FIM Motocross: Grand Prix Of France

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The fifth round of the FIM Motocross World Championships are officially in the books, and with it came two first-time winners for 2011. St-Jean d’Angely played host to the Grand Prix of France, and while rain fell hard all night after Saturday qualifiers, come Sunday the skies had cleared and the track was prime for some World Championship motocross.

In the MX2 class, all eyes and early pre-race predictions centered around the man that has been head and shoulders above the competition in 2011, German sensation Ken Roczen. After a dominating performance by the Red Bull/KTM rider in qualifying on Saturday, Ken looked more than ready to add another GP win to his already decorated 2011 resume.

In the first moto, Frenchman Gautier Paulin would excite the French crowd by grabbing the holeshot and the early lead, but that excitement would be short-lived. The Monster Energy/Yamaha rider would be overtaken by Ken Roczen early into lap two, and that would be all she wrote for the Gautier and the rest of the MX2 field. Ken would–like he has so many times before in 2011–make it look easy and run away with his sixth GP moto win of season. Paulin would hold on to his best moto finish for 2011 with a second in Moto 1, and the American Bike-It/Cosworth/Wild Wolf/Yamaha rider Zach Osborne would also have his best finish in 2011 with a third. Rounding out the top five were Tommy Searle and Arnaud Tonus.

When the second moto headed around turn one, it was beginning to look like another Ken Roczen dominating performance, but that would not be the case for the young German. After securing the lead, Ken would hit the deck twice on lap one and send himself to the back of the pack. Roczen would charge back to eighth, have some bike issues and finish the moto eleventh. Inheriting the lead would be Zach Osborne. Zach said to MotoXAddicts in an interview this week that France would be his turning point in the season, and he definitely lived up to his promise. He would give up the lead to Searle and eventually fall back to third, but finish second overall on the day. Red Bull/KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings looked to be capitalizing on Roczen’s mistakes and made his way around both Searle and Osborne to take the lead, but late in the moto, Searle–on his Monster/Pro Circuit/CLS Kawasaki–would re-pass Herlings, win his first moto for 2011 and land his first overall GP since Faenza in 2008.

The podium on the day would be Tommy Searle (4-1), Zach Osborne (3-3), and Gautier Paulin (2-4). This would mark the first time in 2011 that there were no KTM’s on the box. Congrats to Tommy Searle. Tommy is a very deserving rider that works as hard as anyone else on the circuit, and after two very tough years in America racing the AMA, it is good to see Tommy winning and smiling again.

With the MX2 class full of surprises and a few firsts for 2011, the MX1 class was poised to follow suit. When the gate fell for Moto 1, it was all about the Moster Energy/Yamaha crew with the Frenchman Steven Frossard sprinting ahead with the early lead and teammate David Philippaerts in fourth. All season long, Frossard’s sprint speed has been something few have matched, and today that early sprint would carry him to the first moto win. The red plate holder–Rockstar/Suzuki’s Clement Desalle–would crash early on in the first lap, remount in last position, but charge his way to a solid eleventh in Moto 1. Red Bull/KTM’s defending champ Antonio Cairoli seemed to struggle early in heat one, but by the end of the race had charged up to finish behind Frossard for second place with Phillipaerts occupying the third spot on the first moto podium.

With Desalle finishing eleventh in Moto 1 and Cairoli in second, the championship points had closed to only one point separating the two World Championship contenders, but as the gate dropped for the last moto of the day, Desalle would show he was here to fight. The young Belgian grabbed the holeshot and, with his warrior spirit, would sprint away and never be seen again. Behind Desalle, the Russian Martin Honda backed Evgeny Bobryshev held down second position for most of the race. Late in the race, though, he would be overtaken by Frossard, Cairoli and his teammate Rui Goncalves, and end up finishing fifth in Moto 2.

Up front, the second moto was all Desalle. Frossard and Cairoli would both ride beautifully to finish second and third, but neither had anything for Desalle. Frossard would get a late-race charge in Moto 2 to finish second and would secure his first-ever overall MX1 GP win. It’s one thing to win a GP, but it has got to be the experience of a young man’s life to do it in front of your home people. Steven has already been the biggest surprise in MX1 for 2011–holding the red plate after round two–but now he is officially in the record books as an overall winner on one of the biggest stages in the world of motocross. The overall MX1 podium would end up Frossard (1-2), Cairoli (2-3), and Desalle (11-1). Congrats to Monster Energy/Yamaha on their second overall GP win in a row, and congrats to Frossard on his first of what we hope is many more to come.

MX1 Overall FIM French GP Results from St-Jean d’Angely

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MX2 Overall FIM French GP Results from St-Jean d’Angely

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