St. Jean d’Angely, France – 6th June 2010 – World Championship

Hard weekend for HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK in France

The seventh round of fifteen in the 2010 FIM Motocross World Championship took place on the rutted and technically difficult circuit of St Jean D’Angely for the Grand Prix of France. The weekend was a tricky, and unlucky, one for HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK with Jake Nicholls unable to continue his promising line of results and managing fifteenth overall. Natalie Kane had trouble with the demands of the track and a damp second outing at the fourth round of seven in the Women’s World Championship; crashes in each race meant she could do no better than seven by the end of the afternoon.

A hot and stuffy weekend on the west coast of France veered into thunder storms Sunday morning before ending under blue skies again by the end of race-day. The varying weather created a soft, viciously carved terrain from the course located on one side of a valley setting. A decent 30,000 attendance gave the race a boisterous atmosphere.

Saturday was a tough day for Nicholls who tried to find the best set-up for his 250SX-F but was not quite on the pace. A crash in the Qualification Heat and DNF then cast him to the lower positions in the gate and made the start for the two 35 minute and 2 lap motos that much harder. A first moto fall, while on the edge of the top ten, rattled the 20 year old but he was able to steer a damaged KTM home to fifteenth. The second race looked more promising after a recovery from another dodgy start but a potential ninth position was ruined when the Briton was hit by a careless backmarker. He took thirteen and was encouraged by his riding while nonplussed regarding his fortunes.

Kane had the speed to challenge for her first podium result of the season but three falls in the first moto on Saturday dropped her from contention for second position to ninth by the flag. A similar story in the wettest and hardest moto of the weekend across all classes occurred in the second race that saw a number of competitors hit the sticky mud. She was seventh for the same slot in the GP classification.

Graeme Irwin has made progress in his recovery from the right shoulder injury that has effectively ruled him out for the first half of the season. The young Irishman is expected to receive an all-clear from medical experts next week and could roll into the gate for the fourth round of the Maxxis British Championship at Lyng this coming weekend. A probable first Grand Prix outing of 2010 could occur at Uddevalla in Sweden at the beginning of July.

Nicholls remains tenth in the World Championship standings but will need 27 points to try and catch Joel Roelants. Kane is sixth and 9 points from the top five. HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK now head to Norfolk and the Lyng circuit before three Grands Prix in a row visiting Germany, Latvia and Sweden.

For more information visit the team’s website at: www.ktmukmx.com

Photos courtesy of Ray Archer

Jake Nicholls:

“Today was a bit of a nightmare really and it began on Saturday where I had trouble with my suspension set-up and had a crash in the heat race. I seemed to turn it around in the warm-up and the track was quite different as a result of the rain. I was holding eleventh in the first moto and moving up, feeling good, when I stood up around the same corner I had fallen on during Saturday and lost the front wheel and slid into the fence. It was a hard crash and I hurt my leg a bit. The bike was bent but I managed to find the flag in fifteenth. I had a terrible start again in the second race but came through well to ninth and with about five minutes to go Maddii cleaned me out. I was shouting at him for two big loops of the track and he didn’t move over. It looked like he was pulling aside in one corner and I went through but then he swung back and hit my front wheel. I took 13th and set my fastest lap right at the end, so my riding was OK but things did not go my way.”

Natalie Kane:

“I had a lot of crashes this weekend, three in the first moto alone, and after that my wrist was pretty sore and I just rode to ninth because I could not feel the throttle that well. I was lucky to finish actually. In the second race I started seventh, moved up to second but then there were a few riders stuck on the track and I moved up the inside, slowed and dropped it. I went down a few more times and decided just to keep going and see where I would finish. The track conditions were hard on my wrist and considering what happened the results were not a disaster.

Graeme Irwin:

“My shoulder is getting better and I will see the doctor next week. If everything is OK then I hope I can start riding soon after and maybe think about racing at Lyng. Fingers crossed. Depending on how it goes then the Grand Prix of Sweden might be do-able, if not then there is a break in July and my first GP will be Lommel; a nice easy one to come back to!”

Roger Magee, Team Principal:

“It was a mixed weekend for us. Natalie is still struggling with her wrist injury and those crashes did not help but at least she took some points to keep touch in the championship. Jake had a difficult day on Saturday and because of the rain his start position was even worse; the gate actually had a big puddle in it! He was riding well and perhaps deserved better from the day. I think that is the second time he has had a run-in with Maddii who doesn’t seem to react to the blue flags. We will look forward to next week now and then Teutschenthal.”

Results

MX2 Moto1

1. Marvin Musquin (KTM); 2. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM); 3. Zach Osborne (Yam); 4. Steven Frossard (Kaw); 5. Joel Roelants (KTM); 6. Chirstophe Charlier (Yam); 7. Khounsith Vongsana (KTM); 8. Arnaud Tonus (Suz); 9. Jeremy van Horebeek (Kaw); 10. Dennis Verbruggen (KTM); 11. Harri Kullas (Yam); 12. Shaun Simpson (KTM); 13. Alessandro Lupino (Yam); 14. Gautier Paulin (Yam); 15. Jake Nicholls (KTM); 16. Ken Roczen (Suz); 17. Mel Pocock (Yam); 18. Matiss Karro (Suz); 19. Axel Alletru (KTM); 20. Nikolaj Larsen (Hon);

MX2 Moto2

1. Marvin Musquin (KTM); 2. Shaun Simpson (KTM); 3. Joel Roelants (KTM); 4. Gautier Paulin (Yam); 5. Arnaud Tonus (Suz); 6. Dennis Verbruggen (KTM); 7. Ken Roczen (Suz); 8. Harri Kullas (Yam); 9. Zach Osborne (Yam); 10. Alessandro Lupino (Yam); 11. Christophe Charlier (Yam); 12. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM); 13. Jake Nicholls (KTM); 14. Steven Frossard (Kaw); 15. Valentin Teillet (KTM); 16. Axel Alletru (KTM); 17. Jeremy van Horebeek (Kaw); 18. Loic Larrieu (Yam); 19. Nikolaj Larsen (Hon); 20. Mel Pocock (Yam);

MX2 Overall Result

1. Marvin Musquin (KTM); 2. Joel Roelants (KTM); 3. Zach Osborne (Yam); 4. Shaun Simpson (KTM); 5. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM); 6. Arnaud Tonus (Suz); 7.  Dennis Verbruggen (KTM); 8. Gautier Paulin (Yam); 9. Christophe Charlier (Yam); 10. Steven Frossard (Kaw); 11. Harri Kullas (Yam); 12. Ken Roczen (Suz); 13. Alessando Lupino (Yam); 14. Jeremy van Horebeek (Kaw); 15. Jake Nicholls (KTM); 16. Khounsith Vongsana (KTM); 17. Axel Alletru (KTM); 18. Valentin Teillet (KTM); 19. Mel Pocock (Yam); 20. Loic Larrieu (Yam);

MX2 World Championship standings after 7 of 15 rounds

1. Marvin Musquin (318); 2. Ken Roczen (247); 3. Steven Frossard (230); 4. Jeffrey Herlings (228); 5. Shaun Simpson (201); 6. Zach Osborne (195); 7. Arnaud Tonus (183); 8. Jeremy van Horebeek (173); 9. Joel Roelants (170); 10. Jake Nicholls (143); 11. Harri Kullas (143); 12. Dennis Verbruggen (127); 13. Christophe Charlier (106); 14. Alessandro Lupino (100); 15. Gautier Paulin (76); 16. Matiss Karro (71); 17. Valentin Teillet (53); 18. Nikolaj Larsen (48); 19. Mel Pocock (34); 20. Petr Smitka (33);

WMX Overall Result

1. Stephanie Laier (KTM); 2. Chiara Fontanesi (Yam); 3. Larissa Papenmeier (Suz); 4. Maria Franke (KTM); 5. Marielle De Mol (Yam); 6. Livia Lancelot (KTM); 7. Natalie Kane (KTM); 8. Francesca Nocera (Hon); 9. Elin Mann (KTM); 10. Nicky van Wordragen (Yam);

FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship standings after 4 of 7 rounds

1. Stephanie Laier (192); 2. Livia Lancelot (150); 3. Maria Franke (141); 4. Chiara Fontanesi (137); 5. Larissa Papenmeier (137); 6. Natalie Kane (128); 7. Marielle De Mol (106); 8. Elin Mann (95); 9. Elien De Winter (88); 10. Nicky van Wordragen (76);

Event Photo Gallery