French army ready to conquer home soil

After the successful 2011 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, Saint Jean d’Angely has all its facilities ready to welcome the best motocross riders in the world, while Motoclub Angerien is celebrating its 80th anniversary.

Both Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings are leading the MX1 and MX2 series respectively with a comfortable bunch of points, but they know that winning this weekend in the French track will not be an easy goal to accomplish. In the MX1 class, French riders Christophe Pourcel and Gautier Paulin will be the ones who might stand out from the rest, not only because they ride home, but also because they still have the Nations feeling very fresh and it will help them to do well. Besides, thanks to their regular performance, they have contributed to have Kawasaki at the top of the MX1 manufacturers, something which did not happen for at least ten years.

On the other hand, another Kawasaki rider, Tommy Searle, is coming back to France willing to repeat his last year’s victory in Saint Jean d’Angely, so Jeffrey Herlings will need to be fully focus in order not to miss the podium in front of the French crowd as it happened last year.

A part from the FIM MX1 and MX2 World Championships, Saint Jean d’Angely will also host the first round of the UEM EXM250 series this weekend.

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MX1:  Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Cairoli has been leading the MX1 class since the very beginning of the season and he is now facing the sixth round of the series with 24 points advantage over Desalle even having missed the podium in Brazil last weekend. Last year Cairoli found a really strong Steven Frossard in Saint Jean, who went out with the overall victory, and although this weekend the French might not be at the same level, his compatriots Christophe Pourcel and Gautier Paulin will be very tough rivals to beat.

The second in the point standings is now Rockstar Energy Suzuki Word’s Desalle, who has managed to go up to the second place in the championship thanks to his consistency in the last Grand Prix. The Belgian has been missing the overall victory since the beginning of the season, so this weekend in Saint Jean d’Angely it might be his chance to hand his team and fans the so expected victory.

CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Christophe Pourcel has also moved up in the standings and he will race his home Grand Prix being third, seven points behind Desalle. Pourcel has admitted not having really good memories of Saint Jean d’Angely, especially after his DNF at the last heat of the MXoN, which made France lose the opportunity to be at the top of the podium. However, Pourcel showed once again his outstanding talent in Brazil and he is ready to forget all the bad memories and ride for the victory this weekend.

His compatriot Paulin has dropped down to fourth in the championship, but he is just two points away from Pourcel. The Kawasaki Racing Team rider is coming to Saint Jean d’Angely having still some goosebumps when he thinks about his last year performance during the MXoN in front of his crowd, so he can’t wait to go on his Kawasaki and hand his home fans with another victory, which would be the second one of the season.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s De Dycker is completing the top five of the MX1 class and this weekend he might be able to fulfil his main goal to be on the podium with his new team. De Dycker is fully motivated, not only because he is feeling better than ever with himself, but also because he is now riding the new 450cc KTM machine.

Philippaerts is still sixth in the championship, but he comes to France with all the motivation up after having been on the podium during two Grand Prix in a row. On the other hand, home rider Boog is also looking forward to racing this weekend in Saint Jean d’Angely, especially after having won the last heat of the Brazilian GP two weeks ago.

Other French rider Frossard has been resting since the Mexican Grand Prix and he is now feeling more confident with his right knee, so he might be able to finish among the top ten of the GP.

The Honda World Motocross riders, Gonçalves and Bobryshev have had enough time to recuperate from their injuries, so they are both looking forward to entering the French GP and improving their previous results.

2011 MX1 Podium
1. Steven Frossard
2. Antonio Cairoli
3. Clement Desalle
2011 MX1 POLEMAN: Clement Desalle

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MX2:  Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Herlings missed the podium in Brazil and he lost very important points. However, the Dutch young rider is still leading the MX2 class with twenty points advantage over Searle. Last year, Herlings missed the podium in Saint Jean d’Angely because even he finished second in the second heat, he made numerous mistakes in the first one and could only cross the finish line in the seventh position. This weekend Herlings is aware of the fact that he has to be fully focus in order to finish at the top and prevent Searle to cut more points for the Title chase.

Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Searle regained the second position of the championship after his victory in Brazil and he is now determined to repeat such performance to reduce the distance with Herlings. Searle managed to win in Saint Jean d’Angely last year, as well as in 2008 before he left to the USA, so he is confident to fight for the victory also this weekend.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Van Horebeek missed the podium last weekend in Brazil, but he has been on the rostrum in two occasions so far. Last year he missed the French MXGP because of his shoulder injury, but he feels ready to fight once again for a top three result. The Belgian had been sick during both overseas Grand Prix, but he feels much better now after having rested for almost two weeks.

The fourth position of the MX2 class is for Joel Roelants, who was also on the podium during the first two rounds of the series, but he did not get the rhythm back since the big crash he suffered in the first heat in Fermo during the Italian Grand Prix. This weekend he has another opportunity to show once again his improved skills on hard pack and win some points to be back fighting for the top three positions of the championship.

Completing the top five of the FIM MX2 World Championship is Honda Gariboli Esta’s Anstie. The British rider has been very consistent during these five MXGP, but he is still missing that thing to be fighting for a podium finish.

Home rider Jordi Tixier is sixth in the MX2 standings, and the young and rookie rider Dylan Ferrandis is eighth and he is determined to fight for the top five positions in front of his home crowd. His teammate Valentin Teillet is almost fully fit from his back and wrist injury, so he is also willing to do well this weekend in Saint Jean d’Angely, as well as his compatriot Christophe Charlier, who obtained his maiden MX2 podium in Brazil in the previous GP.

This weekend there will be an important come back in the MX2 class; Arnaud Tonus will make his debut in the 2012 season this weekend, after having been training for a week on the bike and having really good expectations for the weekend. Michael Leib will be joining Tonus in the Monster Energy Yamaha squad.

2011 MX2 Podium
1. Tommy Searle
2. Zach Osborne
3. Gautier Paulin
2011 MX2 POLEMAN: Ken Roczen