Uddevalla, Sweden – 5th July 2009 – World Championship

Nicholls sets benchmark with 8th in Sweden

Red Bull KTM UK’s Jake Nicholls scored a career-best 8th position with two top ten results at a cloud-covered Uddevalla for the Grand Prix of Sweden and the eleventh stop of fifteen in the FIM MX2 Motocross World Championship.

The 18 year old recovered from a dramatic start in the qualification heat in which he collided with Valentin Teillet and was among the last riders around the first turn to pull through to a creditable 13th place. On an overcast Sunday the rough and loose terrain was hardly frugal with overtaking opportunities but Nicholls relished the curling layout that featured several hefty jumps. Two good starts – the second of which saw him running near the top five and within touching distance of the leaders – and a decent pace led to 9th and 10th positions in the two 35 minute and 2 lap sprints. The second race was hampered by a goggle problem and the teenager had to ditch his eye-wear after just five of the twenty-two laps.

“Two good results and I have known that I’ve had the speed for the last couple of weeks now,” he said. “I made things hard for myself last weekend but today I got the starts, got my head down and enjoyed the track here, like I always have done. I struggled a little bit in the middle of the first moto but picked it up by the end and was confident for the second race. The next start was decent and the first three or four laps were really strong. I had a problem with my goggles and they steamed up from the inside so I had to dump them from the fifth lap. I was tagging onto Frossard but couldn’t stay with him because of the sand and gravel that were flicking up. I am happy anyway. The second race was hard work but I enjoyed myself.”

With Stephen Sword unable to compete in Sweden due to his hand injury Graeme Irwin was able to make his second Grand Prix appearance of the season. The young Irishman was 26th and 23rd and still in search of his first world championship numeration. “It wasn’t so bad and a lot better than Mallory,” he said. “I hope I can build on this and look towards my first points soon.”

“Two top tens for Jake for the first time, which is his best so far but I think there is still more to come from him and he has been progressing all year. He just needs to get a bit more experience at running near the front and maintaining that pace all the way through,” commented Team Principal Roger Magee. “We will look forward now to almost a month of racing in the UK and hopefully we will maintain the lead in the British championship with Swordy and see some more results from Jake.”

Nicholls has leapfrogged Sword in the championship standings to rest 19th. The Scot is 22nd.

Red Bull KTM UK will be in action next week at Lyng in Norfolk for the fifth round of eight in the Maxxis British Championship (Nicholls is currently 4th in the standings, Sword leads). The twelfth round of the world championship will take place in four weeks time at the sandy Lommel circuit in Belgium for the GP of Limburg.

Results

MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 39:13.731; ; 2. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:06.358; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:14.886; 4. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), +0:15.737; 5. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:17.328; 6. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), +0:17.961; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:18.318; 8. Matiss Karro (LAT, Suzuki), +0:38.142; 9. Jake Nicholls (GBR, Red Bull KTM UK), +0:43.848; 10. Nick Triest (BEL, KTM), +0:47.549;

MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 39:58.707; ; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.783; 3. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), +0:08.291; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:23.305; 5. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), +0:26.256; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Yamaha), +0:32.772; 7. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +0:35.382; 8. Matiss Karro (LAT, Suzuki), +0:40.653; 9. Marcus Schiffer (GER, KTM), +0:42.685; 10. Jake Nicholls (GBR, Red Bull KTM UK), +0:45.835;

MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 47 points; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 39 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 36 p.; 4. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), 35 p.; 5. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 34 p.; 6. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), 34 p.; 7. Matiss Karro (LAT, Suzuki), 26 p.; 8. Jake Nicholls (GBR, Red Bull KTM UK), 23 p.; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Yamaha), 22 p.; 10. Marcus Schiffer (GER, KTM), 21 p.;

MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 371 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 358 p.; 3. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 348 p.; 4. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), 331 p.; 5. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 284 p.; 6. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 239 p.; 7. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), 203 p.; 8. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), 199 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Suzuki), 197 p.; 10. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 180 p.; 19. Jake Nicolls (GBR, Red Bull KTM UK ), 99p; 22. Stephen Sword (GBR, Red Bull KTM UK) 87p

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