Who said – and did – what in Lommel…
Lommel hosts the 11th round of the 2011 Motocross World Championship where it’s business as normal for the factory KTM team who dominate both podiums by going 1-2-3 in the MX2 class and 1-3 in MX1 where Tony Cairoli extends his lead over Suzuki’s Clement Desalle. Big story on the day for the Brits though is Max Anstie’s fine ride to fourth overall as Tommy Searle comes in sixth and The Reverend Jake Nicholls eighth after two hard fought motos. Here’s what the leading contenders had to say about the toughest GP of the year…
Antonio Cairoli (MX1 – 1-1)
“It’s nice to race here in Lommel, I have always said many times that I like to race here in the sand. We had the speed to win this weekend but I made it a bit harder because I made some small mistakes. I got the two holeshots but a couple of times I lost concentration.”
Clement Desalle (MX1 – 2-4)
“After Latvia I used the break to try and recover and it helped. I was confident coming here and I just wanted to feel good on the bike and with my shoulder. On Saturday I was happy with the way it was going, especially on a difficult track like this. Physically I am improving all the time. It felt good to be leading but it is a strange race here because there are so many lines and you can lose time on one lap and then make it back the next. I’m happy to make a good result in Belgium but second is not a win! Every rider knows a big crash like Steve’s can happen at any time and it is something you try to put out of your head. When I saw him on the ground not moving for three laps yesterday it was hard to take and makes you think about your life but we have to take it out of our minds in order to ride the bike again.”
Max Nagl (MX1 – 5-2)
“I’ve been really looking forward to this GP because I know I am good in the sand. Since Latvia I haven’t been able to train at all because the doctor would not allow it. So I am really happy to be on the podium today. I got two good starts and I could also see I had the same speed as the top guys, even if Tony was faster.”
Evgeny Bobryshev (MX1 – 6-3)
“It was really hard work today. The track was better in the first moto when it was a little bit more flat. I had good lines and good speed and it was just a shame that I had to work hard to come back from that crash. I was something like thirtieth and found my way to sixth. I led the second race when Tony crashed, but – oh man – the track was much worse. It was unbelievable. I had used a lot of energy in the first moto and had something for only the first fifteen minutes, after that it was easy to lose the speed and the rhythm. I was really tired at the end and Nagl came close. I thought I would take a breath and go again but when it came to it there was nothing left! I’ll have to see what I can do in the rest of the GPs.”
Steven Frossard (MX1 – 4-6)
“Like most of the riders I feel tired! I had a good race in the first moto. I was very focused and riding easily. I could play with the track and had some fun. I made that mistake on the last lap by notrealisinghow close Goncalves was to me and it was a disappointing way to finish a decent moto. In the second one I had a bad start and when I saw Cairoli and Desalle at the front I pushed really hard on the first laps and I think maybe too hard. I was searching for energy and wanted the top five but it was a really hard race. I have never seen the track like this before. It was more like enduro than motocross; very, very difficult. Overall I think the weekend went quite well.”
Shaun Simpson (MX1 – 11-7)
“I’m frustrated because looking at the lap-times I had the speed to run at least in the top five. In the first moto I started well until Bobryshev crashed in front of me and I hit his bike. In the second moto I crashed with Boog and went down and was dead-last again. If I had have got away with the front guys then I feel I could have run with them. I’ll probably be stiff tomorrow but I loved the track I am impressed with my fitness and haven’t done much sand riding since Latvia. I hope I can keep a smile on my face next week!”
Tom Church (MX1 – 17-DNF)
“The first race was okay. I got held up a bit at the start but then settled into a position of sixteenth, which I thought I could hold on to for the duration but I lost a bit of steam and was just pipped on the last lap. In the second the race was pretty much over before it started when I went down and the bike was damaged and the fuel poured out. I’m happy with my speed – I just need to keep working on my fitness.”
Jeffrey Herlings (MX2 – 1-1)
“This year I finally won. Last year I was second. My ribs were really painful but I took very strong pain killers so this was an amazing weekend for me.”
Ken Roczen (MX2 – 2-2)
“I was disappointed after the first race because I crashed when I was in the lead on the last lap but actually I didn’t ride that well and I didn’t get into a good rhythm. When you don’t play with the track and get into a good rhythm it costs you a lot of energy and time. Jeffrey is the fastest on sand and it was good for me to see that I can stay with him a little bit.”
Jeremy van Horebeek (MX2 – 3-3)
“This is the best present I could give to myself and to my team. This year I wasn’t able to prove so much because of my injuries but today I had two perfect starts and the first moto was okay but the second was very difficult in the last 10 minutes because I don’t have any race rhythm yet. Now I am really motivated. I like the track at Loket and want to go there and ride well and not make any mistakes.”
Max Anstie (MX2 – 4-4)
“This is the first track this season that I really knew before coming here, as I rode there many times when I was younger. I love Belgium. It’s the place where my best friend Lionel lives; he has been looking after me for many years and I have many other friends here too. All of my family was here also this weekend and there were many British fans to support us; I felt good all the weekend. It’s a shame that once more I finished so close to the podium, but I lost too much time at the second corner in each race. My first start was really good, I nearly got the holeshot next to Jeffery (Herlings) and Ken (Roczen) but in the second corner I ran off the track behind the green fence and had to come back from eleven to finish fourth. My second start was not so good and at the second corner another rider pushed me onto the bank and I got stuck! I was 21st at the first split but I worked so hard to come back to fourth again, and nearly got third but I was so tired that I crashed and had to settle for fourth again.”
Gautier Paulin (MX2 – 7-5)
“I don’t really feel tired or empty. I am a bit disappointed because everyone was working hard and it didn’t really happen for us today. I felt very good on the track and was riding well. I was coming back strong in the first moto when Searle hit me and we crashed. I lost a lot of time to start the bike and meant I could do not better than where I finished. For the second moto I had a really good start but then had crash on the first lap. I was again coming back well but the track was changing into a row of bumps and you had to have a good rhythm. The track was destroyed and the ramps of the jumps were like a trial! Finally I finished fifth.”
Tommy Searle (MX2 – 6-6)
“This GP was tougher than what I was expecting. I don’t ride in the sand so much but usually I just come to Belgium a week before the race and that’s enough. But here I struggled with myself and a little bit with the bike. I was happy with the settings of the bike when I rode during the week but here the track conditions were very different; we made a lot of changes during the weekend to help me to feel more comfortable on the bike, but I just wasn’t my normal self and went six and six. It was not a devastating day but it’s not great for the championship; I just did what I could as I didn’t want to crash and lose any points over Paulin. I rode the entire weekend under my limit; it was so easy to make a mistake here.”
Jake Nicholls (MX2 – 8-9)
“I was pretty sensible around the first couple of corners. I made a mistake here last year and that crash cost me a lot so I didn’t want to do the same this time. I just went with them and set the fourth fastest lap of the race, which was really good. It was a shame that I had a little tip-over at the halfway stage and that cost me two positions and a couple of laps trying to find the rhythm again. The track was really heavy and rough in the second one but I felt good and caught Roelants. We were both being sensible but pushing at the same time. With about five laps to go I suddenly didn’t have any energy left with my lower back, I just wasn’t able to stand-up much more on the bike and it was frustrating. I was fit and ready to go but exiting the corners I couldn’t stand and get ready to ride the tops of the bumps. I’d never had that before here when I’ve ridden during the week. It kind of ruined the race from them on. I had another crash when I landed off a jump and went straight into a post. Obviously I have to work on it and perhaps ride Lommel when it is this rough in the future! I’m quite happy with two top tens away and my sand riding has improved.”
Arnaud Tonus (MX2 – 10-11)
“The weekend has been pretty terrible. I was doing OK on Saturday and felt good on the track but something went wrong in the first moto. I don’t know why but I couldn’t really do what I wanted and was much lower than I know I am capable. In the second moto I crashed four times I think. It was one of the toughest races of the year but we knew it would be like that and I had been working hard to prepare. I thought I was ready but it didn’t work out.”
Jordan Booker (MX2 – 21-25)
“Very sandy! It was a disappointing week coming off two Grands Prix with points. It was an ideal opportunity to score again by keeping consistent, finding a flow and keeping on two wheels. I seemed to be struggling out of the soft gate this weekend. In the first moto I was up to 24th when I collided with someone. I came back up and on the last lap made a couple of passes to finish 21st and was a bit gutted because I just missed the points. I would have been higher it is hadn’t have been for the crash. I was outside the top twenty in the second one and had a small slip-off when I was fighting with Jordi Tixier. I got back up but then had a really big pisser around the back where I went straight over the bars and the bike hit me on the back of the neck. I hurt my wrist a bit and from there just wanted to finish. It was a bad day but I have learnt from this.”
Results
MX1
1 Antonio Cairoli 25+25=50
2 Clement Desalle 22+18=40
3 Max Nagl 16+22=38
4 Evgeny Bobryshev 15+20=35
5 Steven Frossard18+15=33
6 Tanel Leok 13+16=29
9 Shaun Simpson 10+14=24
19 Tom Church 4+0=4
MX2
1 Jeffrey Herlings 25+25=50
2 Ken Roczen 22+22=44
3 Jeremy van Horebeek 20+20=40
4 Max Anstie 18+18=36
5 Gautier Paulin 14+16=30
6 Tommy Searle 15+15=30
8 Jake Nicholls 13+12=25
