KTM's Cairoli victorious in Valence
By TMX Archives on 22nd Feb 10
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 officialworld championship season. Cairoli, Sunday's winner in MX1 and the combinedsuper final said he treated Valence as a test. "It was good training, also forthe starts and quite different conditions than Mantova. I wanted to test thebike in hard competition and hard surface," Tony said. It was the Italian'sfirst time in Valence.
Training opportunity for Nagl and Alessi
Red Bull KTM teammates Max Nagl and American Mike Alessi were alsoriding in Valence. Like Cairoli, Nagl saw the event as a training opportunityand did not push for a top result. He finished eighth in the MX1 and was ninthin the super final. The German said Valence was also not his favourite track. "Iwasn't too motivated to push for a top result because this was just training forme. My starts were not as good as I would like but we know that with a smalladjustment 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 hewas on a fast learning curve with his new machine and felt much more comfortableriding in Valence. The American rider, who will race the first three GPs inEurope has spent the past several weeks training with Cairoli in Italy. Mikealso said he suffered with some arm pump during Sunday's races and this affectedhis overall performance.
Musquin second in MX2
MX2 worldchampion Marvin Musquin of the Red Bull KTM Factory team finished in secondplace in the MX2 category and was thirteenth overall. "I had very good startstoday and it was nice to win the first heat ahead of Shaun (Simpson). I racedalong with Roczen in the second moto but in the third race it was hard goingcompeting against the bigger bikes," Musquin said. Riders in the super final hadan extra challenge when the clouds broke adding rain to the already cold andwindy conditions.
Simpson escapes with bruising after crash insecond moto
KTM factory team's MX2 rider Shaun Simpson put in excellenttimes in Saturday's practice that saw him finish almost two seconds ahead ofMusquin. He was second to his French teammate in the opening MX2 moto on Sundaybut 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. Shaunhit the deck hard but after examination, medics said he had escaped with justbruising, a relief for the Scottish rider who missed almost a whole season lastyear after a training accident. Meanwhile young Herlings said he had good startsand competing with the big names in racing was good experience. "I wasn't sofast on Saturday but I had better results when I was more confident on thetrack," the young Dutch rider said.
Laier test herself
Alsoon the track was Women's World Champion Steffi Laier together with her strongestrival in the women's competition Livia Lancelot. Laier, since the beginning of2009 a full factory rider for Red Bull KTM said it was not an easy track. Shealso took the experience as training ahead of her bid to retain the title and itwas also an opportunity to test herself against Lancelot, who this year is aKTM-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'smen on Sunday.
The KTM riders now disperse to contest variousnational competitions ahead of the opening World Championship GPs for 2010 inBulgaria 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. SebastienPourcell, 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. ValentinTeillet, 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. MaxNagl, 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)