The fourth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship belonged to Monster Energy Yamaha and David Philippaerts as the Italian emerged victorious from two hugely entertaining motos at a sweltering and packed Indaiatuba. The Grand Prix of Brazil saw DP19 take his works YZ450FM to second and first positions to spray overall winners champagne for the first time since the 2010 French Grand Prix.
26,000 spectators filled the grandstands around the excellent racing facility an hour north of Sao Paolo and steamy weather graced the entire weekend as the Grand Prix community faced their second fly-away event in succession. The course was unrelenting in a layout of jumps and corners and was short and compact.
On Saturday the factory Yamahas formation-flew as Frossard led the Qualification Heat from Philippaerts before the Italian took control at the mid-way point of the sprint and glided to his first pole position since the season-closing Italian Grand Prix last year.
Filling the first slot on the line for the tricky uphill start from a soft gate, Philippaerts and Frossard both launched well and embarked on a spat with Antonio Cairoli for the lead that lasted practically all of the 35 minutes and 2 laps. Clement Desalle also jointed the dispute prior to his error three laps from the flag. Frossard eventually dropped back in third and Philippaerts followed Cairoli to the line.
Another good battle later in the afternoon involved the same cast but Steve Ramon also joined the fray. Desalle again made a mistake and fell and Philippaerts was able to control the moto from the front. Cairoli applied pressure on the penultimate lap but Philippaerts responded by setting the fastest time of the race on the very last lap. The former world champion now has two podium results in 2011. Frossard felt the effects of the thumb strain he sustained in the USA and was fifth at the finish, tying on points with Desalle for third place but losing the podium due to the second race classification.
Anthony Boissiere was searching for points inside the top ten of the leader-board and finished twelfth in the first moto but a hefty crash in the second left the Frenchman short of breath and holding his right shoulder. Full credit must go to 2010 MX3-GP World Champion Carlos Campano who was riding a stock YZ450F after problems with U.S. customs. The Spaniard aced the holeshot against a gate-ful of works bikes in the first moto. Campano was sadly unable to last the distance or even start the second due to pain his hand after a fall at Glen Helen last week.
In the world championship standings Philippaerts and Frossard are fourth and fifth respectively with Boissiere in twelfth. The Grand Prix of France (home events for Frossard and Boissiere and in fact the site of the latters first moto victory in 2005) will occur in two weeks at St Jean dAngely and will start a run of three consecutive events with visits to Spain and Portugal following immediately after.
David Philippaerts, 1st:
I am so happy with this win and Brazil is becoming a special place for me after some good motos last year also. The track was nice and every corner was different with the lines, so the riders were going at different speeds. Like last year I have the same points as Antonio but we have the win this time and I pleased about this. I changed my lines during the middle of the second moto and made a big push. Antonio was fast and I knew he would come but I just focussed on the track ahead and set the fastest time on the last lap. We go to France next and I won my first GP there in 2005 and also last season so I am motivated for this race. Im glad to be heading home now.
Steven Frossard, 4th:
I was happy with the first race because I had a good battle with Cairoli and Philippaerts and it was a lot of fun. In the second moto I took a great start but Philippaerts was faster. At mid-race distance I had a lot of pain in my thumb and I couldnt brake properly. I had to let Ramon and Desalle go through and I ended the race disappointed with fifth because I was close to the podium. It was difficult today. The first part of the track was good but all the bumps and the uphill of the second half of the lap was very difficult for me.
Anthony Boissiere, 18th:
In the beginning things were OK but the track was hard and difficult. I was twelfth in the first moto and then inside the top ten in the second when I hit Barragans bike in a corner. I crashed and it was not possible to breathe for a little while. My shoulder was hurt and I knew I would not be able to continue. I am disappointed with this because I had worked hard during the week and I hope things will be better at St Jean.
2011 MX1-GP Brazil
Indaiatuba 22/05/2011 20 Laps
race I
1 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 39’14.114
2 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 0’02.121
3 Steven Frossard Yamaha FRA 0’12.140
4 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 0’17.508
5 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0’24.048
6 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0’33.108
7 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0’35.392
8 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 0’38.190
9 Xavier Boog Kawasaki FRA 0’39.471
10 Rui Goncalves Honda POR 0’52.877
11 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0’56.486
12 Anthony Boissi�re Yamaha FRA 1’04.899
13 Shaun Simpson Honda GBR 1’14.505
14 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA 1’15.546
15 Antonio Balbi Kawasaki BRA 1’43.697
16 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 1’45.204
18 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 1’52.683
race II
1 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 39’52.654
2 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 0’01.944
3 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0’24.845
4 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 0’29.849
5 Steven Frossard Yamaha FRA 0’34.546
6 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0’36.320
7 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0’37.526
8 Xavier Boog Kawasaki FRA 0’38.436
9 Jonathan Barragan Kawasaki ESP 0’51.306
10 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0’59.566
11 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 1’03.958
12 Tanel Leok TM EST 1’37.014
13 Rui Goncalves Honda POR 1’39.467
14 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 2’02.334
15 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 2’16.173
MX1-GP World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 4 of 16
1. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 164
2. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 153
3. Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 151
4. David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 138
5. Steven Frossard Yamaha FRA 132
6. Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 110
7. Rui Goncalves Honda POR 108
8. Jonathan Barragan Kawasaki ESP 94
9. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 92
10. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 90
11. Xavier Boog Kawasaki FRA 77
12. Anthony Boissire Yamaha FRA 60
13. Tanel Leok TM EST 59
14. Davide Guarneri Kawasaki ITA 58
15. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 58
16. Shaun Simpson Honda GBR 49
17. Jason Dougan Yamaha GBR 26
18. Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 23
21. Carlos Campano Yamaha ESP 16
22. Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 13
37. Herjan Brakke Yamaha NED 1
