Press Release

KTM's Cairoli Victorious in Valence to Show Excellent Pre-Season Form

Antonio Cairoli the ruling MX1 world champion and the latest recruit to the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team continued his pre-season preparation with a blistering attack on the Valence circuit to take victory in the second major pre-season contest.

Cairoli, riding the new KTM 350 SX-F bike also won two weeks ago in Mantova, Italy, as riders continue to face off against each other ahead of the official world championship season. Cairoli, Sunday's winner in MX1 and the combined super final said he treated Valence as a test. "It was good training, also for the starts and quite different conditions than Mantova. I wanted to test the bike in hard competition and hard surface," Tony said. It was the Italian's first time in Valence.


Training opportunity for Nagl and Alessi

Red Bull KTM teammates Max Nagl and American Mike Alessi were also riding in Valence. Like Cairoli, Nagl saw the event as a training opportunity and did not push for a top result. He finished eighth in the MX1 and was ninth in the super final. The German said Valence was also not his favourite track. "I wasn't too motivated to push for a top result because this was just training for me. My starts were not as good as I would like but we know that with a small adjustment to the settings, I will again be fast out of the gates," Nagl said.


Alessi, who like Cairoli is also riding the new KTM 350 SX-F, said he was on a fast learning curve with his new machine and felt much more comfortable riding in Valence. The American rider, who will race the first three GPs in Europe has spent the past several weeks training with Cairoli in Italy. Mike also said he suffered with some arm pump during Sunday's races and this affected his overall performance.


Musquin second in MX2

MX2 world champion Marvin Musquin of the Red Bull KTM Factory team finished in second place in the MX2 category and was thirteenth overall. "I had very good starts today and it was nice to win the first heat ahead of Shaun (Simpson). I raced along with Roczen in the second moto but in the third race it was hard going competing against the bigger bikes," Musquin said. Riders in the super final had an extra challenge when the clouds broke adding rain to the already cold and windy conditions.


Simpson escapes with bruising after crash in second moto

KTM factory team's MX2 rider Shaun Simpson put in excellent times in Saturday's practice that saw him finish almost two seconds ahead of Musquin. He was second to his French teammate in the opening MX2 moto on Sunday but then he got caught in a mid air duel with the KTM team's youngest rider, 15-year-old Jeffrey Herlings, in the opening lap of the second MX2 race. Shaun hit the deck hard but after examination, medics said he had escaped with just bruising, a relief for the Scottish rider who missed almost a whole season last year after a training accident. Meanwhile young Herlings said he had good starts and competing with the big names in racing was good experience. "I wasn't so fast on Saturday but I had better results when I was more confident on the track," the young Dutch rider said.


Laier test herself

Also on the track was Women's World Champion Steffi Laier together with her strongest rival in the women's competition Livia Lancelot. Laier, since the beginning of 2009 a full factory rider for Red Bull KTM said it was not an easy track. She also took the experience as training ahead of her bid to retain the title and it was also an opportunity to test herself against Lancelot, who this year is a KTM-supported rider. Steffi was 25th and 21st while Lancelot was 27th and 20th, a creditable effort for the only two women riding with the best of the sport's men on Sunday.


The KTM riders now disperse to contest various national competitions ahead of the opening World Championship GPs for 2010 in Bulgaria on April 4.


Results MX 1

1. Antonio Cairoli, Italy, KTM

2. David Philippaerts, Italy, Yamaha

3. Steve Ramon, Belgium, Suzuki

4. Anthony Boissiere, France, KTM

5. Sebastien Pourcell, France, Kawasaki

Other KTM

8. Max Nagl, Germany, KTM

14. Mike Alessi, France, KTM


Results MX2

1. Ken Roczen, Germany, Suzuki

2. Marvin Musquin France, KTM

3. Steven Frossard, France, Kawasaki

4. Gautier Paulin, France, Yamaha

5. Valentin Teillet, France, KTM

Other KTM

6. Jeffrey Herlings, Netherlands, KTM

7. Joel Roelants, Belgium, KTM

12. Shaun Simpson, Britain, KTM (crash in 2nd moto)


Overall Super Final results

1. Antonio Cairoli, Italy, KTM (MX1)

2. Steve Ramon, Belgium, Suzuki (MX1)

3. David Philippaerts, Italy, Yamaha (MX1)

4. Tanel Leok, Estonia, Honda (MX1)

5. Sebastien Pourcell, France, Kawasaki (MX1)

Other KTM

6. Anthony Boissiere, France, KTM (MX1)

9. Max Nagl, Germany, KTM (MX1)

13. Marvin Musquin, France, KTM (MX2)

16. Valentin Teillet, France, KTM (MX2)

17. Joel Roelants, Belgium, KTM (MX2)

18. Dennis Verbruggen, Belgium, KTM (MX2)

19. Jeffrey Herlings, Netherlands, KTM (MX2)

24. Mike Alessi, USA, KTM (MX1)


Pics: J.P. Acevedo


 

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