Monster Energy Yamahas Steven Frossard walked away
from a heavy-hitting Agueda circuit and the Grand Prix of Portugal with
fifth position overall on his works YZ450FM. The winner of the French
round collected some decent points after a first moto finish of third,
although he was limited to seventh later in the day after a lacklustre
start from the gate.
Excellent weather covered the weekend and crimsoned
the 13,000 attendance. The tight circuit was another hard test for the
riders with the distinctive red dirt becoming very rough and demanding;
penalising errors and forming the kind of squared-edge bumps that draw
so much energy and concentration.
Frossard was nursing some discomfort with his right
thumb after a small tumble in the qualification heat on Saturday. A
bright start in the first moto helped the Frenchman terrorise the rear
wheel of leader Clement Desalle but entering the final stages he was
powerless to Tony Cairolis attack and passed the chequered flag in
third. A poor gate later in the afternoon signified a busy stretch of
work for the MX1 rookie but he fared well, arriving to seventh before
being unable to gain further ground.
Frossard also saw the spill suffered by team-mate
David Philippaerts. The Italian lost the front end of his machine in a
descent while climbing the top ten and in the resulting crash cut his
elbow and hurt his ribs. Earlier in the day DP had suffered another fall
in the formative stages of the first moto and was forced to retire. It
was a hard weekend for the former world champion and his 2011 title
hopes.
Anthony Boissiere had a technical problem in the
first moto that caused a DNF but he adjusted to the track in the second
affair and took thirteenth, despite nursing some pain from his accident
in France last week.
The winners of back-to-back events had to forego the
podium on this occasion but Frossard has created distance between
himself and Max Nagl (who crashed and injured his right hand) in the
MX1-GP world championship standings. He is now third by 21 points.
Philippaerts is seventh with Boissiere in fifteenth.
Monster Energy Yamaha will move east and across the
border to La Bañeza this week for the Grand Prix of Spain and round
seven of the series. The inauguration of the small facility south of
Leon will represent the third of three consecutive meetings and precedes
a small break in the calendar before another three-race stretch.
Steven Frossard:
It was a bit difficult this weekend with my finger
because the track had many hard bumps. It was hard for me on the
downhills and also in the waves. I took a really good start in the first
moto and went from fifth to second. I tried to catch Desalle but then
Cairoli arrived and he was faster. I had been a bit too aggressive and
was getting some arm-pump. It wasnt easy to ride smooth and quickly
after that. Anyway it was a good heat for me. I was a bit too tense at
the start of the second race because I had the bad launch from Saturday
in my head. I made a mess of it and tried to fight back but after
twenty-five minutes I saw David crash and decided to consolidate, not go
too crazy and focus on making the finish.
David Philippaerts:
Im very disappointed. I tried to push today but the
track was very difficult and if you made a mistake then you paid for it
and I did. I took the outside line to make the triple in the first moto
and found Goncalves who had changed his line when I was in the air.
There was not much that could be done but it was a big crash. In the
next race I made the little jump down the hill but I lost the front end,
like I did in France. My arm needed a few stitches and I have some pain
in my ribs but it could have been worse.
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