Frossard secures third in the world

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Steven Frossard of Kawasaki Team CLS made sure of finishing third in this year's FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship at the penultimate round of the series in Lierop/Netherlands.  The weekend started tremendously for the Frenchman as he led the qualifying race on Saturday for several laps before wisely slackening his pace as his forearm muscles tensed up on the tortuous track. With a good choice of gate position Steven was able to negotiate the first corner well to the fore in the opening points-scoring race and he quickly advanced yet further until he caught up to the rear wheel of fourth-placed Shaun Simpson. The Scot is often an awkward rider to pass and the subsequent interruption to his charge saw Steven remain fifth to the chequered flag. Sadly another good start in race two was spoilt already at the first turn as Steven was shunted from behind and a riding error further round the track put him way down in 23rd position at the end of the opening lap. Battling hard Steven advanced ten places in the next few laps before his bike started to lose power as a result of the damage sustained by the exhaust in the earlier shunt and he was forced to pull out of the race. The points scored in the first race had already ensured him of third in the series, and Steven can now look forward to a strong performance in next weekend's final GP, his last in MX2 before he moves to MX1 next season, without the concern of looking at the points situation.

Frossard's teammate Jeremy Van Horebeek was unable to capitalize on his podium performance at the Brazilian GP two weeks earlier. The Belgian was one of many visitors to South America who fell sick after the trip and only his bravery and commitment persuaded him to even attend the Lierop GP. The weekend started well with a conservative ride to fifth place in the qualification race, and Jeremy was able to force his way through the pack from an initial 15th position to eighth in the first moto on Sunday before he crashed hard and had to withdraw from the race. Race two was an even greater physical torment, but a more conservative ride saw him survive to the chequered flag in 13th position. Unfortunately the Brazilian sickness cost the Belgian sufficient points to reverse all of his recent advances in the championship standings and he now goes to the final round in Italy holding down ninth place in the points, having appearing a potential candidate for fourth after his great showing in Brazil.