“Another milestone…eleven years in Grand Prix and that’s my first Qualification Heat win,” commented the Scot who so memorably claimed the 2013 Grand Prix of Benelux in the sand of Lierop. “I felt comfortable and had some good and bad lines. The beauty of the sand is that it’s a terrain where you can make the difference and I didn’t have the best of starts.”
Hitachi Construction Machinery Revo KTM’s Simpson, a local resident to the Lommel facility, pushed hard to the front passing both works Suzukis of Kevin Strijbos and Glenn Coldenhoff and won precious time by being one of the very few completing the vast quad jump. Pursuer and MXGP World Championship leader Romain Febvre – who almost came to grief with Davide Guarneri in one scary collision – said the leap was “sketchy” with reference to the rutty landing. Simpson was unfazed. “I don’t feel pressure in the sand, in fact I’m excited and I look forward to this race all year. I felt the track was a bit softer because the level of it has been raised and there are some strange smaller bumps because of all the other classes,” he added in reference to the packed support card with four other categories in action at probably the only circuit on the GP trail that could handle the volume of laps and traffic.
Febvre was a strong second and looked feisty as usual on the factory Yamaha.
In MX2 Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Anstie was shadowed by Red Bull KTM’s Pauls Jonass and with Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Petar Petrov also on the charge but the winner of this event in 2014 was largely unchallenged to earn first pick in the gate for the third GP in a row. “I have great memories here and I feel like I have come a long way in a year,” the Englishman commented. MX2 title contenders HRC’s Tim Gajser and Standing Construct Yamaha’s Valentin Guillod both crashed in the Heat race. Gajser fought back to eleventh while Guillod had to stop with a broken throttle.
More bad news for Rockstar Suzuki’s Clement Desalle. The Belgian suffered another brief shoulder dislocation after initially sustaining the problem at the French GP for round eight and decided – for the second year in a row – that he’d need surgery to fix the ailment. It means that ‘25’, who made the podium last week in Loket, has almost certainly made his last appearance on the RM-Z450.
While Youthstream presented the organisers behind the 2016 Grand Prix of Switzerland as well as the Russian promoter behind the ’16 Junior World Championship there was also other news off the track. Ryan Villopoto was back in a Grand Prix paddock for the first time since round five in Holland back in April. The American was fulfilling promo duties for this Monster Energy Kawasaki team and also partners like DC Shoes (with an event in Holland on Friday prior to the Grand Prix). The now-retired former AMA Champion admitted that he has still not ridden a motorcycle since fracturing his coccyx in four places and also damaging two of his lower lumbar vertebrae. He said in the MXGP TV Studio Show that he expects to be at the two remaining European events in Mantova, Italy and Assen, Holland and also the Motocross of Nations at Ernee at the end of September. The 26 year old stated he had no regrets over his retirement and also that the two month phase from his return to the U.S. in April until the announcement of his decision to stop racing involved a lengthy process of talking to key sponsors like Monster Energy, Parts Unlimited and Kawasaki. The show is worth a look for some words and perspective from the man himself:
[youtube id=D6SwZ9txM3M]Tony Cairoli was in the paddock at Lommel with a light cast on his left arm and admitted he was able to do some gentle training as he wills the fracture to heal. The world champion will have an assessment by his doctor in two weeks time and close to the Grand Prix of Lombardia to see if he can realistically tackle round fifteen. Noises coming out of the Sicilian’s camp are pointing towards the Mantova date still coming too soon.
Tim Gajser’s new five year contract was the other major news from Belgium and another strong signal from Honda and HRC that the brand wants a first FIM motocross world championship since Fred Bolley took the CR250 to 250cc glory in 2000. The eighteen year old Slovenian has another five seasons in MX2 but has already talked about AMA Supercross wild-card outings and trains prolifically with a CRF450F so could make the jump into MXGP relatively easily. Even if the teenager takes the number one plate in 2015 then he’ll stay in MX2 for ’16 with the MXGP HRC squad already occupied by Evgeny Bobryshev and Gautier Paulin.
Lastly, spotted in Lommel: Moto2 rider Sam Lowes, former WSB Champion Troy Corser and Portugal’s top MXGP racer Rui Goncalves, who is coming back to fitness after his crash at the British Grand Prix and is looking to get back on the track before the end of the season.
1. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 25:04.611; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:11.856; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:19.997; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:21.832; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:25.097; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:32.939; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:36.356; 8. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:37.554; 9. Nathan Watson (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:38.729; 10. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:41.277;
