Saint Jean d’Angely marks mid-way point of the MXGP season
Saint Jean d’Angely returns to host round nine of the FIM Motocross World Championship this weekend after a one-year absence from the MXGP calendar.
The rare blend of hard-pack and sand surface has huge tradition and has played host to some memorable motocross battles since 1984, sharing the honours of the holding the MXGP of France with Ernee over the years.
Situated close to France’s Atlantic coast, Saint Jean d’Angely is a fast natural track that has been built on a hillside with a lot of flowing corners that make for many good overtaking opportunities. As it runs up and down the slope of the hill the surface is very fast hard-pack, but when it settles on the top of the hill it becomes more of a sand track as the soil conditions markedly change.
It’s a great track for viewing so has become very popular with the fans and very well supported, with crowds of 30,000 not unknown.
The MXGP contingent should have a slight reprieve from the rain experienced last weekend in Great Britain as the forecast in France this weekend is for temperatures of mid-20 degrees Celsius with only a chance of showers on Friday and Saturday.
Evgeny Bobryshev 777
"St Jean is a nice track and I have good memories from racing there. It’s not a track with one line, so there are many possibilities to overtake which is good. Hard-pack is not my favourite surface but it’s ok here because of the sand. My back is feeling much better and I can train really hard again so I’ve spent a lot of time training and testing in Italy recently. Especially after last weekend I’m looking forward a lot to going there."
Roger Harvey
"Saint Jean d’Angely is a great track with a natural banking so you can see most of the track, so it’s very good for spectators too. It’s a pretty natural old-school track so there should be some good racing. It’s normally fast hard-pack but depends on the weather. If the track gets wet it can be difficult as it can get quite deep. Underneath the surface is almost rock so if you get down to that it can get tricky. We’ve been doing more testing on hard-pack before this weekend too which will help, and the track suits Bobby’s style, so we go there positive."
Location Information
84 Rue de Poursay, 17400 Mazeray, France - View in Google Maps
