After a week break the FIM Motocross World Championship will be back in Uddevalla, Sweden, to celebrate the eighth round of the 2011 season. The Swedish track will also host the second round of the UEM EMX-125 championship after its inaugural round in Bulgaria in the beginning of April.
Clement Desalle, current leader of the MX1 series, dislocated his right shoulder in Belgium last weekend but he is determined to keep the leadership from the likes of Antonio Cairoli, who is just one point behind the Belgian. Steven Frossard is back to the third position, followed by Max Nagl and Evgeny Bobryshev.
In the MX2 class Ken Roczen regained the red plate in La Bañeza while his team-mate Jeffrey Herlings did not have a very good weekend finishing fourth overall. Tommy Searle keeps on being third in the point standings but he is getting closer to the two leading riders.
MX1
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1’s Desalle travels to Uddevalla with a small injury on his right shoulder after dislocating it in Belgium last weekend. The Belgian is confident for this weekend as he feels capable of fighting for the overall victory as he did last year in Portugal when he was suffering from a similar shoulder injury.
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Cairoli obtained his second overall victory last weekend in La Bañeza and he is looking forward to repeating his 2010 overall victory in the Swedish track. Cairoli is just one point behind Desalle so Uddevalla might be the place where the Italian obtains his first red plate of the season.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Frossard is back to the third position in the point standings after winning the first heat of the Spanish GP and being ninth in the second one. Uddevalla is a very special track for the French young talent as last year he obtained his maiden GP victory in the MX2 class.
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Nagl seems to have recovered his confidence and fitness and in Spain was able to finish third in the qualifying race and he obtained a 4-6 result on Sunday. The German keeps his fourth position in the championship but his pursuers are closing up the gap.
Honda World Motocross’ Bobryshev is fifth in the point standings and he hopes to improve the eighth overall position obtained in Spain two weeks ago. The Russian was fourth last year in Uddevalla so he might be able to be back on the podium and fight for his maiden MX1 overall victory.
Gregory Aranda will be back at the starting grid of the Swedish GP after having his right arm operated.
MX2
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Roczen regained the red plate from his team-mate Herlings after dominating both heats of the Spanish GP. Roczen finished eighth overall last year in Uddevalla as a technical problem on his bike did not let him finish the first heat. However, the German dominated the final heat from beginning to end so he is confident to obtain another overall victory this weekend even not being fully fit from his back injury.
His team-mate Herlings is the runner-up of the MX2 World Championship – six points away from Roczen – and he knows that he cannot miss the podium again if he wants to keep on fighting for the title. Herlings was second in Uddevalla last year so he might be able to obtain his fourth overall victory of the season this weekend in Sweden.
Third in the MX2 point standings is CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Searle who is looking forward to obtaining the second overall victory of the season and cut some distance from his main rivals, Roczen and Herlings. In the first heat of the Spanish GP Searle was able to fight against Roczen for the lead but he is still missing some speed to beat the German.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Paulin has been on the podium since the GP of Brazil but the French rider has not been able to fight for the first step of the rostrum. Gautier was third overall last year in Uddevalla so he is confident to obtain a good result this weekend in the Swedish track.
Bike-it Cosworth Wild Wolf Yamaha’s Zach Osborne struggled a lot two weeks ago in La Bañeza but he is confident to repeat a podium finish this weekend in Uddevalla and get closer to the top three leading riders.
Jeremy Van Horebeek and Valentin Teillet will take part in the Swedish GP as they are fully fit again after their shoulder injuries suffered at the beginning of the season.
