Monday, April 25 2011
FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship – Round 2
Valkenswaard – Netherlands – 25/04/11
Shaun Simpson LS Racing Honda continued his tough introduction to the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship with just a mere five points to show for his battling efforts at the energy sapping Valkenswaard circuit. The twenty- three year old Scottish rider made reasonable starts in both of Monday’s main races, but each time faded as he failed to find his rhythm in the deep Dutch sand. The first moto saw Shaun drop back to twentieth, whilst in race two he crossed the line in an equally disappointing seventeenth spot.
A good showing at the opening round of the Belgian domestic championship last weekend in similar conditions meant that Shaun had headed to the second Grand Prix of the 2011 series with renewed confidence after having struggled to convert his speed to actual results at the first GP in Bulgaria just a week earlier. Mid week adjustments to the LS Racing Honda CRF450R assured Simpson that they had found a good set up ready for the Dutch GP.
Sunday’s initial free practice session seemed to confirm Simpson’s thoughts as he placed seventh with a time just under one minute and fifty-five seconds following his eleven lap stint. The young Scot carried this momentum into the pre-qualifying practice period and this time claimed tenth position despite having gone over two seconds faster than his best morning performance.
This was to give Shaun a reasonable gate pick for the twenty- minute plus two lap qualifying race that would determine starting positions for Monday’s two main motos. Simpson completed the first lap in eighth spot before giving way to his team mate De Dycker and reigning World MX1 Champion Cairoli. From this point on Shaun rode a controlled race to hold a consistent tenth place as he took the flag, which put him in good shape ahead of the main action.
A lowly twenty-first position in morning warm up for Simpson was to signal the start of a bad day for the rookie MX1 rider, as his campaign proper once again failed to get underway in the manner in which the LS Racing Honda teamster had hoped. Both thirty-five minute plus two lap encounters brought a similar story for Shaun, as each time he made a promising start before dropping back through the pack as he tired on each occasion.
Utterly disappointed, Shaun had little to say post the second moto. "It’s definitely a day I want to forget as soon as possible. There are no excuses, I simply tired badlyin both races and was physically sick at the end of both races too. I don’t want to dwell on today, instead I just need to start to work on the next race, next weekend when hopefully I can have a better day."
Simpson will contest the second round of the Belgian series next Sunday, where he will look to build on the third spot he secured at the opening event of the domestic championship earlier this month.
FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship – Round 2 – Valkenswaard
MX1 Moto One: 1: Cairoli 2: Frossard 3: Nagl 4: Philippaerts 5: Desalle…20: Simpson
MX 1 Moto Two: 1: Nagl 2: Cairoli 3: Philippaerts 4: Goncalves 5: Frossard…17: Simpson
MX1 Overall: 1: Cairoli 47 2: Nagl 45 3: Philippaerts 38 4: Frossard 38 5: Goncalves 33…20: Simpson 5
MX1 Championship to date: 1: Frossard 85 2: Nagl 80 3: Desalle 78…16: Simpson 18
Keep up to date with Shaun’s season on his official website at www.shaunsimpson.com
