Grand Prix of Spain ? The Preview

The FIM Motocross World Championship has arrived at its mid-point and the new Spanish venue in La Ba�eza, Leon, will host the seventh Grand Prix of the season. So far, there have been four GP winners and two red plate holders in MX1, whereas in MX2 everything has been almost divided between Jeffrey Herlings and Ken Roczen, except French GP, which was for Tommy Searle.

Although being half way of the season, the MX1 class has not been decided yet. Clement Desalle is the current red plate leader, but the top five riders are not far from the leader. This weekend they will all race in a new track, so they will have the same possibilities to fight for the overall victory and get some valuable points for the Championship.

In the MX2 class everything seamed to be decided, as Ken Roczen was the clear dominant of the series at the beginning of the season. However, Jeffrey Herlings obtained his third GP victory of the season last weekend, one more than his team mate Roczen, and he is now the current leader of the Championship.

The UEM EMX-2 Championship will also be present in La Ba�eza to celebrate the fourth round of the series. So far, there have been up to four different winners and three red plate holders, so the last races of the championship will be crucial to decide the 2011 UEM EMX-2 Champion.

MX1
Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MX1?s Desalle consolidated his leadership last weekend in Agueda, Portugal, after winning both heats of the Portuguese Grand Prix. The Belgian rider is leading the FIM MX1 Championship with 12 points advantage over second classified Cairoli.

Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX1?s Cairoli did the fastest lap in the second heat of the GP of Portugal, but he could not win any of the races. The Italian is working to improve his performance of the first minutes of the race and try to stop Desalle from winning more GP.

Monster Energy Yamaha?s Frossard is back to third in the MX1 Championship, after his solid fifth overall position obtained last weekend in Portugal. Frossard has already been at the top of the MX1 Classification, so he is looking forward to placing again the red plate on his Monster Energy Yamaha machine.

Fourth in the Championship is Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX1?s Nagl, who has not been very lucky in the last two GP. The German rider was second in the Championship, but after the Honda GP of Brazil, Nagl started to make several mistakes, which have cost him two positions in the FIM MX1 World Championship.

After his third overall position in the GP of Portugal, Honda World Motocross? Bobryshev entered the top five of the FIM MX1 World Championship. The Russian has already obtained two podiums this season, so he might be one of the riders to take into account for chase of the MX1 Title.

His team mate Gon�alves is sixth in the Championship, followed by Philippaerts, who dropped down two positions, as he did not score any points in Portugal. Eighth is Barrag�n, who rides home this weekend, Strijbos is ninth and completing the top ten is Boog.

Home riders Alvaro Lozano and Joan Cross will join Barrag�n and Campano in the MX1 class as wild card riders.

Photos available at www.motocrossmx1.com/gallery

MX2
Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX2?s Herlings obtained the overall victory in Portugal last weekend and became the new leader of the Championship. The Dutch rider has a six points advantage over Roczen and he needs to keep on obtaining solid results if he wants to keep the leadership until the end of the season.

His team mate Roczen won the first heat of the Portuguese GP, but a crash at the beginning of the second moto left him out of the Grand Prix. Roczen is recovering from the crash, so we will have to wait until Saturday to see if he will be back at the starting grid.

CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit?s Searle is still third in the championship 33 points away from the MX2 leader Herlings. Searle dominated the second heat of the Portuguese GP, but he finished seventh overall due to his dnf in the first moto.

Bike-it Cosworth Wild Wolf Yamaha?s Osborne got another podium in Portugal and he is now fourth in the point standings. Osborne struggled with a cold last weekend and he managed to be on the podium, so this weekend he might be able to fight for the overall victory.

Monster Energy Yamaha?s Paulin has been finishing among the top three in the last three GP and he is now fifth in the FIM MX2 World Championship. The French rider is fully fit again and he is ready for a GP win.

Photos available at www.motocrossmx1.com/gallery

EMX2
The UEM EMX-2 Championship has a new red plate holder, Romain Febvre, who will have to defend the leadership from the likes of his compatriots Charles Lefran�ois, who second in the championship, and Dylan Ferrandis. Febvre injured his left foot in the last race of the Portuguese round, so he might struggle to race again at his 100% of possibilities.

On the other hand, Tonkov, who is third in the point standings, injured his arm during the free practice in Portugal, so it is still not sure he will take part in the Spanish round this weekend. Ferrandis is fifth in the Championship, but he dominated with superb authority the Portuguese round, so if he performs in the same way, he might be able to enter the top three after the Spanish round in La Ba�eza.

TIMETABLE
Saturday: EMX2 Free + Qualifying Time Practice Group A 7:55; EMX2 Free + Qualifying Time Practice Group B 8:35; MX2 Free Practice 9:30; MX1 Free Practice 10:15; EMX2 Qualifying Race Group A 11:15; EMX2 Qualifying Race Group B 12:00; MX2 Pre-Qualifying Practice 13:15; MX1-Pre Qualifying Practice 14:00; EMX2 Last Chance Qualifying Practice 15:00; MX2 Qualifying Race 16:10; MX1 Qualifying Race 17:00; EMX2 B-Final 17:50; EMX2 Race 1 18:40.
Sunday: EMX2 Warm up 8:30; MX2 Warm up 9:00; MX1 Warm up 9:30; EMX2 Race 2 10:15; MX2 Grand Prix Race 1 12:10; MX1 Grand Prix Race 1 13:10; MX2 Grand Prix Race 2 15:03; MX1 Grand Prix race 2 16:03.

MxLarge

Pierre Renet Marc de Reuver Michele Rinaldi Joel Robert Ken Roczen