GP of Great Britain Results
DONINGTON PARK, 26 August 2007 - This incredible FOX FIM Grand Prix of Great Britain finished with the unexpected but brilliant overall victory of Antonio Cairoli. The Italian raced his first GP in the MX1 class, after he had secured his second MX2 World Title last weekend at Moneyglass, and won right away on the brand new track of Donington Park.
Tommy Searle was another brilliant winner in this GP; the Brit collected his maiden GP victory in the MX2 class in front of an excited home crowd of 28000 people.
The British glory continued with Dave Thorpe’s victory in the FIM Veterans’ Motocross World Cup-Senior class; Thorpe won both this final round and the Cup. Tony Cooksley from New Zealand did the same in the Veteran class.
The weather was perfect, with sunshine and warm temperatures for the whole day.
MX1
Antonio Cairoli of Yamaha De Carli impressed the Motocross collective at his first competitive outing on a 2008 Yamaha YZ450F by winning the FOX Grand Prix of Great Britain. Kevin Strijbos of Suzuki made it to second, with as many points as Cairoli - 47. Ken De Dycker, who was slightly injured after Moneyglass’ crash, completed the podium ahead of new Championship leader Steve Ramon and Mike Brown.
Tony Cairoli won at first time out!
MX1 GRAND PRIX RACE 1
Billy Mackenzie took the lead after Antonio Cairoli’s holeshot; the Scottish pulled away with the lead but he stalled the bike and dropped down to eighth.
Sicilian Cairoli found himself at the head of the pack but a gutsy Kevin Strijbos was coming back from behind after a poor start. Once he made it to Cairoli’s tail, he showed no mercy and moved up to first at lap nine. Strijbos secured the victory by opening up a gap of almost ten seconds from Cairoli, who settled down for second place.
Ken De Dycker was another rider to have worked his way up to third, as he was rounding off the top fifteen after a bad start.
Mike Brown finished fourth, after having been eventually passed by De Dycker, and yesterday’s poleman Tanel Leok rounded off the top five.
Joshua Coppins dropped down to an eventual fourteenth place, after having started the heat in the top five, while Steve Ramon made it to sixth after a poor start.
Early leader Mackenzie ended eighth.
Ken De Dycker was back on the podium thanks to two solid motos
MX1 GRAND PRIX RACE 2
Jonathan Barragan lead the pack into turn one while Mackenzie crashed at the first corner; but Cairoli moved up to the lead before the end of the opening lap, and rode strong to open up a gap from runner up Ramon.
Ramon eventually dropped down to fourth, as his team mate Kevin Strijbos made up for another bad start by moving up to second. The Belgian was pushing his hardest in the final laps, but he only managed to reduce the gap from Cairoli to almost two and a half seconds.
Ken De Dycker soldiered on to finish third, as he felt pain in his back towards the end of the moto when he was second.
Tanel Leok rounded off the top five behind Ramon, while Sebastien Pourcel crashed and dropped down to an eventual eighth, after he had recovered from twelfth to third.
Josh Coppins retired as his physical condition was not good enough to race.
MX2
Tommy Searle made his dream come true by winning his maiden GP in front of a huge British crowd; Searle fought with Frenchmen Nicolas Aubin and Jeremy Tarroux. The latter finished second on the podium after a brilliant final heat; on the other hand, Aubin was third overall because of a disappointing second moto, which was conditioned by a poor start. Matteo Bonini was a solid fourth ahead of Dennis Verbruggen.
Tommy Searle finally won his maiden GP
MX2 GRAND PRIX RACE 1
Nicolas Aubin took the lead when he passed holeshotter Dennis Verbruggen; Aubin was racing on his own when he crashed and Tommy Searle came to his tail. Aubin was under pressure by Searle but he got back into his rhythm and even clocked the fastest lap of the race with one lap to go.
Searle settled down to second, but he lost some time when Jeremy Tarroux stalled the bike in front of him. The Frenchman completed the top three ahead of a strong Gareth Swanepoel, while Xavier Boog rounded off the top five, clinching his best career result in GP’s.
Jeremy Tarroux has been in the top three in both heats, to secure his maiden podium
MX2 GRAND PRIX RACE 2
Matteo Bonini came out of the first lap as the leader of the race, but there was a dangerous Tommy Searle behind him. The British put the heat on Bonini and passed in the second lap; Bonini tried to keep up with Searle but had to focus on defending the second place from a very motivated Jeremy Tarroux. The Frenchman moved up to second and closed the gap from Searle, but the latter sped up all of a sudden to secured his maiden GP win.
Tarroux brought the bike home in second place, to finish on his maiden podium, and Bonini completed the top three.
After having taken the holeshot, Dennis Verbruggen dropped down to an eventual fourth while Aubin had to work his way up to fifth after a poor start.
IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS
Steve Ramon has become the current leader in the MX1 class, and is now 14 points ahead of runner up Coppins. Strijbos has moved up from fifth to third ahead of Pourcel, while Philippaerts rounds off the top five. In the manufacturers’ standings the gap between Yamaha and leader Suzuki is still 29 points.
Tommy Searle has moved up to the runner up spot, ahead of Christophe Pourcel and Tyla Rattray who are both out for injuries. Aubin jumped from seventh to fifth ahead of Swanepoel, while Leuret –currently out for a wrist injury- dropped down to seventh. Yamaha has now secured the manufacturers’ Title.
FIM VETERANS’ MOTOCROSS WORLD CUP
Dave Thorpe won the last moto of this second and final round of the FIM Veterans’ Motocross World Cup; this was enough for him to secure the Cup at his maiden appearance. Jan Blancquaert was second overall this weekend, and also second in the Cup, right ahead of this weekend’s surprise Toine Van Dijk. The Dutchman was on the podium in Donington, ahead of Regis Simon and Andres Krestinov.
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NEWS OF THE DAY : LAP OF HONOUR OF CHARLES “CHUCK” SUN AND STEFAN EVERTS
Charles “Chuck” Sun, , who won the 1980 AMA 500cc National Championship for Honda and was part of the victorious 1981 Motocross of Nations team, and 10 time Motocross World Champion Stefan Everts, who is currently the Racing Director for Motocross Activities at KTM, did one lap of honour today at the brand new track of Donington Park, entertaining the many fans.
Charles Sun and Stefan Everts enjoy a break from their lap of honour
WHAT’S NEXT
The FIM Motocross World Championship is almost finished, and all is ready for a breathtaking finale at Lierop next weekend (1 and 2 September). The MX1 riders’ and manufacturers’ Titles have not been secured yet, and only Lierop can announce the eventual winners.