FIM WORLD MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP: KEN ROCZEN & CLEMENT DESALLE WIN BULGARIA 250/450 GPs; ANTONIO CAIROLI HAS AN OFF DAY


After a fairly successful foray into American Supercross, Ken Roczen is back in Europe racing the 250 World Motocross Championships. He will return to the USA on May 14-15 for the USGP. Photo: Ray Archer

Clement Desalle and Ken Roczen became the first red plate holders of the 2011 Grand Prix motocross season this weekend in Sevlievo, Bulgaria. It was not a good weekend for 2010 MX1 World Motocross Champion Antonio Cairoli, he could not find his rhythm and, unfortunately, twisted his left new on the first moto.


Zach Osborne was the top American with a fifth in the 250 GP.

250 BULGARIAN GP

Runner-up of the 2010 250 World Championship, Ken Roczen, had a perfect weekend in Sevlievo. The German young talent easily took both holeshots and ruled the motos from beginning to end.

Second overall was CLS/Pro Circuit rider Tommy Searle, who was very satisfied with his performance in his comeback to the FIM Motocross World Championship. The Brit felt really comfortable on his Kawasaki machine and he expects to close the gap with Roczen in the upcoming GP’s.

KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings had very good starts in both motos but he could not keep the second position and had to settle down with a third place. The next Grand Prix is in his home track of Valkenswaard, where the Dutch young rider obtained his maiden Grand Prix victory.

Monster Energy Yamaha’s Gautier Paulin was third in the first heat, but he did not have a good start in the second moto and he could only finish seventh. The Frenchman missed the podium for two points over third classified, Jeffrey Herlings.


Rozen (94) used the number one gate to holeshot both motos. Searle’s (100) wheelie cost him the holeshot. Photo: Ray Archer

Completing the top five was Cosworth/Wild Wolf/ Yamaha’s Zack Osborne, who rode in the first top five position on both heats, but did not have the speed to improve his position and climbed up in the standings.

Jeremy Van Horebeek and Arnaud Tonus finished sixth and seventh respectively, both tied in 31 points, and Max Anstie ended in a solid eight position in his debut in the FIM Motocross World Championship. Nicolas Aubin was ninth and completing the top ten was Belgian rider Joel Roelants.

RESULTS: BULGARIA GRAND PRIX 250 CLASS
1. Roczen, Ken…1-1
2. Searle, Tommy…2-2
3. Herlings, Jeffrey…5-3
4. Paulin, Gautier…3-7
5. Osborne, Zachary…7-4
6. van Horebeek, Jeremy…6-5
7. Tonus, Arnaud…4-8
8. Anstie, Max…8-6
9. Aubin, Nicolas…9-9
10. Roelants, Joel…11-12
11. Charlier, Christophe…14-10
12. Kullas, Harri…10-14
13. Karro, Matiss…12-15
14. Coldenhoff, Glenn…15-13
15. Lupino, Alessandro…20-11
16. Tixier, Jordi…13-18
17. Rauchenecker, Pascal…16-16
18. Butron Oliva, Antonio Jose…17-19
19. Triest, Nick…22-17
20. Petrov, Petar…18-22
21. Lieber, Julien…19-33


Roczen (94) gets the holeshot with Tommy Searle (100) in close pursuit. Photo: Ray Archer


The KTM powerhouse of Jeremy van Horebeek, Jeffrey Herlings, Ken Roczen and Antonio Cairoli. Photo: Ray Archer

BULGARIAN 450 GP

Suzuki Clement Desalle got the first Grand Prix victory of the season and the sixth in his career. The Belgian was second in the first moto, even having an unfortunate crash during the last lap when he was trying to find some new lines. On the second race, Desalle took the holeshot and led the race until Steve Frossard and later on Jonathan Barrag n overtook him. However, the Belgian rider managed to place himself at the front of the pack by the the checkers. “I am very happy and it is very cool to win, but this is the first grand prix and the season is very long. I made a mistake at the end of the first race because I changed my line, thinking towards the second moto. The take-off was different and I landed completely off the track. I don’t think I could have done another lap because the back brake was already gone. Steven rode very well and very fast all day and it was good to take the win,” said DeSalle.


David Philippaerts had a fourth in moto one, but had issues in moto two of the 450 class. David said, “The first moto was good but I crashed at the start of the second and made a mistake when the rear stepped out. I restarted last and pushed as hard as I could but my times were not as good as the first moto. Overall I think I was good enough for a top four finish today, which would have been okay because the track was very hard.”

Yamaha rider Steven Frossard had an excellent weekend in Sevlievo, which was his first-ever 450 Grand Prix. Frossard had an excellent start in the first moto and dominated it from beginning to end. The second start was not that good, but Frossard’s managed to be second right after the opening lap. By the end of the heat, the French rider made some mistakes and he had to settle down with a second overall position being tight in points with Desalle.

Frossard said, “I feel really good on the bike and the 450 suits me better. In the first moto I made a really good start and it was easy for me to take a lead of a few seconds. In the second it was completely different because the start was not great. I passed Clement and was ahead by four seconds but made a mistake. My physical condition was really good and that helped me to come back to second and look for the win. I was pushing really hard because I wanted to win the GP and then made another error that cost me half a second. In my head I knew I was capable of this speed because we worked really hard over the winter with Yamaha.”


Clement Desalle got the gold in the 450 Bulgarian GP.

Third was Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Barragan, who was back on the podium after a long absence due to the injuries he suffered last year. The Spanish rider could only finish sixth in the first race, but in the second one he got quite a good start and his solid riding took him into the lead. However, Desalle and Frossard came back really fast from behind and Barrag n decided to ride safe in order not to risk the third overall position.

The fourth position went to KTM’s Max Nagl, who got a consistent third place in the first heat, but he could only finish sixth in the second one. The German rider expressed his satisfaction for this fourth overall position, but he also admitted that he needs some more time to get used to his new 350cc and improve also his fitness.


Steve Frossard (183), Evgeny Bobyrshev (777), Clement DeSalle (25) and Antonio Cairoli (222) drop the hammer on the 2011 World Championship season.

Completing the top five was Honda’s Rui Gon‡alves, who was only eighth in the first race, as he was involved in a tangle when he was chasing Cairoli

2010 450 World Champion Antonio Cairoli was ninth overall. The Italian had already admitted on Saturday that he was not fully fit yet, but on top of that, Cairoli made a mistake in the first heat when landing from a jump and he twisted his left knee. In the end, the Italian ended seventh, but in the second heat he was tenth.

Ken De Dycker crashed in both heats and was just 19th overall. 


Last year Steven Frossard rode for the CLS Kawasaki 250 team and when he turned 23 he aged out of the 250 class. It may be the best thing that ever happened to him. 


Steve Ramon did not crack the 450 top ten. “I had the same problem today as Saturday; especially in the first moto with the arm-pump. It was not possible to push and the track was not easy. I’ve been sick since Wednesday and I could feel in my muscles that I was not fully-fit. We struggled a little with the set-up so overall I did the best that I could,” said Ramon.


Max Nagl was fourth in the 450 class in Bulgaria.   Photo: Ray Archer

RESULTS: BULGARIA GRAND PRIX 450 CLASS
1. Desalle, Clement…2-1
2. Frossard, Steven…1-2
3. Barragan, Jonathan…6-3
4. Nagl, Maximilian…3-6
5. Goncalves, Rui…8-5
6. Bobryshev, Evgeny…12-4
7. Strijbos, Kevin…9-7
8. Guarneri, Davide…5-11
9. Cairoli, Antonio…7-10
10. Philippaerts, David…4-14
11. Boog, Xavier…11-8
12. Ramon, Steve…10-12
13. Boissiere, Anthony…15-13
14. Simpson, Shaun…13-16
15. Leok, Tanel…27-9
16. Campano, Carlos…16-15
17. Dougan, Jason…14- 21
18. Leonce, Loic…17- 19
19. de Dycker, Ken…22-17
20. Schmidinger, Gunter…20-18


The factory Yamaha team had a good day in Bulgaria. Former 450 World Champion David Philippaerts was tenth in the 450 class, Gautier Paulin was fourth in the 250 class and newly signed Steven Frossard went 1-2 for second in the 450 GP.

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