Shaun Simpson endures a mixed day in France
04/05/2010 12:11:07

French Motocross Championship

Gaillac Toulza - France - 02/05/10

Factory Red Bull KTM rider Shaun Simpson endured a mixed day at the French championship meeting at Gaillac-Toulza in the South of France. The young Scot placed ninth, seventh and seventh over the three twenty five minute plus two laps motos after a day packed with small incidents that robbed Simpson of a better showing for his efforts. As in recent weeks Shaun used his appearance at this domestic series as part of his recovery process and to ensure more valuable time on his bike ahead of this weekend's Portuguese Grand Prix.

Normally the French Championship meetings are run over two days, with Saturday being dedicated to practice, pre-qualifying and a qualifying race, very much like a Grand Prix. However Saturday's programme was lost on this occasion, with torrential rain ruling out riding of any kind as the organisers decided to scrap the full schedule for the first day in order to preserve the track for Sunday's main races. This proved to be a good call, with the circuit drying throughout Saturday afternoon and into Sunday morning, leaving conditions perfect for the three counting motos.

As with other European domestic championships, in France the MX1 and MX2 riders line up together and at this track the uphil start into the first right hander certainly favoured the bigger bikes. Simpson got away well in the first race and was holding a strong seventh place overall before a small slip dropped him down to ninth spot as the chequered flag was waved.

Race two saw Shaun sucked into the pack as he lost out on the uphill sprint to the first corner, a quick tangle of handlebars left the twenty-two year old on the deck and right at the back of the field as the leaders disappeared into the distance. Having dusted himself down, Simpson was soon on the charge and cutting his way through the pack, finishing in an incredible seventh place as the race came to a close.

Not wanting a repeat of the second moto, Simpson was quick out of the gate for the third and final race and held as high as fourth place during the early part of the action. As the race wore on Shaun looked to have secured fifth place, but a late coming together with Valentin Teillet, as the KTM duo went for the same rut left Simpson down on the deck once again, which would demote him to seventh spot as he crossed the line.

Despite his mixed results Shaun was pleased with his day's riding. "On paper it doesn't look like I have had a good day, but that is not the case. I was really pleased with my riding and my overall speed. Despite making a couple of small mistakes I have really enjoyed myself today, and it was just what I need before heading to Portugal."

"I plan to ride a couple of times this week on more hard pack tracks in readiness for this weekend's Grand Prix, and I am feeling stronger and more confident as each day goes by. After my result in Holland I hope I can be up there once again this weekend." Simpson ended.

French Championship - Gaillac Toulza

MX1/MX2 Moto One: 1: Boog 2: Aubin 3: Boissiere 4: Allier 5: Soubeyras...9: Simpson

MX1/MX2 Moto Two: 1: Boog 2: Aubin 3: Allier 4: Soubeyras 5: Teillet ...7: Simpson

MX1/MX2 Moto Three: 1: Boog 2: Aubin 3: Soubeyras 4: Coulon 5: Teillet ...7: Simpson