A fall in last Saturday‰Ûªs qualifying race at the French Grand Prix left Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1‰Ûªs Nagl with a broken left collarbone, which was successfully operated in the following days.
The injury also damaged Nagl‰Ûªs Championship standing as he dropped from second to fourth in the series. Nagl will make a late decision whether to race his home GP or not but the determined German will not give it up easily.
Nagl‰Ûªs team mate Tony Cairoli has continued to lead the MX1 series since round two in Mantova, Italy. The Italian was second overall in France with as many points as overall winner David Philippaerts and has showed impressive form so far. With half of his first Championship on the KTM 350 SX-F being run, Cairoli appears to be the man to beat in a hard fought 2010 season.
Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1‰Ûªs Clement Desalle is now second in the Championship courtesy of a third overall finish in at the last round in France. The Belgian, who also missed one round due to a dislocated shoulder, has a 68 point deficit to Cairoli but he has never been on the podium in Germany ‰ÛÒ where Cairoli took victory in 2009.
Following Desalle in third place is Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross‰Ûª David Philippaerts, a rider who appears to have a love affair with the hilly hard packed Teutschenthal circuit. Philippaerts took his maiden MX1 win in Teutschenthal in 2007, then narrowly missed out on a podium finish in both 2008 and 2009, ending level in points with the third placed rider. After taking his first GP win of 2010 in France, the Italian is pumped for this weekend and will try to close the seven point gap to Desalle.
The other Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1 man Steve Ramon is fifth behind Nagl while Ken De Dycker rounds off the top six ahead of Xavier Boog, Tanel Leok, David Guarneri and British Championship leader Bobby Bobryshev.
Anticipating Sunday‰Ûªs football World Cup match New Zealand vs Italy, New Zealander Josh Coppins will try and stop Cairoli's run of victories as the Kiwi chases Aprilia‰Ûªs maiden win in a Motocross GP. Having won both heats at Teutschenthal in 2008, Coppins will exploit his experience on the German track to steer his twin cylinder Aprilia to a top three finish.
Coppins‰Ûª team mate Manuel Priem, who injured himself in Bulgaria, will finally make his return to racing this weekend.
Making his debut in a Grand Prix, Australia‰Ûªs Dean Ferris will be onboard the Honda Racing MX machine at Teutschenthal this weekend and the young Australian will be one to watch. As a privateer he currently sit's third in the highly competitive Australian Championship.
Struck by bad luck in the first half of the season, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2‰Ûªs Ken Roczen is looking for revenge in the MX2 class as he challenges series tear away leader Marvin Musquin from second place in the small bore class.
The 16 year old German took his maiden win at Teutschenthal last year ‰ÛÒ his maiden World Championship season ‰ÛÒ to become the youngest GP winner ever with 15 years and 53 days. This year he needs to cut the 71 point gap to Musquin to keep his Championship hopes alive with still eight rounds to go including Teutschenthal.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2‰Ûªs Musquin has impressed at his first season as defending Champion. The Frenchman has won an impressive amount of moto‰Ûªs and GP‰Ûªs, leaving his rivals with nothing to win except for the Dutch Grand Prix where he had a bad weekend and finished off the podium. Heading into Teutschenthal, Musquin has a total of six GP wins and 11 moto wins.
Third in the Championship is Steven Frossard of Kawasaki CLS. The hard pack specialist from France took his maiden podium appearance in Teutschenthal in 2008 but has not has a GP win to his name yet. With a second overall in Germany last year, the course seems to be one of Frossard‰Ûªs favourites and it comes at the right time for the Frenchman who defending his position from a very close Jeffery Herlings.
Herlings is just two points away from Frossard after a few crashes in the last couple of rounds. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2 youngster, who has already won his home GP in Valkenswaard despite this being his maiden season in the class, will see Teutschenthal for the first time but has already proved that he can quickly adapt to courses he does not know.
Herlings‰Ûª team mate Shaun Simpson completes the top five from American Zac Osborne, who has taken back to back podiums since his home GP at Glen Helen.
World Motocross Championship rolls into Teutschenthal
