Cairoli scores quartet of GP wins
By TMX Archives on 6th May 07
Motocross
The traditionally enthusiastic crowd were driven wild by Cairoli's third clean-sweep of both motos this season. The Sicilian, on the De Carli tuned YZ250F, has now won five from six and finished second in the other race categories, winning all GP's thusfar in the 2007 season.
Antonio was so dominant in his qualification heat Saturday that he couldafford to make a good show for the crowd over the many Mantova jumps, he blitzedthe first Grand Prix moto and held a lead of four seconds by the end of thesecond lap. From that point onwards the 2005 World Champion raced the trackalone with the cheers of his many fans for company.
He repeated his excellence in the second race and his sheer speed on theopening lap after another ideal start was the deciding factor in delivering hisfifteenth career success. There is little more to say about Cairoli's form thisseason except that the 21 year old is currently operating in a different leagueto his peers. His increased his margin to 55 points which means that he canafford two DNFs and still be leading the championship.
With Tyla Rattray andTommy Searle filling the other two podium steps Yamaha's next best placedrepresentative was Yamaha Team Ricci's talent Nicolas Aubin with sixth overall.The French youngster - who looked so stylish over the table-top jumps - waseleventh and sixth in the two motos.
Team-mate Kenneth Gundersen ran as high as fourth for long stretches of thefirst moto but was passed by an energetic Gareth Swanepoel. His fifth positionwould be his only finish of the day as a heavy crash after landing awkwardlyfrom a double jump forced the Norwegian to retire with a bruised left side ofhis body.
Davide Guarneri was back in action and attempting his first GrandPrix of the season after sustaining an ankle injury. The Italian could notcontinue after his gear lever was smashed in the first moto but took aconservative thirteenth in the second outing.
Both Bike it Yamaha DixonRacing rider's score points today. Martin Barr completed the best weekend of hisshort GP career (started with appearances in 2006) by taking thirteenth overallwith twelfth and fifteenth positions. British Champion Carl Nunn is coming backto full fitness and should have had a top ten result after running near thefirst five in the opening moto but slipped off and took four points forseventeenth. He was hit by another rider on the first lap of the second Moto andhad to pit to change a bent rear brake lever. He finished the race, but out ofthe points.
Antonio Cairoli, Team De Carli Yamaha:
"I am really happy withthis race and I feel very good with my riding and also mentally. I had a greatfeeling with the bike at this track even though we made some changes for thesecond heat and I could win that race even easier. It helped to have poleposition from Saturday as I could hold the inside line even if I did not getaway in first from the gate. I was surprised that Christophe could not go withme in the second moto but after two laps I saw that I had a good enough gap andcould control it from there. It was an important race for me as I know Motocrossis getting more popular now in Italy; I have many fans and I'm really happyabout this and to be able to win for them is fantastic."
Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Team Ricci:
"Sixth overall was not so badtoday as my goal is to always be in the top ten. The first race my start was notvery good but I could not find my rhythm and struggled to get the good lines.Things were better in the second race but I was on the limit sometimes and closeto crashing. I got near to Searle but couldn't find a way through. I droppedback to get my rhythm going again and pushed hard to overtake but then crashed.I was lucky that the bike kept running and there was no damage."
Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci:
"In the first race I hada good start but got a bit tired towards the end so I thought I would make sureof fifth and see what I could do in the second moto. I had a poor start when wewent out again but I was coming through well and reached the top ten before thecrash. I'm sure the overall result would have been good but I just lostcontrol."
The fifth meeting of the year takes place in just seven daystime with the Grand Prix of Germany at the Talkessel circuit in Teutschenthal.The teams will cut through Europe this week to head to the east of the countryand the venue near the city of Halle. |
Temp: 27
Crowd: 29000
Weather: Sunny |
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| 2006 2007GP of Mantova, Italy 06/05/2007 |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time |
| 1 | Antonio Cairoli | Yamaha | ITA | 40'29.827 |
| 2 | Tyla Rattray | KTM | RSA | 0'8.985 |
| 3 | Tommy Searle | KTM | GBR | 0'11.718 |
| 4 | Christophe Pourcel | Kawasaki | FRA | 0'13.575 |
| 5 | Kenneth Gundersen | Yamaha | NOR | 0'32.325 |
| 6 | Gareth Swanepoel | Kawasaki | RSA | 0'41.013 |
| 7 | Pascal Leuret | Honda | FRA | 0'46.640 |
| 8 | Sean Hamblin | Suzuki | USA | 0'55.326 |
| 9 | Tom Church | Kawasaki | GBR | 0'56.844 |
| 10 | Marcus Schiffer | KTM | GER | 0'57.270 |
| 11 | Nicolas Aubin | Yamaha | FRA | 0'57.807 |
| 12 | Martin Barr | Yamaha | GBR | 1'7.415 |
| 13 | Dennis Verbruggen | Yamaha | BEL | 1'13.097 |
| 14 | Steven Frossard | Kawasaki | FRA | 1'17.216 |
| 15 | Rui Goncalves | KTM | POR | 1'18.799 |
| 16 | Xavier Boog | Yamaha | FRA | 1'25.239 |
| 17 | Carl Nunn | Yamaha | GBR | 1'29.917 |
| 18 | Matti Seistola | Honda | FIN | 1'32.600 |
| 19 | Gregory Aranda | Kawasaki | FRA | 1'34.173 |
| 20 | Shaun Simpson | Kawasaki | GBR | 1'36.827 |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time |
| 1 | Antonio Cairoli | Yamaha | ITA | 41'12.692 |
| 2 | Tyla Rattray | KTM | RSA | 0'15.981 |
| 3 | Gareth Swanepoel | Kawasaki | RSA | 0'19.661 |
| 4 | Tommy Searle | KTM | GBR | 0'21.469 |
| 5 | Christophe Pourcel | Kawasaki | FRA | 0'22.998 |
| 6 | Nicolas Aubin | Yamaha | FRA | 0'45.140 |
| 7 | Matti Seistola | Honda | FIN | 0'51.466 |
| 8 | Rui Goncalves | KTM | POR | 1'0.340 |
| 9 | Sean Hamblin | Suzuki | USA | 1'6.121 |
| 10 | Marcus Schiffer | KTM | GER | 1'6.449 |
| 11 | Shaun Simpson | Kawasaki | GBR | 1'8.807 |
| 12 | Pascal Leuret | Honda | FRA | 1'16.883 |
| 13 | Davide Guarneri | Yamaha | ITA | 1'21.212 |
| 14 | Avis Wyatt | KTM | RSA | 1'25.093 |
| 15 | Martin Barr | Yamaha | GBR | 1'25.739 |
| 16 | Dennis Verbruggen | Yamaha | BEL | 1'26.468 |
| 17 | Steven Frossard | Kawasaki | FRA | 1'41.997 |
| 18 | Gregory Aranda | Kawasaki | FRA | 1'45.542 |
| 19 | Matteo Bonini | Yamaha | ITA | 2'0.415 |
| 20 | Jeremy Tarroux | Yamaha | FRA | -1 Laps |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Points |
| 1. | Antonio Cairoli | Yamaha | ITA | 197 |
| 2. | Tyla Rattray | KTM | RSA | 142 |
| 3. | Christophe Pourcel | Kawasaki | FRA | 137 |
| 4. | Tommy Searle | KTM | GBR | 117 |
| 5. | Pascal Leuret | Honda | FRA | 110 |
| 6. | Gareth Swanepoel | Kawasaki | RSA | 107 |
| 7. | Nicolas Aubin | Yamaha | FRA | 94 |
| 8. | Kenneth Gundersen | Yamaha | NOR | 91 |
| 9. | Matti Seistola | Honda | FIN | 78 |
| 10. | Marcus Schiffer | KTM | GER | 70 |
| 11. | Steven Frossard | Kawasaki | FRA | 58 |
| 12. | Anthony Boissire | Kawasaki | FRA | 57 |
| 13. | Erik Eggens | Suzuki | NED | 54 |
| 14. | Xavier Boog | Yamaha | FRA | 46 |
| 15. | Manuel Monni | Yamaha | ITA | 45 |
| 16. | Tom Church | Kawasaki | GBR | 45 |
| 17. | Matteo Bonini | Yamaha | ITA | 42 |
| 18. | Dennis Verbruggen | Yamaha | BEL | 35 |
| 19. | Sean Hamblin | Suzuki | USA | 35 |
| 20. | Shaun Simpson | Kawasaki | GBR | 34 |
| 21. | Carl Nunn | Yamaha | GBR | 31 |
| 29. | Davide Guarneri | Yamaha | ITA | 8 |
| ManufacturerStandings | 06/05/2007 |
| Pos. | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1. | Yamaha | 197 |
| 2. | Kawasaki | 165 |
| 3. | KTM | 161 |
| 4. | Honda | 115 |
| 5. | Suzuki | 82 |
