Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme : FIM Motocross News

Musquin ready to conquer 2010 FIM MX2 World Title

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:16:00 +0200

The FIM Motocross World Championship arrives in Lierop to celebrate the penultimate Grand Prix of the season with Antonio Cairoli being already the 2010 MX1 World Champion after the Brazilian GP. In the MX2 class everything is still to be decided, but Marvin Musquin has a highly range of possibilities to be proclaimed the 2010 MX2 World Champion with still one round to go.

Recent 2010 MX1 World Champion Antonio Cairoli obtained his fourth World Title in Brazil two weeks ago, which is his second in a row in the MX1 class and his first one with the revolutionary 350cc KTM machine. Clement Desalle lost all the chances to fight for the Championship when his Suzuki machine stopped by the end of the last heat of the Brazilian GP. The Belgian will have to fight teeth and nail with his pursuers, David Philippaerts and Max Nagl, if he wants to defend his second position in the Championship. Completing the top five is sand specialist Steve Ramon.

Marvin Musquin heads Lierop with his second MX2 World Championship Title in his mind. The French is 72 points ahead the German Ken Roczen and this weekend he will ride safe to go home with the Title under his name. Roczen, though, will not leave things easy for the French and he will fight until the last checked flag to avoid Musquin's victory. Third in the Championship is Steven Frossard, followed by injured Jeffrey Herlings, who will missed his home GP. Zach Osborne is now completing the top five.

The Grand Prix of Benelux will also host the last and crucial round of the FIM Veterans Word Cup. Mats Nilsson has a 45 points advantage over second classified Pascal Bal and Erwin Hendrickx is just one point behind the Belgian.

MX1

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1's Cairoli handed KTM their so expected MX1 World Title on the revolutionary 350cc machine in the last GP in Campo Grande, Brazil. The Italian conquered the Title in his very first chance thanks to an outstanding performance in the Brazilian track and also helped by the misfortune of Desalle. Cairoli has won 36 Grand Prix so far and if he achieves the victory in Lierop will be tied in GP victories with Belgian Hallman and with only two Grand Prix difference with Eric Geboers.

Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1's Desalle is now 30 points ahead Italian Philippaerts and has to keep focused if he wants to keep his second position in the MX1 Classification. The Belgian is a sand specialist and last year was third overall in Lierop, so he is heading the Netherlands with high hopes for a GP win and settle down his runner up position in the points standings.

Third in the MX1 Championship is Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross' Philippaerts, who will not leave things easy to Desalle and will fight until the end to improve his third position in the Championship. The Italian was only fifth overall last year in Lierop, but he did an incredible first heat finishing second after GP winner De Dycker. Besides, Philippaerts arrives in Lierop after being second overall in the Brazilian GP in Campo Grande.

Following the Italian there is Nagl of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1 team, who is 21 points behind the Italian and is only 12 points ahead Belgian Ramon. In the last three Grand Prix's, the German has shown that he is recovered from his collarbone injury suffered in France and will try to improve his seventh position obtained last year in the Dutch track and cut some points to Philippaerts.

Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1's Ramon is fifth in the points standings and although he was just eighth overall last season in Lierop, he expects to grasp some points to the leading Championship riders. The Belgian is not far from home and hopes to see his fans cheering for him and try to clinch his first GP victory of the season.

Estonian Leok follows Ramon in the MX1 Classification and seventh is last year's GP winner De Dycker. Boog, who showed in Brazil that he is ready to race again with top riders after his knee injury, is eighth in the Championship 21 points ahead ninth classified Bobryshev. Completing the top ten is Guarneri, who got a solid sixth position in Brazil.

Coppins is eleventh in the Championship but his second position in Lierop last year will give him extra motivation to enter the top ten of the MX1 Classification. Gonçalves, who follows the New Zealander in the Championship, was also second last year in the MX2 class, so it is also a good track for the Portuguese to climb up some positions in the Championship.

Strijbos will not race this weekend due to a shoulder injury and his teammate Butrón, who is been racing in the MX2 class this season, will debut in the MX1 class this weekend in Lierop.

MX2

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2's Musquin could not conquer the MX2 World Title in the last GP in Campo Grande, Brazil, but the French is heading the Netherlands with 72 points advantage over runner up Roczen and with a lot of chances to achieve his second World Title in a row.

Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2's Roczen arrives in Lierop not thinking much about the Championship and being only focused on his riding. The 16 year old, who was third overall last year in Lierop, is performing an excellent ending of the season and is conscious that will be extremely difficult to stop Musquin to win the Title.

Following the German is Kawasaki CLS' Frossard who seems to be struggling a little bit in the last Grand Prix's of the season. The French is not a sand specialist but will try to defend his third position in the MX2 Classification this weekend in Lierop, the Netherlands.

Campano on threshold of MX3-GP world title

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:48:00 +0200

With just one round remaining in the 2010 MX3-GP World Championship Spaniard Carlos Campano is extremely close to his maiden world title which will make him the first rider from his country to covet the exclusive FIM prize.

The former MX2-GP and MX1-GP rider was able to break into the top half of the leader-board on numerous occasions in the past four seasons before diverting his attentions to the Open Class MX3-GP contest, (run with a separate calendar and alongside the MX2-GP feeder European MX2 Championship). Campano could deliver the first major accolade for the innovative reversed cylinder fuel injected 2010 YZ450F which he has been campaigning within the confines of his private Team Yamaha Andalucia. He has also enjoyed the valuable technical input and support of the Yamaha Rinaldi Research and Development team (YRRD) with his kitted machine.

Campano initially entered the MX3-GP series in emphatic fashion by winning both motos at the Grand Prix of Portugal. Since then the 24 year old has taken an impressive six rounds from a total of ten and nine moto victories. The twelfth and final meeting will take place this weekend in Geneva with Campano boasting a 32 point advantage and just 50 up for grabs.

“At the start of the year my goal was to be riding in MX1-GP but when I saw that a place would not necessarily be guaranteed I looked at attending the first round of the MX3-GP series in Portugal. I won both races and then together with my sponsors and my team we decided we would stay and push for the championship,” Campano explains on his commitment to the series. “Yamaha and particularly Yamaha Motor Spain have given me good support with material to go for this title and I hope it will have a happy end,” he added.

Gozzini delights Italian fans with first GP victory

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:44:00 +0200

It was an excellent weekend for Davide Gozzini after winning his first GP of the season and becoming the new FIM SuperMoto World Championship leader. Second was Thierry Van Den Bosch and third was Andrea Occhini, who was on the podium for the first time in his professional career. Thomas Chareyre took the Superpole, but was just fourth due to a DNF in the first race.

Teo Monticelli was first overall in the UEM European Championship Open class, while current Championship leader Nastran was second and Fabrizio Bartolini was third. Lukas Höllbacher dominated the S3 class and was proclaimed the 2010 UEM S3 European Champion.

S1

747 Motorsport TM Racing Factory's Gozzini gave the perfect present to TM's owner Mr. Gastone Serafini -celebrating his 50th birthday today- by clinching the top of the podium and becoming the new red plate holder of the FIM SuperMoto World Championship. The Italian achieved an eventual victory in race one after his team-mate Thomas Chareyre experienced an electric problem on his TM machine while he was leading the race. Gozzini obtained a consistent victory in the second race after overtaking VDB in lap six and he was second in the last heat of the weekend. Gozzini expressed his satisfaction for his GP victory in front of his Italian fans as well as for his ex team-mate and compatriot Occhini's podium.

PMR H2O Aprilia Racing's Van Den Bosch was on the second step of the podium after missing the rostrum in Sankt Wendel and is now third in the Championship - 18 points behind Thomas Chareyre and 23 points behind Championship leader Gozzini. VDB was involved in a tangle with Hermunen in race one and dropped back to eight position, but the French managed to finish an eventual second. In race two and three VDB took the holeshot but his speed was not good enough to keep the leadership and finished second and third respectively.

For the first time in his career as a professional Superider, Rigo Racing Suzuki's Occhini was on the podium completing the top three. The Italian felt really confident on his Suzuki machine and rode among the top five riders the whole weekend. Occhini was one of the most consistent Superiders during the three races in the Sicilian GP. His fifth position in race one and his double fourth places in the last two motos made him go up on the third step of the rostrum. Occhini is now eighth on the points standings of the Championship, only eleven points away from seventh classified Adrien Chareyre.

Instead, for 747 Motorsport TM Racing Factory's Thomas Chareyre was not a good weekend at all. The French lost the red plate in Triscina and could only be fourth overall. Chareyre was leading race one with superb authority when his TM machine stopped in the last lap, with the dnf meaning the French would start heat two from the last row of the grid. The French, who took the Superpole and was the fastest in yesterday's time practice, managed to recover to third in race two and clinch the victory in race three. Thomas Chareyre is no longer the red plate holder but he is second, just five points behind this weekend's GP winner Gozzini.

HM Honda Racing's Lazzarini could not repeat the podium obtained in Sankt Wendel and was just fifth in his home GP in Sicily. The Italian arrived in Triscina suffering from a pulmonary bronchitis and could not ride with the top Superiders this weekend. Lazzarini achieved a solid fourth place in race one, but could only be sixth in the last two races, though he kept his fourth position in the point standings of the Championship.

Hermunen was third and fifth in the two first races, but a mistake in race three in the sky section made him lose several positions and could only finish ninth for sixth overall.

Italian Ravaglia was seventh overall in front of Hiemer, who could not find a good rhythm on the Sicilian track this weekend, and ninth was Italian Bussei. Completing the top ten was his compatriot Gaspardone.

Adrien Chareyre experienced an unfortunate weekend and was twelfth overall. The French had problems with the settings of his bike during the time practice and crashed twice during the races.

Sicilian Pirri finished 18th overall and received a special award given by DBO President, Mr. Danilo Boccadolce, for being the best local rider.

American Thompson took part in his first GP in Triscina and was just 19th after Sicilian Pirri. The American found really difficult to follow the rhythm of the World Championship Superiders and hopes to be back in better shape for the last two rounds of the Championship.

Chareyre and Gozzini the fastest in Sicilian GP qualifying

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:33:00 +0200

747 Motorsport TM Racing Factory's Gozzini tried to improve his teammate's time, but the Italian could only finish second, half a second behind Chareyre. The Italian is at the moment second in the point standings thanks to his consistency and he hopes to be back on the podium this weekend after missing it in Sankt Wendel.

PMR H2O Aprilia Racing's Van Den Bosch was third, but he was only one hundredth of a second behind Italian Gozzini. The French clinched the top of the podium in the first GP of the season, but in Sankt Wendel he was just eighth overall. VDB expects to do a good performance tomorrow and improve his third position in the Championship.

Fourth classified was Husqvarna CH Racing's Hermunen, who was very close to the three fastest riders of today's session. The Finnish arrived in Triscina with the disappointing feeling of the fifth overall position in Sankt Wendel and tomorrow he will ride for the overall victory he lost in the last race in Germany.

Rigo Racing Suzuki's Occhini obtained his best qualifying result of the season in today's time practise. The Italian is willing to finish among the top ten riders in tomorrow's overall classification and improve his 14th position in the Championship.

Lazzarini, who is not fully fit due to a pulmonary bronchitis, was sixth behind his compatriot Occhini. Seventh was German Hiemer, who crashed during his last lap when he was trying to improve his time practice, and Bussei managed to be eighth in his come back from his knee injury of Sankt Wendel.

Adrien Chareyre struggled during the opening day of the Sicilian GP and could only be eleventh behind Italians Ravaglia and Gaspardone.

Balducci, who returned from a back injury suffered in Sankt Wendel, was 13th and Sicilian Pirri could only finish 19th.

After obtaining his best GP result of the season in Sankt Wendel, Delepine finished 15th in Triscina.

S1 Qualifying top ten: 1. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), 1:11.561; 2. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), +0:00.573; 3. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), +0:00.714; 4. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), +0:01.317; 5. Andrea Occhini (ITA, Suzuki), +0:01.492; 6. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), +0:01.540; 7. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), +0:01.580; 8. Giovanni Bussei (ITA, Honda), +0:01.593; 9. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), +0:02.225; 10. Paolo Gaspardone (ITA, Honda), +0:02.365;

Tomas Chareyre heads to Sicily

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:10:00 +0200

Returning to Sicily after almost a decade, the FIM SuperMoto World Championship action resumes in Triscina this weekend on a new course yet to be discovered by the fastest Superiders in the world. After the first two rounds, Thomas Chareyre leads the Championship followed by team mate Davide Gozzini of Italy and defending Champion Thierry Van Den Bosch.

Other Italian Ivan Lazzarini is in fourth after his first season's podium in Germany, where Chareyre dominated. Bernd Hiemer rounds off the top five followed by Mauno Hermunen and Adrien Chareyre, the 2009 S2 World Champion.

Austrian Lukas Hoellbacher leads the UEM S3 class while Uros Nastran leads the Open class.

S1
Visiting Sankt Wendel for the German Grand Prix, Thomas Chareyre of 747 Motorsport TM Racing Factory made the most of his weekend by winning all three moto's and jumping on top of the podium for the first time this year - the year of his move to TM after six seasons with Husqvarna. Tom did even more than that as he clinched his first career red plate and now leads the FIM SuperMoto World Championship with a 17 point advantage over 747 Motorsport TM Racing Factory team mate Gozzini.

The latter was off the podium in Germany, where he struggled and even crashed. The Italian is now motivated to take his first season's win in front of his home fans, with the Championship hitting again Italy where it started in May at Castelletto di Branduzzo. The opening Grand Prix was when Gozzini clinched a hard fought second place on the podium after battling it out in all three moto's with eventual winner Van Den Bosch but Germany marked a setback for both.

PMR H2O Aprilia Racing's Van Den Bosch also struggled and missed out on retaining the red plate. The French was struck by bad luck, being involved in two crashes ruining his first and third moto's. Missing the overall podium, VDB dropped down to third in the Championship and is just one point ahead of other Italian Lazzarini.

The HM Honda Racing man heads to Sicily after his first season's podium at Sankt Wendel, where he seemed to have found his way through the 2010 season which he started with a disappointing eighth overall in Castelletto. Lazzarini moved from seventh to fourth position in the point standings and hopes to enter the top three this weekend in his home GP in Sicily.

The two time World Chamimpion Hiemer completes the top five and is only five points behind Lazzarini and six points behind third in the Championship Van den Bosch. The German is closely followed by Finnish Hermunen, who could only be fifth overall in Sankt Wendel after finishing second in the first two heats. The Finnish made a mistake in the last moto and was out of the podium by two points after finishing 16 in the last and crucial race.

Adrien Chareyre is seventh in the point standings but knows that he can be among the top five as his overall ninth position in Sankt Wendel was due to a DNF in the first moto. Delepine follows the French, while Sammartin and Ravaglia complete the top ten.

Italians Bussei and Balducci will come back to action in Sicily after missing the second GP of the Championship in Sankt Wendel as they were still recovering from past injuries. Bussei is eleventh in the FIM SuperMoto World Championship, while his compatriot Balducci is in the 19th position.

UEM
The UEM SuperMoto European Championship will also be present in Triscina, Sicily, to celebrate the third round of the series. In the Open class the Superrider from Slovakia Nastran leads the Championship with 21 points advantage over second classified Dall'Era and 28 points over Bartolini. In the S3 class Höllbacher is leading the series with 78 points advantage over his pursuers Malachi and Vermeulen. However, Brit Malachi imposed himself to the leader and won the third race in Sankt Wendel.

Cairoli: 2010 FIM MX1 World Champion

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:52:00 +0200

As if achievements like winning his maiden MX1 World Title already at his first full season in the category, or taking his maiden MX1 GP win at a single selected outing in 2007 while he was a regular MX2 rider were not enough to prove his value, in 2010 an upbeat Antonio Cairoli went on to take the revolutionary KTM 350 SX-F machine to success and wrap up his fourth World Title – as many as Legends Harry Everts, Torsten Hallman and Heikki Mikkola.

Winning seven GP’s onboard his new bike, which represents a total revolution in the sport of Motocross by combining the agility of a 250 and the power of the 450, Cairoli has worked his way inside the top ten of all time GP winners courtesy of a total of 36 Grand Prix wins – as many as Roger De Coster and Mickael Pichon. Starring another hard battled season, Cairoli is currently the most successful Italian racer to have taken part in the FIM Motocross World Championship.

The arrival of the KTM 350 SX-F marked also the Austrian manufacturer’s return to success in the MX1 class with their last Title dating back at 1985, when Heinz Kinigadner took his second of two World Titles in the 250cc class.

“I did not expect to win here but it is always nice to be World Champion as soon as possible,” the 24 year old Sicilian said. “I did not take any risks and I was also a bit lucky that Desalle stopped, but that is racing. For sure I am happy with the new bike. I never had to stop for any technical problem and that is really important if you want to be constant. I love this bike and the whole team, they have helped me a lot!”

CAIROLI’S CAREER IN THE FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Entering his first FIM Motocross World Championship campaign onboard a 125cc machine in 2002, it took Cairoli two years to get to grips with the series and express his full potential. 2004 is actually the year the Sicilian meets fellow Italian Claudio De Carli, managing his own Yamaha squad and offering Cairoli a ride. The association resulted into Tony’s maiden win in Namur, one of the toughest tracks ever, and a solid third place in the MX2 Championship.

Cairoli and De Carli continued working together in 2005 with the goal of becoming World Champions and that is exactly what happened at the end of the season. Cairoli won six Grand Prix’s and took the Title despite two major mishaps: his disqualification at the French Grand Prix, which let rival McFarlane increase his points lead, and his scaphoid injury during the qualifying for the Dutch GP, which Cairoli raced in strong pain just to seal the Title. Being 19 at that time, Cairoli had just become the youngest Italian to have won a Motocross World Title.

2006 was the year of Cairoli’s Title defense but it ended with a runner up position. After a difficult start to the season, Cairoli found himself again and went on to take 12 moto wins - against the four of eventual Champion Christophe Pourcel - but it was too late to catch Pourcel, who had pulled away from the Italian in the meantime. Cairoli’s “never surrender” attitude saw the Italian win both heats at the final round in France, Pourcel’s home GP, but the French took the Title eventually. With the duo starring the 2006 season, third placed Philippaerts found himself 100 points away. Cairoli tried to make up for the Title loss at the Motocross of Nations, collecting a stunning heat win in the MX2 class and leading Team Italy to fourth overall.

2007 recorded Cairoli’s second World Title, which came with two rounds before the end of the season at the GP of Northern Ireland, where runner up and defending Champ Pourcel picked up a severe back injury. Learning from the previous year’s mistakes, Cairoli lined up much stronger and dominated the season with 21 heat wins and 10 GP wins out of the series’ 15 meetings, holding the red plate in each single round. On top of that, Yamaha gave freshly crowned World Champion Cairoli the chance to race the British GP at Donington Park in the MX1 class. Qualifying in 12th, Tony was second in heat one and won heat two, the result assuring his maiden overall win in the top class at his very first attempt. Completing the season with a winning return to the MX2 class in Lierop, Cairoli had proved the strongest MX2 rider of the year.

2008 ended much earlier than expected as a left knee injury at the South African Grand Prix saw Cairoli abandon the series when he was holding a close second place in between eventual Champion Rattray and team mate Searle. The efforts leading Cairoli to four Grand Prix wins and two second places on the podium out of nine rounds vanished in South Africa during a first lap contact in moto one. The Italian tried to complete the rest of the heat in pain but had to pull out after just four laps. Fans will need to hold on until 2009 before seeing him back on track but the coming season will unveil to be worth the wait.

2009 was the year of Cairoli’s permanent move to the MX1 class, where he had already shown potential by winning a GP in 2007. Proving wrong all rumors about his fitness after his previous year’s knee injury, Cairoli took the Title with gallantry in a season recording four Grand Prix wins, including Turkey where the Championship was for its first time ever, and other five podiums. With his knee troubling him again before the Dutch Grand Prix, Cairoli overcame pain to collect the Title with a sixth place overall. With the Motocross of Nations taking place in his home country Italy, Cairoli won the first race but was unlucky to get caught in a group crash at the final heat and miss another potential success.

In 2010 Cairoli and the whole De Carli squad switched to KTM in order to debut the revolutionary KTM 350 SX-F, a machine whose potential was yet to be discovered. Cairoli made the most of the bike’s agility to steer the machine to its first success in Mantova where he snatched the red plate from team mate Nagl. The result was followed by Valkenswaard’s win, with Cairoli dominating both heats. The Italian went on to build on his advantage by performing podium finishes as well as wins on all sorts of terrains –except for Bellpuig and Teutschenthal- and never left the red plate until he turned it into a Title at the Brazilian GP. The event held a very small chance for Cairoli to take the Title but a technical failure of runner up Desalle in the final heat granted Cairoli his seventh Grand Prix win and fourth World Title with two rounds to go before the end of the FIM Motocross World Championship.

In 2011, which should see the presence of more 350cc machines on the grid, Cairoli and KTM will continue being together to defend their Title and face even stronger opposition on the global stage of the FIM Motocross World Championship.

Cairoli takes Brazilian GP and MX1 World Title

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:29:00 +0200

The Brazilian Grand Prix handed overall winner Tony Cairoli and KTM their first success in the MX1 class since their association started at the beginning of the 2010 season, marking also the debut of the revolutionary KTM 350 SX-F which Cairoli exploited fully to win his fourth World Title in a hot day at Campo Grande. Ken Roczen took victory in the MX2 class after two battles with series leader Marvin Musquin, ending second overall.

Cairoli topped the podium from Italy fellow rider David Philippaerts, ending level in points with the eventual Champion after winning heat one. Max Nagl completed the podium as Clement Desalle encountered a mechanical problem while he was on route to win the second heat and the Grand Prix – his dnf handing Cairoli the MX1 Title.

In the MX2 class Roczen topped the podium from Championship leader Musquin, the two battling it out for victory in each moto. Completing the podium was Jeremy Van Horebeek, performing strong in the final heat to take third.

MX1
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Cairoli made the most of this first Grand Prix of Brazil held in Campo Grande, which saw the Italian’s fourth World Championship win at the end of an eventful day. Cairoli recovered form a bad start in the first moto to take an eventual second through a last lap move on Desalle – the duo was too far from heat one winner Philippaerts. In the final moto Cairoli started better and placed himself in the runner up position behind leader Desalle but crashed and dropped back to fourth. Another recovery followed with Cairoli taking the second place back. Three laps to go leader Desalle, who was too far to be caught by Cairoli, bumped into a technical issue and his bike stopped. A dramatic win was handed Cairoli, who managed to top the podium from runner up Philippaerts and at the same time take also the Title at his debut season with KTM – the manufacturer returning to victory in the top class after their last success from 1985.

Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross’ Philippaerts was back onto the podium after his third place from Teutschenthal. The Italian took pole yesterday and made the most of it by winning the opening moto. The second heat though was a different story, as he ended second behind Cairoli and dropped down to second on the podium despite ending level in points with the Sicilian. Philippaerts was the first racer to congratulate Cairoli on his Title victory as he went to shake hands with his countryman right after he crossed the finish line.

Third on the podium was Cairoli’s Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1 team mate Nagl, who was also surprised about being inside the top three. The German raced to fourth in the first moto and took third in moto two –where he got the holeshot- despite a crash. Nagl said this was a special podium as he found his team mate on top and could join him and the whole team for the World Title celebrations.

Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1’s Desalle instead had a day to forget at Campo Grande. The Belgian was in second place when Cairoli attacked him and moved past in the last lap of moto one. After taking third, Desalle was on route to win moto two and the overall but his bike stopped due to a technical issue, marking an early end to Desalle’s Brazilian GP – which he won in 2009.

Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1 team mate Ramon’s fourth place was a good consolation for the Geboers managed squad, with the racer combining a seventh and a fourth place in the heats.

Gonçalves ended the top five, making it a big day for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1 team. Guarneri took sixth overall ahead of Coppins. Leok, Desalle and Albertson completed the top ten ahead of Balbi, who was the best placed Brazilian in Campo Grande.

Boog was involved in a group tangle at the start of race one forcing him to retire much earlier than expected. He was 13th overall after ending race two in sixth place.

MX2
Taking his second Grand Prix victory in three GP’s, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2’s Roczen did make up for the troubled qualifying race of yesterday. The 16 year old German went on to win both heats for the first time in 2010 and topped the podium from Championship leader Musquin. The duo made it a hard fought MX2 Grand Prix as they battled tooth and nail for victory in both occasions, passing each other several times until Roczen would eventually pull away to take victory.

Musquin instead could not take the World Title as team mate Cairoli did in the MX1 class. Losing six points on runner up Roczen was not a big deal for Musquin, who still has a 72 point advantage with 100 points still up for grabs. Taking second overall, the French mounted on the podium for the tenth time in 2010 and looks forward to the next round in Lierop where he hopes to celebrate the Championship win.

Someone who had never seen the podium before Campo Grande instead was Kawasaki CLS’ Van Horebeek, completing the top three today. The Belgian rode with a twisted knee to take sixth in race one after a bad start and third in moto two, where he charged hard to pass Paulin and settle for an eventual top three finish.

Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2’s Tonus was fourth overall, taking third in moto one and sixth in the final heat, while Osborne completed the top five.

Roelants was sixth ahead of Frossard, the latter having a tough day in Brazil but still holding the third place in the Championship.
Paulin also had a tough day with race one affecting his Brazilian outing. The French and Simpson came together in race one and the contact damaged Paulin’s bike, forcing him to pull out. In the crash Simpson dislocated his left shoulder and did not take part in heat two.

Pinhancos, Jacobi and Tixier: 2010 FIM Junior World Champions

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:25:00 +0200

Youth riders from 34 different nations gave a proper Motocross racing display during six exhilarating races of the FIM World Junior Championship at the Dardon-Gueugnon circuit in France. Not even the threat of thunderstorms and some very nasty winds kept away the 5000 spectators from watching these talented youngsters fighting for their dream of becoming the future Roczens and Herlings of the world Motocross scene.

The 2010 Junior World Champions are American Jake Pinhancos (65cc), Henry Jacobi from Germany (85cc) and French rider Jordi Tixier (125cc).

65cc
The 65cc class was won by Jake Pinhancos making his way to victory after an exciting battle with saturday’s qualifying session fastest junior, Taiwanese Brian Hsu. The American showed he was the rider to beat right from the start putting up two moto wins: “It was really difficult to hold Brian but he had some bad luck on the last moto and that can happen to anybody. The track was really rough; I don’t have such hard-pack tracks at home so I had a hard time getting around it. I’d like to thank the people who set up this race, I want to come back sometime” said Pinhancos. Third place rider was Wilson Todd from Australia with two consistent outings in third and fourth.

85cc
German rider Henry Jacobi won the 85cc class with a victory on the first moto and a third place on the second. Slovenian Tim Gajser, winner of the second moto finished two points short, right behind Jacobi who put up a solid ride in his first race of the day. On the second one the young German had some work to do: “I was in eighth after the start and had to make my way through the field only able to finish in third but was enough to get the overall. I want to thank my parents and my sister for helping me so much to get here”, said Jacobi. Fellow country young rider Stefan Ekerold was third overall even with a bad start on the second moto which he finished in twelfth position.

125cc
Jordi Tixier is surely a happy kid as he’s getting things on the double. The European 125 Champion can now add to his trophies the Junior 125 World Champion title. Although he had great opposition from American Joey Savatgy and Austrian Pascal Rauchenecker, the French sensation ran both motos with the level of competence the fans were waiting for: “things weren’t easy as it looked because Savatgy is a pretty good rider although after having two good starts and finding better lines on the second race I managed to win both motos. I hope to ride on the MX2 Championship next year and get some good results to be able to thank again the support I’ve been having from my family and fans”, said Tixier.

USA got on the top step for the Nations classification. France was second and 2009 winner Australia had to set for third position this year.

Campano expects his maiden MX3 World Champion title

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:38:00 +0200

Finnish MX3 round maybe decided the FIM MX3 World Champion 2010. Carlos Campano (Team Yamaha Andalucia) won eleventh round while Alex Salvini (Husqvarna Cross 2 R) finished fourth. Advantage of Campano in front of Salvini just before the final round is 32 points. Finnish rider Toni Eriksson (KTM) was second and Juss Laansoo (Honda) from Estonia was third.

It was great weekend in Finland with changeable weather, many spectators, attractive races and what is the most important for Finnish fans, with podium for home riders. Spanish rider Carlos Campano is only for a trifle far from his maiden MX3 World Title. In the Qualifying practice everything looked like Campano and Salvini will have again a big fight for the win. But things turned different in the race.

Toni Eriksson (KTM), Carlos Campano (Yamaha) and Kim Lundstrom (KTM) were top three in the first heat. Eriksson took the holeshot, Campano was second. Campano was pushing trough the whole heat but Eriksson was fast and he found himself perfect on the track. Before last two laps Campano came closer. In final lap Campano almost catched Eriksson and their difference at the finish line was only a meter.

Finland is really not a happy place for Alex Salvini, who lost a title in Vantaa already last year and this season he is in similar situation. His difference to Campano before the race was 20 points. In first heat he did not take a good start and then he also crashed. Although Salvini continued very fast, finished only eighth. Also third rider of the Championsip Classification Matevz Irt (Husqvarna Tecno B) had problems in first heat but progressed to fifth position.

In the second heat Toni Eriksson took the holeshot again and his leadership lasted four laps. Campano started second and Salvini third but Campano was faster and took advantage in front of Salvini. They both passed Eriksson who finished third. Salvini finished second but lost three more points to Campano, who won easily in the second heat. Matevz Irt crashed and did not finished so Martin Zerava (UFO Racing) had a nice chance to become third in the Championship. Also Zerava had problems after that and he was out of the race.

Campano became the overall winner. Eriksson finished second. Third was Estonian rider Juss Laansoo (Honda) who finished two time fourth. Salvini missed top three for a point and finished fourth. Fifth was Kim Lindstrom (KTM) from Sweden. A race before the end of the season Campano holds the top with 32 points in front of Salvini. Irt is third and Zerava fourth.

A big FIM MX3 World Championship final will be in Geneve, Switzerland on 5th September.

Philippaerts back on pole in Campo Grande

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 11:28:00 +0200

David Philippaerts and Marvin Musquin were the fastest in this opening day of the Brazilian Grand Prix happening this year in the dry Mato Grosso do Sul state. As the Italian came out on top of a hard battle with Tony Cairoli, Musquin made a strong race to snatch the eventual win from early leader Gautier Paulin.

Philippaerts managed to win a close qualifying race and take his third Lovemytime MX1 Pole Position Award. The Italian did deserve the win as he managed to keep countryman Antonio Cairoli behind in second, with the Championship leader holding a chance to win the Title in tomorrow’s race. Clement Desalle completed the top three.

While Championship leader Musquin went on to take victory in the qualifying race and reinforce his chances to win the Title in tomorrow’s race, runner up Ken Roczen struggled and ended seventh. Early leader Paulin settled for second after Musquin moved past while Jeremy Van Horebeek completed the top three.

MX1
Starring a two way battle for pole position were Italians Cairoli and Philippaerts, with the latter taking the eventual win after leading the whole race. Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross’ Philippaerts had not won a qualifying race since Portugal and was glad to be on pole again for the third time this season. The third placed in the Championship though is aware of Cairoli’s speed, which he could notice in the final laps of the heat when Cairoli came dramatically close, and knows tomorrow’s two heats will be hot and not easy at all.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Cairoli settled for an eventual second after trying a couple of manoeuvres on Philippaerts. The latter left Cairoli no open door, forcing him to find new lines which were not fast enough to move past. With runner up in the Championship Desalle ending third, Cairoli knows if he scores 16 points more than the Belgian he will be crowned World Champion tomorrow but that is quite improbable according to Cairoli’s words he said in the day’s press conference.

Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1’s Desalle worked his way up to an eventual third but did not try to come closer to the two Italians up front. Anyway last year’s Brazilian GP winner is pumped for tomorrow’s race and does want to make Cairoli’s life difficult by keeping his World Championship ambitions on hold for another round.

Taking a solid fourth at his comeback race after Lommel’s knee injury was Boog of Kawasaki Racing. The French was second at the opening lap but dropped down to fourth in order to save energies for tomorrow’s two heats. Boog still seeks his maiden podium and is hopeful for tomorrow.

LS Motors Honda’s Leok completed the top five after having taken the holeshot, the Estonian having been very fast since the beginning of the month in Lommel.

Gonçalves ended an eventual sixth ahead of Ramon and Nagl. Being stuck behind the gate, Guarneri started dead last and recovered to an eventual 11th.

Taking 13th, Balbi was the best placed home rider.

CAS Honda’s Bobryshev instead did not take part in the qualifying race as he damaged his ribs in a practice crash.

MX1 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 25:07.946; ; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:00.275; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:21.186; 4. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:25.829; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), +0:28.645; 6. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:29.326; 7. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:38.221; 8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:44.053; 9. Jimmy Albertson (USA, Honda), +0:48.269; 10. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Aprilia), +0:58.502;

MX2
With this Grand Prix holding the first chance for Championship leader Musquin to take the 2010 MX2 World Title, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2 rider put himself in the best position to exploit his chance as he took his third pole of 2010. The French started the race with the holeshot but a quick Paulin sneaked through to take the lead. Musquin kept quiet until he decided to make his final move with five laps to go and win the Brazilian Grand Prix’s qualifying race.

Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross’ Paulin felt the taste of victory as he had pulled out a decent gap in between himself and Musquin. Later on Musquin closed that gap and moved past, with Paulin deciding to settle down for a safe second place and use his energies for tomorrow.

Kawasaki CLS’ Van Horebeek was a steady third during the whole race. The Belgian held his strong pace to keep away from the battles, something he will not avoid tomorrow when he will seek his maiden podium of 2010. Team mate Frossard, who is third in the Championship, took a bitter ninth but with fourth placed in the Championship Herlings’ absence –his season ended with a shoulder injury in Loket- he now feels safer in the top three.

Moving past Simpson towards the end of the race, Tonus of Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2 secured a fourth place finish while his team mate Roczen struggled to recover after a bad start. The German was an eventual seventh and if he lets Musquin take 22 more points than him he will see the French celebrate the Title with two Grand Prix’s to go.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Simpson completed the top five ahead of fellow KTM rider Roelants.

MX2 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 25:21.646; ; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:02.108; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:18.847; 4. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), +0:29.880; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:32.119; 6. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:33.796; 7. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +0:34.482; 8. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +0:37.774; 9. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:56.048; 10. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:00.377;