Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team’s David Philippaerts guided his works YZ450FM machine to 5th place overall at a dark and damp Uddevalla circuit for the Grand Prix of Sweden and the tenth round of fifteen in the FIM MX-GP World Championship. The determined Italian holds 3rd in the MX1-GP standings after the first two-thirds of the 2010 campaign came to a close across the swinging undulations of the Swedish venue.

The dry hard-pack of Saturday – under a loose top soil – had changed significantly for Sunday after a sustained period of rainfall created a softer and rougher track. The 2008 world champion made one decent start and another mediocre launch in the two motos played out in front of 22,000 spectators. The first good getaway came in the opening race where he gave chase to Clement Desalle and vied for second position. Finally without goggles due to the slightly muddy conditions, the 25 year old fought off Steve Ramon to take third spot and his ninth top three finish from the twenty motos held thus far.

Deep in the pack around the first turns of the second moto, Philippaerts could not set the same pace after his earlier exertions and struggled to make an effective rhythm. It was a performance that provided 8th by the flag and forged the final classification.

Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team’s Ken De Dycker, winner two weeks ago at Teutschenthal, was unlucky to crash at one of the fastest points on the track during the first free practice session on Saturday. The Belgian needed a visit to hospital for stitches to a gaping wound on his right elbow and missed out on affecting the leader-board at Uddevalla.

Philippaerts needs 36 points to close down Clement Desalle in the standings. De Dycker has dropped to 7th and is 7 points behind Xavier Boog.

The world championship will now pause for three weeks before the Grand Prix of Limburg (Belgium) in the sand of Lommel on the first weekend in August.

David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team:

“Not an easy day. I pushed hard in the first moto and was happy with third, especially because Ramon was close at the end. I think I paid for that race in the next moto because I felt a bit tired and could not get a good feeling on the bike. I made an awful start and then it was just a long time of trying to make as many positions as possible. A shame we could not think about the podium again but the points were not bad.”

Ken De Dycker, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci Motocross Team:

“Coming up to the jump by the pits the bike started to dip and I jumped off at the final moment because for a second I thought I would land OK. I think I hit my elbow with my helmet peak and it made a big hole. I wasn’t able to ride because my arm felt very weak after the stitches. Luckily no bones were broken and I hope my muscles will be OK in the next week or two.”