17th June 2012 – Bastogne, Belgium – World Championships 2012

Strijbos immense at home Grand Prix as Dunn also shines

The Grand Prix of Belgium at the new and well-received Sans Souci circuit in Bastogne will go down as one of HM Plant KTM UK’s more memorable events of the 2012 FIM Motocross World Championship campaign thanks to sterling performances by Kevin Strijbos to earn fourth position overall in the premier MX1 class and through James Dunn celebrating his first success in the European EMX125 series.

18,000 spectators stood five deep at the fences of the tree-lined, flat, fast, jumpy and ‘old school’ venue on the outskirts of the historic town and were thankfully blessed with good weather on raceday after a deluge of rain on Saturday forced the qualification heats to be cancelled. The water caused a soft, rutty and rough surface to emerge for the grand prix motos on Sunday but also opened more lines in the terrain and the conditions were even dusty by the end of the eighth round from sixteen.

Strijbos fully utilised the nimbleness of his KTM 350SX-F to make two bright starts and wriggle into leading positions around the opening laps of both motos. The former double world championship runner-up then set about attacking the track and keeping pace with the leaders. ‘The Kid’ hassled Clement Desalle in the final stages of the first race and narrowly missed a podium slot. In the second moto a similar story unfolded and Strijbos kept Desalle and Christophe Pourcel close company but eventually settled for another fourth spot and maintain’s sixth place in the championship standings.

The team were without representation in the MX2 class after Elliot Banks Browne was forced to the sidelines with his hand injury but the junior faction of HM Plant KTM UK was well represented by James Dunn. The teenager was unlucky to DNF the first EMX125 moto in the slime of Saturday due to a technical problem but expertly chased series leader Tim Gajser on Sunday and shut down a seven second gap in three laps to earn his first chequered flag on the 125SX-F.

HM Plant KTM UK will now head north and back to the UK to face the fifth round of eight in the Maxxis British Championship in the soft loam of Desertmartin in Northern Ireland next weekend.

Kevin Strijbos: “The first race was OK. I got a good start and I was riding second following Tony (Cairoli) for the first three laps. Then I got a little bit of arm-pump and I got a little bit stressed and that is why Paulin and Desalle passed me. It was actually a pity because I felt that I had the speed. In the second race I again had a good start, I focused on the riders in front of me and then I tried not to think about arm-pump. I could push really hard and I passed Bobryshev and then I closed the gap again with Desalle and Pourcel. At that moment Pourcel was a bit faster, so it was difficult to catch him. On the last lap I tried to pass Desalle again but it was too difficult. Overall I’m really happy because this result is good for the points. I want to thank the team for everything they do for me, I’m really happy with them.”

Roger Magee Team Principal: “After a small technical problem due to the mud on Saturday it was great to see James Dunn chase down Gajser and win the moto. It was a big step for him and he has been the only one to push the Slovenian so it shows what he is capable of and we are all excited for the rest of the EMX campaign. Elliott wasn’t racing here due to the hand he injured in France. He tried to practice on Thursday but there was a lot of swelling and we decided it would be best to sit out Bastogne and be fitter for Desertmartin next weekend. What a day for Kevin! He was back on form and just missed out on his second podium by one second in the second moto. Good starts, good speed and a great meeting for him in front of his home fans. There were a lot of positives to take from today. He sent me a message saying how much fun he was having and when a rider talks like that then you know everything is heading in the right direction. We have our sights set on Desertmartin next weekend for the 5th round of the British Maxxis Championship now which is effectively our home round.”

Photos courtesy of Ray Archer

Results

MX1 Moto1

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40:20.568; ; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.127; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:04.944; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:31.016; 5. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:36.324; 6. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:37.570; 7. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:43.854; 8. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:50.218; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:51.123; 10. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:53.502;

MX1 Moto2

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40:19.194; ; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:04.597; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:09.786; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:10.625; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:36.754; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:42.862; 7. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:44.952; 8. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +0:52.345; 9. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:53.004; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:55.722.

MX1 Overall

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 40 p.; 3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 38 p.; 4. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 34 p.; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 26 p.; 7. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 26 p.; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 26 p.; 9. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 23 p.; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 22 p.

MX1 World Championship

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 345 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 298 p.; 3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 292 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 289 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 237 p.; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 212 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 211 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 207 p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 169 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 168 p.

EMX125 Overall

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, KTM), 45 points; 2. Nicolas Dercourt (FRA, Yamaha), 40 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Magne Klingsheim (NOR, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Ludovic Brevers (BEL, Yamaha), 31 p.; 6. James Dunn (GBR, KTM), 25 p.; 7. Alessio Della Mora (ITA, KTM), 24 p.; 8. Anton Lundgren (SWE, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Vaclav Kovar (CZE, KTM), 20 p.; 10. Jaap Corneth (NED, KTM), 20 p.

EMX125 Championship

1. Tim Gajser (SLO, KTM), 195 points; 2. Magne Klingsheim (NOR, KTM), 133 p.; 3. Davide Bonini (ITA, KTM), 120 p.; 4. James Dunn (GBR, KTM), 109 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), 102 p.; 6. Anton Lundgren (SWE, KTM), 100 p.; 7. Henry Jacobi (GER, KTM), 79 p.; 8. Riccardo Righi (ITA, KTM), 72 p.; 9. Jaap Corneth (NED, KTM), 71 p.; 10. Simone Furlotti (ITA, Suzuki), 68 p.

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