USGP: Frossard Ready for Glen Helen

USGP Report

On the US scene team Kawasaki Pro Circuit is one of the most prestigious, with many wins and titles in the lites/MX2 class.

At the US GP this weekend the famous American company will be represented by Steven Frossard and Jeremy Van Horebeek, two regular competitors of the FIM World series who are currently in the top ten of the MX2 points standings. Fourth placed Steven Frossard is at the moment the best Kawasaki CLS rider after five rounds.

Spain could have been a great day for Steven Frossard but a crash at the start of the second heat ruined his chances of winning the first GP of his career.

"It was a frustrating weekend for me, the second one in a row after Portugal. In Agueda I lost all my chances in a small crash during the qualifying race; I was slow when I crashed, but the handle bar broke and I came last on the starting gate on one of the circuit where the pole is so important."

"One week later in Bellpuig I was strong in the first race, as I followed Roczen during most of the race, but I crashed at the second start and lost again my chances. I was last to start and I missed another podium, that’s a shame," said the French kid before flying to the US for the sixth round of the World Championship.

After five rounds Steven is fourth in the standings, not so far from Ken Roczen and Jeffrey Herlings who won with Marvin Musquin all the heats and GP’s since the opening round in Bulgaria.

"The MX2 class is really competitive, four or five of us are very close and if you do one mistake you lose a lot of time and points. Until this year I never finished all my races in the first part of the season, so I’m satisfied with my results even if I’ve not won any moto yet. I won twice last year, and I want to win as soon as possible, I know that it’s possible as I proved during the first heat in Bellpuig."

"At the first GP’s I struggled with my starts, in fact I was not used to my racing bike but now it’s much better. We had to adapt our Kawasaki to the FIM noise limit; it took us some time at the beginning of the series but now the bike is very powerful and it’s just a question of time to win again," he continued.

The bike is now highly competitive but Harry Nolte and the technical staff of Kawasaki CLS had to adapt it to the FIM rules during the first races. And the riders had to adapt to the racing bike that they don’t use for practice, as the team change each engine twice during a GP.

The best performance at the moment for Steven is probably the Dutch GP, where he scored a podium result for the first time of his career on a sandy track.

"At the moment Valkenswaard is my best memory, for sure my bike helped me as it’s much more powerful than last year. I went to Holland many times this winter to train with Kees Van Der Ven, who gave me great advices. Then before the GP I was racing a Dutch championship round, but I retired in one race; I went to watch Herlings who is a great rider in the sand, and I learnt a lot just watching him. A few days later I remembered what I saw and I felt much easier on the bike, I found something that will definitively help me in the sand," revealed Steven who does his last season in the MX2 class as he will turn twenty three in July.

"I’m ready to go in MX1; I proved at the Nations that I can get good results in this class too, even if I just practice a few days on a 450 before the event. But at the moment my goal is the MX2 World title, and I expect now to reduce the gap with the first three riders. Roczen and Musquin are phenomenal riders, at their age I was just racing the French 125 junior series! But they are not unbeatable, and that would be a true dream to win my first GP in the US. We got great support from Pro Circuit, the track is legendary and I’m ready for the challenge," he ended. 

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