Frossard comes through Lommel sand for 5th overall

Monster Energy Yamaha had to deal with the hardest
track of the 2011 FIM Motocross World Championship at Lommel for the
Grand Prix of Limburg and Steven Frossard was able to face the immense
bumps, ruts and shifting sand to finish fifth overall on his factory
YZ450FM.



23, 300 spectators travelled to the eleventh round
of fifteen in the series despite the cool and cloudy conditions.
Frossard was pipped to the line for third position in the first moto by
just three hundredths of a second after misreading the proximity of Rui
Goncalves entering the last lap. The Frenchman had ridden a decent race
and was tussling for the lead with Clement Desalle at one stage. He was
part of a breakaway trio involving his two main peers for the 2011
crown: Desalle and Antonio Cairoli. A poor launch in the second race saw
Frossard on the attack but the track was at its roughest all weekend
and he managed fifth by the flag.

David Philippaerts came to Lommel nursing a sore
left knee after an incident while practicing on Wednesday. The Italian
was also smacked in the limb by somebody during the first race but was
able to capture seventh place. Protecting the joint, the former world
champion was in for a drawn-out set of motos and could not apply his
usual powerful style to the sand. He was ninth in the second affair for
8th overall. He expects to be in better shape for the visit to Loket
next weekend where DP19 was a previous winner on the YZ450FM.



Third MX1 rider Anthony Boissiere was another to
battle the sand and collected 16th overall with finishes of thirteenth
and eighteenth. Frossard did not gain any points on Desalle or Cairoli
this weekend and lies third by 11 from the Belgian. Philippaerts holds
seventh with Boissiere down in fifteenth.



The Grand Prix of Czech Republic at Loket will take
place this week for round twelve and precede trips to the UK, Germany
and Italy during August and September.



Steven Frossard, 5th:



Like most of the riders I feel tired! I had a good
race in the first moto. I was very focussed and riding easily. I could
play with the track and had some fun. I made that mistake on the last
lap by not realising how close Goncalves was to me and it was a
disappointing way to finish a decent moto. In the second one I had a bad
start and when I saw Cairoli and Desalle at the front I pushed really
hard on the first laps and I think maybe too hard. I was searching for
energy and wanted the top five but it was a really hard race. I have
never seen the track like this before. It was more like enduro than
motocross; very, very difficult. Overall I think the weekend went quite
well.



David Philippaerts, 8th:



I feel tired! This week I couldnt really train, on
or off the bike because of my leg. Today was very hard because I was
trying to avoid putting too much pressure on the leg and there were so
many bumps to cope with. Goncalves had some bad luck today, which helps
with the world championship points, and I believe the tracks coming up
Loket, Great Britain and Fermo will be good for me. I hope my luck can
change! I think the leg will be better next week. I couldnt use the
muscle much this weekend and I hope it will be easier in Loket. The
track was unbelievable in the second moto. It was almost impossible to
open the gas in some places. Ninth is not a great result but considering
the injury it is not too bad.



Anthony Boissiere, 16th:



Wow, a really hard GP and I did the best I could in
each race until physically I could not give any more. I was pleased with
the first moto but the track was rougher and bumpier in the second race
and it got to a point where I just wanted to make the finish.