The FIM Motocross World Championship restarts this weekend in Uddevalla, Sweden, to celebrate the ninth Grand Prix of the season after having had a weekend off following the GP of Belgium. While some riders have taken part in some national races, some others have been training really hard, so all of them will be fully fit for the second half of the season, which starts this weekend in the beautiful and emblematic track of Uddevalla.
During the Swedish Grand Prix it will also take place the fifth round of the UEM EMX125 and Tim Gajser can get closer than ever to claim the European Title.
In this first half of the season there is not doubt that the most regular rider in MX1 has been Antonio Cairoli, missing the podium only in Brazil, but the top positions of the standings have been very disputed and, in fact, there have been up to seven different riders on the podium. At the moment there is still a very tight battle between Clement Desalle and Christophe Pourcel for the second position, while Antonio Cairoli is leading the series with a comfortable advantage of 47 points.
On the other hand, in the MX2 class there are two names that stand out from the rest of the pack, Jeffrey Herlings and Tommy Searle. They have shared all the overall victories of the season so far, and it was Searle’s DNF during the Grand Prix of Italy what gives Herlings the 24 points advantage over the British rider. The third position is for Jeremy Van Horebeek, who is 38 points behind Searle.
MX1
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli has won half of the Grand Prix disputed so far this season and he is determined to add one more to his records this weekend. After the Belgian Grand Prix, the Italian attended to some sponsors commitments and he then took some days off to be at his 100% this weekend in Uddevalla. Last year the Italian had a tough first race, but he managed to finish on the third step of the podium, and it was actually after the Swedish Grand Prix that Cairoli took the red plate from Desalle and kept it until the end of the season.
The second position in the MX1 point standings is now for Clement Desalle, who has been first and second in the last two Grand Prix. The Belgian has been training really hard with his team this week and they have made some improvements on his Suzuki machine to try to conquer the podium this weekend in Sweden. The Rockstar Energy Suzuki World rider does not have really good memories from Uddevalla, because last year not only he injured his knee during the warm up, but he also lost the red plate from the likes of Cairoli.
CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Christophe Pourcel did not take part in the Swedish Grand Prix last year, but it will not be a major problem for the French rider to place his Kawasaki machine on the podium. Pourcel is third in the point standings and he has been on the rostrum five out of eight Grand Prix, so he is now determined to fight for the overall victory every weekend to reduce the gap with the red plate holder Cairoli.
The fourth position of the championship is for Kawasaki Racing Team’s Gautier Paulin, who has won one Grand Prix this season and he has been on the podium in two other occasions. The French rider is just three points behind his compatriot Pourcel and Gautier is facing the Swedish round full of confidence because last year he was able to finish third in the MX2 class tight in points with Herlings, who was second behind Ken Roczen.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Ken De Dycker has been fighting and chasing the podium since the very beginning of the season, but the Belgian rider has not been able to achieve such goal. However, the Belgian is fifth in the MX1 class and there is no doubt that he has the potential, the speed and the rhythm to fight not only for a podium finish, but also for the overall victory.
David Philippaerts is sixth in the point standings, but he needs to do well this weekend if he wants to keep or improve such positions because Xavier Boog is just one point behind the Italian. Kevin Strijbos is eighth and Rui Gonçalves and Tanel Leok are completing the top ten of the MX1 standings.
Evgeny Bobryshev is looking forward to this weekend in order to leave back the unfortunate beginning of the season. Last year the Russian obtained one of his best results of the season with a second overall position, so he is determined to do his best to repeat such performance and finish among the top five riders.
Marc De Reuver will be back wearing the ICE1RACING colours. In fact, he will be with the Finish squad until the end of the season because Dean Ferris will need more time to recover from his right shoulder injury.
Tom Söderström will be supported by his home crowd this weekend and he will do his best to obtain the first points of the season in the demanding MX1 class.
2011 MX1 Podium
1. Steven Frossard
2. Evgeny Bobryshev
3. Antonio Cairoli
2011 MX1 POLEMAN: Antonio Cairoli
MX2
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings keeps on dominating the MX2 point standings with a comfortable lead of 24 points over Tommy Searle. The Dutch rider has been really consistent during the whole season, but he knows that one mistake can make him lose the red plate. Last year Herlings was able to finish second in Uddevalla, so this weekend he will do his best to obtain his sixth Grand Prix victory of the season.
Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Tommy Searle is second in the point standings and he is only one heat victory behind Herlings. So far, the British rider has obtained three overall victories and six heats wins, and he has only missed the podium once in Italy, where he got a DNF. Searle is aware of his potential and he knows that there are still many points to be played, so he starts this second half of the season full of confidence to claim the red plate from Herlings.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek is third in the MX2 point standings, and after being on the podium in five occasions his next goal is to obtain his maiden GP win in the MX2 class. The Belgian rider has had one week to recover from his ankle injury and he expects to have better feelings this weekend in Uddevalla.
The fourth position in the MX2 championship is for his compatriot Joel Roelants, who is almost fully fit again to be fighting for the overall victory, as he did in the first two races of the season. The Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit rider had a GP to forget last year in Uddevalla, so he will do his best to keep such memory in the past and fight for the top three positions this weekend.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jordi Tixier is completing the MX2 top five and he is 21 points behind Roelants. The French rider has been obtaining very consistent results in the last races and he keeps on working as hard as he is doing so far, he might be able to enter the top three by the end of the season.
Another regular rider has been Jake Nicholls, who is sixth in the MX2 point standings. His compatriot Max Anstie is seventh, Alessandro Lupino eighth and Jose Butrón and Dylan Ferrandis are completing the top ten.
Arnaud Tonus is already eighteenth in the championship after having only taken part in three Grand Prix this season. This weekend, the Swiss rider might be joined by American rider Zach Osborne in the Monster Energy Yamaha squad.
2011 MX2 Podium
1. Ken Roczen
2. Jeffrey Herlings
3. Gautier Paulin
2011 MX2 POLEMAN: Ken Roczen
TIMETABLE
Saturday: EMX125 Free + Qualifying Time Practice Group A 7:55; EMX125 Free + Qualifying Time Practice Group B 8:35; MX2 Free Practice 9:30; MX1 Free Practice 10:15; EMX125 Qualifying Race Group A 11:15; EMX125 Qualifying Race Group B 12:00; MX2 Pre-Qualifying Practice 13:15; MX1-Pre Qualifying Practice 14:00; EMX125 Last Chance Qualifying Practice 15:00; MX2 Qualifying Race 16:10; MX1 Qualifying Race 17:00; EMX125 B-Final 17:50; EMX125 Race 18:40.
Sunday: EMX125 Warm up 8:30; MX2 Warm up 9:00; MX1 Warm up 9:30; EMX125 Race 2 10:15; 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.