KTM dominates the qualifying races in Uddevalla

UDDEVALLA (Sweden), 30 June 2012 – The Swedish Grand Prix started today in the beautiful track of Uddevalla with the MX1 and MX2 qualifying races, as well as with the first race of the UEM EMX125. There was some rain during the morning, but it was dry when the qualifying races started and Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings managed to win their respectively heats.

Tim Gajser dominated with almost thirty seconds advantage the first race of the UEM EXM125 series. Pauls Jonass was second and home rider Anton Lundgren was third. James Dunn and Simone Furlotti completed the top five.

MX1
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli finished sixth in the pre-qualifying practice, but it was not a problem for the Italian to take the holeshot and lead the qualifying race until the chequered flag. Cairoli was really satisfied with his performance today and he hopes to do well tomorrow and get as many points as possible to keep his advantage with the rest of the riders.

The second position was for Honda World Motocross’ Evgeny Bobryshev, who obtained the best lap time during the pre-qualifying session. Before coming to Uddevalla, the Russian had already admitted that he was feeling really confident for the weekend, so Bobryshev has already proved that he is ready to fight for the podium tomorrow.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Clement Desalle was third in the qualifying race, after having obtained the second best lap time in the pre-qualifying session. The Belgian rode fourth the first half of the heat, and he then gave chase to Shaun Simpson, who was riding third. After they exchanged their position several times, Desalle managed to cross the finish line third.

Monster Energy Yamaha’s Shaun Simpson did one of the best races of the season today and crossed the finish line fourth, so the British rider has a good chance to finish among the top five riders tomorrow at the main event. From now onwards, Simpson will be under the Rinaldi’s tent replacing Steven Frossard, and his today’s performance proves that he has adapted really quickly to the new team.

CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Christophe Pourcel rode a consistent qualifying race starting from an initial fifth position and keeping it until the chequered flag. The French rider is now third in the standings, six points behind Desalle, so he expects to be on the top of the podium and close the gap with Cairoli.

Both Sebastién Pourcel and David Philippaerts did not have good starts but they quickly moved up some positions and they crossed the finish line sixth and seventh respectively. Jonathan Barragán rode a solid moto and ended eighth and Tanel Leok and Kevin Strijbos completed the top ten.

It was a difficult qualifying race for the Kawasaki Racing Team riders; while Xavier Boog crashed when he was riding sixth and ended twelfth, Gautier Paulin was not finding himself comfortable, and instead of improving his initial eighth position, he dropped down to thirteenth. However, the main races are tomorrow and both French riders are confident that they can finish among the top five.

It was also tough day for Ken De Dycker, who crashed during the pre-qualifying session and he had to enter the pitlane during the qualifying race to change his goggles. In the end, the Belgian rider crossed the finish line fourteenth.
Rui Gonçalves got a technical problem in his Honda due to the contact he had with Gautier Paulin while they were fighting for the ninth position. The Portuguese could only finish 23rd.

MX1 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 25:16.805; 2. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:01.898; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:15.538; 4. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:19.761; 5. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:36.345; 6. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:41.912; 7. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:44.893; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Honda), +0:47.533; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:50.342; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:53.252;

Complete results available atwww.motocrossmx1.com/reslists.aspx
Photos available atwww.motocrossmx1.com/gallery

MX2
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings took the holeshot of the qualifying race but he went too far out and Tommy Searle and Arnaud Tonus overtook him. Herlings rode third most of the heat, but by the end of it he managed to take the lead and he crossed the finish line first.

Monster Energy Yamaha’s Arnaud Tonus got a really good start and he led the first four laps of the qualifying heat. He was then overtaken by Searle and later on in the same lap by Herlings, so Tonus rode third most of the heat. By the end of the race Searle made a mistake, so the Swiss rider took advantage of it and he finished second.

The fourth position of the qualifying race was for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek, who rode a consistent heat from beginning to end. The Belgian rider is completely recovered from his ankle injury, so he is determined to finish again on the podium this weekend.

Monster Energy Yamaha’s Zach Osborne ended fifth in the qualifying race and he proved that he is ready to fight for a podium finish already in his first GP appearance this season. The American did not have a really good start and he had to give all his best to finish fifth after having started from an initial twelfth position.

Dylan Ferrandis had another good performance today and he was able to finish sixth, ahead of Joel Roelants and Jake Nicholls. Jordi Tixier and Valentin Guillod completed the top ten.

Christophe Charlier got involved in a crash at the start of the race and made a massive effort to finish fifteenth after starting from the very last position.

MX2 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 25:18.992; 2. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:02.185; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:07.451; 4. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:07.737; 5. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +0:37.914; 6. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:40.926; 7. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:44.526; 8. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:47.109; 9. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:50.603; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), +1:13.134;

Complete results available atwww.motocrossmx1.com/reslists.aspx
Photos available atwww.motocrossmx1.com/gallery

GP OF SWEDEN – QUICK FACTS
Circuit length: 1513
Type of ground: hard pack
Temperature: 20° C
Weather conditions: Mostly cloudy and sunny, but rainy before the qualifying races

The Grand Prix will be broadcasted LIVE onMX-LIFE.TVand by clickinghereyou will obtain the full schedule and coverage of the Swedish Grand Prix.

TIMETABLE
Sunday: EMX125 Warm up 8:30; MX2 Warm up 9:00; MX1 Warm up 9:30; EMX125 Race 2 10:15; MX2 Grand Prix Race 1 12:10; MX1 Grand Prix Race 1 13:10; MX2 Grand Prix Race 2 15:03; MX1 Grand Prix race 2 16:03.

LINKS
Youthstream
FIM
Grand Prix of Sweden

Photo: MX2 qualifying race start in Uddevalla, Sweden