Tough weekend for Nicholls in 12th Place at MX GP Of Germany in the MX2 World MX Championship
22/06/2010 06:28:30

Tough weekend for Nicholls in 12th

The Grand Prix of Germany took place across the hard bumps and ruts of the fast layout at Teutschenthal and the eighth round of fifteen in the FIM Motocross World Championship saw an uneven performance from HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK’s Jake Nicholls as the hard-working youngster fought diligently for 12th position overall in the MX2 class.

Cloudy, breezy and occasionally chilly weather conditions did not deter a boisterous 35,000 crowd from travelling to the traditional and ‘old school’ venue close to the city of Halle. The narrow and undulating Talkessel course divides rider’s opinions but 20 year old Nicholls appreciates the winds and dips, although the course would not be kind to the Brit.

A fall during the qualification heat on Saturday led to some bumps and bruises and 15th spot in the starting gate. A reasonably quiet first moto delivered a satisfactory finish of 10th on the 250SX-F while a fall early into the second sprint forced a valiant charge back to 17th from the lower echelons of the pack for a handful of points.

At the same event Natalie Kane went 6-6 in the two 20 minute and 2 lap races of round five of seven in the Women’s World Championship. The Irishwoman was still nursing a weakened right wrist but her efforts were good enough for 6th overall as the competition heads into its final straight.

Nicholls is 10th in the world and 28 points from rising further in the standings. Kane is 6th and 19 points from the top five.

HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK will now face Grand Prix in Latvia and Sweden in the next two weekends before a break during July in which they will only have the sixth round of the Maxxis British Championship to negotiate.

For more information visit the team’s website at: www.ktmukmx.com

Jake Nicholls:

“I’ve had such a frustrating weekend. Last week I thought I had made a step up with speed at Lyng and I felt great during the week and during the first couple of sessions here but in the heat race I had quite a big crash which left me a bit sore. I didn’t have such a good gate pick but I was coming forwards in the first moto with Roelants until I made a few mistakes and lost the tow. I was stuck in no-man’s land on my own but tenth was OK. In the second race I just got a corner wrong and tipped over. I don’t understand what happened and I feel like I haven’t crashed as much in my life. I think I am at that stage now where I am trying to push onto the next step and maybe going at it too hard. It is not good enough at the moment and I should be in the top ten every time. I need to get my two good results back in place and then build from there.”

Natalie Kane:

“Again it wasn’t an easy GP for me and although I have more movement in my wrist now I still cannot ride like I want to. After two GPs in a row we now have a bit of a break and I want to try and get as fit as I can before we come back to the world championship.”

Roger Magee, Team Principal:

“Natalie secured another good couple of finishes that keeps her sixth in the world championship which is good considering that she is still riding through the pain barrier and had to cut a cast off her wrist this week. Her schedule quietens down a little bit now so hopefully she can heal a bit more and get some practicing done before the next round of the Ladies British Championship. Jake maintained his 100% record of scoring points in every GP moto this year. He made a few mistakes but came back fighting as usual and now we are looking forward to Latvia.”

MX2 Moto1

1. Marvin Musquin (KTM); 2. Jeremy van Horebeek (Kaw); 3. Steven Frossard (Kaw); 4. Zach Osborne (Yam); 5. Ken Roczen (Suz); 6. Arnaud Tonus (Suz); 7. Gautier Paulin (Yam); 8. Joel Roelants (KTM); 9. Shaun Simpson (KTM); 10. Jake Nicholls (HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK); 11. Khounsith Vongsana (KTM); 12. Chirstophe Charlier (Yam); 13. Martin Michek (TM); 14. Harri Kullas (Yam); 15. Valentin Teillet (KTM); 16. Aleksandr Tonkov (Suz); 17. Alessandro Lupino (Yam); 18. Loic Larrieu (Yam); 19. Klemen Gercar (KTM); 20. José Butrón (Suz);

MX2 Moto2

1. Ken Roczen (Suz); 2. Marvin Musquin (KTM); 3. Zach Osborne (Yam); 4. Steven Frossard (Kaw); 5. Arnaud Tonus (Suz); 6. Christophe Charlier (Yam); 7. Jeremy van Horebeek (Kaw); 8. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM); 9. Shaun Simpson (KTM); 10. Michael Leib (Kaw); 11. Gautier Paulin (Yam); 12. Khounsith Vongsana (KTM); 13. Harri Kullas (Yam); 14. Alessandro Lupino (Yam); 15. Valentin Teillet (KTM); 16. Nikolaj Larsen (Hon); 17. Jake Nicholls (HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK); 18. Loic Larrieu (Yam); 19. Mel Pocock (Yam); 20. José Butrón (Suz);

MX2 Overall Result

1. Marvin Musquin (KTM); 2. Ken Roczen (Suz); 3. Zach Osborne (Yam); 4. Steven Frossard (Kaw); 5. Jeremy van Horebeek (Kaw); 6. Arnaud Tonus (Suz); 7. Christophe Charlier (Yam); 8. Shaun Simpson (KTM); 9. Gautier Paulin (Yam); 10. Khounsith Vongsana (KTM); 11. Harri Kullas (Yam);12. Jake Nicholls (HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK); 13. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM); 14. Joel Roelants (KTM); 15. Valentin Teillet (KTM); 16. Michael Leib (Kaw); 17. Alessando Lupino (Yam); 18. Martin Michek (TM); 19. Loic Larrieu (Yam); 20. Nikolaj Larsen (Hon);

MX2 World Championship standings after 8 of 15 rounds

1. Marvin Musquin (365); 2. Ken Roczen (288); 3. Steven Frossard (268); 4. Jeffrey Herlings (241); 5. Zach Osborne (233); 6. Shaun Simpson (225); 7. Arnaud Tonus (214); 8. Jeremy van Horebeek (209); 9. Joel Roelants (183); 10. Jake Nicholls (158); 11. Harri Kullas (158); 12. Christophe Charlier (130); 13. Dennis Verbruggen (127); 14. Alessandro Lupino (111); 15. Gautier Paulin (100); 16. Matiss Karro (71); 17. Valentin Teillet (65); 18. Nikolaj Larsen (53); 19. Khounsith Vongsana (43); 20. Mel Pocock (36);

WMX Overall Result

1. Larissa Papenmeier (Suz); 2. Chiara Fontanesi (Yam); 3. Livia Lancelot (KTM); 4. Stephanie Laier (KTM); 5. Maria Franke (KTM); 6. Natalie Kane (HM Plant Red Bull KTM UK); 7. Marielle De Mol (Yam); 8. Elin Mann (KTM); 9. Elien De Winter (KTM); 10. Sara Petterson (KTM);

FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship standings after 5 of 7 rounds

1. Stephanie Laier (230); 2. Livia Lancelot (190); 3. Larissa Papenmeier (184); 4. Chiara Fontanesi (178); 5. Maria Franke (177); 6. Natalie Kane (158); 7. Marielle De Mol (134); 8. Elin Mann (121); 9. Elien De Winter (111); 10. Francesca Nocera (78);