Istanbul, Turkey – 12th April 2009 – World Championship

One day before he was due to become a father for the first time – to son Ayrton – Red Bull KTM UK’s Stephen Sword buried the harsh memory of an unfortunate outing in Bulgaria seven days previously to capture a decent 6th place overall in Istanbul for the Grand Prix of Turkey and round three of fifteen in the FIM Motocross World Championship.

The 29 year old steered his SX-F machine to 9th and 5th positions in the two motos through a cold Turkish wind that gusted across the brand new venue 25km outside of the capital. 30,000 curious spectators crowded the private Hezarfen facility to sample the country’s first ever taste of GP motocross in the 52 year history of the competition.

The recently built track initially proved to be a headache for many riders with the diversity of the terrain ranging from very hard to sinking sand and the tight layout providing few realistic overtaking options away from the main racing line. Sword – who failed to score points in Sevlievo – cut a determined figure and walked away from a lonely but solid ride to 5th in the second moto content with his recovery of form. It had been the third Grand Prix in three weeks for the team.

Team-mate Jake Nicholls looked capable of adding to his points tally also and formation-flew with Sword in Moto1 for a promising 10th position. Sadly any chance of an overall top ten result was scuppered with an early race fall – through no fault of his own – in Moto2, and he crossed the line out of the points. The teenager rested 16th by the end of the afternoon.

“This is what I needed; a couple of good point scoring rides,” said Sword. “It was a better weekend all-around and I could find my rhythm again. I did not get the best of starts in the first moto and was around fifteenth. I picked a few riders off and felt pretty strong. I wasn’t flowing that well but ninth was the start of the recovery. The second one went better. I had a couple of bad laps in the middle where I lost the back of Schiffer and any chance of fourth but I picked it up when Guarneri got near. Overall I was relaxed and starting to feel comfortable on the bike. I’ll go back now and have a weekend off, well, from racing anyway! Then look to Valkenswaard.”

“I felt confident after the qualification heat. I had a moderate start in the first moto and pulled though. I just kept going really,” said Nicholls. “My speed and fitness was good and I was quite pleased with tenth and thought I might be able to do it again. I tried not to get too excited in the first laps of the second race but I came into a right hander and someone ahead of me had made a mess of the turn and stopped while trying to square it off. I had nowhere to go on the inside and hit their rear wheel and went down. I tried to catch up but couldn’t reach the points.”

Sword is now 13th in the championship standings and 6 points from the top ten while Nicholls is 20th.

While the Turkish Grand Prix was taking place the team’s other rider, Graeme Irwin, entered the first round of the highly competitive MX2 European Championship at Hawkstone Park. The youngster was 15th and 18th through the black English sand in his very first appearance in the series. He was encouraged by a very positive 5th place in Saturday’s qualification heat. Irwin is next in action for the Red Bull Pro Nationals at Landrake in Cornwall.

A free weekend now awaits the team before travelling to Valkenswaard for the Grand Prix of Benelux in a fortnight’s time.

For more information on Red Bull KTM UK, their sponsors and latest news and photographs please visit: www.ktmukmx.com

Results

MX2 Moto1

1. Gautier Paulin (Kaw); 2. Khounsith Vongsana (Hon); 3. Zach Osborne (Yam); 4. Manuel Monni (Yam); 5. Marvin Musquin (Hon); 6. Xavier Boog (Suz); 7. Valentin Teillet (KTM); 8. Davide Guarneri (Yam); 9. Stephen Sword (KTM); 10. Jake Nicholls (KTM); 11. Pascal Leuret (Hon); 12. Cedric Soubeyras (Yam); 13. Matiss Karro (Suz); 14. Loic Larrieu (Yam); 15. Evgeny Bobryshev (Yam); 16. Shaun Simpson (KTM); 17. Arnaud Tonus (KTM); 18. Yohei Kojima (Suz); 19. Nikolai Larsen (Suz); 20. Wyatt Avis (Hon)

MX2 Moto2

1. Zach Osborne (Yam); 2. Marvin Musquin (Hon); 3. Steven Frossard (Kaw); 4. Marcus Schiffer (KTM); 5. Stephen Sword (KTM); 6. Davide Guarneri (Yam); 7. Gautier Paulin (Kaw); 8. Xavier Boog (Suz); 9. Manuel Monni (Yam); 10. Evgeny Bobryshev (Yam); 11. Shaun Simpson (KTM); 12. Khounsith Vongsana (Hon); 13. Matiss Karro (Suz); 14. Rui Goncalves (KTM); 15. Wyatt Avis (Hon); 16. Pascal Leuret (Hon); 17. Yohei Kojima (Suz); 18. Loic Larrieu (Yam); 19. Alessandro Lupino (Yam); 20. Arnaud Tonus (KTM);

MX2 Overall Result

1. Zach Osborne (Yam); 2. Gautier Paulin (Kaw); 3. Marvin Musquin (Hon); 4. Khounsith Vongsana (Hon); 5. Manuel Monni (Yam); 6. Stephen Sword (KTM); 7. Davide Guarneri (Yam); 8. Xavier Boog (Suz); 9. Steven Frossard (Kaw); 10. Marcus Schiffer (KTM); 11. Evgeny Bobryshev (Yam); 12. Matiss Karro (Suz); 13. Shaun Simpson (KTM); 14. Pascal Leuret (Hon); 15. Valentin Teillet (KTM); 16. Jake Nicholls (KTM); 17. Loic Larrieu (Yam); 18. Cedric Soubeyras (Yam); 19. Rui Goncalves (KTM); 20. Wyatt Avis (Hon);

MX2 World Championship standings (after 3 of 15 rounds)

1. Gautier Paulin (108); 2. Marvin Musquin (103); 3. Davide Guarneri (78); 4. Xavier Boog (73); 5. Zach Osborne (68); 6. Steven Frossard (53); 7. Shaun Simpson (52); 8. Nico Aubin (47); 9. Khounsith Vongsana (42); 10. Marcus Schiffer (42); 11. Valentin Teillet (37); 12. Manuel Monni (36); 13. Stephen Sword (32); 14. Rui Goncalves (31); 15. Joel Roelants (30); 16. Alessandro Lupino (30); 17. Arnaud Tonus (30); 18. Pascal Leuret (25); 19. Jeremy Van Horebeek (22); 20. Jake Nicholls (22);

Event Photo Gallery