Sign of the (Lap) Times: Red Bull Motocross of Nations

What is there left to say about the 2007 Red Bull Motocross of Nations that hasn’t already been said? I like how Blogandt summed it up: “This was a magical weekend, a celebratory weekend, a unique weekend, an awesome weekend and an unforgettable weekend and a weekend that--how rare is this–-clearly exceeded any amount of hype that you could have possibly made for the race.”

RV's fastest lap was a 2:08.691, which came in Moto 1.

With that being said, let’s get down to the nuts and bolts of the races: the lap times. Results are one thing, but the lap times sometimes tell a completely different story. Many people were probably not that impressed by the performance of the MX2 FIM World Motocross champion, Antonio Cairoli, whose best moto finish was a 14th. But if you look at his best lap time in the second moto—a 2:11.196—it’s actually faster than Ricky Carmichael’s fastest lap time of the day. Unfortunately for Cairoli, mistakes and collisions in traffic cost him any chance of showing a wheel to Team USA’s hero, Ryan Villopoto, who was clearly the fastest rider all day long on his KX250F.

RV’s best time of the day came in the first moto when he logged a 2:08.691—over three seconds faster than RC’s first moto best lap. But while Ryan Villopoto had an open track in front of him, RC was busy weaving his way through the international field of riders, and with a slightly bent bike. RC was the second fastest rider in that moto, and the third fastest lap time came from Spaniard Jonathan Barragan, who logged a 2:12.557 on his KTM.

Australia’s Chad Reed was next, as his 2:13.049 helped him on to an impressive second place in the moto. At the checkered flag, Ryan Villopoto—who even crashed in the moto with Chile's Jeremias Israel and spent a good 10 seconds on the ground—had a gap of 15.616 seconds over Chad Reed.

RC's fastest lap was a 02:11.357.

Moto 2 (MX2/Open) again saw Villopoto way out front, recording the fastest lap of the moto—a 2:09.606. The next best time came from Belgium’s Ken de Dycker, who ran a 2:12.682 on his Honda CRF450R. Team USA’s Tim Ferry came from the back of the pack to fourth place and could only muster a 2:16.185.
Villopoto’s gap over second place this time was amazing—1:05.559! That’s just insanity!

The third and final moto saw Team USA’s leader, Ricky Carmichael, grab the holeshot and check out. He made it look easy out front, and Tim Ferry had to battle his way up to second place, giving Team USA a 1-2 punch. RC was the fastest rider in the moto with a 2:11.357, and Tim Ferry was second fastest with a 2:13.241—his lap times besting that of both the newly crowned AMA Motocross and FIM MX1 World champions. Carmichael’s advantage at the finish was 11.748 seconds over Tim Ferry.
 

Tim Ferry's fastest lap time was a 2:13.241.

Below you can check out the lap times of the top 20 finishers in each of the three motos on Sunday.

Moto 1

Pos.	Best Lap Time	Nationality	Rider	Bike
1	02:08.691	USA	Ryan Villopoto	Kawasaki
2	02:13.049	AUS	Chad Reed	Yamaha
3	02:11.910	USA	Ricky Carmichael	Suzuki
4	02:13.847	FRA	Sebastien Pourcel	Kawasaki
5	02:12.557	ESP	Jon Barragan	KTM
6	02:13.101	ITA	David Philippaerts	KTM
7	02:14.578	EST	Tanel Leok	Kawasaki
8	02:14.531	BEL	Steve Ramon	Suzuki
9	02:14.142	GBR	Tommy Searle	KTM
10	02:15.303	FRA	Nicolas Aubin	Yamaha
11	02:14.761	GBR	Billy Mackenzie	Kawasaki
12	02:16.681	SUI	Julien Bill	Honda
13	02:17.282	RSA	G. Swanepoel	Kawasaki
14	02:18.615	ESP	Carlos Campano	Yamaha
15	02:18.921	POR	Rui Goncalves	KTM
16	02:20.068	CAN	Colton Facciotti	Yamaha
17	02:18.520	CAN	J.S. Roy	Yamaha
18	02:19.451	POR	Paulo Goncalves	Honda
19	02:20.562	SWE	Andreas Hultman	Honda
20	02:19.724	IRL	Martin Barr	Yamaha

Moto 2

Pos.	Best Lap Time	Nationality	Rider	Bike
1	02:09.606	USA	Ryan Villopoto	Kawasaki
2	02:12.682	BEL	Ken De Dycker	Honda
3	02:17.036	GBR	Tommy Searle	KTM
4	02:16.185	USA	Tim Ferry	Kawasaki
5	02:17.396	FRA	Pierre Renet	Honda
6	02:17.216	FRA	Nicolas Aubin	Yamaha
7	02:16.463	ESP	Carlos Campano	Yamaha
8	02:20.191	JPN	Yoshitaka Atsuta	Honda
9	02:17.993	IRL	Martin Barr	Yamaha
10	02:19.915	BEL	J. Van Horebeek	KTM
11	02:19.629	GER	Marcus Schiffer	KTM
12	02:20.854	CAN	Colton Facciotti	Yamaha
13	02:19.706	POR	Rui Goncalves	KTM
14	02:11.196	ITA	Antonio Cairoli	Yamaha
15	02:21.865	ITA	Davide Guarneri	Yamaha
16	02:22.778	JPN	K. Masuda	Honda
17	02:23.584	LAT	Lauris Freibergs	Yamaha
18	02:23.305	BRA	Antonio Balbi	Honda
19	02:18.344	RSA	Wyatt Avis	KTM
20	02:23.162	SUI	Arnaud Tonus	KTM

Moto 3

Pos.	Best Lap Time	Nationality	Rider	Bike
1	02:11.357	USA	Ricky Carmichael	Suzuki
2	02:13.241	USA	Tim Ferry	Kawasaki
3	02:14.443	RSA	Grant Langston	Yamaha
4	02:13.861	BEL	Steve Ramon	Suzuki
5	02:15.142	EST	Tanel Leok	Kawasaki
6	02:17.426	ITA	David Philippaerts	KTM
7	02:17.908	JPN	Yoshitaka Atsuta	Honda
8	02:16.509	GBR	Billy Mackenzie	Kawasaki
9	02:17.437	FRA	Sebastien Pourcel	Kawasaki
10	02:18.377	SUI	Julien Bill	Honda
11	02:17.240	BEL	Ken de Dycker	Honda
12	02:19.026	AUS	Michael Byrne	Suzuki
13	02:18.167	GER	Maximilian Nagl	KTM
14	02:21.188	FRA	Pierre Renet	Honda
15	02:18.733	CAN	J.S. Roy	Yamaha
16	02:20.498	ITA	Davide Guarneri	Yamaha
17	02:20.775	GER	Marcus Schiffer	KTM
18	02:21.118	ESP	Alvaro Lozano	KTM
19	02:20.847	SWE	Andreas Hultman	Honda
20	02:22.118	LAT	Lauris Freibergs	Yamaha