BULGARIAN GRAND PRIX RESULTS:
IF YOU THOUGHT THAT WUNDERKINDE KEN ROCZEN AND KTM 350-MOUNTED TONY CAIROLI WERE GOING TO WIN...GUESS AGAIN; PLUS THERE IS A NEW WUNDEKINDE ON THE SCENE
Ken Roczen scrubs Bulgarian-style.
Team KTM owned Bulgaria. At the Sevlievo circuit German Max Nagl and Frenchman Marvin Musquin won the opening rounds of the FIM World Motocross Championships.
Max Nagl went 1-2 in the 450 class in front of fellow KTM rider Tony Cairoli’s 5-1. Cairoli is the current 450 World Champion and elected to race the new KTM 350SXF...Nagl raced the KTM 450SXF. Cairoli said about the KTM 350SXF, "I knew it would be hard for me to beat Max here because this is a hard track for the 350 bike because there's a lot of uphills. But, in the second heat, I had a better start than the first heat. I did two laps behind David Philippaerts then I passed him and pushed to win the moto. The first heat I was not that satisfied with my riding. I was really stiff and I made a lot of mistakes but I like the track and now I'm on the podium and I never made the podium here before."
Third went to Rockstar/Teka Suzuki rider Clement Desalle (3-5). Jimmy Albertson went 16-20.
Everyone thought that 15-year-old Ken Roczen would win the Bulgarian GP (especially after he won his qualifying race on Saturday). And Roczen was fast, but current 250 World Champion Marvin Musquin took his KTM to a two-moto victory. In a nod to the future, there were two 15-year-olds in the top four (Roczen and Jeffrey Herlings).
Marvin Musquin and Ken Roczen will duel like this until the last round of the series. Ray Archer photo.
Musquin went 1-1 results with Roczen 2-2 and Steven Frossard 3-4. The fourth place rider was 15-year-old Jeffrey Herlings in his first-ever GP. American Zach Osbourne was seventh with 8-7 day. Zach Osborne said, "The first race did not go so well. I did not get the best start and had a bad spell in the middle of the moto where I dropped back to 12th from 6th or 7th. I fought back to 8th and put what I had learned from the first race into the second. I got a decent start but it seemed like wherever I went someone was stopped on the track or had a problem. I was 15th but pushed on for a strong race. Overall this was a much better start than last year at Faenza. To take two solid finishes and improve through the weekend is a good way to start the season."
THE 450 (MX1) CLASS
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Nagl enjoyed a perfect weekend at Sevlievo. After taking pole yesterday the German went on to win the opening heat ten second ahead of second placed Philippaerts but could not repeat himself in moto two when team mate Cairoli passed him to collect the first ever heat win of the KTM 350 SX-F. Courtesy of second in heat two Nagl took the overall and the red plate. Cairoli instead got tangled in the first corner of heat one and was forced to recover from the bottom of the top ten to fifth. The Italian made up with a great second heat and took second on the podium.
Max Nagl (2) gets to the first turn first. Ray Archer photo.
Desalle marked his first Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1 Grand Prix appearance with a podium finish. The Belgian was a steady third in moto one but a harder second heat saw him finish fifth after Ramon first then Pourcel moved past him. Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross’ David Philippaerts took another fourth like in 2009. A good second place in heat one was not enough for the Italian as he slipped in the second heat and ended seventh.
Clement Desalle.
Ramon took a valuable fifth overall while last year’s winner Coppins, now with Aprilia Racing, was ninth overall. In heat one Kawasaki Racing’s Pourcel was hampered by a crash but took fourth in heat two for an 11th overall.
Steve Ramon was fifth in the 450 class.
THE 250 (MX2) CLASS
It was a great comeback to the maiden Grand Prix victory venue for Musquin as the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2’s racer dominated the whole Grand Prix. After a perfect first heat, which he mastered from the start to the flag, Musquin was handed first by holeshotter Roczen in moto two and carried on to take another win. Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2’s Roczen was second overall. In heat one the German poleman worked his way past Herlings to take second but could not reach a fast Musquin to challenge him for the win. After a holeshot in heat two Roczen went down at the opening lap and had to recover back to another second place.
Jeffrey Herlings.
Frossard of Kawasaki CLS completed the Bulgarian podium courtesy of a third place in heat one and a fourth in heat two. In the final moto debutant Herlings of Red Bull KTM Factory racing MX2 did not let the French by and took third for a promising fourth overall ahead of other youngster Tonus of Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2. 2009 EMX2 European Champion Charlier was eleventh overall.
250 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS:
1. Marvin Musquin...50
2. Ken Roczen...44
3. Steven Frossard...38
4. Jeffrey Herlings...35
5. Arnaud Tonus...34
6. Jeremy Van Horebeek...31
7. Zach Osborne...27
8. Shaun Simpson...26
9. Jake Nicholls...24
10. Harri Kullas...19
450 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS:
1. Max Nagl...47
2. Antonio Cairoli...41
3. Clement Desalle...36
4. David Philippaerts...36
5. Steve Ramon...34
6. Ken De Dycker...31
7. Jonathan Barragan...30
8. Xavier Boog...25
9. Josh Coppins...23
10. Davide Guarneri...20
 
|
|