Motocross World Championship
Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2’s Ken Roczen has come within minutes of celebrating Grand Prix success on two previous occasions this season. At a warm and cloudy Lommel for the Limburg round of the FIM Motocross World Championship, the talented German finally obtained his overdue first triumph of 2010 and on the 2010 RM-Z250.
The teenager seemed to make light work of a very difficult terrain both technically and physically on Saturday. He was fastest in pre-qualification and then beat World Champion Marvin Musquin to secure his fourth pole position of the year. The many laps of testing and training in the gnarly Belgian powder seemed to pay off as Roczen was more than proficient across one of the hardest surfaces the GP stars will encounter through the campaign.
Refinements on the fettled RM-Z250 with an engine upgrade during the week assisted Roczen in his Belgian plight and he ran away to a convincing win in the first moto on Sunday, watched by 23,500 fans. Not so sharp off the line in the second contest, Roczen was still able to push into the top three on the first lap and passed Musquin to circulate in second for the race duration. The combined tally of 1-2 was enough to seal the top step.
Arnaud Tonus was 10th overall for his best result at Lommel. The Swiss rode steadily to eighth in the first moto and then recovered from a first-lap crash that dumped him to the rear of the bustling pack to climb back to 11th. It was a resilient performance from Tonus who has evolved his speed and technique in the sand since joining the German squad.
Even though Roczen was able to taste victory for the first time this term, he was only able to shave five points from Musquin’s lead in the world championship and the deficit lies at 78 with 200 left to win. Tonus is ninth but only eight points from the top seven.
Round 12 of 15 will see Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2 cross their homeland and into Loket for the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic next week.
Ken Roczen says: “This weekend was perfect for me. Saturday started things well and Sunday was even better! I have improved a lot in the sand and I am really happy about that because I remember when I rode here two years ago I was not that good at all! This feels special and we have spent a lot of time at Lommel so this is a race a bit different to the others. The first moto was really good and I had a fast rhythm in the second but I couldn’t go as quickly as Jeffrey. We changed a lot on the bike during the week and it was working so well, especially on the starts.”
Arnaud Tonus says: “I’m pretty happy. I did not have a good feeling during Saturday so I went in with a different approach this morning and wanted to enjoy my riding as much as possible. Warm-up went well and I had a good rhythm throughout the first moto to take eighth. Unfortunately I had a big crash on the first lap of the second moto and lost a lot of time. I pushed and did my best to come back. I reached 11th and was satisfied with that. Lommel is always hell, but when you find a good rhythm then it is possible to have fun.”
MX2 Moto1: 1. Ken Roczen (GER, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 40:03.130; 2. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), +0:15.298; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:32.719; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:37.586; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:49.812; 6. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), +1:01.090; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +1:16.896; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), +1:30.922; 9. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +1:40.112; 10. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:54.227.
MX2 Moto2: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 41:49.178; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), +0:07.430; 3. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), +0:17.879; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.301; 5. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:37.546; 6. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), +0:44.946; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:10.698; 8. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:24.977; 9. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +1:37.362; 10. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +1:48.602; 11. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), +1:48.973.
MX2 Overall Result: 1. Ken Roczen (GER, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 47 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 34 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), 32 p.; 6. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 30 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 30 p.; 8. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 24 p.; 9. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 24 p.; 10. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 23 p.
MX2 World Championship standings (after 11 of 15 rounds): 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 480 points; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 402 p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 379 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 371 p.; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 298 p.; 6. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 290 p.; 7. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 274 p.; 8. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 268 p.; 9. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 266 p.; 10. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 233 p.
