Antonio Cairoli dominated both heats in the Limburg GP obtaining his fifth overall victory of the season and also being the fastest on yesterday’s qualifying race. In MX2 it was Ken Roczen who went out victorious and it has been his so expected first Gran Prix win of the season.
Max Nagl struggled a little bit on the Belgian track but he succeeded in being on the second step of the podium after his third and second place on today’s races. Third was home rider Clement Desalle who finished third and fourth in the heats.
Ken Roczen did not win both heats but his first and second places made him win his first GP of the season. Second of the MX2 class was race two winner Jeffrey Herlings and third was current Championship leader Marvin Musquin.
Belgian Pascal Bal won his home round in Lommel and his victory has left the FIM Veterans World Cup to be decided on the last round in Lierop. Second was red plate holder Mats Nilsson and third was Erwin Hendrickx.
MX1
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Cairoli was back at the top of the podium and proved that Lommel is like his second home GP – as mentioned in the back of his racing pants through the patch “I also live in Lommel”. The Italian dominated both heats from beginning to end choosing the best lines of a track which is known as one the roughest of the Championship. Cairoli has now increased the advantage in the Championship with second classified Desalle being now 79 points behind the leader.
The second step of the podium was for his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1 teammate Nagl who recovered his confidence after a long time absence from the podium due to his collarbone injury from the French GP. The German took both holeshots of today’s races and although he managed to follow Cairoli’s lines and kept himself steady at the top, he admitted that he was riding on the edge.
For third classified Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1’s Desalle it was not the weekend he had expected, as he wanted to show his Belgian fans why he is second in the standings of the Championship. Once again the Belgian starred in a tight battle with Philippaerts both in heat one and two, with Desalle passing the Italian in both occasions to finish third and fourth.
Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross’ Philippaerts could not keep the rhythm of his rivals and after starting third in both heats he could only finish fourth and fifth. However, he could have had the possibility of being on the podium if he had not crashed during the second race, but he had to settle down for a fourth position overall.
Fifth classified was LS Motors Honda’s Leok who missed the podium due to his numerous mistakes in race one, where he could only be 13. During the second moto he moved up from ninth to second showing everybody his speed and potential on the sand.
Belgian De Dycker was just sixth overall in his home GP, where last year succeeded in winning the race, and his compatriot Ramon finished eighth in a race where he experienced many ups and downs. Ramon was fighting for the top three in both races but Lommel’s ruts made him crash twice losing all his chances for being on his home GP podium.
Gonçalves had to work really hard to finish seventh. The Portuguese did not have really good starts but recovered in both heats to take sixth and seventh.
Bobryshev was not lucky in Belgium this weekend and finished eleventh overall. The Russian was involved in a tumble in the start of the first race but pushed really hard to reach the tenth position. However, he made a mistake and dropped back to an eventual 12th. On the second moto he did not have a good start either and could only finish ninth.
Japanese Yu Hirata finished 31st but he is looking forward to being back next weekend on the Bonver Grand Prix of Czech Republic in Loket.
Kawasaki Racing was unlucky this weekend not having Boog on today’s races due to his left leg injury during yesterday’s qualifying race, Pourcel could finish neither of the heats and Barragan was 14th on his first race after his long absence.
MX2
Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2’s Roczen succeeded in winning his first GP of the season and in showing his skills on the sand of Lommel. He overtook five riders in the first race to take the lead and open a consistent gap from his pursuers. After the day’s first win, Roczen settled for second in the final heat. The German rider could not hide his happiness after winning the GP as he has been very close to the victory many times but misfortune has always been his biggest rival. At the moment he is still second in the Championship but he is 78 points behind red plate holder Musquin and 23 points ahead of third classified Frossard.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Herlings had a bittersweet ending with the second position obtained in one of his favourite sandy tracks. The Dutch led the first race for a couple of laps but a mistake in one of the deep ruts in the Lommel track made him lose the lead and could only finish third. However, the second race was dominated by the sand specialist, riding safely up to the checked flag and being able to clinch the second step of the podium.
The rostrum was completed by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Musquin who struggled more than what he expected, and despite his usual outstanding starts on his KTM machine, he could not keep the rhythm of the frontrunners. He is still on the top of the MX2 standings but he will have to focus on next weekend’s race in Loket, a track which has never brought him good results –a broken foot in 2008 and a technical problem in 2009- if he wants to reinforce his leadership.
Nestaan JM Racing KTM’s Roelants finished fourth in his home Grand Prix with a fourth and fifth position in the races, which he got after two solid recoveries.
Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross’ Paulin completed the top five with a seventh and a fourth place and moved up two positions in the standings of the Championship. The French will now arrive eleventh at the next Grand Prix. Kullas finished right after Paulin and was tied in points with seventh placed Simpson.
VETERANS
Home rider Bal took victory in Lommel winning the first race on Saturday and finishing second in the final race. Second was red plate holder Nilsson, who could have gone out with the World Cup if he had not crashed in yesterday’s first race – he won today’s second race. Completing the podium was sand specialist Hendrickx.
MX1 Race 1 | MX1 Race 2 | MX1 Championship |
1 / Cairoli, Antonio / ITA / KTM / 41:00.981 2 / Nagl, Maximilian / GER / KTM / 41:13.932 3 / Desalle, Clement / BEL / Suzuki / 41:25.227 4 / Philippaerts, David / ITA / Yamaha / 41:35.702 5 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 41:42.508 6 / Goncalves, Rui / POR / KTM / 42:11.336 7 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Yamaha / 42:23.475 8 / Swanepoel, Gareth / RSA / Honda / 42:25.491 9 / Coppins, Joshua / NZL / Aprilia / 42:26.691 10 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 42:40.034 11 / Guarneri, Davide / ITA / Honda / 42:57.392 12 / Bobryshev, Evgeny / RUS / Honda / 43:05.601 13 / Leok, Tanel / EST / Honda / 39:24.201 14 / Barragan, Jonathan / ESP / Kawasaki / 41:16.771 15 / Priem, Manuel / BEL / Aprilia / 41:28.930 16 / de Reuver, Marc / NED / Suzuki / 42:04.607 |
1 / Cairoli, Antonio / ITA / KTM / 39:59.056 2 / Leok, Tanel / EST / Honda / 40:33.739 3 / Nagl, Maximilian / GER / KTM / 40:39.587 4 / Desalle, Clement / BEL / Suzuki / 40:53.745 5 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Yamaha / 41:09.951 6 / Philippaerts, David / ITA / Yamaha / 41:14.172 7 / Goncalves, Rui / POR / KTM / 41:17.475 8 / Coppins, Joshua / NZL / Aprilia / 41:26.863 9 / Bobryshev, Evgeny / RUS / Honda / 41:29.159 10 / Swanepoel, Gareth / RSA / Honda / 41:31.415 11 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 41:43.099 12 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 41:55.428 13 / Barragan, Jonathan / ESP / Kawasaki / 42:13.081 14 / Guarneri, Davide / ITA / Honda / 42:20.062 15 / Martens, Yentel / BEL / KTM / 42:27.825 |
1 Cairoli, A. 484, 2 Desalle, C. 405, 3 Philippaerts, D. 364, 4 Nagl, M. 348, 5 Ramon, Steve 341, 6 de Dycker, Ken 299, 7 Boog, Xavier 276, 8 Leok, Tanel 249, 9 Bobryshev, E. 244, 10 Guarneri, D. 213, 11 Strijbos, K. 181, 12 Swanepoel, G. 173, 13 Coppins, J. 165, 14 Goncalves, Rui 153, 15 Boissiere, A. 145. |
MX2 Race 1 | MX2 Race 2 | MX2 Championship |
1 / Roczen, Ken / GER / Suzuki / 40:03.130 2 / Musquin, Marvin / FRA / KTM / 40:18.428 3 / Herlings, Jeffrey / NED / KTM / 40:35.849 4 / Roelants, Joel / BEL / KTM / 40:40.716 5 / Simpson, Shaun / GBR / KTM / 40:52.942 6 / Kullas, Harri / FIN / Yamaha / 41:04.220 7 / Paulin, Gautier / FRA / Yamaha / 41:20.026 8 / Tonus, Arnaud / SUI / Suzuki / 41:34.052 9 / van Horebeek, Jeremy / BEL / Kawasaki / 41:43.242 10 / Frossard, Steven / FRA / Kawasaki / 41:57.357 11 / Klein Kromhof, Ceriel / NED / Yamaha / 42:15.501 12 / Karro, Matiss / LAT / Suzuki / 42:25.160 13 / Verbruggen, Dennis / BEL / KTM / 40:15.220 14 / Larsen, Nikolaj / DEN / Honda / 40:20.485 15 / Coldenhoff, Glenn / NED / Yamaha / 40:32.022 |
1 / Herlings, Jeffrey / NED / KTM / 41:49.178 2 / Roczen, Ken / GER / Suzuki / 41:56.608 3 / Musquin, Marvin / FRA / KTM / 42:07.057 4 / Paulin, Gautier / FRA / Yamaha / 42:17.479 5 / Roelants, Joel / BEL / KTM / 42:26.724 6 / Kullas, Harri / FIN / Yamaha / 42:34.124 7 / Simpson, Shaun / GBR / KTM / 42:59.876 8 / Frossard, Steven / FRA / Kawasaki / 43:14.155 9 / van Horebeek, Jeremy / BEL / Kawasaki / 43:26.540 10 / Osborne, Zach / USA / Yamaha / 43:37.780 11 / Tonus, Arnaud / SUI / Suzuki / 43:38.151 12 / Nicholls, Jake / GBR / KTM / 43:43.071 13 / Charlier, Christophe / FRA / Yamaha / 43:47.068 14 / Klein Kromhof, Ceriel / NED / Yamaha / 44:11.088 15 / Triest, Nick / BEL / KTM / 44:34.584 |
1 Musquin, M. 480, 2 Roczen, Ken 402, 3 Frossard, S. 379, 4 Herlings, J. 371, 5 Simpson, Shaun 298, 6 Osborne, Zach 290, 7 Roelants, Joel 274, 8 van Horebeek, J. 268, 9 Tonus, Arnaud 266, 10 Kullas, Harri 233, 11 Paulin, G. 200, 12 Nicholls, Jake 198, 13 Charlier, C. 179, 14 Verbruggen, D. 135, 5 Lupino, A. 129. |
— KTM Report
TBC
— Yamaha Report
Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team’s David Philippaerts put in a noteworthy performance at Lommel in front of almost 24,000 spectators to finish arguably one of the toughest rounds of the FIM MX1-GP World Championship in 4th position overall. The Italian motored to 4th and 6th in the two motos of the Grand Prix of Limburg under bright skies for the eleventh round of fifteen in the 2010 season.
After scoring 10th and 9th in the past two years the technically and physically difficult lumps and bumps of the Lommel sand seemed to be an unhappy hunting ground for the Italian but two excellent starts – in which he fully utilised the potency of the 2010 YZ450FM to rally his way around the open first turn into the top three -helped the 25 year old bury his Belgian jinx.
DP19 was part of a four rider tussle for 3rd in the first moto and pushed his energy levels fully into reserve to make sure of 4th by the end of the 35 minutes and 2 laps. Another pulsating encounter with Clement Desalle was ended in the second race after the 2008 world champion tipped off his machine briefly while trying to overtake the Belgian. He lost ground but still kept a decent rhythm in testing conditions to classify 6th.
Brand-mate and Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team’s Ken De Dycker entered his home event with memories of his 2009 success at the same venue but fully aware that his lack of riding time through the summer break as a consequence of his gruesome arm injury in Sweden would be a disadvantage. The German GP winner was not among the leading troupe but did well to finish 7th and 5th for 6th place by the end of the day.
In the world championship standings Philippaerts defends 3rd spot by 16 points from Max Nagl and trail Desalle by 41. De Dycker is 6th and needs 42 over Steve Ramon to breach the top five.
On the same weekend the tenth round of twelve in the MX3 world championship took place at Schwedt in Germany. Carlos Campano had amassed nine moto wins from eighteen prior to the meeting and headed the series by 15 points on his YZ450F. The Spaniard was victorious again with a 2-1 scorecard and extended his advantage to 20 points over Alex Salvini.
The Grand Prix of Czech Republic will take place at the fast and hard-pack Loket circuit next weekend; the site of a David Philippaerts victory in 2008.
David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team: “I did not have the best start yesterday in the heat race but the team did some good work and we were much better today. I had a good line around the first corner and tucked in behind Nagl, who always seems to be right at the front. So I was really happy with the performance and the tactic at the start and it made things easier for sure. I was riding well in the first moto and was consistent with the lap-times and this is important at Lommel. I had a crash with Desalle in the second moto, and incidents like this are part of the sport. I liked the track more this year compared to 2009; it is faster and more similar to somewhere like Lierop, which I really enjoy an for my style is better. To finish fourth overall is very good for me here and I am in good shape. We go to Loket now and I like this place. I won in 2008 because I was angry from my result in Lommel the week before and I took a podium result last year in difficult times. We will see what we can do next week. The bike is running well and we will keep on working.”
Ken De Dycker, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team: “Today went OK and I was not expecting too much. With everything that has gone on in the last weeks and not being able to ride because of my arm I have to be happy with seventh and fifth. I was perhaps a bit too slow in the first moto but I wanted to save something for the second. The second was better and I think with some training this week I will be sharper for Loket. Normally I don’t get blisters but my hands are covered in them now so that’s just an indication of the bike time I have missed since Sweden.”
Yamaha Monster Energy riders Gautier Paulin and Harri Kullas were the stand-out YZ250F riders through the many waves and ripples of the demanding Lommel circuit for the Grand Prix of Limburg in Belgium. The eleventh round of fifteen in the FIM MX2-GP World Championship was attended by 23,500 spectators who saw Paulin put on a display of improved sand riding to place 5th overall while rookie Kullas equalled a season-best with 6th.
Clouds partially obscured sunshine throughout the day at the flat and busy venue that gave the world’s best their first deep sand outing of 2010. As expected, Lommel represented a heavy and difficult meeting.
Paulin was buried well within the pack around the opening corners of the first moto and this cost him ground to the pace-setting group but the Frenchman quickly found his rhythm to rise to 7th. In the second race he was hotter out of the gate and made better in-roads to his rivals ahead, moving to 4th which he held without hassle until the flag. His ranking of 5th was an improvement of seven positions over the standing he managed twelve months ago at the same circuit (slightly different in terms of layout).
Kullas was a welcome sight with the leaders around the first section in both races. The Finn, negotiating his maiden GP at Lommel but with many training laps of experience in the Belgian terrain, rode superbly despite rear brake fade in the two motos for two 6th positions. Yamaha Monster Energy Gariboldi team-mate Christophe Charlier crashed with Alessandro Lupino in the first moto and both riders retired. Charlier managed 13th in the second affair.
Bike it Cosworth Yamaha’s Zach Osborne had a disappointing day to take 12th. The American had sustained a concussion last Sunday in the fifth round of the British Championship and was not fully on-form for the harsh requirements of Lommel. His best result was a 10th in Moto2.
Osborne is still Yamaha’s highest rider in the standings and holds 6th, needing 8 points to move into the top five. Kullas is 10th and 33 points ahead of Paulin. Charlier holds a respectable 13th despite missing two rounds due to a thumb injury.
As with the MX1 class the MX2 field will now travel east and to Loket for the Grand Prix of Czech Republic and round twelve that will precede the trip to Brazil.
Gautier Paulin, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team: “I am feeling strong but I had one bad start – in that first moto – and one average start where I was in the top ten but not closer enough to the front. These were the main problems today that prevented me getting nearer the leaders. I was not competitive in the sand last year but now I feel that I can race with the sand specialists. The track was rough with many bumps but overall I am quite happy with my riding here after a lot of sand training in Belgium over the last few weeks.”
Harri Kullas, Yamaha Monster Energy Gariboldi: “I was quite fast all weekend and knew my speed was near the top five. Together with my dad I worked out a good strategy for the starts and it worked really well. I rode with a consistent pace but ten minutes before the end I lost my rear brake so I had to adapt to that and lost the back of Simpson. In the second moto it was a very similar situation and Roelants passed me at the end but the brake fade was another mystery; but still, you have to deal with these things in motocross, it is tough for us and also the bikes out there. I am happy with the result and this was one of the hardest GPs for sure.”
Zach Osborne, Bike it Cosworth Yamaha: “It was a tough weekend for me. Coming from last weekend and a concussion but still winning a moto I think I deluded myself as to how much that crash in Britain had affected me, so I came here with big expectations and leave highly disappointed. I struggled with the track all weekend. I rolled the dice and went for it in the last race; gambling like that is not a good thing but it worked out for me and I was pleased to get tenth. Damage limitation was pretty good.”
— Team Suzuki
TBC
— HRC Report
LS Motors Honda’s Tanel Leok was once again the top CRF450R runner in the FIM Motocross World Championship as the Estonian finished fifth overall through the punishing sand of Lommel for the Grand Prix of Limburg in Belgium. The eleventh round of fifteen in the premier MX1 class was dominated by world champion Antonio Cairoli but Leok was the first of three Hondas in the top eleven.
Cloudy but bright and humid conditions drew a 23,500 crowd to central Belgium and the deep terrain provided the riders with the first hard-core sand race of the season, with all the technical and strength-sapping bumps and ruts the surface entails.
Leok rode to thirteenth and second positions and was unlucky to miss sixth place in the first moto after he spluttered to a halt on the last lap through a lack of fuel. Determined and competent in the second he ended as runner-up to Cairoli in the second 35 minute and 2 lap sprint.
In tenth overall was CAS Honda’s Gareth Swanepoel. The South African is another rider well-versed with the idiosyncrasies of the sand and was a fixture inside the top ten in both motos, even pushing himself to physical extremes in the first, trying and failing to capture seventh from Ken De Dycker. ‘Swanie’ went through the pain barrier to take tenth later in the afternoon.
Eleventh in the final standings belonged to team-mate Evgeny Bobryshev, who led the Qualification Heat on Saturday but ultimately could not set a high rhythm through the ripples. Several crashes led to a painful back on Sunday but his charge to twelfth from a first moto first lap fall was impressive. He was ninth at the second time of asking. LS Motors Honda’s Davide Guarneri was thirteenth overall and Martin Honda’s Jimmy Albertson did not compete after a heavy fall early in the first practice session on Saturday has led to suspected cracked ribs.
Japanese Championship campaigner Yu Hirata travelled to Europe to make his Grand Prix debut on the Martin Honda CRF450R. The 25 year old suffered several crashes throughout the day and was unable to penetrate the top twenty at arguably the hardest venue to make a world championship baptism.
In the MX2 class Alessandro Battig returned to action for the first time in three rounds after recovering from his knee injury. With nineteenth place in the first moto on the CRF250R the teenage rookie marked his best result of the season so far and collected two points.
Honda riders currently pack the lower top ten of the MX1 standings. Leok is eighth and five points ahead of Bobryshev in ninth. Guarneri is thirty-one adrift in tenth. Swanepoel is twelfth and needs nine points for further promotion.
Round twelve will take place next weekend (August 7th/8th) at Loket for the Grand Prix of Czech Republic.
Tanel Leok, LS Motors Honda: “It is not normal how much bad luck you can have! The first heat was going quite well until the bike stopped because the fuel level was so low. I crashed also and should have finished top five but the last lap was really unfortunate. The second moto was good. The track was hard but I felt good in the middle of the race and started pushing harder with the rhythm I had; now I realise that I should have gone for it earlier. Overall I was happy with the riding, fitness and speed.”
Gareth Swanepoel, CAS Honda: “I was riding really well yesterday but threw it away and had to start from the thirtieth gate. I have been working a lot in the sand with Joel Smets but my physique let me down a bit. I pushed hard in the first race to try and catch Ken and ended up throwing up all over the place at the end. I couldn’t eat between the races because my stomach wasn’t holding anything in, so the second moto was always going to be hard. I held a good pace at the beginning and when the clock said ‘18’ minutes to go I dropped the hammer and passed guys like Barragan, De Dycker and Strijbos in two-three laps. I closed in on Philippaerts but with five minutes to go I hit the bottom. The speed is there and I was happy to overtake those guys and close in on the top five.”
Evgeny Bobryshev, CAS Honda: “I did not feel good on this track. I had a lot of crashes and mistakes and it cost me a lot of power to fight back. In the first race I went down at the start; I touched Tanel because he was on the brakes so quickly and I couldn’t stop. I was far behind and came back well but lost two positions at the end when I stalled the bike. In the second moto I did well at the start and pushed to try and go with the guys at the front but towards the end I was finished. The guys in the pit were telling me to ‘push’ but it was not possible!”
Davide Guarneri, LS Motors Honda: “The result is not good but for the last two weeks I have been feeling tired and I knew this track would be hard for me. It was so deep out there and the bumps were big and strange. I am not really a sand rider but I can be fast in this stuff and my lap-times are proof of that. I just struggle to keep a rhythm going all the way through the race and when I lose it then I also lose a lot of time. I tried to push a bit in the first race and finished eleventh when Tanel had his bad luck and then in the second I tried to take things easy but lost my way about halfway through. It was not a great GP but I was lucky that the riders around me in the championship standings did not have the best time either.”
Yu Hirata, Martin Honda: “Wow, a hard day. Many crashes and very hard work out there. The speed of the world championship was surprise for me, even though I knew these guys would be fast. I liked the challenge of the GPs and hope for more next year. I’d like to thank Martin Honda and Roger-san.”
Jimmy Albertson, Martin Honda: “I managed a lap of Lommel before I had a big crash that squashed my chest and I think I might have cracked a few ribs. Looking at the track now there was no way I could have ridden without being in decent shape. Another set-back, but I’ll get checked out this week and see what we can do for Czech Republic.”
Roger Harvey, Honda Motor Europe Off-road Racing Manager: “Hard conditions for the guys out there this weekend and Lommel is always a track that sets the men from the boys. Tanel did very well and even though he had the biggest tank possible for the CRF450R was desperately unlucky not to have enough fuel to make the flag. He rode well in the second moto and it was a shame he couldn’t have given the LS Motors team a home podium. Evgeny had one too many crashes and perhaps was trying too hard. He is in a bit of pain with his back now and will take it easy this week.”