22nd July 2012 – Semigorje, Russia – World Championships 2012

Good luck and bad for Strijbos in Russia

A long trip to the impressive and spectator-packed Semigorje circuit, 300 miles east of Moscow was worthwhile to see HM Plant KTM UK’s Kevin Strijbos grab more FIM Motocross World Championship points. The Belgian scored eighth position overall as the Grand Prix of Russia was the scene of the eleventh round of sixteen in the series.

It was yet another weekend of contrasting weather conditions as rain on Saturday turned the new, sandy and jump-laden course into a slimy and slippery mess. Strijbos made twelfth place through the slop on the KTM 350SX-F for a reasonable position in the start gate. Sunday dawned hot and sunny and the terrain immediately began to dry. Along with some excellent work by the track staff the surface was bumpy, rough and varied, not to mention demanding.

The former world championship runner-up made a great start in the opening moto of 35 minutes and 2 laps duration in front of the majority of a noisy 45,000 attendance (weekend figure). ‘22’ ran just outside the leading quartet and a fairly lonely race to fifth place overall. Sadly Kevin could not repeat the launch in the second sprint and had to latch onto a busy battle for slots in the second group vying for spaces in the lower top ten. Strijbos demonstrated his fine form and fitness to challenge Jonathan Barragan’s rear wheel in the closing stages but lost traction in a section entering the final lap and hit the ground. The incident dropped him from a possible eighth place down to twelfth.

The Russian venture for the team had been a novel experience and Strijbos was able to bank 25 points to add to his total of 304 and maintain a lofty sixth position in the premier class and arguably the most competitive year of MX1 since the category’s inception in 2004.

HM Plant KTM UK now make the trek back to their UK and Belgian bases. There is precious little time for respite as Kevin continues his assault on the Maxxis British Championship and will hope to consolidate his lead next Sunday in the sand of Hawkstone Park. Round eleven of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place in two weeks time for the Grand Prix of Czech Republic at the fast and slick circuit of Loket, close to the tourist town of Karlovy Vary.

Kevin Strijbos: “In the first race I made a mistake in the first corner but I still came out fifth. My riding was ok and I could push really hard at the beginning but Pourcel opened a bit the gap and I could not close it anymore. I was too far from behind and I was ahead of Bobryshev, so I was happy with fifth place because I got pretty tired in the end. I did not have a good feeling in the second race. I was too slow in the beginning and I could not push harder. After a while things were better and I moved up to ninth. I was riding OK but then I made a mistake and I had a big crash. I ended up twelfth, so that was not so good! The track was really bumpy and very technical compared to yesterday and I found it really difficult. It was really good though, the layout was nice, so it was good to come here. I wanted to be on the podium or top five and I did not make it; for that I am a little bit disappointed, especially with my second race.”

Roger Magee, Team Principal: “It certainly was quite a demanding GP to get to logistically in Russia and a big thanks to all the team members who made it happen. Kevin had an unfortunate qualification race yesterday which gave him a disadvantage in gate pick for the two motos today, but you certainly wouldn’t have thought it as he really nailed a really good start in the first race. Race two saw him baulked in the first corner which left a lot of ground to make up. His high level of fitness shone through as he picked off the guys in front of him methodically one by one to get up to 9th. Unfortunately the crash wasted all his good work. Thankfully, he didn’t suffer any significant injury.

We look forward to next weekend’s British Maxxis Championship at Hawkstone Park now where we hope to extend the lead in both MX1 and MX2 Championships with Strijbos and Banks-Browne respectively.”

Photos courtesy of Ray Archer

Results

MX1 Moto1

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:45.999; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:05.960; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:07.579; 4. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:09.938; 5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:30.092; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:35.017; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:37.056; 8. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:48.946; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:50.714; 10. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), +0:52.555.

MX1 Moto2

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:21.770; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:07.892; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:25.744; 4. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:33.416; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:36.099; 6. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:40.135; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:52.103; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), +1:03.761; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:15.308; 12. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +2:43.849.

MX1 Overall

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 42 p.; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 36 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 31 p.; 6. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 28 p.; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 28 p.; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 25 p.; 9. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), 24 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 23 p.

MX1 World Championship

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 442 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 422 p.; 3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 393 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 376 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 341 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 304 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 277 p.; 8. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 253 p.; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 247 p.; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 212 p.

Event Gallery