FIM MX
The 2010 FIM Motocross World Championship is getting to its end and Fermo is the new Italian venue chosen to conclude the season this weekend. Antonio Cairoli and Marvin Musquin arrive in Italy being already the 2010 FIM World Champions in MX1 and MX2 respectively, but the top ten positions in both Championships are still to be decided.
In MX1 there is only 21 points difference from runner up Clement Desale and third in the Championship David Philippaerts. Max Nagl, who had an excellent weekend in Lierop last weekend, is just 10 points away from the Italian and can easily enter the top three after this weekend in Fermo. All of them are really talented riders on the hard pack and they have all achieved a GP victory this season, so anything can happen at the Italian GP.
Ken Roczen and Steven Frossard will finish second and third in the MX2 Championship as the gap from them to the rest of the riders is more than the 50 points. However, behind them, riders such as Zach Osborne, Joel Roelants, who was third overall last weekend in Lierop, and Shaun Simpson have less than 10 points difference among them. Last weekend’s GP winner Gautier Paulin is eleventh in the Championship and will do his best to obtain his second overall victory in Fermo and enter the top ten in the point standings.
Jordi Tixier, 2010 UEM EMX 125 European Champion, will miss the last round of the series due to a hand injury he picked up while preparing for his MX2 appearance in Fermo. Between second in the Championship Yohan Lafont and third classified Sulivan Jaulin there are just seven points difference, so the two young talents will race for the runner up position this weekend in Fermo.
MX1
Current 2010 MX1 World Champion Cairoli added one more GP victory in his personal records last weekend in Lierop, where he had to give his best riding to achieve the victory.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Cairoli is riding at home what it can be his last race of the season as he has not been selected for Team Italy for the upcoming Red Bull FIM Motocross of Nations. So far, the Italian has achieved eight GP victories, he has been twelve times on the podium, has won 15 heats and has received three times the Lovemytime Pole Position Award.
Runner up Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1’s Desalle has not been really lucky in the last phase of the Championship. First he missed the top of the rostrum several times for very few points, then handed the MX1 Title to Cairoli after his Suzuki machine stopped in Brazil and last weekend in Lierop he suffered a really big crash in the qualifying race and was not able to ride at his 100-percent level during the races. Desalle is 21 points ahead of Philippaerts and will do his best to keep his runner up position in the Championship.
For Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross’ Philippaerts, Lierop was not one of his best weekends either, being just fifth overall. This season the Italian has only achieved one overall victory in France, so he is willing to finish the Championship winning his home Grand Prix in Fermo.
Like his compatriot Cairoli, Philippaerts has not been selected to take part in the Red Bull FIM Motocross of Nations for Team Italy, so he will try to delight his fans as much as possible in case Fermo is his last race of the season.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Nagl lands in Fermo with high self-esteem after winning the qualifying race and the first heat last weekend in Lierop, where he finished second overall behind his team-mate Cairoli and ahead of Belgian Ramon.
Nagl is fourth in the MX1 World Championship Classification but is just ten points away from third classified Philippaerts.
Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1’s Ramon was third overall in Lierop last weekend and could keep his fifth position in the point standings. Ramon is still recovering from a leg injury and admitted he still struggles to keep the rhythm throughout the 35 minutes and two laps of Sunday races. The Belgian is 15 points away from Nagl, so he still has some possibilities to improve his fifth position in the point standings.
Tanel Leok is sixth in the Championship and he will not be able to improve his current position in the MX1 Classification this weekend in Fermo as he is 102 points behind fifth classified Ramon. The Estonian finished seventh at the end of last season, which means that he has improved one position in the Championship.
After his GP victory in Teutschenthal, Germany, seventh in the Championship De Dycker has not been able to be back again on the podium and he will have to do a good performance in Fermo if he wants to cut the 22 points difference with the Estonian Leok.
Eighth in the Championship is Xavier Boog, who seems to be not full fit after his knee injury suffered in Lommel, and he is followed by Evgeny Bobryshev, who will not take part in the last GP of the season as he is still recovering from two broken ribs. Completing the top then is home rider Davide Guarneri who got a solid eighth position in Lierop last weekend.
Austrian Dean Ferris will also take part in the Italian GP in Fermo and will be joined by Antonio Balbi, one of the best Brazilian riders in the history, and the current MX3 World Champion Spanish Carlos Campano.
MX2
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Musquin was proclaimed the 2010 MX2 FIM World Champion last weekend in Lierop thanks to his second overall position and Roczen’s DNF in the first heat of the Benelux GP. Musquin obtained his second MX2 World Title in a row having still one more GP to go.
For Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2 rider Roczen the dream of becoming the MX2 World Champion this season is over. The 16-year-old German rider could not believe what was happening when he saw that the chain of his Suzuki machine had broken while he was leading the first heat in Lierop. Roczen had lost all his chances to win the Championship but he dominated the second heat with superb authority. Roczen will finish second in the point standings of the Championship in his second year in the MX2 class.
Kawasaki CLS’ Frossard is still third in the Championship but the French seems to be struggling in these last Grand Prix’s of the season. Frossard is 78 points ahead of fourth placed Osborne, so he will finish third in the 2010 MX2 World Championship, no matter his result in Italy. However, the French will try to be back on the podium to finish the season with a good feeling on his Kawasaki machine.
Fourth in the Championship is Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Herlings, who is still away from racing due to his shoulder injury suffered in Loket. The Dutch rider can lose his fourth position in the Championship this weekend as his pursuers are closing the big gap that Herlings had opened before getting injured. Osborne, for instance, is just 23 points away from him, so if the American or even sixth classified Roelants, Simpson, Tonus or Van Horebeek do a good race in Fermo, Herlings might lose some positions in the point standings.
Bike-it Cosworth Yamaha UK’s Osborne completes the top five and can even improve his position in the Championship if he does a good performance in the hard pack of Fermo. The American has been three times on the podium this season, in Glen Helen, France and Germany, so he is looking forward to conquering the Italian rostrum as well.
Joel Roelants moved from ninth to sixth in the point standings after his third overall position in Lierop last weekend. The Belgian is confident that he can be even higher in the podium and is looking forward to Fermo to prove it. Roelants is just two points behind Osborne, so he can even finish in the top five of the MX2 FIM World Championship.
After a very bad weekend in Brazil, Shaun Simpson finished fourth overall in the GP of Benelux last weekend and kept his seventh position in the Championship. Arnaud Tonus follows the Brit in the point standings after his solid sixth position in Lierop. The Swiss showed last weekend that he can ride with front riders but he still lacks some strength to be able to keep his position until the end of the race.
Ninth is Jeremy Van Horebeek, who did not experience a good weekend in Lierop and could only finish 17th, and completing the top ten is Harry Kullas.
Last weekend’s Grand Prix winner Paulin Gautier is still eleventh in the MX2 point standings after missing the first four Grand Prix of the season due to an injury. It was hard for the French to ride at his 100% level again, but he is now fully fit to do a good result in Fermo and finish the Championship among the top best MX2 riders of the World.
EMX 125
Jordi Tixier is the current 2010 UEM EMX 125 European Champion after his overall victory in Loket, Czech Republic. However, the French will not be able to take part in the last round of the series due to his hand injury. Second and third classified, Lafont and Jaulin, will have to fight tooth and nail this weekend in Fermo to obtain the best final position in the Championship.
TIMETABLE
Saturday: EMX 125 Free Practice Group 1 8:05; EMX 125 Free Practice Group 2 8:40; WMX Free Practice 9:25; MX2 Free Practice 10:00; MX1 Free Practice 10:45; EMX 125 Pre Qualifying Practice Group 1 11:35; EMX 125 Pre Qualifying Practice Group 2 12:10; WMX Time Practice 13:00; MX2 Pre Qualifying Practice 13:35; MX1 Pre Qualifying Practice 14:20; WMX Race 1 15:15; MX2 Qualifying Race 16:05; MX1 Qualifying Race 16:55; EMX 125 Qualifying Race 1 17:45; EMX 125 Qualifying Race 2 18:35;
Sunday: EMX 125 Warm up 8:00; WMX Warm up 8:30; MX2 Warm up 9:00; MX1 Warm up 9:30; EMX 125 Race 1 10:20; WMX Race 2 11:15; MX2 Grand Prix Race 1 12:10; MX1 Grand Prix Race 1 13:10; MX2 Grand Prix Race 2 15:03; MX1 Grand Prix race 2 16:03; EMX 125 Race 2 17:20.
