Bolley on the podium in the MX GP250.

Yamaha's 250 ace Frederic Bolley again visited the podium and even though it was only third place, he was closer to the win than he had been since the first GP of the year as the top three crossed the line within nine seconds. The 20 points collected have promoted Fr?d?ric to fourth in the standings.

Young Johnny Aubert had another strong result with a seventh position finish, proving he comes closer and closer to the worlds' top riders.

With both the Chesterfield Yamaha's of Chiodi (eight) and Federici (sixteenths) in the points too, it has been the first time that all three factory-supported riders have scored points in a Grand Prix this year, a statistic proving that 2002 has not been the most fortunate 250 season for Yamaha.

However with Federici scoring his first points of the year, and on his way to full race fitness who knows what the end of the season might have in stock for Yamaha.

Bolley's Countryman Mikeal Pichon won his fifth GP in a row and seems to be invincible in his present form, leading the championship by 30 points in front of Joshua Coppins.

Bolley, in a content mood, said: "Of course I would have been happier with the win or second, but I pushed hard and felt good on the bike again today and that was important. I got a really great start in second place, but I lost concentration on the first lap and made several mistakes. I was soon able to put that behind me and find my rhythm again, but the damage was done. It is very difficult to find a perfect set-up for this track, you have to seek a compromise to gain traction on the slippery sections, but also have the suspension right for the big jumps. I think we did a good job there and I was able to pull back Pichon and Coppins, but they were also going really well and I couldn't find a way past."

The Uddevalla track, beautifully prepared, is characterised by a soft and sometimes sandy surface and Alessio Chiodi never adapted perfectly to the track, a resulting sixteenth qualifying time gave him an unfavorable gate position. Despite a very good start Chicco was twelfth entering turn one; "Well, the start is fundamental, said Chiodi; "and the guys in front right managed to pull a big gap straightaway. It was not easy to overtake and almost at every corner there was a fight for positions. When I got up to eighth place the positions started to settle. Anyway I couldn't have done better, not even with a better start: I just couldn't quite understand this track, with that particular surface I was never completely confident."

Claudio Federici, celebrating his twenty-seventh birthday, decided that at least he needed to finish; "This time I must get to the end of the race!", he said. Not so confident Chiodi finishes 8th The roman, soon after the start, rode alongside his teammate and together they started to recover positions. After some time Claudio had to manage his strength and contrary to he previous race in Bulgaria, he rode within his limits, eventually finishing as sixteenth. "At last my first points this year! Besides this, I'm satisfied also about the fact that I rode far better than in Bulgaria, more relaxed and cleaner. Of course, sometimes in the race I was sorry not to be able to push more, but our objective was to get to the end of the race. This evening I'm going to celebrate my birthday with all my team: this year really began very bad and we just had very few highlights, but now we are united and determined to get back to our previous race-winning level".

Race results MX GP250 - Round: 8 - Swedish Grand Prix:

1 M. Pichon Suzuki FRA 40' 31.484
2 J. Coppins Honda NZL +4.250
3 F. Bolley Yamaha FRA +8.975
4 P. Beirer Honda GER +34.574
5 K. Gundersen Kawasaki NOR +37.158
6 J. Dobb KTM GBR +38.738
7 J. Aubert Yamaha FRA +46.816
8 A. Chiodi Yamaha ITA +54.123
9 G. Crockard KTM IRL +56.163
10 M. Kovalainen TM FIN +1' 3.768
11 M. Lalloz Yamaha FRA +1' 6.133
12 J. Cepelak Honda CZE +1' 10.586
13 P. Jarvela Kawasaki SWE +1' 17.349
14 C. Beggie Honda ITA +1' 21.198
15 C. Martin Suzuki FRA +1' 25.009
16 C. Federici Yamaha ITA +1' 25.311
17 C. Nunn Husqvarna GBR +1' 46.788
18 T. Engwall KTM SWE +1' 51.989
19 K. Ashkenazi Yamaha AUS +2' 2.238
20 J. Eliasson Yamaha SWE +2' 3.660

Fastest Lap:
J. Coppins Honda NZL 1' 59.726

Championship standings MX GP 250:

1 Mickael Pichon Suzuki FRA 188
2 Joshua Coppins Honda NZL 158
3 Pit Beirer Honda GER 141
4 Fr?d?ric Bolley Yamaha FRA 125
5 Kenneth Gundersen Kawasaki NOR 121
6 Jamie Dobb KTM GBR 108
7 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 99
8 Gordon Crockard KTM IRL 99
9 Andrew McFarlane Kawasaki AUS 86
10 Paul Cooper Honda GBR 74
11 Alessio Chiodi Yamaha ITA 69
12 J P Vehvilainen Honda FIN 65
13 Marko Kovalainen TM FIN 62
14 Jiri Cepelak Honda CZE 49
15 Cristian Beggie Honda ITA 44
16 Mathieu Lalloz Yamaha FRA 38
17 Carl Nunn Husqvarna GBR 36
18 Joaquim Rodriques VOR PRT 35
19 Stuart Flockhart Honda GBR 32
20 Johnny Lindhe Husqvarna SWE 32
18 Lauris Freibergs Honda LVA 35
19 Mark Eastwood Honda GBR 27
20 Christophe Martin Suzuki FRA 19
27 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NLD 8
30 Claudio Federici Yamaha ITA 5
34 Kim Ashkenazi Yamaha AUS 3
37 Joakim Eliasson Yamaha SWE 1

Manufacturers standings MX GP250:

1 Suzuki 188
2 Honda 162
3 Yamaha 150
4 Kawasaki 134
5 KTM 124
6 Husqvarna 36