|
 LOMMEL (BELGIUM), 1 August 2009 – A hot start to the Belgian Grand Prix, round 12 of 15 in the FIM Motocross World Championship, saw Desalle and Musquin take the MX1 and MX2 poles respectively.
Ramon made a great comeback after Valkenswaard’s neck injury as he stormed to second while team mate De Dycker crashed. Coppins ended third.
In the MX2 class Guarneri and Goncalves completed the top three but both were distant from Musquin.
Taking victory in the penultimate moto of the FIM Veterans’ World Cup, Nilsson wrapped up the Cup victory ahead of tomorrow’s final heat.
MX1
Desalle took his second career qualifying heat win after the first one from France. The LS Motors Honda man rode strong right from the start but it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Nagl who took the holeshot and started to pull away with the lead.
The German then dropped down to second after a successful move of home rider De Dycker, who had just passed countryman Desalle. Nagl then dropped down again to end fourth eventually.
Desalle put pressure on De Dycker until the Teka Suzuki WMX1 rider made a mistake and crashed, leaving Desalle alone at the lead of the heat. From then on Desalle rode solid to secure the Lovemytime MX1 Pole Position Award ahead of a surprising Ramon.
The other Teka Suzuki WMX1 rider made a superb comeback by taking the runner up spot in his first qualifying heat after the Grand Prix of Benelux at Valkenswaard, where Ramon severely injured his neck and was forced to sit out of the series.
Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross’ Coppins took third ahead of Nagl while his team mate Philippaerts had a terrible qualifying; the Italian’s factory Yamaha did not start at the gate and he took to the track having already a big gap from the rest of the group. Again a mechanical issue saw the defending Champion pull out again.
Yamaha Red Bull De Carli’s Leok ended fifth while his team mate Cairoli had a bad start but crashed towards the end of the race after a great recovery. Eventually the series leader was 21st.
MX1 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 26:47.790; ; 2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:03.333; 3. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:09.086; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:11.408; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), +0:28.057; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), +0:34.257; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Honda), +0:38.193; 8. Manuel Priem (BEL, Aprilia), +1:05.426; 9. Matteo Bonini (ITA, KTM), +1:15.724; 10. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), +1:20.406;
MX2
Musquin took victory in the MX2 qualifying heat to mark a successful comeback to action onboard the Red Bull KTM Factory racing machine following a troubled stop at the Swedish GP. The Championship leader dominated the moto despite KTM fellow riders Teillet and Van Horebeek put pressure on him during the first laps.
KTM Factory Junior MX2 team mates Van Horebeek and Teillet, who took the holeshot, battled it out for the runner up spot; home rider Van Horebeek moved up to second ahead of Teillet, who dropped down to a disappointing 33rd, but he crashed with three laps to go and handed second to Guarneri.
The Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci Motocross Italian rode strong to secure the position despite other Red Bull KTM Factory Racing man Goncalves put the heat on him. The Portuguese finished third ahead of a solid Roelants and Verbruggen, who completed the top five.
Danish Larsen dropped down to sixth but managed to stay in the top five for almost half the race. Countryman Jorgensen was also strong in the beginning of the heat but he was 12th eventually.
Kawasaki fellow riders Frossard and Paulin had a troubled qualifying finishing 19th and 34th respectively.
Roczen was hit at the opening lap and damaged the exhaust system of his works Suzuki; after going through the pits for a repair the German took back to the track and ended 35th.
MX2 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 27:02.461; ; 2. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), +0:13.787; 3. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:14.272; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:19.667; 5. Dennis Verbruggen (BEL, Honda), +0:28.887; 6. Nikolai Larsen (DEN, Suzuki), +0:32.397; 7. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:38.462; 8. Loic Larrieu (FRA, Yamaha), +0:40.210; 9. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), +0:53.099; 10. Marcus Schiffer (GER, KTM), +0:55.173;
VETERANS
Entering this final round with the red plate, Swedish Nilsson rode a flawless first moto to exploit all his victory chances and wrap up his first ever World Cup victory. Nilsson was put under pressure in several occasions by Van Grinsven but he remained at the lead for the whole moto while the Dutch rival ended runner up. Engdahl, Dijkstra and Verherstraeten rounded off the top five while Lhertiteau –the other rider left with a chance to take the World Cup- finished a disappointing 13th.
VETERANS Qualifying top ten: 1. Mats Nilsson (SWE, Yamaha), 2:23.525; 2. Ton van Grinsven (NED, KTM), +0:02.384; 3. Erwin Hendrickx (NED, Honda), +0:02.922; 4. Jonas Engdahl (SWE, KTM), +0:05.285; 5. Koos Dijkstra (NED, Honda), +0:08.295; 6. Freddy Verherstraeten (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:11.086; 7. Peter Bergsma (NED, KTM), +0:12.524; 8. Johan Aerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:13.862; 9. Roger Jacobsson (SWE, Yamaha), +0:14.482; 10. Andres Krestinov (EST, KTM), +0:15.705;
VETERANS Race 1 top ten: 1. Mats Nilsson (SWE, Yamaha), 26:43.514; ; 2. Ton van Grinsven (NED, KTM), +0:03.727; 3. Jonas Engdahl (SWE, KTM), +2:14.051; 4. Koos Dijkstra (NED, Honda), +2:33.685; 5. Freddy Verherstraeten (BEL, Kawasaki), +2:36.081; 6. Johan Aerts (BEL, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 7. Andres Krestinov (EST, KTM), -1 lap(s); 8. Chris Symons (BEL, Yamaha), -1 lap(s); 9. Peter Bergsma (NED, KTM), -1 lap(s); 10. Kim Hellman (FIN, Honda), -1 lap(s);
THE GP OF BELGIUM-QUICK FACTS
Circuit length: 1640 mt
Type of ground: sand
Temperature: 25° C
Weather conditions: sunny
Sunday: Veteran Motocross World Cup Warm Up 8:45-9:05; MX2 Warm Up 9:15-9:35; MX1 Warm Up 9:45-10:05; Veteran Motocross World Cup Race 2 11:15; MX2 Grand Prix Race 1 12:10; MX1 Grand Prix Race 1 13:10; MX2 Grand Prix Race 2 15:03; MX1 Grand Prix Race 2 16:03.
As the whole FIM Motocross World Championship, this Grand Prix and the FIM Women’s World Championship Race 2 will be broadcast live and delayed. Click here to see schedule and coverage online.
LINKS
Youthstream
FIM
Grand Prix of Belgium
|
