Saturday's qualifying weather was bad, but Sunday's race day weather was much better and Marvin Musquin didn't have to slog through this much mud. Photo: Ray Archer.
With the weather making up for Saturday’s
rain with a bright sun on Sunday, the Bonver Grand Prix of Czech Republic turned
up to be another hard fought round of the World Motocross
Championship—handing victories to Tony Cairoli in the 450 class and
Marvin Musquin in the 250 class, both leading their respective
Championship and holding a chance to wrap up the Title in the next round
in Brazil. Cairoli topped the podium from Clement Desalle and
Tanel Leok, the latter having snatched moto one victory from Cairoli who
made up by winning the final heat. Steve Ramon and Max Nagl completed
the top five ahead of David Philippaerts. Marvin Musquin and Ken Roczen battled hard for the 250 Czech GP victory, but it was
Musquin ending on top courtesy of his victory in the final heat. Roczen,
who won moto one, could do no better than second in heat two and
dropped down to second on the podium while Gautier Paulin was third
overall. Poleman Steven Frossard crashed in race one and was seventh
overall.
Mud made qualifying a mess, but it delivered an awesome photo of Shaun Simpson. Photo by Ray Archer.
CZECH 250 GRAND PRIX
Marvin Musquin (1) gets off to a good start. Photo: Ray Archer
Red Bull KTM’s Musquin finally broke his
streak of bad luck in Loket –where he broke his foot in 2008 and his
engine in 2009- by winning the Bonver Grand Prix of Czech Republic after
a tight battle with rival Roczen. By the time he recovered to second in
race one Roczen was too fast to be caught but in the second moto the
duo battled harder for the win. Musquin was first, then Roczen moved
past but the German crashed and handed the position back to Musquin,
crossing the finish line and going straight on top of the podium. The 78
point advantage on Roczen remained unchanged as the duo finished level
in points this weekend but the forthcoming Brazilian GP can be Musquin’s
first occasion to clinch the Title – the French actually won his maiden
Championship last year in Brazil.
Ken Roczen goofs around with a helmet his friends painted for him.
Teka Suzuki's Roczen was all set on winning another Grand
Prix after breaking the ice in Lommel with his first season’s win. The
German dominated the opening moto but a crash in the second moto while
trying to open up a gap on Musquin made him change his mind and reset
his goals to a safer second place. Ending second overall, Roczen
collected as many points as Musquin and is now looking forward to
winning the Brazilian round.
Celebrating his second podium of a difficult 2010 season, Yamaha Monster
Energy's Paulin was the third man on the Czech podium.
Recovering from a bad start in moto one, Paulin took an eventual sixth
but earned the podium with a solid third place in the final moto. The
French is now close to the top ten of the Championship despite having
missed the first four rounds. Kawasaki CLS’ Van Horebeek missed the rostrum by just one point and
finished fourth overall. The Belgian was fourth in the first moto after
trying to earn the third spot by putting pressure on youngster Herlings.
In moto two Van Horebeek was fifth. Red Bull KTM’s Simpson took fifth overall but aimed
at more, especially after a solid start to the first heat. Towards the
end of the moto instead Simpson dropped down from second to fifth and
again in the second moto he ended sixth after a start in the top three.
Arnaud Tonus was sixth. Here he closes in on Brit Mel Pocock.
Arnaud Tonus was sixth ahead of poleman Frossard, the latter being hampered by
an early crash in the first moto. Roelants, Osborne and Kullas completed
the top ten while Herlings was 11th. The Dutch teenager was involved in
a crash in the final moto which dislocated his right shoulder. Home
rider Michek was right behind in twelfth.
Michael Leib, the young American, faced a baptism of fire for the second weekend in succession. After tackling the deep sand of northern Belgium last weekend, at Loket he encountered yet more conditions - mud - which he has never faced in his native California. Having spent Saturday getting acquainted with the conditions he unfortunately had a big crash during Sunday morning warm-up and was badly shaken; after just a few laps of racing Michael and the team decided to withdraw him.
Michael Leib: “After the sand of Lommel, this is the second weekend in a row that I have faced very different conditions to what we have in California, but we learned a lot of it. This morning during the warm-up I had a big crash so I didn’t feel 100 percent and I just did two laps in the opening race to see how things were going. The track was pretty dangerous and I didn’t felt well, so together with the team we decided to focus on the next rounds rather than take too much risks. I didn’t want to put myself in an even worse situation, and we’ll put all our effort into the last three GP’s to get the best results.”
Jeremy Van Horebeek: “I’m happy with my results this weekend, even if it’s always frustrating to miss a GP podium by just a single point. On Saturday I posted a good lap time during the timed practice period when it was wet and I enjoyed the track more than on race day. I had a good start in the opening race and battled with Roelants for several laps before I passed him and Simpson to finish fourth. I was happy with my riding, but my second start wasn’t as good; I was twelfth at the second corner, and moved quickly to sixth after three laps, but the I lost too much time behind Simpson. I got into a bad rhythm and when I finally passed him halfway through the race the leaders were a long way ahead. But it was a good performance, much better than last week in Lommel.”
Steven Frossard: “I really enjoyed the track on Saturday; it was wet and slippery and I’m used to these conditions as I train on a similar track in winter. I posted the fastest lap and was confident for the races; I had a great jump out of the gate in the first race and was third leaving the first corner, but at the next one Simpson came across my front wheel and I crashed. One rider rode over me and I had no feeling in my back for the rest of the race; the throttle cable was also damaged but I fought back to finish fourteenth. I got another good start in the second race, but Charlier crashed on the first lap and I jumped onto his bike. I was riding stressed after that and couldn’t do better than fourth. I had higher goals this weekend but I suppose that’s motocross. Thankfully I didn’t lose any positions in the series standings, but that’s not enough to be satisfied.”
Zach Osborne: "I struggled today. I seemed to have about fifteen good minutes in me and then I felt like I was going through the motions. I think the concussion still has a bit of an effect and I should have had myself evaluated after the crash but I guess I didn't want to know because I'm fighting for a top five slot in the world. I think the track got the better of me a little bit today. It was very 'one-line' out there and that's make it tough. I'm having a hard time at the moment and we will work through it."
Ken Roczen: "The first moto was awesome. I got the holeshot and didn't look back. In the second race my start was good but in the first corner I lost my way a little bit. Anyway, I came back to second quickly, passed Marvin and then crashed when I tried a different line to overtake a backmarker. I had to work again. There were a lot of square-bumps on the track and passing was not easy. I took a lot of risks trying to catch Marvin again; I guess sometimes you just need to pin-it! "
Jeffrey Herlings: "It was a rough weekend, also with the rain on Saturday. I got a good jump out of the gate in the first moto and I stayed in third place for a long time before I got passed by Marvin. In the second moto I was fifth or sixth at the start and then one of the riders crashed in front of me and I went down and dislocated my shoulder. Now I will have my arm checked by doctors in the Netherlands. I hope the injury heals quickly."
CZECH GP RESULTS: 250 CLASS:
1. Musquin, Marvin...2-1
2. Roczen, Ken...1-2
3. Paulin, Gautier...6-3
4. van Horebeek, Jeremy...4-5
5. Simpson, Shaun...5-6
6. Tonus, Arnaud...8-7
7. Frossard, Steven...14-4
8. Roelants, Joel...9-9
9. Osborne, Zach...11-8
10. Kullas, Harri...10-11
Other notables: 11. Herlings, Jeffrey...3-37; 12. Karro, Matiss...12-15; 35. Nicholls, Jake...28-33; 39. Leib, Michael...39-DNS.
250 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS
(After 12 of 15 rounds)
1. Musquin, Marvin...527
2. Roczen, Ken...449
3. Frossard, Steven...404
4. Herlings, Jeffrey..391
5. Simpson, Shaun...329
6. Osborne, Zach...313
7. van Horebeek, Jeremy...302
8. Roelants, Joel...298
9. Tonus, Arnaud...293
10. Kullas, Harri...254
CZECH 450 GRAND PRIX
Tony Cairoli (222) leads the 450 charge. Photo: Ray Archer
Taking the Bonver Grand Prix of Czech Republic today, Red Bull KTM’s Cairoli extended his winning streak to three
consecutive wins – six in total this year. The Italian was snatched the
first moto win by a fast Tanel Leok but made up for that in the second
heat, leading the whole moto and extending his record of laps led to 222 – the same his Cairoli's bike number.
Cairoli is now heading towards his second 450 (MX1) World Title as he leads
the MX1 series with an 84 point advantage with three rounds to go.
Steve Ramon.
Taking second overall in the scenario of his maiden GP win last year,
Desalle of Rockstar Teka Suzuki could not make up points on
Cairoli this weekend. Desalle struggled at the start of moto one and was
then forced to recover to an eventual third place. The Belgian took a
much better start in the final moto but could not close the gap with a
fast Cairoli and ended runner up to the Italian.
Clement Desalle is doing all he can to keep Cairoli honest in the 450 chase.
LS Motors Honda’s Tanel Leok was on route to win his second Grand Prix
of 2010 after he beat Cairoli in moto one to win in front of the KTM
racer. A crash in the final moto hampered Leok’s classification but the
Estonian found his way through the pack and recovered to an eventual
fifth, making it to the overall podium by six points. Rockstar Teka Suzuki’s Steve Ramon was fourth overall, securing the
position with a strong outing in the final moto. After ending a bitter
sixth in race one, Ramon made up in the final moto by working his way up
to an eventual third.
David Philippaerts.
Completing the top five was Red Bull KTM’s Nagl who clinched a fifth and a fourth place in the heats. David Philippaerts instead struggled and missed the top five. The Italian
finished sixth overall after crashing in the final moto – which followed
his fourth place of heat one. Bobryshev was seventh ahead of Gonçalves, Strijbos and Coppins
completing the top ten. Guarneri instead scored no points and ended at
the bottom of the standings, with a crash in the first moto hurting his
back. Tom Church made it to the 11th place to mark CCM’s return to action. The
Brit was just ahead of French Kawasaki duo Sebastien Pourcel and Nicolas Aubin.
Tony Cairoli: "I had some problems with my goggles in the first moto and I didn't see so well. I was having a problem with the tear-offs and Tanel Leok passed me. Then, I got the problem fixed and I tried to attack in the last part of the race but this is a track that it's very difficult to overtake. The second heat was nice because I had a great start and I got the holeshot. I knew that Clement (Desalle) was behind me so I tried to pull away and make a gap and I managed to do this in the last 10 minutes."
Clement Desalle: "Second position again and, of course, I want to be first but this sport is very hard and I can only do my best all the time. I am working to step-up and be faster and feel that it is coming. I had a bad start in the first moto and had to push all the way to reach third. It was too late in the race to expect better. I was more satisfied with the second moto because we were really fast to break away. The conditions were a bit different to normal and we had to adjust."
Steve Ramon: "The track was tough with many ruts and not many lines. I didn't feel comfortable in the first moto and was really fighting the track; I didn't feel happy. In the second moto I had a really good start but I drifted too far to the outside, hit some soft mud and Cairoli passed me. I was then awful in the first two corners and made mistakes that also cost me two positions. I searched for my rhythm in the opening laps but I felt faster on the bike. I could see Bobryshev was getting tired and passed him but Max was riding well and kept pushing. I'm happy with third place because I don't like the track at all. Overall I'm satisfied with the result."
David Philippaerts: “In the first moto I struggled to get a good rhythm and I was disappointed because I started in second place but finished in fourth. In the second race I had two crashes – one when I lost control under braking and another when I got on the gas out of a turn and the rear just slipped away – I had some good speed after that and came back from very far to get inside the top ten, so that felt better. We will try our best in Brazil and look ahead to defending third place in the championship; that has to be our main goal now in the final three rounds.”
Ken De Dycker: “The first race was not good for me. I was able to get around the problems I’ve had with my arm in Lommel because I know the track very well, but here it was much harder and I had to hold on up the hills with my fingers sometimes. I’m still not 100% so I have to work on that. The clutch started to slip a little in the second moto and I had to keep the bike wide-open on the downhill but this meant I ran a bit wide and hit the mud. I tried to give the bike some gas to get out but it was stuck.”
CZECH GP RESULTS: 450 CLASS:
1. Cairoli, Tony...2-1
2. Desalle, Clement...3-2
3. Leok, Tanel...1-5
4. Ramon, Steve...6-3
5. Nagl, Max...5-4
6. Philippaerts, David...4-9
7. Bobryshev, Evgeny...9-7
8. Goncalves, Rui...10-8
9. Strijbos, Kevin...16-6
10. Coppins, Josh...13-10
Other notables: 11. Tom Church...17-11; 12. Pourcel, Sebastien...7-33; 13. Aubin, Nicolas...8-35; 14. de Dycker, Ken...11-30; 18. Albertson, Jimmy...24-13; 30. Hirata, Yu...30-24.
450 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS
(After 12 of 15 rounds)
1. Cairoli, Tony...531
2. Desalle, Clement...447
3. Philippaerts, David...394
4. Nagl, Max...382
5. Ramon, Steve...376
6. de Dycker, Ken...309
7. Leok, Tanel...290
8. Boog, Xavier...276
9. Bobryshev, Evgeny...270
10. Guarneri, Davide...213
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