News 17 May 2010

World MX: Leok returns to MX1 winner's circle in Spanish GP

A hard fought Catalan Motocross Grand Prix was won by Tanel Leok in the MX1 class and by Marvin Musquin in the MX2 class, with both charging really hard to top two very close podiums.

Leok made his comeback to victory after his win of Faenza in 2009 as Musquin continued his winning streak.

David Philippaerts missed out on the overall win by just one point to take second while heat one winner Max Nagl dropped to third after two crashes hampered his second heat.

Also Joel Roelants took a bittersweet second place in the MX2 class by just one point while Shaun Simpson was third overall. Both took their first podium of 2010.

Marking his comeback to victory under the Catalan sun, Estonian Leok of LS Motors Honda conquered the top of the podium only at the end of an eventful second moto which he won.

A disappointing seventh place in moto one was followed by victory in the final moto where a hard charging Leok was helped by early leader Nagl’s crashes.

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1 rider stormed to victory in moto one, leading from the start to the flag, but the second moto changed Nagl’s prevision of an overall win as he crashed twice.

Eventually he was a disappointing ninth in the heat and third overall, remaining second in the championship.

Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross’ Philippaerts stood on the podium in between the two as he took second overall. The Italian was second and fifth in the heats, still struggling with a hand injury he picked up in Portugal last weekend.

Red plate holder Antonio Cairoli took fourth and missed the podium for the first time this year. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1 Italian made a mistake and crashed in heat one, dropping from second to sixth. Cairoli eventually made up in heat two by taking third.

Clement Desalle of Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1 took fifth overall while Anthony Boissiere dropped to ninth overall after he was a good fourth in moto one – the French was involved in a tangle at the start of moto two.

Poleman Kevin Strijbos was tenth while both Pourcel and Laninovich crashed and did not take part in moto two.

Taking his fourth GP win of 2010, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Musquin consolidated his position of championship leader.

The French also exploited runner up Roczen and third placed in the championship Jeffrey Herlings’ misfortune as both did not manage to complete the final moto.

Musquin was involved in a tangle in moto one and took only a seventh place but the second heat established the Frenchman’s revenge as he dominated form the start to the flag.

Winner of heat one Ken Roczen was chasing Musquin down in heat two but a technical problem stopped his race, which meant the German dropped down to tenth overall and lost precious points to Musquin in the championship standings.

Other riders having a tough second moto were Herlings, who crashed and pulled out, Gordon Frossard and Guatier Paulin, both going down at the start of the heat.

Nestaan JM Racing KTM’s Joel Roelants was a positive second overall. The Belgian marked his comeback to the podium in style as he missed out on his maiden GP win by just one point.

Roelants was fifth in moto one but took second in moto two after he passed an incredible Alessandro Lupino – third in heat two.

Shaun Simpson of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2 also came back to the podium by taking third overall. The Scottish’s hand injury is constantly improving and despite a crash in the second moto he could recover to fourth.

Courtesy of today’s result, Simpson stormed to fifth in the championship.

Frossard and Paulin completed the top five overall with the latter making his comeback to racing after an off season leg injury.

Despite scoring no points in heat two, Roczen and Herlings remain second and third in the Championship while this weekend’s poleman Frossard is still fourth.

After yesterday’s third in qualifying, American Zach Osborne crashed in moto one and had a mechanical failure in heat two.

Click here for detailed results

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