At Lommel, Belgium, for round eight of the FIM World Motocross Championship, August 3, Belgian Ken De Dycker moved up to fourth in the MX1 Championship after recording his first win of the season, while Marvin Musquin won a wet MX2 class to build on his Championship lead.
MX1
Despite crashing in Saturday’s qualifying Teka Suzuki World MX1 Ken De Dycker remained positive and started off the Grand Prix with a strong win in the opening moto. The Belgian passed countryman Clement Desalle after a couple of laps and carried on to win with a big advantage over the LS Motors man. The final heat was harder for De Dycker, but he soldiered on to finish third and grasp his first season’s win at home, moving up to fourth in the Championship, as well.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Nagl was second overall, mounting again on the podium in Lommel after last year’s third-place finish. Nagl won the final moto but struggled in the first heat after a bad start – he finished sixth eventually.
Championship leader Cairoli turned a bad weekend into a good one, as he secured the podium despite a disastrous qualifying and lost just two points from runner-up Nagl. Cairoli took two bad starts in the heats but recovered to fifth and second in each moto.
Steven Ramon was fourth overall at his comeback race after he injured his neck at Valkenswaard. The overall result, including a third-place finish from heat one, showed the Belgian is ready for a strong finale to the 2009 season.
Being the third home rider in the top five, Desalle was fifth overall as a second-moto crash at the first corner damaged his pipe – after a noise control, Desalle was given a one-minute penalty and dropped down to ninth.
Aprilia Racing’s Priem ended eighth overall despite two good starts to the heats. The Belgian ended right ahead of defending Champion Philippaerts, who had a bad day.
Strijbos, coming back this weekend despite another crash last week hampered his right shoulder, was ninth in heat one but had to pull out of heat two due to a technical issue.
MX1 Race 1 top 10: 1. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 43:03.805; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), +0:06.893; 3. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:18.879; 4. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:48.843; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), +0:49.076; 6. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:50.650; 7. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:11.853; 8. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), +1:13.690; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Honda), +2:04.985; 10. Manuel Priem (BEL, Aprilia), +2:31.170.
MX1 Race 2 top 10: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 41:54.880; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), +0:30.961; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), +0:49.586; 4. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:58.857; 5. Manuel Priem (BEL, Aprilia), +1:14.596; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), +1:14.903; 7. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +1:47.985; 8. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), +2:08.690; 9. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), +2:14.637; 10. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), -1 lap(s).
MX1 Overall top 10: 1. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 45 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 38 p.; 4. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 38 p.; 5. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 34 p.; 6. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 32 p.; 7. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), 28 p.; 8. Manuel Priem (BEL, Aprilia), 27 p.; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 10. Shannon Terreblanche (RSA, Kawasaki), 14 p.
MX1 Championship top 10: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 466 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 415 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 388 p.; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 383 p.; 5. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 379 p.; 6. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 375 p.; 7. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), 327 p.; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 215 p.; 9. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), 188 p.; 10. Aigar Leok (EST, TM), 167 p.
MX1 Manufacturers: 1. Yamaha, 529 points; 2. KTM, 475 p.; 3. Honda, 414 p.; 4. Suzuki, 398 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 242 p.; 6. Aprilia, 189 p.; 7. TM, 167 p.; 8. CCM, 123 p.; 9. Husaberg, 0 p.; 10. Husqvarna, 0 p.
MX2
Musquin made a superb comeback to the GP scene by taking victories in both Belgian motos, winning his first GP on the sand since he is racing in the World series. The Frenchman of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing went on to win both heats with a large advantage, as he even made to cross the finish line with an 18 seconds lead in the second moto.
Joel Roelants took the second spot on the overall podium, with the Belgian taking the honor of becoming the highest-placed home rider in a hard fought GP. KTM Factory Junior MX2’s Roelants was stuck in third in moto one with damaged goggles but in the final heat he stormed to a well-deserved second.
LS Motors Honda’s Dennis Verbruggen grasped his maiden podium at home. The former European Champion took fifth in heat one and added a strong third place finish in moto two to leave Rui Goncalves outside the podium by just one point.
The Portuguese was second in heat one, but he ended a tough final heat in eighth, dropping down to fourth overall. The main consolation for Goncalves was his move up to second in the Championship, right ahead of previous runner up Paulin.
An incredible Ken Roczen took fifth overall courtesy of two strong recoveries – the young German started from 35th after he damaged the bike in a qualifying tangle. Suzuki fellow rider Rasmus Jorgensen was a surprising sixth.
MX2 Race 1 top 10: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 41:56.587; 2. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:09.841; 3. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:20.355; 4. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +1:55.488; 5. Dennis Verbruggen (BEL, Honda), +2:03.427; 6. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +2:17.114; 7. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), +2:22.731; 8. Rasmus Jorgensen (DEN, Suzuki), +2:25.810; 9. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), +2:30.504; 10. Loic Larrieu (FRA, Yamaha), +2:35.433.
MX2 Race 2 top 10: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 41:57.742; 2. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:18.051; 3. Dennis Verbruggen (BEL, Honda), +0:35.797; 4. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), +1:01.908; 5. Marcus Schiffer (GER, KTM), +1:14.808; 6. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +1:28.517; 7. Rasmus Jorgensen (DEN, Suzuki), +1:29.605; 8. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +1:32.435; 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), +2:02.999; 10. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), +2:10.331.
MX2 Overall top 10: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Dennis Verbruggen (BEL, Honda), 36 p.; 4. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 35 p.; 5. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 30 p.; 6. Rasmus Jorgensen (DEN, Suzuki), 27 p.; 7. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), 26 p.; 8. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), 26 p.; 9. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), 23 p.; 10. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 23 p.
MX2 Championship top 10: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 421 points; 2. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 383 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 372 p.; 4. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), 357 p.; 5. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 284 p.; 6. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 269 p.; 7. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), 229 p.; 8. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 222 p.; 9. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), 222 p.; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Suzuki), 197 p.
MX2 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 517 points; 2. Kawasaki, 441 p.; 3. Yamaha, 414 p.; 4. Suzuki, 375 p.; 5. Honda, 313 p.; 6. TM, 9 p.
