paulin, 3rd position: “I’m pretty happy but I’m disappointed with my start in the second moto. It was a really nice track and good for racing. I made too many mistakes in the first moto and had to concentrate to find the good rhythm. I got it very wrong in the second heat and used a lot of energy to pass people. 4-4 is not the best results but I am back on the podium and will aim for better in the next Grand Prix.”
Arnaud Tonus, 5th position: “In the first race I crashed twice. I had a ‘great’ start, in eighteenth, but my rhythm was OK until I made a couple of mistakes and took the green fence in my wheel. This cost me some time to take it out. I felt a bit tired at the beginning of the second moto and Paulin was too quick for me. I picked up my pace but ran off the track again and hit my gear-shifter on something and after that it was hard to find gear. I had some luck to finish fifth and take those points. I loved the track. It was the best of the year. There were a lot of lines and jumps and places to pass.”
Christophe Charlier, 7th position: “Since my crash in Loket I have not been able to ride so today was very tough and I have a quite a few blisters! I wasn’t so happy with my first race but the second was better and I really enjoyed the track, it was a bit like supercross with some of the jumps. The setting on the bike was really good. My goal now is to try and get a top five finish in the last two GPs of the year.”
Harri Kullas, 11th position: “Two bad starts and not so good riding today. I was sixteenth at the beginning of the first race and I was a little bit too slow. I caught some guys at the end but it was too late. In the second I was near the back and made ground again. Anstie passed me and I tried to keep the speed with him. I was catching people but not enough. It was a difficult track and we couldn’t get the set-up on the bike quite right.”
– Suzuki Report
Kevin Strijbos took the Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1 factory RM-Z450 to 11th position overall at a bright and warm British Grand Prix for the 13th round of 15 in the FIM Motocross World Championship.
The majority of the riding fraternity rightfully lauded Matterley Basin – surrounded by a healthy 26,500 crowd – as the best track seen on the calendar this season. The wide, grippy, line-laden and jumpy course invited the world’s best to manipulate the terrain and created some great racing scenes.
Strijbos, representing the team alone after Clement Desalle underwent surgery on his broken left shoulder last week and will be out for the remaining two Grands Prix of the year, was unlucky to damage his goggles on the first lap of the first moto and upon entering the pits for new eyewear on the next circulation had to push back hard to reach 13th. The second race was stopped after 15 minutes after a big crash between Billy Mackenzie and Tanel Leok. Strijbos had been holding fifth position at the time and was closing on the top three. The re-run saw the Belgian claim eighth place by the flag and his classification was partially determined by a slow-speed fall when he lost control of the motorcycle exiting a corner.
The absent Desalle is now third in the MX1 Championship table and could very well remain in the top five thanks to his 90 point distance over Rui Goncalves in sixth with a maximum of 100 left to win. Strijbos is 13th with the injured Steve Ramon in 12th. Desalle will be substituted by New Zealander Cody Cooper this week.
The Grand Prix of Europe at the circuit of Gaildorf in southern Germany will represent round 14 of the series in a fortnight and immediately precedes the visit to Italy for the last event.
Kevin Strijbos: “My riding was OK but the results weren’t! In the first race I had a good start but a rock hit my goggles on the first lap and the lens fell out. I had to come into change and then worked up from dead last to 13th. It was OK but I was pretty tired. In the second race I was fifth when they red-flagged it. It was a shame because I was making ground. I had a crash on the restart when I got on the gas out of a new rut and the bike slipped away. After that I gave all I had and eighth was the best I could do. I feel that I have the speed for the top five. It was a shame I didn’t get the chance to get up there.”
Suzuki Europe MX2 left the superb setting of Matterley Basin and the Grand Prix of Great Britain ruing its luck after a weekend of work and good speed ultimately delivered 12th position overall for Valentin Teillet on the factory-backed RM-Z250.
The 13th round of 15 in the MX2 category of the FIM Motocross World Championship visited the UK and the Winchester site for the first time since 2006 and the jump-laden, soft and open layout was an excellent course for racing; prompting many of the paddock – including the exciting Teillet – to praise the track as the best of the season.
Some 26,500 spectators travelled to southern England for the first British GP for two years and were rewarded with some bright weather and entertaining fare. After setting the fastest time through a damp free practice session on Saturday and then suffering a bit of arm-pump to take sixth position in the qualification heat, Teillet was a proactive force in the two 35 minute and 2 lap motos.
The former European Champion was pushing for the top five in the first moto and took a lot of confidence from a decent start and his pace to keep ahead of Jeremy Van Horebeek to confirm fifth and his best race result of the year. A repeat performance was on the cards at the second time of asking but a problem with his gear-shifter and dislodged chain forced a disappointing DNF while holding a comfortable fourth spot.
Teillet holds 16th place in the MX2 standings and has moved up two positions. The team will face its second home Grand Prix of the season in two weeks time with Gaildorf (in close proximity to Stuttgart) entertaining the European round and the penultimate fixture of the FIM calendar.
Valentin Teillet: “It was one of the first times this year that I felt it was really possible to be twice in the top five. I had a small problem with the bike in the second moto but these things happen; it is a mechanical sport. At the end of the day my speed was not bad and I will go home with this positive feeling. We need more tracks like this. It is real motocross; lots of jumps, good ground and big ruts. I need to think about Gaildorf now.”