Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2 travels to Holland this week for the Grand Prix of Benelux and the penultimate round of the FIM Motocross Championship.
Just 100 points remain up for grabs in the MX2 contest and although Ken Roczen has little chance of deposing Marvin Musquin at the top of the standings, he is 69 ahead of Steven Frossard and can guarantee the number two plate for 2011 in the sand of Lierop on Sunday.
The newly-crowned 'Champions of Germany' will actually be able to secure two slots in the final top 10 as Arnaud Tonus is currently eighth and has every chance of being able to trouble the fringes of the first five. It has been a decent first season for the teenage Swiss with the team and he has scored points in every moto bar one; to confirm his excellent evolution and progress from a first attempt at the World Championship in 2009 where he classified 16th.
ADAC MX Masters Champion Roczen will enter the technical and bumpy sand of Lierop, in the south of the Netherlands, confident of his blossoming capabilities in the terrain after scoring his first Grand Prix win of the season last month in the similar confines of Lommel in Belgium. Roczen is definitely on a hot-roll after having won five of the last seven motos and the last GP outing two weeks ago in Brazil.
"We are looking forward to Lierop and Ken is planning to win there as his confidence is very high and he has been the best performer over the last three grands prix," said Team Manager Thomas Ramsbacher. "Since the week before Lommel we had some great help and a promising collaboration with SMC and from that point on we have been extremely competitive. Ken's win in the sand at Lommel means we can be hopeful for Lierop. Ken has progressed so much this year and I don't mean just in terms of his skills. Physically he has changed from a youth to a man and this has assisted his potential in the races.
"We have said before how happy we are with Arnaud and he is close to a very good championship finish in his second season and first with us," the German boss added. "As a teenage French-speaking Swiss, that is still effectively a rookie to come into a German-English speaking team, he needed to find his feet and get confidence but he has a great character and has fitted in so well. The results of the relationships he has with people are seen on the track where he has developed and that was all we ever wanted from this year."
Lierop has been a consistent fixture on the World Championship calendar for numerous years. The well-organised and presentable venue boasts a very challenging track and for many riders it is the hardest and most difficult sand to negotiate in the series. The ripples of the flat and fast course means a heavy test for the bike as much as the riders and consistent race speed combined with minimal mistakes often seems to determine the final podium positions. Lierop is divided between the distinct inner field section and the long stretches that thread into the woodland. The terrain often becomes so bumpy that riders create their own jumps between the mounds of sand.
The trip to Holland precedes the final round, the Grand Prix of Italy at Fermo, by just seven days. The weather for the weekend is predicted to be bright and sunny.
MX2 World Championship standings (after 13 of 15 rounds): 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 571 points; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 499 p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 430 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 391 p.; 5. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 343 p.; 6. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 337 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 329 p.; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 328 p.; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 326 p.; 10. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 280 p.
