French rider Steven Frossard ruled the day at the French Motocross Grand Prix at St Jean d’Angely, just north of Bordeaux, on Sunday.

The Yamaha rider finished 1-2 to top the podium, while reigning MX1 champion Toni Cairoli (KTM), climbed onto the second step with 2-3 results. Championship leader Clement Desalle (Suzuki), of Belgium finished 11-1 to take the remaining podium spot.

Riders had a hard day on the track that had been made heavy by an overnight thunderstorm.

Still on the fight-back from injury, Kiwi hero Ben Townley (Kawasaki) had a difficult day. After finishing a solid ninth in the qualifying heat on Saturday, the Bay of Plenty rider fought through to finish eighth in moto one but then dropped out of the points in moto two, giving him only 16th overall for the day. 

Exhaustion claimed Townley in the second race as he lost control of his bike over the finish line jump when he collided with German rider Max Nagl, just one lap from the finish. He was running sixth at the time.

“The team found better settings and my riding improved every time I went on the track all weekend,” said Townley.

“It was a building exercise and it’s just disappointing that I missed one vital lap, the last one of the weekend. The result was a lot better than what you see on paper, and I’m pretty happy with the progress.

“Starting the last lap of the second race, Nagl passed me at the finish line; I kept my line but he crossed it and we collided. I still have a long way to go concerning my physical shape, so I was pleased to achieve what I did this weekend and know what will be possible.”

Meanwhile, World champion Cairoli took the day’s outing on the difficult track in Saint Jean d’Angely in France in good spirits and said while he can no longer feel any pain from his earlier knee injury that he had lost physical condition because he had not been able to run or cycle for more than a month.

Cairoli is now just six points behind Desalle in the championship chase.

“Now it’s time to get back in shape and go after the red plate,” he said. “I am looking forward to the two GPs in Portugal and Spain and I would like to use them to close the points gap in the championship.”

In the MX2 class, Britain’s Tommy Searle (Kawasaki) won the day, finishing 4-1. Germany’s Ken Roczen (KTM) continues to lead the championship title chase, despite finishing only fifth overall at St Jean d’Angely with 1-11 results.

Next week the riders head to Portugal for the sixth round of the championship.

In the UEM EMX-2 championship segment of the weekend, round two of that series sharing the programme with the MX1 and MX2 world championships, Rotorua’s John Phillips managed 27th and 26th in his two outings.

The Kiwi DBG Suzuki Team rider was outside the point-scoring bracket both times but gained valuable experience racing with some of the world’s elite young riders, including Romain Febvre, who won moto one, and fellow Frenchman Dylan Ferrandis, who won moto two.

POINTS:

MX1 CLASS

MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 39:43.001; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:14.166; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:26.589; 4. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:46.857; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:55.476; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:57.385; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:58.511; 8. Benjamin Townley (NZL, Kawasaki), +1:12.515; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +1:14.588; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +1:20.473.

MX1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 39:50.343; 2. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), +0:10.986; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:13.765; 4. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:16.816; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:19.766; 6. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:21.768; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:25.968; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), +0:29.524; 9. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:31.244; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +0:36.506.

MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 47 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 35 p.; 4. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 32 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 31 p.; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Honda), 29 p.; 7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 26 p.; 8. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 25 p.; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 23 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), 22 p.

MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 199 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 193 p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Yamaha), 179 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 179 p.; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 161 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 141 p.; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), 133 p.; 8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), 115 p.; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 114 p.; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 109 p.

MX2 CLASS

MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), 40:46.690; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:13.754; 3. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +0:24.369; 4. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:36.109; 5. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:53.180; 6. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, KTM), +1:13.915; 7. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +1:28.231; 8. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +1:34.282; 9. Elliott Banks-Browne (GBR, Honda), +1:48.937; 10. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), +1:54.521.

MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 39:47.629; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:01.734; 3. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +0:04.429; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:05.211; 5. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, KTM), +0:51.885; 6. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:58.504; 7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +1:15.537; 8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:24.505; 9. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), +1:32.280; 10. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +1:35.299.

MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 43 points; 2. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 40 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), 40 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), 35 p.; 6. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, KTM), 31 p.; 7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), 30 p.; 8. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 23 p.; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), 19 p.

MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), 226 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 213 p.; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 199 p.; 4. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 162 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), 160 p.; 6. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), 138 p.; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), 135 p.; 8. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 119 p.; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 114 p.; 10. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, KTM), 104 p.

© Words by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

Photos courtesy Yamaha & Kawasaki