First podium of the season for Gautier Paulin‏

Gautier Paulin has scored his
first
MX2 podium of the season after a successful Swedish GP in Uddevalla. The
twenty-year-old Frenchman  impressed a strong crowd of 22.000 with his
speed and determination on a difficult and slippery circuit as he pulled
through two difficult starts to score a 5-3 result.

A crash in the qualification
race
on Saturday meant that Paulin had to race from the back of the pack to
salvage 18^th spot, inevitably placing him wide on the
starting
grid for Sunday’s race.   With morning rain making track
conditions even more technical, Paulin rolled onto the start for moto 1
knowing that he would have no advantage in the first turn.  
Keeping out of trouble while he jostled for positions on the opening
lap,
he came from outside the top ten and started to pick off rider after
rider.  As the race drew on, Paulin got stronger and stronger and
started to close in on series leader, Marvin Musquin.  With one lap to
go he closed to within 1 second of his fellow countryman and chased him
home to end 5^th.

A little better luck in the
start
of moto 2 meant that Paulin was inside the top ten as he completed the
opening lap.  Once again he found himself chasing Musquin as the duo
caught Dutch youngster Jeffrey Herlings around the 25 minute
mark.   Paulin seemed to find an extra burst of energy as he
rocketed past both Musquin and then Herlings to move into third
spot.   His efforts were rewarded with an overall podium,
Paulin’s first of the season.

“It’s great to be on
the podium and this what the Team and I work for.  Every GP we get
stronger and improve and people see that my speed is there and that I am
capable of running up front.  I have been living in Belgium for the
past few weeks and I will return there to prepare for Lommel.  I
proved in the pre season races that I can race in the sand and I want to
be
strong at the Belgian GP and hopefully be on the podium.” said a
content Paulin.

Race results:

MX2 Race 1
1 Frossard,
Steven FRA Kawasaki
2 Herlings,
Jeffrey NED KTM
3 van Horebeek,
Jeremy BEL Kawasaki
4 Musquin,
Marvin FRA KTM
5 Paulin,
Gautier FRA Yamaha
6 Kullas,
Harri FIN Yamaha
7 Osborne,
Zach USA Yamaha
8 Roelants, Joel BEL KTM
9 Simpson, Shaun GBR KTM
10 Charlier,
Christophe FRA Yamaha
11 Lupino,
Alessandro ITA Yamaha
12 Teillet,
Valentin FRA KTM
13 Leib,
Michael USA Kawasaki
14 Tonus,
Arnaud SUI Suzuki
15 Delince,
Jeremy BEL KTM

MX2 Race 2
1 Roczen,
Ken GER Suzuki
2 Frossard,
Steven FRA Kawasaki
3 Paulin,
Gautier FRA Yamaha
4 Herlings,
Jeffrey NED KTM
5 Musquin, Marvin FRA KTM
6 van Horebeek,
Jeremy BEL Kawasaki
7 Leib,
Michael USA Kawasaki
8 Roelants,
Joel BEL KTM
9 Osborne, Zach USA Yamaha
10 Karro,
Matiss LAT Suzuki
11 Simpson,
Shaun GBR KTM
12 Nicholls, Jake GBR KTM
13 Lupino,
Alessandro ITA Yamaha
14 Charlier,
Christophe FRA Yamaha
15 Kullas,
Harri FIN Yamaha

MX2 GP Overall:
1 Frossard,
Steven FRA Kawasaki 47
2 Herlings, Jeffrey NED KTM 40
3 Paulin,
Gautier FRA Yamaha 36
4 van Horebeek,
Jeremy BEL Kawasaki 35
5 Musquin, Marvin FRA KTM 34
6 Roelants,
Joel BEL KTM 26
7 Osborne,
Zach USA Yamaha 26
8 Roczen,
Ken GER Suzuki 25
9 Leib,
Michael USA Kawasaki 22
10 Simpson,
Shaun GBR KTM 22
11 Kullas,
Harri FIN Yamaha 21
12 Lupino,
Alessandro ITA Yamaha 18
13 Charlier,
Christophe FRA Yamaha 18
14 Nicholls,
Jake GBR KTM 12
15 Karro,
Matiss LAT Suzuki 11

MX2 World championship
standings:
1 Musquin, M. FRA 438
2 Roczen,
Ken GER 355
3 Frossard, S. FRA 355
4 Herlings, J. NED 326
5 Osborne,
Zach USA 275
6 Simpson, Shaun GBR 268
7 van Horebeek, J. BEL 244
8 Tonus,
Arnaud SUI 243
9 Roelants, Joel BEL 240
10 Kullas, Harri FIN 203
11 Nicholls,
Jake GBR 189
12 Charlier, C. FRA 171
13 Paulin, G. FRA 168
14 Lupino,
A. ITA 129
15 Verbruggen,
D. BEL 127