Another podium for Frossard

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With his fifth podium of the season Steven Frossard of Kawasaki Team CLS has moved closer to the pacesetter in the FIM World MX2 Championship.

Both the Frenchman and his Belgian team colleague Jeremy Van Horebeek had shown on Saturday that they were at home on the rough demanding Kegums track in the Baltic state of Latvia as they qualified second and fourth, and both riders anticipated a successful GP.

Frossard used his good grid position to advantage in the opening race to quickly establish himself in a four-man breakway at the head of the pack, but stomach pains forced him to ease his pace in the later stages of the race whilst comfortably retaining his 4th position. More determined than ever to show his skills and speed in race two, the Frenchman came out with all guns firing and, after a second place start, moved into the lead on lap two and looked a probable winner until a couple of mistakes at the 25 minute stage dropped him temporarily to third. Regrouping quickly, he swept back to second place on the penultimate lap and came desperately close to victory, actually getting alongside the leader before he bobbled and had to settle for second place. But this secured his fifth podium in nine GPs so far this season and saw him close fractionally on the series leader whilst retaining third position in the standings.

Van Horebeek, who has been getting closer to his first podium of the season in recent weeks, suffered a setback when he got tangled up with other riders at the first turn and had to fight back from mid-pack. Quickly pushing forward to seventh from 12th on lap one, the Belgian had his sights on the top six until a heavy crash ten minutes from the end of the race left him with a painful neck and he was taken to the local hospital for examination. No broken bones were found, but severe internal bruising gives cause for concern and he will wear a support collar and undergo further examination on his return to Belgium this week before a decision can be made about his immediate return to racing.

American teenager Michael Leib of Kawasaki Bud Racing again faced a new challenge in Latvia, having never raced such a rugged track during his previous career, but he came through with flying colours after the inevitable initial difficulties coming to terms with the track. A mid-pack qualification gave him little chance of a good start and an early fall left him trailing the field, but, rejoining the race behind the leaders in a position where he was not inhibiting other points chasers, he quickly established a good rhythm with lap times comparable to the top ten. This put him in good stead for race two when he quickly advanced into the top ten, only losing a place to series leader Musquin in the closing stages of the race, to confirm his promise.

Steven Frossard: “My second place in yesterday’s qualification race gave me a good basis for today’s GP, but I suffered with stomach pains in the first race. I was never far from the lead during the first half of the race, but I had to let the first three go in the end. Fortunately I was able to conserve some energy for the second moto and, after starting second, I passed Herlings for the lead on the second lap and could open up a small gap. I started to make a few mistakes after twenty five minutes and both Herlings and Roczen passed me, but I told myself I wasn’t going to let myself get beaten by two teenagers. I wanted at least a podium and in the last three laps I gave it all I could; I passed Roczen and nearly caught Herlings, but one small mistake cost me the win. Still I’m pleased to be on the podium again. I really enjoyed the second race; I was having fun on the bike and I’m already focused for Sweden next weekend and the rest of the series.”

Jeremy Van Horebeek: “I was optimistic for the race after qualifying fourth yesterday, but there was a lot of confusion at the first corner which left me dowen in 15th place. I fought back to seventh by mid-race, but with ten minutes to go I crashed pretty hard and that was the end of my weekend. I had pain in my neck and went to the hospital for a check-up; they couldn’t see any breaks but there is a hematoma so I will need to have further examinations when I get back to Belgium this week. It is painful and I am wearing a brace for security at the moment.”

Michael Leib: “This track was a whole new experience for me. I never raced anything like it before and I struggled at first, but we got it figured out by race day. Unfortunately I got a poor start in the first race and then fell over, but my second start was better and I could battle for a top ten result. I just missed out on that when Musquin passed me in the last ten minutes; that was a little frustrating, but he is the champion and is on another level at the moment. But we’ll keep working hard and hopefully by the end of the season I will be where I want to be.”