MxLarge Story
Great Moments of 2011 - Winners are Grinners!!!!!!!!!
News Saturday 16th December 2011 By Geoff Meyer
Roczen went 1-3, losing out in the GP, but doing enough to win the MX2 Championship. Tommy Searle went 2-1 for the GP victory.
The opening moto of the day and Jeffrey Herlings leads the field with Ken Roczen, Arnaud Tonus, and Gautier Paulin pushing hard to find the front. Roczen went down in a slippery corner, and was ridden over by Tonus, but Roczen quickly passed Paulin on lap three and Herlings then went down and handed the lead to Tonus, then Roczen made a pass on the Yamaha rider and moved into the lead.
Searle was close to Herlings and riding really aggressive. Tonus continued to hold second place with Paulin close to his back wheel while Herlings was a little way back and Searle hounded the Dutchman. Herlings started making ground on Paulin and Tonus as he begins to feel the pressure of keeping the Championship alive.
Soon after Searle goes past Herlings and the 2011 MX2 Championship is getting closer for Roczen. Searle is on fire and is looking for a way past Tonus. Searle had a wild moment where he nearly crashed the bike but was able to hold onto the bike and continue on, although Paulin did pass him. Searle continued to push though and found his way back past Paulin.
Roczen held a 10 second lead over second place and Searle passed Tonus for second place. Searle clocked the quickest lap of the race and pulled two seconds on Roczens lead. With two laps to go it’s going to be tough for Searle to catch the German sensation. Max Anstie moved into 10th place after holding a spot outside the top 20 in the early stages.
Roczen takes the moto win as the large crowd applause their hero. Searle was a close second, and then came Tonus.
Christophe Pourcel took the holeshot in the opening MX1 moto although Xavier Boog took the lead but that didn’t last long as Bobryshev took the lead then came Boog, Frossard, Goncalves, Strijbos, Simpson, Barragan, Pourcel, Cairoli. Barragan crashed out dropping back in the field while Pourcel went past a few places but then crashed out and pulled into the pits.Nagl made some nice moves to pass both Cairoli and Simpson. Cairoli also passed Simspon and started hunting down Nagl. Bobryshev continues to lead with Boog second and Frossard third. Nagl moved up on Goncalves as Cairoli sat back watching from seventh place.
Up front Bobryshev was in total control, while Boog and Frossard held it together inside the top three. Nagl passed Goncalves for fifth place. Bobryshev got a little out of shape as he entered a rhythm section, although kept on the bike.
In a sensation Frossard went down hard and dropped out of the race with an injury. This handed Cairoli the World Championship, even if the Italian didn’t end the race he is still World Champion.
With the Championship in KTM’s pocket Nagl and Cairoli both passed Strijbos, while Boog closed in a little on leader Bobryshev. Cairoli then passed Nagl for third place. In the end Bobryshev held out a fight from Boog for the moto win and Cairoli finished third and was crowned World Champion for the fifth time.
After crossing the line Cairoli then rode around to his KTM team where he celebrated with his girlfriend and team-members of the most powerful team in the Grand Prix paddock.
Roczen took the holeshot in the second MX2 moto, but Herlings passed him quickly. Up front it was Herlings with Roczen and Searle in close battle. In what is clearly the best MX2 moto of the season Searle passes Roczen and starts to push Herlings?
All three riders are within five bike lengths of each other and really pushing hard. Searle is looking really aggressive and at times ragged, although he continued to push 100%. Roczen puts a pass on Searle to move into second place, but Searle isn’t about to give up.
More drama as Roczen slide off the bike while chasing Herlings and Searle moves into second. Roczen is now seven seconds behind Herlings and four seconds behind Searle. The German looks likely to win the Grand Prix, but not the Championship just yet.
Herlings makes mistake and Searle is on him, then passes for the lead. This now means that Roczen is holding enough points to be crowned World Champion and the GP wins goes to Searle.
Searle eventually won the moto easily and the Grand Prix, and it was third placed rider Ken Roczen who crossed the line as World MX2 Champion. The celebration for Roczen was huge as KTM team members placed the young German on their shoulders and carried him through the crowd.
Roczen would be the first German rider to win a World MX title in 43 years.
Pourcel took the holeshot in the last moto of the day and was followed by Goncalves, Boog, Bobryshev, Simpson and Cairoli. Cairoli made his way past Simpson and Pourcel pulled well away from the pack.
Cairoli also went past Boog and was battling with Goncalves, although Pourcel was miles in front and Bobryshev was also a long way ahead of Goncalves and Cairoli. Goncalves dropped back behind Boog as Cairoli moved into third place.
Cairoli also went past Bobryshev as the Russian rider ran off the track and picked up a lot of green fencing. Nagl went down hard and lost more places as his terrible home GP continued. Bobryshev was losing places fast as Cairoli looks likely to take not only his World Championship today, but also the Grand Prix.
Pourcel won the moto, Cairoli finished second and also picked up the GP win.
Grand Prix of Europe - Results
MX2 Moto one: 1. Roczen, 2. Searle, 3. Tonus, 4. Paulin, 5. Herlings, 6. Aubin, 7. Leib, 8. Roelants, 9. Nicholls, 10. Anstie, 11. Lupino, 12. Butron, 13. Petrov, 14. Tixier, 15. Van Horebeek
MX2 Moto two: 1. Searle, 2. Herlings, 3. Roczen, 4. Tonus, 5. Anstie, 6. Paulin, 7. Roelants, 8. Lupino, 9. Aubin, 10. Tixier, 11. Butron, 12. Charlier, 13. Petrov, 14. Rauchenecker, 15. Heibye
MX2 O/A: 1. Searle 47pts, 2. Roczen 45pts, 3. Herlings 38pts, 4. Tonus 38pts, 5. Paulin 33pts, 6. Anstie 27pts, 7. Roelants 27pts, 8. Aubin 27pts, 9. Lupino 23pts, 10. Butron 19pts
MX2 Championship points: 1. Roczen 635pts, 2. Herlings 585pts, 3. Searle 526pts, 4. Paulin 458pts, 5. Tonus 391pts, 6. Anstie 369pts, 7. Osborne 295pts, 8. Kullas 287pts, 9. Aubin 269pts, 10. Roelants 253ptsMX1 Moto one: 1. Bobryshev, 2. Boog, 3. Cairoli, 4. Nagl, 5. Strijbos, 6. Goncalves, 7. Guarneri, 8. Aranda, 9. Leok, 10. Boissiere, 11. Simpson, 12. Barragan, 13. Schiffer, 14. Monni, 15. Campano
MX1 Moto two: 1. Pourcel, 2. Cairoli, 3. Boissiere, 4. Goncalves, 5. Strijbos, 6. Boog, 7. Simpson, 8. Bobryshev, 9. Aranda, 10. Nagl, 11. Campano, 12. Schiffer, 13. Monni, 14. Walkner, 15. Steinbergs
MX1 O/A: 1. Cairoli 42pts, 2. Bobryshev 38pts, 3. Boog 37pts, 4. Goncalves 33pts, 5. Strijbos 32pts, 6. Boissiere 31pts, 7. Nagl 29pts, 8. Pourcel 25pts, 9. Aranda 25pts, 10. Simpson 24pts
World MX1 Championship points: 1. Cairoli 574, 2. Frossard 472, 3. Desalle 461, 4. Nagl 428, 5. Bobryshev 412, 6. Goncalves 386, 7. Philippaerts 308, 8. Boog 294, 9. Barragan 288, 10. De Dycker 268
Antonio Cairoli comments
You know, it was a tough season, I had some ups and down, at the start for sure, I had my knee injury and I wasn’t training much, but I knew the championship was long and the first two or three were difficult and my riding wasn’t that good, but I got back on the rhythm and at a point I turned it around and I got the points lead and I kept it. To me it didn’t matter when I won it, I just didn’t have a good start and I was nervous and I didn’t want to make a mistake and many riders passed me. I knew only two weeks after England my condition would be good, then I ended up third. Also Frossard was out of the race and I would be champion and a lot of Italian people were here to see me win. Yesterday I didn’t like the track, it was too many hard lines and a lot of water, but today it was really good, more lines and the ground wasn’t so bad. It was a difficult track anyway, but it was good for racing. For sure last year was special, it was my first year with KTM and a new year with the 350, it wasn’t an easy choice because it was a new bike and it was a big challenge, but after some practice I saw that the bike was really good and we won the title that made it special. It is just an amazing feeling to win races. I am really lucky that I can ride Motocross, because there are a lot of people who have to work hard and I can just ride for fun and if I go training I want to, if I don’t feel like it I don’t go. I do it all for fun. I hope there will be a surprise in Fermo, I want to meet my friends I don’t care too much about the GP, I want to make a party and celebrate the season. For sure it’s a strange year, everybody was out injured and then Frossard today, so many crashes, sometimes people are pushing over the limit, I don’t know, maybe the tracks. You have to ride with your head sometimes. I think after America I was feeling better, also in Brazil I felt good. My speed was coming better and then I felt better and better.
Bobryshev comments
First I want to congratulate Antonio, Ken and KTM, they did a good job. I was thinking I won’t be riding here because of my neck injury, but I didn’t expect that the doctors would let me ride. They said everything was good, I was like are you sure, they said I can ride. I protected my neck well. I made a mistake, I was everywhere on the track and then I jumped off the track and had the green mesh in my back wheel, but I had no energy left in that second moto. In Teuchenthal I won and I won the first race here in Germany. The ground is like concrete and you can’t be aggressive, also deep ruts and very bumpy. I had many blisters because I didn’t ride for little while. It was difficult.
Boog comments
My starts were good today; it makes it much easier to make good starts. The track was difficult, many deep ruts, but I rode the German championship and I know this track.
Ken Roczen comments
It’s crazy, I mean you guys saw I was pretty emotional the first thing I did when I got back to the motorhome was crying like a baby. I tried to calm myself down and we still have one race left and I want to get back to my focus. I didn’t do that many mistakes, but one mistakes lost my some time. It’s hard when somebody is in front of you and you can’t see the ruts, and then my bike went into neutral in one corner and I slowed up and slipped over. In your head you have that it could be the title here, but I want to thank Tommy for passing Jeffrey, and helping me get the title. The last three laps where the longest laps of my life. I got so tired and just rode, and rode and tried to keep the place I had. It’s great to have the title. After I crossed the line, I don't know, it was pretty emotional, I didn't think I could get that emotional.
Tommy Searle comments
There were times when you could push and I was using lines nobody else was using, you had to be careful around here. It’s been a long year and I am really happy, I was putting in good laps and I am happy with today. The first race I didn’t get a great start and I passed everyone apart from Ken, but then he made a mistake and I tried to close the gap. I was third in the start in the second moto and Jeffrey was leading and I passed Ken and Ken got back past me, then he made a mistake and then I caught Jeffrey and passed him. I came in a bit too hard in one place and I got over excited, I didn’t crash, but I was lucky. After that I lost a lot of breath. Congratulations to Ken, he deserved the title and good on him. Dean won the AMA Championship and for him to win and me to win today we have a solid team and if I can take my speed to the des Nations. I would love team Great Britain to get on the podium.
Jeffrey Herlings comments
I was pretty good in the last two rounds. I put on a good start and I had a 10 second lead and then some lap rider stopped in front of me and I hit him and crashed. He cost me the heat win yesterday. The second moto I was second or third and passed Ken straight away. I really hoped that I would at least get 2-2, I didn't expect Tommy to be so fast, the second moto I wanted to win so bad. I saw Ken going down and that gave me a boost. I pretty much left Tommy go, he was faster and I was getting tired.
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