250 VERSUS 450 GRAND PRIX MOTOCROSS ENDS IN A ROUT FOR THE BIG BIKES: 16 OF THE TOP 20 WERE ON 450s

Clement Desalle in Qatar.

In front of crowd numbering, well let’s just say that you wouldn’t need all of your fingers and toes, the new GP format (used for Qatar, Thailand, Mexico and Brazil) wasn’t the big showdown that everyone expected between the 250 and 450 riders. Although there were 20 250 riders and 20 450 riders in the Super Final Motocross race, only 4 of the 250s made the top 20. And this was on a flat track that didn’t penalize the 250cc bikes with hills, sand or deep terrain.

The start with Desalle (25), Nagl (12), Cairoli (222) and Frossard (183).

As feared by team sponsors the only time a 250 rider made the TV show was if they crashed or were being lapped. One of the concerns of mixing the 250s with the 450s was that the 250 riders wouldn’t get due credit…and they didn’t. Although Herlings did manage to crack the top ten in the Super Final and win the 250 Grand Prix overall, the next 250 rider was 13th (and was almost never seen on TV).

The track produced decent racing (with Gautier Paulin producing most of the action with his duels with Kevin Strijbos, Evgeny Bobryshev and Clement Desalle).

Aussie Dean Ferris had the race of his life…to bad no one got to see it.     Photo: Yamaha

In final points, combining the first motos with the dual-class Super Final, Clement Desalle won the 450 class in front of Tony Cairoli, while Jeffrey Herlings took the 250 win over Dean Ferris. It was a shame for Ferris who had his best GP result ever?but might as well be at home in Australia when it came to publicity.

Bobryshev went 6-4 for sixth overall in the 450 class. Youthstream claimed 5000 spectators, but based on their previous over-generous spectator numbers, this could be interpreted as less than 1000 paying fans. Certainly, no fans were visible on TV.

OVERALL RESULTS: SUPER FINAL
1. Tony Cairoli………………450
2. Clement Desalle ………450
3. Gautier Paulin…………..450
4. Evgeny Bobryshev…….450
5. Tommy Searle…………..450
6. Kevin Strijbos……………450
7. Jeffrey Herlings………….250
8. Ken DeDycker…………..450
9. Steven Frossard………..450
10. David Philippaerts…….450
11. Rui Goncalves…………450
12. Xavier Boog…………….450
13. Dean Ferris……………..250
14. Joel Roelants…………..450
15. Tanel Leok……………….450
16. Romain Febvre………..250
17. Shaun Simpson……….450
18. Jonathan Barragan……450
20. Jordi Tixier……………….250

450 CLASS OVERALL
1. Clement Desalle (Suz)…….1-2
2. Tony Cairoli (KTM)………….3-1
3. Gautier Paulin (Kaw)……….4-3
4. Ken de Dycker (KTM)………2-7
5. Evgeny Bobryshev (Hon)…6-4
6. Tommy Searle (Kaw)……….7-5
7. Kevin Strijbos (Suz)…………6-6
8. Rui Goncalves (KTM)……….9-10
9. Steven Frossard (Yam)…….12-8
10. Shaun Simpson (TM)………8-14

450 POINTS STANDINGS
1. Clement Desalle……47
2. Tony Cairoli…………..45
3. Gautier Paulin……….38
4. Ken de Dycker………36
5. Evgeny Bobryshev…34
6. Tommy Searle………30
7. Kevin Strijbos……….30
8. Rui Goncalves………23
9. Steven Frossard……22
10. Shaun Simpson…..20

250 CLASS OVERALL
1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM)……..1-1
2. Dean Ferris (Yam)……………5-2
3. Romain Febvre (KTM)………4-3
4. Glenn Coldenhoff (KTM)……2-7
5. Christophe Charlier (Yam)…3-8
6. Jordi Tixier (KTM)…………….7-5
7. Jose Butron (KTM)…………..10-6
8. Alessandro Lupino (Kaw)….6-11
9. Julien Lieber (Suz)…………..8-10
10. Jake Nicholls (KTM)………18-4

250 POINTS STANDINGS
1. Jeffrey Herlings……….50
2. Dean Ferris…………….38
3. Romain Febvre……….38
4. Glenn Coldenhoff…….36
5. Christophe Charlier….33
6. Jordi Tixier………………30
7. Jose Butron…………….26
8. Alessandro Lupino…..25
9. Julien Lieber……………24
10. Jake Nicholls…………21