by Chase Stallo
Sign of the Lap Times: Uddevalla
Tuesday, July 3, 2012 | 11:00 AM
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PrintOnce again Mother Nature would play devils advocate to anyone hoping for an easy championship run in the 2012 FIM MX GPs, as round nine of the world championship began under less than ideal conditions in Northern Europe. Uddevalla, located at the southern end of Sweden off the sea of Skagerrak, shook the Grand Prix landscape after the skies opened up and unloaded on the track.
Red Bull KTM’s Antonio Cairoli entered with a 47-point lead in the MX1 class, but after not one, but two DNFs, he left exasperated and looking up at a new points leader in the standings. Everything that went wrong for Cairoli, went right for Clement Desalle. The Belgian was able to overcome two quick starts by fellow title contender Christophe Pourcel and trudge through the porous conditions to capture the overall and the points lead.
Pourcel was able to fend off a late charge from Kevin Strijbos in the second moto to hang on for second overall. The podium featured more black, yellow and red (the colors of the Belgium flag) as Strijbos used a strong second moto to outlast the other Pourcel, Sebastien, and join countrymate Desalle on the rostrum with third overall.
With the MX1 Class in complete chaos, the MX2 Class was able to provide some stability… for at least one moto that is. Points leader Jeffery Herlings held off a stringent charge from Tommy Searle, who lost the lead earlier in the race when he had to pull in the paddock for new goggles, to win the first moto.
In the second moto it was all Searle, as Herlings crashed on the first lap and remounted in 28th. Searle would take the moto win and the overall, while Herlings had to settle for second overall after charging back to seventh after the first turn melee. With his win Searle has cut Herlings' lead down to sixteen. Yes, no leader is safe when the conditions get this bad.
Let’s check out lap charts to see how it all broke down.
Grand Prix MX1 Class
Moto 1
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Rider |
| 1 | 1 | 2:05.506 | 1 | Clement Desalle |
| 2 |
2 | 2:05.722 | 5 | Christophe Pourcel |
| 3 | 3 | 2:06.174 | 4 | Sebastien Pourcel |
| 4 | 11 | 2:06.506 | 16 | Ken de Dycker |
| 5 | 27 | 2:07.416 | 9 | David Philippaerts |
| 6 | 4 | 2:07.622 | 2 | Shaun Simpson |
| 7 | 5 | 2:07.977 | 16 | Kevin Strijbos |
| 8 |
35 | 2:08.118 | 1 | Antonio Cairoli |
| 9 | 33 | 2:08.318 | 1 | Evgeny Bobryshev |
| 10 | 7 | 2:08.634 | 6 | Gautier Paulin |
Moto 2
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Rider |
| 1 | 3 | 1:55.073 | 13 | Kevin Strijbos |
| 2 |
1 | 1:55.501 | 2 | Clement Desalle |
| 3 | 2 | 1:55.676 | 12 | Christophe Pourcel |
| 4 | 30 | 1:56.108 | 2 | Antonio Cairoli |
| 5 | 5 | 1:56.154 | 2 | Shaun Simpson |
| 6 | 4 | 1:56.275 | 11 | Tanel Leok |
| 7 | 11 | 1:56.883 | 19 | Ken de Dycker |
| 8 |
6 | 1:57.310 | 14 | Sebastien Pourcel |
| 9 | 9 | 1:57.673 | 4 | Gautier Paulin |
| 10 | 8 | 1:58.383 | 8 | Xavier Boog |
Super Tony lost a 47-point lead in Sweden.
Ray Archer photo
Grand Prix MX2 Class
Moto 1
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Rider |
| 1 | 2 | 2:01.951 | 4 | Tommy Searle |
| 2 | 1 | 2:02.727 | 2 | Jeffery Herlings |
| 3 | 5 | 2:02.898 | 5 | Zach Osborne |
| 4 | 31 | 2:03.433 | 6 | Jeremy van Horebeek |
| 5 |
3 | 2:04.013 | 4 | Joel Roelants |
| 6 | 4 | 2:04.427 | 5 | Dylan Ferrandis |
| 7 | 6 | 2:06.395 | 5 | Jake Nicholls |
| 8 | 8 | 2:07.127 | 9 | Jordi Tixier |
| 9 | 19 | 2:07.884 | 8 | Christophe Charlier |
| 10 | 16 | 2:08.052 | 3 | Jens Getterman |
Moto 2
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Rider |
| 1 | 16 | 1:57.450 | 16 | Joel Roelants |
| 2 | 2 | 1:57.999 | 8 | Jeremy van Horebeek |
| 3 | 1 | 1:58.081 | 4 | Tommy Searle |
| 4 | 5 | 1:58.477 | 15 | Zach Osborne |
| 5 |
7 | 1:59.801 | 10 | Jeffery Herlings |
| 6 | 3 | 1:59.969 | 8 | Dylan Ferrandis |
| 7 | 4 | 2:00.039 | 12 | Jake Nicholls |
| 8 | 10 | 2:01.065 | 18 | Alessandro Lupino |
| 9 | 6 | 2:01.096 | 11 | Christophe Charlier |
| 10 | 11 | 2:01.506 | 14 | Romain Febvre |
Tommy Searle cut Jeffery Herlings lead down to sixteen with an overall win in Sweden.
Ray Archer photo
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Great job by Zach in his first ride back!
As we saw with Dungey in Texas last year, anything can happen in a moto ... but two disastrous races in the same day? Luck was definitely not on Cairoli's side in Sweden. Still a lot of races left, though.
Searle pulled into the pits for goggles and still finished 2nd in the first moto. Amazing ride!!
This is why i refuse to predict winners or losers in Motocross. Rain or Shine.
I was waiting for Tony to dynamite his bike outta that muck. The poor dude tugged for two full laps before he gave up. After the race three guys with shovels were working to free his bike, it never showed them getting it out.. It is probably still sitting there.
Forty Seven point lead going in, and a three point deficit coming out.
If there is any consolation to that catastrophe, it is now going to be a much more interesting second half of the series. Just may spark some interest in the other 39 riders.
Tony was needless to say, unavailable for an interview, luckily for the interviewer. Ha!
Zach for MX2 at the MXdN.
Cairoli did release a long interview actually.
This was his track, I am sure he would have finished 1-1 but I also know that with if's and but's you go nowhere.
I think Pourcel has a big chance to get the title this year.
I checked some videos of Herlings in the sand: damn that guy is so impressive, insane.
The great equalizer! I love mud races because of this sort of thing. I especially love it when It's not my equipment getting wore-out.
I don't think anybody will be too bummed out to see a new MX1 champ if that's the way it plays out.......other than the KTM folks, that is. Suzuki's PR hacks could sure put the title to good use.
I wonder if a MX1 title would be the right ingredient to get #377 an offer he would accept to come back to the states?
I'm just thinking out loud here but, does anyone else think a 450 might've been a better choice for A.C. in the mud? Better tourqe, lower revs and they weigh virtually the same (the OEM versions) so, why not? My head thinks I'd be better off tractoring through the mud as opposed to wringing it out @ 11K+ rpms.
Carlsbad - Maybe Cairoli can't bring himself to ride the Dungey Replica 450 :-)
The 350 has always been a question.
Perhaps TC is not necessarily riding the 350 out of personal preference.
It would be interesting to know why KTM is still pushing it ....
Any ideas?
@Manes; If you could share the link and/or give me the site you heard Tony's Interview, I would appreciate it.
Thanks
Those seem like pretty short lap times for a mud race. Did they cut the track or is the track really that short?
Caseypons: it is in Italian, so I don't know if you are interested in it...Anyway in the end he says he will try to come back stronger.
If Cairoli wanted to ride a 450, I'm sure KTM would let him.
Also, didn't he ride his yam a few years ago with a 400cc (ish) set-up to make it more rideable?
KTM are still pushing the 350 as it suits most riders much better, a 450 is far too much for most people and boring if you can't ride them hard.
@VooDoo - Matthes did a podcast with AC222 earlier this year. He says he had the choice between the new dungey 450 or the new 350. He chose the 350 due to the tracks being quite a ways slower than the US tracks over Europe. Also they are not ripped deep.
So more or less his reasoning is that it is more suited to the Euro tracks. Being lighter and easier to move around with no need for that greater power.
http://www.racerxonline.com/2012/03/30/btosportscom-racer-x-podcast-antonio-cairoli
@manes ...this is also in italian......Maybe hesa justa missa the line aaaan he getta stucka ina the muda. wottsa matta you....350 ,tony he havea to ridea to sella alla the bikes KTM HACKS gotta left over...... nobody care..only careabouta whosa gonna makea the spaget? thats gooda question.....so we go an havea a nicea spicy meataball...ana drinka some vino..thatsa good boy..ciao.....
While Musquin & Roczen have showed us that the 350 isn't horrible in SX, I still think it needs development to be a viable alternative to the 450 in U.S. MX and might not be competitive even with that.
Woods / enduro racers, casual trail riders, women & 250F (125) specialists and MX1 World Champions are making great use of so, it can't be all bad.
@ wfodave, haha, how about a Carioli edition 350?
@ VooDoo, they probably have to justify the tooling expenses. Also, Stefan Everts was the 350's champion so, even if it was a complete flop which, I don't think it is, they would probably continue to push it for at least a little while longer anyways to save face............and unload the overstock.
@Manes: Thanks for the warning about the language barrier. I wouldn't have gotten much from an Italian (spoken) interview.
@Tonewall: Thanks for your personal interpretation. It's very helpful to have someone with your finesse of the Italian language, culture and introspective insight of Tony Cairoli to really enlighten these boards. Your appreciation (or lack there of) really came through for any person, place or thing outside of the continental U.S. and Honda (RED). Careful, your sectarianism is showing...
I was at this race on Sunday. Whe Cairoli DNF'd the first moto, he gave a great trackside interview to the speaker (having tried for 10 or 15 minutes to free the rocks that jammed his front sprocket). Everyone who heard this interview must have been so impressed with the guy - he was so professional. Didn't complain, didn't whinge, just accepted that "thats racing" and vowed to do his best in the second moto. He is a credit to his employer and sponsors, in my opinion, and an example to some the younger riders who sometimes come across as unprofessional (I'm thinking of his teamate Jeffrey Herlings here, with his swearing and threats to other riders on live tv). I always knew he was a great rider, but it seems he's also a great sportsman too. He has a new fan: me.