This season has been an impressive year for amiable and stylish rider Arnaud Tonus. The Swiss joined the Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2 team last winter and since then has impressed the German crew with his application and progress.
Still 19, Tonus heads to Uddevalla this week for the Grand Prix of Sweden having scored points in every single moto and stands seventh in the MX2 World Championship after nine rounds of 15.
On current form this represents a decent improvement from the son of a former GP racer (Jean-Charles) who was 15th after his inaugural attempt at the FIM series in 2009. Using the 2010 RM-Z250, Tonus has breached the top five in a moto on six occasions. Coming to Uddevalla 12 months ago the first ever Ricky Carmichael MX of Nations Award winner (best young rider at the '07 meeting) had only managed to finish fifth once.
"I feel quite happy because I progressed from what I managed in Latvia last year and overall the season is going well," he said commenting partially on the ninth place he took at Kegums. "Sweden is a lot different to Kegums but I like this track and had a good feeling there in 2009 so I hope I can do well."
Ken Roczen has picked up podium results in the previous two Grands Prix and now carries six for the year (as well as three pole positions). The teenager was involved in a frantic and exciting scrap for overall victory last Sunday in Latvia and has been patient in his turn for an overall triumph. The German certainly has played an active part in an entertaining series even if World Champion Marvin Musquin has been tough to beat and holds a 74 point lead in the MX2 table. Roczen was second in Sweden for the 2009 GP.
Uddevalla never ceases to be a well organised and popular trip on the World Championship calendar and has been ever-present on the schedule since the start of the millennium. The Glimmingen course first entertained a Grand Prix in 1977 (250cc) and since then has undergone a variety of upgrades and modifications, most significantly in 2006 when the course was reversed and the start gate was relocated. The track dips and weaves in a complicated layout and involves a mix between loose soil and hard-pack. The Grand Prix of Sweden is annually well-attended, showing the strong following motocross has in the country despite the absence of a winner in the championship since 2000.
The weather forecast for the weekend predicts sunny and bright conditions with some cloud on race-day and the chance of the odd shower.
MX2 World Championship standings (after 9 of 15 rounds): 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 404 points; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 330 p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 308 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 286 p.; 5. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 249 p.; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 246 p.; 7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 236 p.; 8. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 214 p.; 9. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 209 p.; 10. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 182 p.
