Losail (Qatar), 1 March 2015: Following the untimely loss of Jake Nicholls to injury just six days before the FIM Motocross World Championship season opener, the Wilvo Forkrent KTM team were looking for some much needed luck as they arrived at the Losail Circuit in Qatar. With just MX1 rider Steven Frossard representing the team, lady luck was conspicuous in her absence.
Qualifying Race:
In qualifying Frossard missed the jump and was outside the top twenty as he rounded the first turn. After moving up to 17th by the end of the first lap the majority of the race was a bit of a non-event with passing proving difficult on the super fast track. It wasn’t until the last couple of laps that he was able to make a couple of passes to qualify in 15th place.
Race 1:
Frossard made a good start and was just inside the top ten, however after scrapping with Bobryshev for a couple of laps he started to suffer from arm pump which handed the initiative to the Russian and also cost him another place before he rallied to fight off a late attack from Strijbos to take 11th at the flag.
Race 2:
After getting swamped down at the start straight, Frossard cut to the inside at the first corner and then railed it round the outside of the next one to steal a hat full of places moving him up to 11th as they crossed the line for the first time. He was looking aggressive and on lap two he made a pass on Simpson for 10th but his progress was short lived as he hit a kicker coming into a corner which flicked him forward on the bike, heavily impacting his groin on the fuel tank and leaving him in so much pain he was unable to continue. His 10 – 0 scorecard left him in 16th position overall going into next week’s MXGP of Thailand.
Commenting on the race Steven Frossard said: "The weekend was difficult for me. I feel good on the bike but need more races to find my speed. I also need to relax more and today I didn’t ride like I know I must ride and know I can. I was happy with my start in the first race but got some arm pump. In race two I felt good but then I hurt myself and was in a lot of pain and couldn’t continue."
Steve Turner added: "A pretty disappointing start to our 2015 campaign really. We were hoping for a good day to dampen the blow of losing Jake but it wasn’t to be. Steven was half expecting to suffer from arm pump after not being able to ride in anger at Valence due to the conditions and only completing one race at Lacapelle. He was proved correct, however he battled through it to take a solid 11th in race one and after looking really good in the early laps of the second race it’s really disappointing to suffer a DNF with such a freak accident. The positives are that he loves the bike and feels good in himself so we will be going into round two looking for some good results."
, le il y a 11 années et 2 mois.
