Frossard Superb For Second Victory Of 2011

Frossard Superb for Second Victory of 2011
Monster Energy Yamahas Steven Frossard scored his first shut-out of
the season by taking the factory YZ450FM to victory in both motos
at Uddevalla for the Grand Prix of Sweden. The Frenchman celebrated
his second triumph of what is becoming a standout 2011 maiden
campaign in MX1-GP. â¨
The visit to Scandinavia and round eight of fifteen reactivated the
series after a one-week break and started another intense spell of
three races in three weeks. Uddevalla was covered by cloudy but
bright skies and the track benefited from natural watering of
showers on Saturday and early Sunday morning. The layout boasted
several small alterations and the terrain was partially loose with
the top-soil barely covering a hard and slippery surface. Frossard
was competing at the site of his very first career success in 2010
in the MX2-GP class and his decent feeling with a tricky track was
assisted by two decent starts. The 23 year old watched by 24,000
spectators - was lucky not to become a victim of Antonio Cairolis
second corner crash (even if he was caught on the left shoulder by
the incident) at the beginning of the first moto and then bided his
time for virtually the entire race distance behind Evgeny Bobryshev
before moving past the Russian with two laps to go before the
chequered flag. Frossard led the field from start to finish in the
second outing and comfortably controlled a gap over Cairoli.
Team-mate David Philippaerts was unfortunate. The Italians front
brake was rendered useless by a flying rock in the first moto and
the former world champion had to endure a large phase of the race
using only the rear stopper. Philippaerts was able to enjoy a
run-free in the second race (after an excellent launch alongside
Frossard from the gate) and beat three other riders to claim third
position and give the team two machines inside the Moto2 winners
circle. â¨â¨Third MX1 representative Anthony Boissiere was twelfth
overall. His first moto position of eleventh his better finish of
the day compared to the fifteenth of the second. â¨
In the points table Frossard has firmly pushed himself back into
contention for the world championship. He is third but only 22
points (the previous gap was 35) away from the red plate he
previously wore at round three. Philippaerts is sixth and 25 points
from the top four while Boissiere is fourteenth. Yamaha are second
by just nine points - and vying for the lead in the manufacturers
standings. â¨
The Grand Prix paddock will now head south to Teutschenthal in
Germany and then east across to Kegums in Latvia. The eastern
European jaunt will bring the series to round ten and complete
two-thirds of the calendar.
Steven Frossard:
It feels really good to win again. I like this track even if it is
slippery and difficult! I tried to stay focussed and ride calmly
and my good starts helped a lot with this. It wasnt easy out there
but it was easier thanks to that. I was lucky at the start of the
first moto because I almost crashed with Antonio and I actually hit
my shoulder when it happened. It has been difficult to keep
consistent because of my hand injury but it is getting better all
the time. We made a couple of small changes on the bike this
weekend but I felt really good on the YZ450FM. Cairoli was fast in
the second moto but I pushed hard in the beginning because I knew
he would be strong towards the end. â¨
David Philippaerts:
The second race was good. De Dycker passed me for third at one
point but I kept patient because I knew he wouldnt have the
condition for the full forty minutes. Today was not really my day.
This is not really my track and I struggled to find grip all
weekend. In the first moto the problem with the brake meant that it
was a very hard to complete the race. I feel that a podium would
have been possible today but motocross can be like this. We will
hope for better in the next race.
2011 MX1-GP Sweden
Race I
1. Steven Frossard
2. Evgeny Bobryshev
3. Xavier Boog
4. Ken De Dycker
5. Antonio Cairoli
6. Steve Ramon
7. Maximilian Nagl
8. Clement Desalle
9. Rui Goncalves
10. Gregory Aranda
11. Anthony Boissière
12. Kevin Strijbos
13. Marcus Schiffer
14. Tanel Leok
15. David Philippaerts
Race II
1. Steven Frossard
2. Antonio Cairoli
3. David Philippaerts
4. Evgeny Bobryshev
5. Steve Ramon
6. Ken De Dycker
7. Clement Desalle
8. Rui Goncalves
9. Jonathan Barragan
10. Maximilian Nagl
11. Xavier Boog
12. Kevin Strijbos
13. Davide Guarneri
14. Marcus Schiffer
15. Anthony Boissière
MX1-GP World Rider Standings
1. Antonio Cairoli 322
2. Clement Desalle 312
3. Steven Frossard 300
4. Maximilian Nagl 250
5. Evgeny Bobryshev 244
6. David Philippaerts 225
7. Rui Goncalves 217
8. Xavier Boog 191
9. Steve Ramon 180
10. Jonathan Barragan 176
11. Ken De Dycker 170
12. Kevin Strijbos 161
13. Tanel Leok 140
14. Anthony Boissière 112
15. Davide Guarneri 94
Fifth Consecutive Podium for Paulin
Gautier Paulin captured third position on his prototype YZ250FM at
Uddevalla and the Grand Prix of Sweden to toast his fifth
consecutive podium result of the 2011 FIM Motocross World
Championship after eight rounds of fifteen. â¨
The Frenchman was a strong runner-up behind eventual GP winner Ken
Roczen in the first moto and rode another lonely race to third spot
in the second outing for his spoils in Scandinavia. Uddevalla was
slippery and deceptive and the snaking layout once again placed
emphasis on achieving a good start. Paulins launches from the gate
allowed him to jump into positions inside the top three, even
though he was unable to match Roczen on the day. GP21 was pushed to
the third step on the rostrum courtesy of the second moto
classification - even though he had tied on overall points with
Jeffrey Herlings.
Fifth in the MX2-GP Swedish ranking was friend and fellow Monster
Energy Yamaha Christophe Charlier for a personal best finish in
just his second season at world championship level. The Frenchman
had recovered from the broken bones in his left hand and took out
his recent injury frustration on the pack and his mid-top ten
rivals. The former European Champion scored a pair of seventh
positions and showed good resilience to climb the leader-board.
â¨
In sixth was Bike it Cosworth Wild Wolf Yamahas Arnaud Tonus. The
Swiss rued some ineffective starts and a second moto mistake that
should have meant a result better than eighth. His recovery and
sixth position from the first moto helped towards a haul of 28
points and continues the stylish riders run of consistency. British
Champion and team-mate Zach Osborne had the speed across the
Uddevalla bumps, evident through his lap-time at the very top of
the timing screens in Saturday practice, but a crash on fifth
corner of the first moto ruined a potential top three score. He
recovered to eleventh but the American complained of a lack of
energy and could do no better than tenth in the second race.
Monster Energy Yamahas Harri Kullas left Sweden frustrated with bad
starts and a lack of rhythm that produced only twelfth place
overall. â¨
Paulin has closed the gap to Tommy Searle and third place in the
MX2-GP standings from 34 to just 10 points. Osborne is now 42
behind his brand-mate while Tonus is sixth. Kullas is eighth while
Charlier sits in eleventh. â¨
The FIM Motocross World Championship now rolls onto Germany and
Latvia in successive weekends. â¨
Gautier Paulin:
Getting on the podium again feels great and even though I want to
be leading I am having a lot of fun on the bike. I think they made
a good job with the track and also the blue flags as we went
through the back-markers. I started in second place in the first
moto and pushed hard to keep the rhythm with Ken even though he was
too strong for us today. I thought I had a problem with my foot-peg
in the second moto but it was actually my gear-shifter that was a
bit bent. Third overall is good for me and we will work to be
better. We actually did some tests recently and will have a few new
parts for Teutschenthal. The team are working hard and we want a
holeshot! We want to progress and reach the top of that podium.
Arnaud Tonus:
I had good speed in the motos. I had a terrible start in the first
race but pushed hard to come back. I didnt take too many risks in
the beginning to make positions because the track was still wet,
very slick and virtually one line. After that I had a good rhythm
and my lap-times got better. I got close to Van Horebeek and Anstie
at the end; overall it was a strong moto. The track had been
watered for the second race and I used all my tear-offs at the
beginning. My speed was good at first but then my lap-times went
off with a few mistakes. Im a bit disappointed with how the GP
finished but considering this race has rarely gone well for me Im
content with two top ten results. â¨
Zach Osborne:
I really struggled today. I was fast yesterday but today was a
different story. Im having a bit of trouble with my energy levels
and I dont know really what is going on. Im just getting over my
wrist injury. I made a dumb mistake in the first moto. I came into
the turn a bit too hot, caught the bale and went down. I threw away
a good chance. In the second race I rode as hard as I could but it
wasnt good enough. It is a hard schedule this year but I knew that
coming into it. â¨
Christophe Charlier:
I had to be a bit careful here because of my hand. It is only at
about 80% at the moment but I think it will be stronger in the next
week and I am looking forward to training more. I didnt take any
risks this weekend so to come away with two seventh positions and
fifth overall is a good result.
2011 MX2-GP Sweden
Race I
1. Ken Roczen
2. Gautier Paulin
3. Jeffrey Herlings
4. Max Anstie
5. Jeremy Van Horebeek
6. Arnaud Tonus
7. Christophe Charlier
8. Jake Nicholls
9. Nicolas Aubin
10. Valentin Teillet
11. Zach Osborne
12. Alessandro Lupino
13. Michael Leib
14. Petar Petrov
15. Nick Triest
Race II
1. Ken Roczen
2. Jeffrey Herlings
3. Gautier Paulin
4. Tommy Searle
5. Max Anstie
6. Nicolas Aubin
7. Christophe Charlier
8. Arnaud Tonus
9. Jeremy Van Horebeek
10. Zach Osborne
11. Harri Kullas
12. Valentin Teillet
13. Jordi Tixier
14. Petar Petrov
15. Nick Triest
MX2-GP World Rider Standings
1. Ken Roczen 351
2. Jeffrey Herlings 337
3. Tommy Searle 286
4. Gautier Paulin 276
5. Zach Osborne 234
6. Arnaud Tonus 225
7. Max Anstie 201
8. Harri Kullas 179
9. Nicolas Aubin 178
10. Joel Roelants 166
11. Christophe Charlier 158
12. Alessandro Lupino 93
13. Jordi Tixier 91
14. Glenn Coldenhoff 90
15. Nick Triest 68