After their impressive team presentation in front of
international media and guests on Saturday evening Monster Energy
Yamaha picked up their first silverware of the FIM Motocross World
Championship at a grey, rainy and cold Valkenswaard for the Grand Prix
of the Netherlands. Steven Frossard finished third overall on his
YZ450FM and battled with Antonio Cairoli and Clement Desalle in both
motos as the trio led the world through the slippery and rough Dutch
sand.
Frossard jostled for pole position with reigning
champion Cairoli on Sunday under bright skies but the weather took a
turn for the worse on race day. Starting from third and fourth positions
in the gates on their YZ450FMs Frossard, David Philippaerts and
debutant Shaun Simpson, in thirteenth, got their Grand Prix campaigns
underway watched by 23,000 spectators who braved the elements.
The 2011 MX1 vice champion set the pace in the first
moto but couldn’t get comfortable with his rhythm and several mistakes
allowed Cairoli through. Frossard swapped track space with Desalle in
the second race and a better performance despite driving rain saw the
Frenchman circulate in a smart and steady third position for a strong
start to the six month competition.
Shaun Simpson rode well and confidently on his first
Grand Prix outing as a Yamaha rider and on the YZ450FM. The Scot
started badly in the opening sprint but cut a path through to eleventh
place. A better launch in the second race positioned the former British
Champion in the second half of the top ten and he was just pipped to
seventh on the last lap. The 24 year old was eighth overall for an
encouraging day.
Philippaerts, on his first Grand Prix since last
July, was pushing hard in the first moto and grabbed a decent seventh
spot for his efforts. A crash through the busy set of turns at the
beginning of the second race meant the Italian had to find space and
time from the rear of the forty-strong entry. ‘DP’ made it to fifteenth
for eleventh position for the Dutch curtain-raiser.
The fledgling standings reflect the final Grand Prix
standings and with another two Grands Prix scheduled in April a better
picture of the early MX1-GP story will be evident by the end of the
month. Monster Energy Yamaha will have a free weekend before
back-to-back events in Bulgaria and Italy.
Steven Frossard, 3rd:
“I didn’t ride well in the first moto. I had a few
good laps at the beginning but then I had some arm-pump and then pushed a
bit too much. I don’t know how many mistakes I made! I went outside the
track twice. I was very disappointed because I rode like I did a few
years ago in MX2 by pushing too much. I turned the day around and I was
happier after the second moto because I rode quite close to how I do in
training. The track was strange. In the first moto some parts were very
bad but then they were graded too much for the second.”
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Shaun Simpson, 7th:
“Coming into this weekend my goal was a top ten
finish. I took eleventh in the first one and, unluckily, Paulin passed
me on the last corner of the second otherwise I would have had seventh.
Eleventh and eighth and seventh in the championship is not a bad way to
start the championship. I think my starts could have been better and I
showed in the second race that with a decent getaway I can hang ‘up
there’. I’m strong at the beginning of the race and also at the end so
now I need to work on that middle section a little bit. I’m looking
forward to the hardpack in Bulgaria and Italy now. The team have done
good work and I feel good on the Yamaha. In the last three weeks we have
made a lot of great little changes and it has made the difference. The
team atmosphere is good and I find myself wanting to get back to the
truck and wanting to talk to people so I’m all smiles at the moment.”
David Philippaerts, 11th:
“I didn’t feel good today and I’m not 100%
physically. Those two bad starts did not help me. I broke the clutch in
the second race crash. It has not been a perfect day but this is the
first race of the season and the first GP for a long time for me. I
think Bulgaria will be different both for the track and the condition.
We will see what will happen. I’m not so happy with today but we will
keep on working. The bike was really good here but the track was bumpy
and is a bit special with its demands. The next couple of tracks are
good for me so I will hope for better.”
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