Kevin Strijbos signs GP's comeback with second career pole
The ninth round of the season begun today with the qualifying sessions; Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki) came back after missing Bulgaria – because of a knee injury - and was the fastest in the MX1 class, clinching his second career pole. This track has good memories for the Belgian, who conquered his second moto victory in Uddevalla back in 2004.
 Glimminge Mototstadion in Uddevalla / Photo by: Jörg Domanowski / realmx.comIn the MX2 class, Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha) won the first Qualifying heat, and was imitated by fellow Yamaha rider Kenneth Gundersen (NOR, Yamaha) in the second heat.
The fastest FIM Women’s Motocross World Cup participant was Stephanie Laier (GER, KTM), who looked all set on winning this second round on Sunday.
MX1
Kevin Strijbos of Suzuki left his mark on the qualifying session by clocking the pole with fifteen minutes to go. The Belgian came back to the GP scene after a knee injury left him out of the Bulgarian GP, and made him drop from second to sixth in the Championship.
 Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki) / Photo by: Jörg Domanowski / realmx.comCountryman Ken De Dycker (BEL, Honda) was second fastest after having seen the top of the timesheets for a few minutes. The CAS Honda representative has enough speed to fight for the victory with Strijbos and Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), who finished third fastest today.
Ramon is currently second in the Championship, and will be extra motivated to make up ground on leader Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha). Yamaha Motocross’ Kiwi brought the bike home with sixth today, getting to grips with a newly modified track.
With ten minutes to go, Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki) of Kawasaki Europe jumped up to the fourth place ahead of Kawasaki fellow rider Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki). In the points standings, the GPKR’s Frenchman is tied in points with David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM), but the German GP winner qualified only 15th behind KTM Red Bull team mate Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM).
After crashing in the morning, Yamaha Motocross’ Marc de Reuver (NED, Yamaha) did one single lap in the qualifying session to discover he was not fit enough to race tomorrow’s GP. The Dutchman has a bruised left arm, and hit his head in the crash.
Qualifying Class MX1:- Strijbos, Kevin (BEL, Suzuki), 1:40.735
- de Dycker, Ken (BEL, Honda), 1:40.921
- Ramon, Steve (BEL, Suzuki), 1:42.055
- Leok, Tanel (EST, Kawasaki), 1:42.154
- Pourcel, Sebastien (FRA, Kawasaki), 1:42.404
- Coppins, Joshua (NZL, Yamaha), 1:42.628
- Mackenzie, Billy (GBR, Kawasaki), 1:42.815
- Brown, Mike (USA, Honda), 1:43.764
- Priem, Manuel (BEL, TM), 1:43.872
- Desalle, Clement (BEL, Suzuki), 1:43.897
- Renet, Pierre A. (FRA, Honda), 1:44.140
- Bill, Julien (SUI, Honda), 1:44.274
- van Daele, Marvin (BEL, Honda), 1:44.612
- Barragan, Jonathan (ESP, KTM), 1:44.692
- Philippaerts, David (ITA, KTM), 1:44.818
- Noble, James (GBR, Honda), 1:44.961
- Nemeth, Kornel (HUN, Suzuki), 1:45.032
- Remes, Eero (FIN, Honda), 1:45.336
- Crockard, Gordon (IRL, Honda), 1:45.430
- Leonce, Loic (FRA, Yamaha), 1:45.962
- Coulon, Cyrille (FRA, Honda), 1:46.069
- Salvini, Alex (ITA, Yamaha), 1:46.137
- Leok, Aigar (EST, Yamaha), 1:46.320
- Allier, Thomas (FRA, Kawasaki), 1:46.337
- Theybers, Danny (BEL, Suzuki), 1:46.433
- Jensen, Kasper (DEN, Yamaha), 1:46.972
- Karlsson, Karl (SWE, Suzuki), 1:47.066
- Kovalainen, Marko (FIN, Honda), 1:47.384
- Chiodi, Alessio (ITA, Aprilia), 1:47.447
- Verhoeven, Bas (NED, Honda), 1:47.959
- Melotte, Cedric (BEL, Aprilia), 1:48.111
- Lindhe, Jonny (SWE, KTM), 1:48.120
MX2
Two breathtaking qualifying heats took place today on a demanding track. Antonio Cairoli of Yamaha de Carli won the opening heat, beating rivals such as GPKR’s Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki) – who crashed twice and qualified to the GP via the last chance - and KTM Red Bull’s Tyla Rattray (RSA, KTM), who brought the bike home in second. Kenneth Gundersen of Yamaha Ricci owned the final heat, as he was handed the lead by early leader and team mate Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha) – he crashed and finished sixth. KTM Red Bull’s Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM) raced a solid heat and finished second behind the Norwegian.
MX2 Qualifying Race 1
Tony Cairoli took the holeshot to win another race in his style, dominating all 13 circulations. Christophe Pourcel crashed a first time after the start, trying to chase Cairoli, and handed the runner up spot to Tom Church (GBR, Kawasaki). The Brit was chased by a solid Tyla Rattray, who passed quite soon and cruised in second place until the chequered flag. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki) moved past Church after a decent start, and finished the moto in third place ahead of his team mate. Carl Nunn (GBR, Yamaha) rounded off the top five, while Anthony Boissiere (FRA, Kawasaki) recovered from a twenty - first position and made it to ninth, as he had a problem with his front brake at the start. Stephen Sword (GBR, Kawasaki) – who was back to the GP’s after a 15 month absence - tangled up with another rider at the start, crashed and did not finish the heat.
 Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha) / Photo by: Jörg Domanowski / realmx.comQualifying Class MX2 1st Race:- Cairoli, Antonio (ITA, Yamaha)
- Rattray, Tyla (RSA, KTM)
- Swanepoel, Gareth (RSA, Kawasaki)
- Church, Tom (GBR, Kawasaki)
- Nunn, Carl (GBR, Yamaha)
- Schiffer, Marcus (GER, KTM)
- Boog, Xavier (FRA, Yamaha)
- Dougan, Jason (GBR, Suzuki)
- Boissiere, Anthony (FRA, Kawasaki)
- Verbruggen, Dennis (BEL, Yamaha)
- Kras, Mike (NED, Suzuki)
- Bobkovs, Aigars (LAT, KTM)
MX2 Qualifying Race 2
Davide Guarneri and Matti Seistola (FIN, Honda) fought for the holeshot, but the Italian conquered the lead soon. Guarneri pulled away with the lead after undergoing a couple of attacks from team mate Kenneth Gundersen. The Norwegian apparently settled down in second place, after having opened up a gap over a dangerous Tommy Searle, who attacked the Norwegian in several occasions. But Guarneri crashed out and handed the lead to Gundersen, who owned his first chequered flag of the season. Guarneri rejoined the race in fifth place, but was passed by Shaun Simpson at the final lap. Tommy Searle brought the bike home with second, ahead of Pascal Leuret (FRA, Honda), who earned the third spot after passing Seistola; the latter was fourth on the finish line. Sean Hamblin (USA, Suzuki) will not race tomorrow, as he injured his hand last week; the gutsy American tried the practice sessions, but was not fit enough for the races.
Qualifying Class MX2 2nd Race:- Gundersen, Kenneth (NOR, Yamaha)
- Searle, Tommy (GBR, KTM)
- Leuret, Pascal (FRA, Honda)
- Seistola, Matti (FIN, Honda)
- Simpson, Shaun (GBR, Kawasaki)
- Guarneri, Davide (ITA, Yamaha)
- Goncalves, Rui (POR, KTM)
- van Horebeek, Jeremy (BEL, KTM)
- Söderström, Tom (SWE, Yamaha)
- Avis, Wyatt (RSA, KTM)
- Tarroux, Jeremy (FRA, KTM)
- Sandberg, Rickard (SWE, Kawasaki)
MX2 Last Chance Qualifying Practice:- Pourcel, Christophe (FRA, Kawasaki), 1:43.396
- Aubin, Nicolas (FRA, Yamaha), 1:45.414
- Nicholls, Jake (GBR, Suzuki), 1:46.947
- Terreblanche, Shannon (RSA, KTM), 1:47.753
- Dierckx, Dennis (BEL, Honda), 1:47.777
- Karlsson, Frederik (SWE, Yamaha), 1:48.028
FIM Women's Motocross World Cup
Stephanie Laier of KTM Germany conquered her first pole position of the year, and was incredibly fast on the Swedish track. The German was 1.6 seconds faster than the second fastest woman of the day, Livia Lancelot (FRA, Kawasaki) of GPKR. The latter picked up a knee injury after the opening round, and will probably not be as fit as her rivals tomorrow. The talented French was in front of defending Champion Katherine Prumm (NZL, Kawasaki), who brought the bike home with a satisfactory third place. Current series leader and winner of the opening round Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Honda) was fourth fastest, securing an important position on the gate. Maria Franke (GER, Kawasaki) – second in the points standings - rounded off the top five ahead of Natalie Kane (IRL, Yamaha), who will race her first round of the Cup after having missed Germany because of a wrist injury.
Qualifying Womens MX World Cup:- Laier, Stephanie (GER, KTM), 1:56.779
- Lancelot, Livia (FRA, Kawasaki), 1:58.450
- Prumm, Katherine (NZL, Kawasaki), 1:58.930
- Papenmeier, Larissa (GER, Honda), 2:00.304
- Franke, Maria (GER, Kawasaki), 2:01.259
- Kane, Natalie (IRL, Yamaha), 2:01.363
- Mann, Elin (SWE, KTM), 2:01.527
- Romlin, Marie (SWE, Yamaha), 2:01.702
- Veenstra, Marianne (NED, Honda), 2:04.330
- De Winter, Elien (BEL, Honda), 2:04.380
- Adriansson, Sandra (SWE, Suzuki), 2:04.405
- De Mol, Marielle (NED, Yamaha), 2:05.483
- Sjöberg, Sofia (SWE, Honda), 2:08.365
- Indermaur, Michelle (SUI, Yamaha), 2:08.436
- Seidenberg, Jenny (GER, KTM), 2:08.921
- Jönsson, Jessica (SWE, Suzuki), 2:09.907
- Rye-Holemboe, Katrine (NOR, KTM), 2:10.576
- Karlsson, Emelie (SWE, Honda), 2:10.627
- Irmgartz, Kim (GER, Suzuki), 2:11.265
- Wagemans, Brenda (BEL, KTM), 2:11.406
- Decarli, Gloria (ITA, Honda), 2:11.776
- Dufrene, Blandine (FRA, Honda), 2:11.844
- Simenstad, Mari (NOR, Yamaha), 2:14.250
- Hilkjaer, Mie (DEN, KTM), 2:14.448
- Padrini, Stefania (ITA, Kawasaki), 2:15.203
- Paull, Sophia (GBR, Yamaha), 2:15.277
- Wordragen, Nicky (NED, KTM), 2:15.299
- van de Wekken, Britt (NED, Suzuki), 2:15.557
- Haakenstad, Stine (NOR, Yamaha), 2:16.359
- Rommel, Stefanie (GER, Kawasaki), 2:18.870
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