Grand Prix of Italy Results
MANTOVA (ITALY), 18 May 2008 – The Lovemytime Grand Prix of Italy ended with a surprisingly almost dry Sunday, as the day was predicted to be rainy. Rain actually came out before the start to the MX1 final moto, at the end of which Marc de Reuver took his maiden MX1 Grand Prix win.
In the MX2 class Tony Cairoli set the crowd on fire with a brilliant win, making up for a first moto crash; Tyla Rattray was second overall today and still leads the standings ahead of the Italian, while home rider David Philippaerts retained the MX1 red plate courtesy of another podium result.
The MX1 podium of the Lovemytime Grand Prix of Italy
MX1
It was an incredible weekend for Martin Honda’s Marc de Reuver; the latter took the Lovemytime Pole Position Award yesterday and eventually topped the podium of this fifth Grand Prix, marking his comeback to victory after his last success in Sevlievo 2006, which was another wet race. This victory was a step stone for Honda as well, as the last Honda rider topping the podium was Ken de Dycker in 2007 (Uddevalla) and this is the first GP win since the manufacturer is back officially in the GP series.
GPKR’s Sebastien Pourcel was second after he took victory in heat one; on the other hand he went down twice and made a lot of mistakes in the final wet heat. Yamaha Monster Motocross’ David Philippaerts also showed up on his home rostrum to collect both the Cup and the red plate.
Teka Suzuki WMX1’s Ken de Dycker and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Max Nagl rounded off the top five as the latter dominated the second moto.
Top five overall: 1. Marc de Reuver (NED, Honda), 40 points; 2. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 39 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 38 p.; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 37 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 34 p.
Marc de Reuver finally took victory in the MX1 class
MX1 RACE 1
Pourcel put in a stunning performance in the opening heat, taking a start to flag victory in dominant style despite De Dycker tried to close in several times. The Belgian settled for a safe second while a battle went on for the third spot. De Reuver made a mistake to let Mackenzie by; the Brit eventually had an highside crash with De Reuver moving back up to third ahead of Coppins. Philippaerts rounded off the top five at the end of an eventful first moto, crashing out at the third corner after the start. The home rider worked his way up from last, making his final move both on Tanel Leok and Ramon in one single determined lap.
Top five: 1. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 41:10.667; ; 2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), +0:06.173; 3. Marc de Reuver (NED, Honda), +0:08.384; 4. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:10.939; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:20.259
The start to the MX1 opening moto
MX1 RACE 2
The final heat was a different story as the rain started to hit the track right before the start. That was time for Nagl to show his speed in the slippery conditions, as the German took the eventual victory in a Pourcel like style. Philippaerts got the start alright to cruise in second for the entire moto, giving priority to the Championship points instead of the overall win. De Reuver sealed the overall by taking once again a third place finish despite stalling the bike once; Pourcel, who was level in points with the Dutchman, slipped twice to go backwards in the overall standings. Mackenzie rode to fourth with Coppins rounding off the top five after having taken the holeshot. De Dycker and Pourcel were respectively sixth and seventh.
Top five: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 40:35.621; ; 2. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:05.258; 3. Marc de Reuver (NED, Honda), +0:29.696; 4. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Honda), +0:36.498; 5. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:40.720
David Philippaerts remained at the lead of the MX1 Championship
MX2
An incredible Yamaha Red Bull De Carli’s Tony Cairoli walked away from Mantova with his second season’s win despite a crash in the opening moto. The Sicilian entered Italy with the goal of snatching also the red plate from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tyla Rattray –riding ill- but the latter defended his leadership with a solid second place on today’s podium. Team mate Tommy Searle was third overall as he lost the opening moto from Ricci Racing Yamaha’s Nicolas Aubin after a hard fight. The Frenchman was fourth overall ahead of KTM UK’s Shaun Simpson and CLS’ Steven Frossard.
Top five overall: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 43 points; 2. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), 40 p.; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 32 p.
MX2 RACE 1
Aubin and Searle battled it out for victory in the opening moto, with the Frenchman taking the early lead to let Searle by at the second lap. The British made a mistake and Aubin was back on first, pulling away to win his first heat of 2008. Searle was an eventual second in front of team mate Rattray, while Cairoli delighted the crowd with a fantastic recovery from last to fourth after a crash at the start. Goncalves rounded off the top five ahead of Sword and Simpson.
Top five: 1. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), 39:32.202; ; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), +0:00.972; 3. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KTM), +0:22.192; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), +0:40.411; 5. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:52.926
Nicolas Aubin heading the pack after the first moto started
MX2 RACE 2
Cairoli took a fantastic start to display all his speed and win a flawless second moto. Rattray settled into second and cruised to the flag ahead of KTM fellow riders Searle and Simpson. The two actually battled it out again as they did in Bulgaria the previous week, with Simpson crashing once Searle got by. The former had to fight again to defend the fourth place as Frossard pushed him in the second half of the heat. After moving past Simpson, Frossard dropped back to an eventual fifth ahead of Aubin.
Top five: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 40:31.009; ; 2. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KTM), +0:18.667; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), +0:23.490; 4. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:08.418; 5. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:10.863
Winning race two, Tony Cairoli took the overall result
IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS
Philippaerts still leads the MX1 points standings and increased his advantage over runner up Ramon. Coppins is still a solid third ahead of De Dycker and Mackenzie, who swapped places after Mantova. Pourcel is now sixth ahead of De Reuver and Nagl. Barragan dropped down to ninth as he crashed out of moto two.
Top ten: 1. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 187 points; 2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 159 p.; 3. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 149 p.; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 135 p.; 5. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Honda), 130 p.; 6. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 129 p.; 7. Marc de Reuver (NED, Honda), 116 p.; 8. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 114 p.; 9. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 105 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), 98 p.
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Top ten: 1. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KTM), 199 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 196 p.; 3. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), 191 p.; 4. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), 146 p.; 5. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 132 p.; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 124 p.; 7. Stephen Sword (GBR, Kawasaki), 113 p.; 8. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 109 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Suzuki), 99 p.; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), 97 p.
NEWS OF THE DAY: WINGS FOR LIFE GETS SUPPORT FROM KTM ITALY AND SPECIAL AUCTION
Wings for Life received other funds today in occasion of the Lovemytime Grand Prix of Italy. KTM Italy handed the Heinz Kinigadner related foundation a cheque coming from the 38 participants to the manufacturer’s National Motocross Trophy, as the fourth round of the series got underway alongside the Grand Prix. Moreover a special auction with Tony Cairoli’s gear from today’s first moto was held in cooperation in between Youthstream and Red Bull in order to receive further support from the fans attending the event.
KTM Italy’s Angelo Crippa handing the cheque to Heinz Kinigadner
WHAT’S NEXT
The sixth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place at the brand new venue of Mallory Park, in Great Britain, on June 1. In this occasion the Veterans’ World Cup riders will be back to action with series leader Toine van Dijk heading the rest of the field into the second of three rounds. After today’s second round in a row, the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship will take a break to come back at St. Jean d’Angely, France, on June 15.
LINKS
FMI-Federazione Motociclistica Italiana
Information, photos and results are online at http://www.motocrossMX1.com, the official website of the FIM Motocross World Championships.