FIM Motocross Grand Prix of Brazil Results

An action packed Honda Grand Prix of Brazil, rounding off the 2009 FIM Motocross World Championship, concluded with the victories of Desalle and Musquin, as the latter also wrapped up the MX2 Championship.

Ramon and Nagl completed the MX1 podium while 2009 World Champion Cairoli struggled to end ninth; German Nagl wrapped up the second place in the Championship.

Roczen and Frossard rounded off the MX2 podium ahead of fourth overall Goncalves who ended an eventual second in the Championship.

MX1

LS Motors Honda’s Desalle steered his machine to his second career GP victory at Canelinha where the Belgian performed as strong as ever. Desalle moved past Nagl in heat one to take victory and settled for second in heat two where a superb Ramon won his first season’s heat.

Teka Suzuki World MX1’s Ramon secured the podium with victory in heat two. In moto on the two time World Champion was seventh despite a good start.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Nagl completed the Brazilian podium by taking second in moto one after he let Desalle by and fifth in the final heat, where he struggled with the track conditions. Nevertheless Nagl wrapped up the runner up spot in the Championship ahead of Desalle. 

Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross’ Coppins was fourth overall ahead of De Dycker of Teka Suzuki WMX1.

Philippaerts missed the third place in the Championship as he dropped down to sixth in the overall standings after a second moto crash.

World Champion Cairoli also had a tough Brazilian outing, slipping in moto one and getting stuck in a second corner accident in heat two. The pole man was ninth overall at his first Grand Prix after undergoing knee surgery in the week following Lierop.

Brazilian Jorge Balbi was tenth overall to be the best placed home rider as his sister Mariana, the first ever woman to have raced an MX1 Grand Prix, was 24th.

MX1 Race 1 top-ten:
1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 39:14.078
2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:02.735
3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:08.439
4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), +0:09.877
5. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:13.631
6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), +0:37.453
7. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:42.279
8. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), +1:25.452
9. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), +1:28.749
10. Antonio Jorge Balbi Jr. (BRA, Honda), +1:29.845
 
MX1 Race 2 top-ten:
1. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 39:20.165
2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), +0:04.350
3. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:05.996
4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), +0:24.343
5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:32.527
6. Carlos Campano (ESP, Yamaha), +0:43.224
7. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:54.357
8. David Vuillemin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:09.893
9. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), +1:16.604
10. Julien Bill (SUI, Aprilia), +1:20.582

MX1 Overall top-ten:
1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 47 points
2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 39 points
3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 38 points
4. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 36 points
5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 36 points
6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 34 points
7. Carlos Campano (ESP, Yamaha), 25 points
8. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), 24 points
9. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 24 points
10. Antonio Jorge Balbi Jr. (BRA, Honda), 21 points

MX1 Championship top-ten:
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 561 points
2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 525 points
3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 508 points
4. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 497 points
5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 495 points
6. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 485 points
7. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), 395 points
8. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), 262 points
9. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 229 points
10. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 217 points

MX1 Manufacturers:
1. Yamaha, 655 points
2. KTM, 585 points
3. Honda, 543 points
4. Suzuki, 519 points
5. Kawasaki, 317 points
6. Aprilia, 245 points
7. TM, 193 points
8. CCM, 169 points
9. Husaberg, 0 points
10. Husqvarna, 0 points

MX2

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Musquin won his first ever World Title with gallantry as the 19 year old from France went on to win both moto’s. Musquin first beat team mate and runner up in the Championship Goncalves in heat one. Musquin moved past the Portuguese and pulled away to take victory and being crowned World Champion. In heat two he won a dogfight for first against the likes of Roczen and Frossard.

Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2’s Roczen was second in moto one but failed to wrap up his second career Grand Prix as he finished again second to Musquin in the final heat. The German young gun was second overall.

CLS’ Frossard came back to the podium after he took pole in the morning’s session. The Frenchman had a bad start in heat one and recovered to fourth, then fought tooth and nail to clinch third in the final moto and mount on the podium.

Other Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Goncalves was a disappointed fourth overall at the end of the Grand Prix which he entered with a Title chance.

KTM fellow rider Teillet rounded off the top five ahead of Guarneri.

A technical issue hampered Paulin’s Grand Prix but the Bud Racing Kawasaki PSM’s man ended third overall in the Championship.

MX2 Race 1 top-ten:
1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 39:54.282
2. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +0:01.840
3. Valentin Teillet (FRA, KTM), +0:21.591
4. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:32.502
5. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:34.688
6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:35.587
7. Loic Larrieu (FRA, Yamaha), +0:54.886
8. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), +1:06.759
9. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +1:11.523
10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:19.936

MX2 Race 2 top-ten:
1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 39:25.625
2. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +0:01.696
3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:01.900
4. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), +0:31.007
5. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:32.429
6. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:32.898
7. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:42.912
8. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), +0:59.629
9. Valentin Teillet (FRA, KTM), +1:05.041
10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:42.863

MX2 Overall top-ten:
1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 50 points
2. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 44 points
3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 38 points
4. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 32 points
5. Valentin Teillet (FRA, KTM), 32 points
6. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), 31 points
7. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 27 points
8. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 24 points
9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 22 points
10. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), 21 points

MX2 Championship top-ten:
1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 540 points
2. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 500 points
3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 437 points
4. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), 418 points
5. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 390 points
6. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 332 points
7. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 311 points
8. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), 284 points
9. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), 256 points
10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Suzuki), 253 points

MX2 Manufacturers:
1. KTM, 659 points
2. Kawasaki, 529 points
3. Suzuki, 506 points
4. Yamaha, 501 points
5. Honda, 369 points
6. TM, 14 points

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Courtesy of Yamaha

The 2009 FIM MX1-GP Motocross World Championship has reached its conclusion with the Grand Prix of Brazil and Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team's Josh Coppins signed off a decent three year association with the squad by taking 4th position at a hot and humid Canelinha for the fifteenth and final meeting of the series. Four YZ450Fs finished in the top ten of the Grand Prix standings, more than any other manufacturer but Yamaha was denied a 100% podium record for '09 at the bumpy and physically demanding new circuit.

The venue, packed on both days and with a final attendance figure of 60,000, had undergone a major facelift for its inauguration as world championship host and the narrow and jump-laden course, over 80km north-west of the resort of Florianopolis, was an impressive sight. The many grandstands were full for Sunday after a shaky start to the weekend in which constant rainfall on Saturday caused the practice and qualification schedule to be scrapped in the interest of preserving the terrain. Thankfully dark skies were replaced for race-day.

Coppins was the top performer on the day and the Kiwi rode to 5th and 3rd positions on his last GP bow with the black factory YZ450FM. The 32 year old's hard charge and duel with eventual winner Clement Desalle for second place in the second moto was entertaining and the Bulgarian grand prix winner pushed the young Belgian, 12 years his junior, all the way to the finish line; just missing a clear opportunity to overtake.

In 6th place overall was team-mate David Philippaerts. The Italian was quick and strong across the layout and despite two mediocre starts pushed his way into the top three in both motos. After an encouraging 3rd in Moto1 he was chasing Desalle for another third position in the second race when a mistake on an uphill wave section saw him crash and lose time in restarting. Even though the 25 year old recovered to 7th spot he was disappointed to be overhauled by Desalle in the final standings and ends 2009 with 4th instead of 3rd in the championship.

Yamaha Red Bull De Carli's Tony Cairoli, the new world champion and the most successful motocrosser from Italy, was 9th overall. The Sicilian underwent minor surgery to tidy up broken pieces of his left meniscus last week and also travelled to Brazil after appearing as a guest of the Fiat Yamaha team at Misano for the thirteenth round of the MotoGP series, in which he was celebrated and revered by fans indicating the growing status of the sport in this particular zone of Europe. Cairoli was hindered in Brazil by the weakness of his knee (that still had stitches) and also by a rider falling in front of him at the start of the second moto. The champion was 6th and 12th, the first race allowing a better performance, and now has three weeks to get fully fit for his Motocross of Nations appearance.

Team-mate Tanel Leok was also completing his world championship term as a Yamaha Red Bull De Carli rider. The Estonian will represent his country at the Nations in two weeks for his last appearance on the YZ450F but the 2009 Italian Champion took 14th overall in Brazil with 8th place in the first moto and then a DNF in the second due to a severe headache.

A worthy mention must go to Yamaha Van Beers Carlos Campano. The Spaniard registered his finest ever result in the MX1-GP division thanks to 7th overall; the third best Yamaha rider. The former national champion reached a career high of 6th to go with his 11th from Moto1 to leave Canelinha satisfied with his efforts.

2009 has been a sterling year for Yamaha in the premier class of the FIM series. The YZ450F has been present on fourteen of fifteen world championship podiums. Between the four riders of the Yamaha Red Bull De Carli squad and the Yamaha Monster Energy MX team 7 GP victories have been celebrated with a total of 19 pieces of silverware collected. 11 motos have been won, with Cairoli naturally leading the statistics in his maiden MX1-GP season with 9 chequered flags. Yamaha are 2009 Manufacturer's champions and conclude the Rider's competition with their four protagonists in the top seven positions; Cairoli 1st, Philippaerts 4th, Coppins 6th and Leok 7th.

The world championship might be over for 2009 but the traditional curtain-closer to the motocross calendar will take place at Franciacorta in Italy for the 63rd Nations in three weeks. Yamaha will see Cairoli, Philippaerts and Davide Guarneri line-up in a formidable team for the hosts, while other riders such as Zach Osborne, Nico Aubin, Leok and Coppins will also be in action.

Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team:

"Not too bad today. I had decent starts in both of the races and in the first I worked up from 8th to 5th after it took me a little while to get going. In the second race I was terrible in the first five minutes but then rode my way forwards and passed Ken and Nagl. I knew I had to overtake Clement to make the podium and for my last race with Yamaha I really wanted that, so I was pushing and pushing and gave everything I had but I could not do it. I am disappointed not to get on the box but I think I rode pretty well today. I loved the track and I think they done a great job because it looked un-rideable on Saturday. I think this is the end of my fourteenth GP season so that is nearly 200 GPs and I am still up there with the guys so I am quite happy."

Tony Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli:

"I expected to be able to ride after the surgery but I was not sure of my speed and I was just happy to be here. The championship was already over so I came here to do my best. In the first heat I was pretty quick but got tired after a close battle with Philippaerts. I then made a small crash and lost time to catch the other riders. In the second moto Barragan crashed in front of me and there was nowhere to go. It was amazing with the crowd here and to see so many people coming to watch motocross. I hope we can come back next year. I now want to train as close to normal as I can before the Nations."

David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team:

"I do not know what I can say, I feel very disappointed and angry at the moment. I tried really hard to make two good races and keep third position in the championship but a silly crash in the second race made me lose too much time. I was happy after the first moto. I felt good on the track and rode well to keep close to Desalle. My starts were not the best but I was able to make positions and the speed was good. I just lost concentration on the waves and had to restart the bike. It was not a good way to end the GP. It has been a strange weekend and a long way to come for this."

Tanel Leok, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli:

"It was not a good weekend for me. I have such a big headache; it is not normal. I had so much pain in the second moto that I could not ride. I am quite happy with this year. Of course it could have been a bit better and I had some bad luck but I had some good races to remember also."

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Courtesy of Suzuki

Teka Suzuki World MX1's Steve Ramon won the second moto and took second place overall on his factory RM-Z450 across the red, jumpy and lively Canelinha circuit for the Grand Prix of Brazil and the final round of 15 in the 2009 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship.

Team mate Ken De Dycker was fifth in front of a vast 60,000 crowd and has finished with the same ranking in the series standings.

Inclement weather initially ruined the weekend with the Saturday's programme of practice and qualification cancelled under dark skies and relentless rain. The action meant that the impressive course would not see wheels turned until Sunday morning with a brief timed session deciding the positions in the gate for the afternoon's motos.

Ramon was eighth quickest and took a slot in the middle of the start line while De Dycker had the fifth pick. Ramon started brightly on both occasions under blue skies and hot sunshine; a complete change of weather. Dense humidity also created a complete different set of racing conditions to what the majority of the paddock expected: The track dried and became rough and bumpy in many sections.

Former World Champion Ramon struggled a little with set-up in Moto1 and drifted from a leading position back to seventh. De Dycker was beaten to third by David Philippaerts in the final two laps. But 29-year-old Ramon altered some settings for the second race and after seizing the holeshot and winning a brief tussle with De Dycker for the lead, sprinted away for his first moto victory since the GP of Spain in 2008. His team-mate had a relatively lonely ride to fourth spot for his last GP turnout on a Teka Suzuki machine.

In the MX2 category, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2's Ken Roczen captured his fourth podium result of a breakthrough season as runner-up at Canelinha. The German excited the paying public with his electrifying part in a three-rider chase for the win in the second moto and eventually went 2-2 for his rostrum appearance. Despite missing four rounds due to his age - he only turned 15 at the end of April - Roczen has taken fifth place in the standings; the best position yet for the RM-Z250.

The RM-Z450 has won two MX1 Grands Prix in 2009 and been present on the rostrum on nine occasions despite small injury niggles for De Dycker and Ramon's neck fracture at round four causing him to miss almost half the championship. In the final points table, De Dycker is fifth - and the best qualifier with four pole positions -while Ramon is 10th.

Teka Suzuki WMX1 still has racing commitments this season with one more round of the United Telecom Trophy Belgian Championship remaining and Ramon's participation as a member of Team Belgium for the 63rd Motocross of Nations at Franciacorta, Italy in two weeks.

Steve Ramon:

"Today was a little bit difficult for me. I had some problems with arm-pump in the first moto but we made some changes to the set-up before the second race and I took the holeshot and could ride easy. It gave me a great feeling to win again and I am really happy, especially to end the season in this way."

Ken De Dycker:

"It wasn't such a good GP and I didn't feel strong enough and could not hold the bike like I wanted. I wasn't so sure of what I could do, so it was difficult to find a rhythm that was good enough. The track was rough and then smooth in places and it was tricky to get some control on the race. I have had a good two years with the team. We have had some decent and some bad races but overall I was really happy being a part of the team and I want to thank everybody for their hard work to support me."

Ken Roczen:

"It is great to finish the season with second place and a podium finish, so I am really happy about that. The first race was fun but the second was even better and the most important thing is that it was clean. The crowd were going crazy and it really helped me so I have to thank them. It has been an incredible season for me. I did not expect this. I trained a lot with Xavier and I saw that I was not much slower than him. I hoped for the top-10 and did not race with any pressure. I missed the first four races but still managed to come up to fifth in the championship. I hope to start well in 2010 and stay clear of injury."

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Courtesy of KTM

Marvin Musquin of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team wrapped up a great MX2 season in Brazil when he ran away with both motos, the GP victory and the world championship title on Sunday in front of more than 20,000 enthusiastic motor sports fans in the south of the country.

Musquin needed only victory in the first moto to assure him of his place in the history books but left matters tidy by repeating his charge to the chequered flag in the second race. The Frenchman's closest rival for the title was his factory teammate Rui Goncalves who finished second overall for a double victory for the Austrian sports motorcycle specialists.

Marvin Musquin: "I'm very happy to have won the title. It was a perfect day for me today. I really wanted to win that first race. In the beginning I had some trouble with my goggles but after I fixed that everything was fine. In the second race I had a great fight with (Ken) Roczen and I was very happy to ride with him. I think we will have some good clean and fair fights on the track next year and I look forward to that. I like this track a lot and I knew before the race that I was going to be fast. After I won the first moto I tried hard to stay concentrated because it was my goal to win both the GP and the title today. Of course I also knew that Rui was going to be very fast and we were both fighting for the same goal. It was a little strange to win the title here in Brazil where I don't really have my family and friends to support me but I was still able to show what I can do and how I could win. It really helped that I have such a powerful bike to do it on."

Rui Goncalves: "Being vice champion is also good. I've also made some history for my country. I'm the first Portuguese rider to win GPs and to be the vice champion so that's a great feeling. It was my goal to win the title but I had a strange start to the season, especially with my physical fitness. I had concussion and a shoulder injury but I tried to stay strong in my head. It certainly helped that I had a very good team behind me who made sure I had what I needed and who helped me. Now I go up to MX1 next year and that will be very interesting."

Also making a good showing in front of the huge and enthusiastic Brazilian crowd was junior KTM rider Valentin Teillet who was fifth overall. "I really had fun in the first race because when you have a good start then everything looks different. I also had a good fight with Roczen. I didn't want to take risks in the first race so I was happy with third. I got a good start in the second but then I started to have some pain in my back and it was quite difficult to stand up on the pegs. In the end I was very happy with my fifth place because this was a good result for my last race with KTM Factory Junior Racing," he said. Next season Teillet will race for the KTM-supported French team HDI.

Red Bull Factory Racing's Shaun Simpson also did well on the muddy track to finish overall ninth. He has just recently returned to the tack after a prolonged period of recovery from a training accident at the beginning of the season.

The final GP of the season, run on the hard pack surface at the Brazilian venue was under threat and rain soaked on Saturday after three days of torrential downpour. Organisers scrapped all activity on Saturday to preserve the track so riders had very little track time before the actual race. The move however turned out to be prudent and the track and weather played the game on Sunday to allow for top class racing in the category.

The final GP was a blaze of orange with no less than six of the top nine riders onboard KTM machines. KTM was also the runaway winner in the Manufacturer's world Championship title.