Green Flag: Brazil
The toppers from the World Championship MX1 in MX2 are on the second leg of their American tour this weekend. After 12 years the circuit gets from Indaiatuba in the state Sao Paulo back International visit. The switch to Indaiatuba also means the third different Brazilian GP circuit in three seasons. As always, it is above all Honda Brazil that is pulling the weight to get this GP on track.
Different from what we have been used to in Europe in recent years Honda Brazil very involved in motocross. This involvement is not just limited to a youth championship, the Trophy 150 (of course with CRF150R machines), but also to making the sport greener. However contradictory it may sound, Big Red mainly wants to come across as Big Green. This is how the official Honda Brasil riders planted last week Leandro Silva, Joao Paulinho Marronzinho en Jean Ramos trees at the Honda training center in Indaiatuba.
The fact that motocross is growing in Brazil is evident from the list of impressive sponsors and co-sponsors of the GP. We suspect that no European GP has managed to attract such major sponsors. Please follow along: Honda, Banco Santander, Pirelli, Mobile en Coca-Cola. All multinationals.
Whether the local riders can even challenge the regular GP riders is another question. In our opinion, the European top players should not really worry about the locals. Antonio Balbi, was the only Brazilian in the past two years who managed to break into the top 10 during the heats. Unlike last year when only a handful of MX1 riders were at the start in Brazil, the GP regulars are now more numerous. Nevertheless, the quality of the starting field will not match that of a European GP. For some riders this works out well. Quite a few big names are in urgent need of more points. And that's what we think about first and foremost LS Honda Racing -duo Shaun Simpson en Ken Dycker. It's crunch time for them this weekend. If they want to close the gap with the top 10, this must happen in Indaiatuba. If they cannot reduce the gap with the first ten in the World Cup standings, the tension in the stronger European GPs will be very high. At the front, Desalle and Nagl have already opened up a gap to the reigning World Champion Antonio Cairolli. World Cup leader Clément Desalle turned twenty-two years old yesterday: congratulations Clément!
Or Desalle who is 22e anniversary will also be celebrated in Brazil with a double series victory remains to be seen. The fact is that Brazil is the best location for Desalle. The two past GPs each took place on a fairly technical circuit, which was exactly what De Waal liked. He joined in 2009 cinnamon after all, his World Cup campaign ended with a GP victory. Desalle was thus assured of a third place in the World Cup final standings at the expense of Ken De Dycker. The duel between Panda and the Bear from Lubbeek there was plenty to do in the first heat. Moreover, Desalle thrilled the Brazilian crowd with his gigantic jumps over the triple step up. It's a shame that the coolest frog in the World Cup peloton can achieve this with the Brazilians.
In the MX2 class we saw the same riders on the podium each time during the first three GPs. Ken Roczen, Jeffrey herlings en Tommy Searle are therefore in the first three places in the World Cup standings. Will this change in Brazil? Hard to predict, but after the USGP it would Max Anstie could well pose a serious threat to teammate Tommy Searle. Anstie was super fast during the first series. Only, not fast enough to deal with both Aliensto be able to participate. Our favorite Kempen resident, Joel Roelants So, Glen Helen entered the top 10. Just like last year, Roelants did not quite perform on the most legendary motocross track in California. But JR was driving around in the States with a muscle injury. Indaiatuba will therefore have to wait and see to what extent the injury has progressed in the right direction.
In the week between USGP and the Brazilian GP, most riders were probably bored to death. You can't really train and apparently the Brazilian television channels are not what they used to be. Some drivers use this transition period to go all out Tweets to send out into the world. A Belgian rider took the plunge for the first time this week on twitter. On his cryptic English sentences We haven't gotten head nor tail yet. But perhaps that wasn't the intention at all.
Predicting who will be the winner in the Brazilian GP on Sunday is always difficult, but if we can build on the circuit's World Cup history, the Italian national anthem could well be heard after the MX1 GP. Won in 1998 and 1999 Alessio Chicco Nails each time the Brazilian 125cc GP at Indaiatuba. Later in 1999 the Italian team (Alessio Chiodi/Claudio Federici, Andrea Bartolini) also the Motocross des Nations on the Indaiatuba circuit. During that MXdN happened Sebastien Tortelli perhaps one of the most spectacular crashes in motocross history.
The track in Indaiatuba plays an important role in Brazilian motocross, as both the opening race and the final of the Motocross Super League (say the Brazilian championship) takes place in Indaiatuba. This year, the Superliga will only visit the track once. Unlike in Canelinha (2009) and Campo Grande, where the Brazilian GP took place last year, the surface in Indaiatuba is not colored red. Due to the high iron concentrations (the red color indicates an ore-rich subsoil) in the soil with which the circuit was constructed, several GP riders became ill last year. In Indaiatuba, however, the subsoil consists of loam. The climate will not cause too many problems either. Autumn has now arrived in the Southern Hemisphere and temperatures rarely exceed 25°C.
Who won't be there in Brazil is Kawasaki Racing Team-owner Roger Pourcel. The sullen Frenchman has given up on being a manager and will from now on focus on his career son Christophe to keep busy. Tomorrow is Christophe Pourcel at the start of the first round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. You will find an extensive preview of this here.
Closer to home, you can go to Koningshooikt this weekend for one of the most beautiful amateur crosses of the season: the VMCF competition on the Fort Koningshooikt. The circuit in the Vegetable Region still remains a monument after all these years. And you should cherish monuments...Have a nice weekend!
Photo Credits: Honda Pro Images/Ray Archer, MXMag archive
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