Bolley second in unfavourable 250cc conditions.

It was second place again for Frederic Bolley in the French Grand Prix, but the French star of the Rinaldi Yamaha Motocross Team was actually relieved with the result, knowing his history at St. Jean D'Angely.
Team Yamaha Axo Chesterfield's awful luck continued with Federici still unable to begin his 2002 season, while Alessio Chiodi suffered a severe crash. The only, but very important, luck was that Chiodi walked away unharmed after initial fears of a back injury.
The fourth race in the championship again confirmed Bolley at the moment is the only rider able to challenge current world champ Pichon, who scored his third victory out of four races.

'Bobol' explained; "I think everyone knows I don't like the mud, and when I heard the rain falling on my motorhome this morning as I woke up, I was very disappointed. I already had the pressure of knowing that I had never made a good result at this track, and the rain simply added to the pressure. "But it is the same for everyone of course and I tried to stay concentrated, and got the result."
With winner Pichon an acknowledged mud expert, second place was truly the best result possible, and keeps Bolley very confident he can snatch his first victory for Yamaha soon: "I stay confident for the championship and only lost three points today. Yesterday in the dry the team tried some different tyres and we had a good feeling. Also we have the bike running even better. Once we get a GP with good weather, then I am sure we can race for the win and the season is still long enough to pull back the points deficit."

Alessio Chiodi experienced dismal luck once again as he crashed out at the first corner and was taken to hospital for examination after suffering pain in his back. Chicco's DNF adds to the severe situation the Team Yamaha Axo Chesterfield is in since the start of the season with team mate Claudio Federici still unfit to race due to his knee injury sustained in February.

Chiodi's chances for a good race were indicated by the seventh fastest time he scored in the morning warm-up. In the race the rider from Brescia gated amongst the leading group, but at the first turn he was hit by another rider, similar as what happened two weeks ago at Teutschental. Chiodi was thrown off the saddle and while on the ground, he was hit by other competitors. At first the situation was thought to be very serious and as a preventive measure he was taken to a local hospital. Luckily various check-ups confirmed that he did not sustain any severe injuries and was soon discharged.

A relieved Team Manager Claudio De Carli stated; "It is an incredible situation, really difficult! The most important thing is that Chicco did not suffer any physical consequences. We hope to have him back in perfect shape for the Italian Grand Prix at Castiglione del Lago. As for Claudio Federici we hope for his come-back at the Italian GP as well, but we don't want to force his progress or make any promises".