The fourth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship belonged to Monster Energy Yamaha and David Philippaerts as the Italian emerged victorious from two hugely entertaining motos at a sweltering and packed Indaiatuba. The Grand Prix of Brazil saw DP19 take his works YZ450FM to second and first positions to spray overall winners champagne for the first time since the 2010 French Grand Prix.
26,000 spectators filled the grandstands around the excellent racing facility an hour north of Sao Paolo and steamy weather graced the entire weekend as the Grand Prix community faced their second fly-away event in succession. The course was unrelenting in a layout of jumps and corners and was short and compact.
On Saturday the factory Yamahas formation-flew as Frossard led the Qualification Heat from Philippaerts before the Italian took control at the mid-way point of the sprint and glided to his first pole position since the season-closing Italian Grand Prix last year.
Filling the first slot on the line for the tricky uphill start from a soft gate, Philippaerts and Frossard both launched well and embarked on a spat with Antonio Cairoli for the lead that lasted practically all of the 35 minutes and 2 laps. Clement Desalle also jointed the dispute prior to his error three laps from the flag. Frossard eventually dropped back in third and Philippaerts followed Cairoli to the line.
Another good battle later in the afternoon involved the same cast but Steve Ramon also joined the fray. Desalle again made a mistake and fell and Philippaerts was able to control the moto from the front. Cairoli applied pressure on the penultimate lap but Philippaerts responded by setting the fastest time of the race on the very last lap. The former world champion now has two podium results in 2011. Frossard felt the effects of the thumb strain he sustained in the USA and was fifth at the finish, tying on points with Desalle for third place but losing the podium due to the second race classification.
Anthony Boissiere was searching for points inside the top ten of the leader-board and finished twelfth in the first moto but a hefty crash in the second left the Frenchman short of breath and holding his right shoulder. Full credit must go to 2010 MX3-GP World Champion Carlos Campano who was riding a stock YZ450F after problems with U.S. customs. The Spaniard aced the holeshot against a gate-ful of works bikes in the first moto. Campano was sadly unable to last the distance or even start the second due to pain his hand after a fall at Glen Helen last week.
In the world championship standings Philippaerts and Frossard are fourth and fifth respectively with Boissiere in twelfth. The Grand Prix of France (home events for Frossard and Boissiere and in fact the site of the latters first moto victory in 2005) will occur in two weeks at St Jean dAngely and will start a run of three consecutive events with visits to Spain and Portugal following immediately after.
David Philippaerts, 1st:
I am so happy with this win and Brazil is becoming a special place for me after some good motos last year also. The track was nice and every corner was different with the lines, so the riders were going at different speeds. Like last year I have the same points as Antonio but we have the win this time and I pleased about this. I changed my lines during the middle of the second moto and made a big push. Antonio was fast and I knew he would come but I just focussed on the track ahead and set the fastest time on the last lap. We go to France next and I won my first GP there in 2005 and also last season so I am motivated for this race. Im glad to be heading home now.
Steven Frossard, 4th:
I was happy with the first race because I had a good battle with Cairoli and Philippaerts and it was a lot of fun. In the second moto I took a great start but Philippaerts was faster. At mid-race distance I had a lot of pain in my thumb and I couldnt brake properly. I had to let Ramon and Desalle go through and I ended the race disappointed with fifth because I was close to the podium. It was difficult today. The first part of the track was good but all the bumps and the uphill of the second half of the lap was very difficult for me.
Anthony Boissiere, 18th:
In the beginning things were OK but the track was hard and difficult. I was twelfth in the first moto and then inside the top ten in the second when I hit Barragans bike in a corner. I crashed and it was not possible to breathe for a little while. My shoulder was hurt and I knew I would not be able to continue. I am disappointed with this because I had worked hard during the week and I hope things will be better at St Jean.
2011 MX1-GP Brazil
Indaiatuba 22/05/2011 20 Laps
race I
1 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 39’14.114
2 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 0’02.121
3 Steven Frossard Yamaha FRA 0’12.140
4 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 0’17.508
5 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0’24.048
6 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0’33.108
7 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0’35.392
8 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 0’38.190
9 Xavier Boog Kawasaki FRA 0’39.471
10 Rui Goncalves Honda POR 0’52.877
11 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0’56.486
12 Anthony Boissière Yamaha FRA 1’04.899
13 Shaun Simpson Honda GBR 1’14.505
14 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA 1’15.546
15 Antonio Balbi Kawasaki BRA 1’43.697
16 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 1’45.204
18 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 1’52.683
race II
1 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 39’52.654
2 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 0’01.944
3 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0’24.845
4 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 0’29.849
5 Steven Frossard Yamaha FRA 0’34.546
6 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0’36.320
7 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0’37.526
8 Xavier Boog Kawasaki FRA 0’38.436
9 Jonathan Barragan Kawasaki ESP 0’51.306
10 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0’59.566
11 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 1’03.958
12 Tanel Leok TM EST 1’37.014
13 Rui Goncalves Honda POR 1’39.467
14 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 2’02.334
15 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 2’16.173
MX1-GP World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 4 of 16
1. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 164
2. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 153
3. Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 151
4. David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 138
5. Steven Frossard Yamaha FRA 132
6. Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 110
7. Rui Goncalves Honda POR 108
8. Jonathan Barragan Kawasaki ESP 94
9. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 92
10. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 90
11. Xavier Boog Kawasaki FRA 77
12. Anthony Boissière Yamaha FRA 60
13. Tanel Leok TM EST 59
14. Davide Guarneri Kawasaki ITA 58
15. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 58
16. Shaun Simpson Honda GBR 49
17. Jason Dougan Yamaha GBR 26
18. Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 23
21. Carlos Campano Yamaha ESP 16
22. Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 13
37. Herjan Brakke Yamaha NED 1
Circuit Length:
N/A
Crowd:
26,000
Weather:
Sunshine
Manufacturer Standings
22/05/2011
1 KTM 176
2 Suzuki 166
3 Yamaha 164
4 Honda 125
5 Kawasaki 106
6 TM 59
First podium of 2011 for Paulin in Brazil
Third position in front of 26,000 sun-kissed spectators at Indaiatuba for the Grand Prix of Brazil and the fourth round of fifteen in the FIM MX2-GP World Championship gave Monster Energy Yamahas Gautier Paulin his first podium finish of 2011.
The Frenchman was back to fitness after the intercostal muscle problem that affected his performances in Holland and the USA and made the most of two decent starts and a positive synergy around the twisty and jumpy track to tread the rostrum steps. Paulin was third in both motos on the prototype YZ250FM and looked fast and comfortable across the rough red dirt. The former European Champion had no answer to the speed of Ken Roczen and Jeffrey Herlings and completed two fairly lonely 35 minute and 2 lap motos but this was a large step forward for GP21 in terms of points and confidence.
Paulin was the first of five Yamahas in the final MX2-GP Brazilian classification. In fifth position was Bike it Cosworth Wild Wolf Yamahas Zach Osborne. The American posted a solid haul of points despite the discomfort of a badly sprained right wrist, the pain of which even caused the British Champion to vomit before the races. In seventh was Christophe Charlier whose improving fitness and run to sixth place in the second race (a season-best so far) was encouraging to see. Arnaud Tonus was eighth and disappointed not to find a rhythm that would allow him higher than seventh and eighth in the motos. The Swiss has a sore shoulder after his heavy fall at Glen Helen last week and even suffered another small spill in Moto2. Harri Kullas completed the top ten and the Fin was another faller in the second sprint.
Five YZ250Fs lie in the first ten of the MX2-GP World Championship standings. Osborne leads the way in fourth place and is two points ahead of Paulin. Tonus (seventh), Kullas (eight) and Charlier (tenth) follow.
St Jean dAngely will host the Grand Prix of France and a home event for Gautier Paulin and Christophe Charlier in two weeks time.
Gautier Paulin, 3rd:
Im pretty happy to be back on the podium. Third place is not the best position but this is a pretty good start. Ken and Jeffrey are very fast but I know what I have to do. I can improve from this. The whole of Monster Energy Yamaha team are behind me and I can feel their support and I must get in the habit of pushing hard at the beginning so I can think about victory. I will be working on this before my home Grand Prix.
Zach Osborne, 5th:
Considering the circumstances, the day went OK but I feel like I am long overdue a podium. I have the speed every weekend, I put in the effort and my endurance is good but my wrist has been hindering me. I struggled today with my grip because the pain medication was making my arm go to sleep. To take 32 points is pretty good but it was not really want I wanted from the day. The track was pretty awesome. Even though there were a lot of jumps it was naturally set; there were some hills and stuff too with some challenging obstacles. It has been such a good event because the infrastructure here is like nothing else in the world and in my opinion there is nothing better in world championship motocross. I think it should be a model for GPs and has everything as a racer wants to see when you come to a grand prix. There were so many people and it cool to race in front of a crowd like that; we were doing whips on the sighting lap and they were going crazy.
Christophe Charlier, 7th:
Im happy with this weekend, especially the second race because I had a good start and could make a good rhythm. I feel Im not physically totally ready, but now I am working with Willy Linden and sure when Im fit I can get better results. The track was nice and I had fun but the ground was soft and tough on the arms.
Arnaud Tonus, 8th:
I had a great race in Brazil last year and I really enjoy this country but today it did not work out. I had a bad start in the first moto and wasnt on good form. I could not get on the gas, the rhythm wasnt there. I was disappointed with seventh. In the second moto Harri Kullas crashed in front of me so I lost time behind him. I fought back but then crashed myself. After that I gave my best to finish eighth. I took some points but it was a difficult weekend.
Harri Kullas, 10th:
I couldnt push today and I dont know why. I had a good start in the second moto but the sun was already low and I entered a rut in the rhythm section that had water inside and I lost the front wheel. Someone hit me and by the time I could get going again I was twentieth or something. I passed some people and got up to ninth and couldnt make the gap smaller to Tonus. Im quite disappointed with this GP and I am crashing too much this season. Last year I was more consistent and I have to turn this around.
2011 MX2-GP Brazil
Indaiatuba 22/05/2011 20 Laps
race I
1 Ken Roczen KTM GER 39’15.768
2 Jeffrey Herlings KTM NED 0’11.475
3 Gautier Paulin Yamaha FRA 0’25.125
4 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 0’30.571
5 Zach Osborne Yamaha USA 0’33.134
6 Max Anstie Kawasaki GBR 0’50.044
7 Arnaud Tonus Yamaha CHE 1’08.177
8 Joel Roelants KTM BEL 1’27.061
9 Christophe Charlier Yamaha FRA 1’31.079
10 Jordi Tixier KTM FRA 1’34.871
11 Harri Kullas Yamaha FIN 1’38.351
12 Alessandro Lupino Husqvarna ITA -1Laps
13 Pascal Rauchenecker KTM AUT -1Laps
14 Nicolas Aubin KTM FRA -1Laps
15 Hector Assuncao Honda BRA -1Laps
16 Petar Petrov Yamaha BGR -1Laps
race II
1 Jeffrey Herlings KTM NED 40’16.791
2 Ken Roczen KTM GER 0’06.333
3 Gautier Paulin Yamaha FRA 0’07.549
4 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 0’08.581
5 Zach Osborne Yamaha USA 1’03.018
6 Christophe Charlier Yamaha FRA 1’06.261
7 Max Anstie Kawasaki GBR 1’22.763
8 Arnaud Tonus Yamaha CHE 1’45.085
9 Harri Kullas Yamaha FIN 1’48.467
10 Jordi Tixier KTM FRA 1’52.473
11 Joel Roelants KTM BEL 1’56.127
12 Pascal Rauchenecker KTM AUT -1Laps
13 Hector Assuncao Honda BRA -1Laps
14 Nicolas Aubin KTM FRA -1Laps
15 Valentin Guillod KTM CHE -1Laps
MX2-GP World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 4 of 16
1. Ken Roczen KTM GER 191
2. Jeffrey Herlings KTM NED 177
3. Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 156
4. Zach Osborne Yamaha USA 122
5. Gautier Paulin Yamaha FRA 120
6. Max Anstie Kawasaki GBR 116
7. Arnaud Tonus Yamaha CHE 108
8. Harri Kullas Yamaha FIN 96
9. Joel Roelants KTM BEL 90
10. Christophe Charlier Yamaha FRA 89
11. Nicolas Aubin KTM FRA 73
12. Jordi Tixier KTM FRA 61
13. Pascal Rauchenecker KTM AUT 42
14. Alessandro Lupino Husqvarna ITA 40
15. Petar Petrov Yamaha BGR 31
16. Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 31
17. Glenn Coldenhoff Yamaha NED 31
Circuit Length:
N/A
Crowd:
26,000
Weather:
Sunshine
Manufacturer Standings
22/05/2011
1 KTM 200
2 Kawasaki 160
3 Yamaha 150
4 Honda 51
5 Husqvarna 40
6 Suzuki 2
