Paulin back on the podium
By TMX Archives on 28th Jun 09
MX2, Kegums, Latvia, 28 June 2009. For the fifth time this season Bud Kawasaki's Gautier Paulin claimed a podium result, with third place in the first ever Grand Prix of Latvia while Steven Frossard obtained mixed results.
Latvia has been the first independentrepublic, and former part of the Soviet state, to ever host a MotocrossWorld Championship event. Located fifty kilometers from the capitalRiga, the sandy track of Kegums was one of the most difficult thatriders had to face so far this season and both races on Sunday weretough on this demanding and technical layout.
Well-placed on thegate with a second and a fifth position during Saturday's qualifyingHeat, Steven Frossard and Gautier Paulin both enjoyed the layout andconfirmed with strong results their improvement on sandy surfaces.
Postingsome fast laps early in the first race, Frossard was the main rival forKTM riders Musquin and Gonçalves, who split the lead during the openingcirculation. Third, then fourth behind Roczen and again up to thirdwhen he passed Gonçalves, Steven lost one slot in the last five minutesand missed the podium with fourth position. Paulin didn't have such agood start and came back from tenth to fifth after a strong ride.
BothSteven and Gautier started the second race in the top five. Arriving tothird right behind Gonçalves and Musquin during the first lap, Gautierput some pressure on the leaders but later made a few mistakes and thensecured a lonely third position which offered him a podium, the firstsince Great Britain one month ago. Steven unfortunately crashed in afast section on the fourth lap, while he was following Paulin. Landingon his head, Steven wasn't injured but came back in the pits with somepain. Team-mate Loic Rombaut also had a crash on Saturday, but rodesafely in both races to add some more points to his card; he iscurrently twenty sixth in the series standings, while Gautier Paulinand Steven Frossard are second and fifth, respectively 49 and 107points behind series leader Musquin with five more GPs to go.
GautierPaulin: ‘Already during the first practice session I had a greatfeeling with the bike and the track; that was a good start for theweekend. Everyone knows that I don't like to take risks to post a fastlap, and I finished the pre-qualifying session in eleventh position; onSaturday my goal is to qualify among the top five, and that's what Idid. This morning I felt good during the warm-up, but my first startwas not so great and I had to push before I came back to fifth; I spenta lot of energy during those twenty five minutes. My second start wasmuch better; I had a good line inside the first corner and passed threeriders during the opening lap to follow Rui and Marvin. I stayed closefor a couple of laps, but later made a few mistakes when my thirdposition was secured. I had a lot of fun this weekend, and I'm happyfor the team and myself to be back on the podium. We've improved thebike, suspensions as well as engine; everyone is working hard in theteam, they are all behind me and I will fight for the title until thelast race.'
Steven Frossard: ‘Yesterday I had a good feelingwith the track, I was surprised to ride smoothly and fast withoutspending too much energy; I had good lines and finished second in thequalifying race. Today was different, I didn't felt so easy; I had agood start in the first race, but I pushed too hard to keep a goodrhythm and I got tired. After another good start I was studying thelines at the beginning of the second race, when I did a mistake afterthe pit lane. I lost control of the bike and crashed on my head. I hadto retire and that's not good for the championship as I lost points toGonçalves and Guarneri. I will try to recover those next week inSweden. On the other hand I'm happy with my riding in sand, I'veimproved my style and have a better feeling; we're working for threeweeks now with Thierry Godfroid and we'll continue in order to preparefor Lommel and Lierop.'
Loic Rombaut: ‘Once more I scored somepoints in both races and that's positive as I had a big crash onSaturday during one of the practice sessions. The track was strange andit took me time to get used to it, and I had pain in my body after thefall. Today I had decent starts and that helped me to score points; Irode safe, didn't take any risks and scored a few points but now Iexpect better results in the following races.'
Fred Lavergne(Chief mechanic Team Bud Racing): ‘ It's nice to be back on therostrum, we missed it twice with a fourth place in France and Germany.The races were difficult with a rough track, many riders failed andGautier was strong in both heats. He proved with a good start in thesecond race that he was able to follow the KTM riders; Musquin isalways leading the series, it's up to us to reverse the situation. Ithink that Gautier made a new step this weekend, he is more confidentand we're working hard to give him the best material. The track wasnice on Saturday, it was rougher Sunday afternoon but the strongestriders were all in front of the pack.'
Philippe Vandevoorde(Manager Team CLS): ‘ We discovered in Latvia a track, let say ‘formen' and we were happy to see that both Steven and Gregory can ridefast on sandy layout. Steven had a good start in the opening race, buthe struggled to find the best lines and he got tired after twentyminutes, losing a podium position. He got another good start in thenext race, and took a strong rhythm when he crashed on a rough section.Fortunately he didn't injured himself, but he had some pain in hislower back and will have some exams on Monday.. Loic had a big crashyesterday, it was necessary for him to take it easy and we told him tohave fun on the bike; he scored twice a few points, that was the goaltoday.'