Coppins' golden Teutsch
By TMX Archives on 2nd Jul 08
BILLY battled like a hero, Tommy too despite surrendering the red plate to Tyla Rattray, but the man of the day was Josh Coppins. Down and out until a fortnight ago, the Kiwi roared back into contention for the MX1 world crown with a devastating double win in front of a record crowd at Teutschenthal in eastern Germany. The 31-year-old ground the opposition into the dirt and is now just four points shy of Rinaldi Yamaha team-mate David Philippaerts.
And the defiant tone of a winner was there for all to hear: "I knew it would come in the end. I rode better already at Mallory without getting the results, then France, now here. I know now that I WILL be world champion this year!”
His system saturated with painkillers, Billy MacKenzie led both MX1 motos until the ice spray on his cracked shoulder melted in the heat, and Tommy Searle rebounded from a traumatic qualification to be podium-bound until he threw it away in the closing minutes.
There was little other joy for the Brits, James Noble only did a lap after hurting his wrist on Saturday, there were just single figure scores for Carl Nunn, Brad Anderson and Tom Church but Shaun Simpson knuckled down on a balls-out switchback which favoured more the continentals to end the day a clear fourth in the MX2 standings.
MX1
THE surface at the Talkessel had been ripped for the first time ever, nullifying the previous advantage from the inside gates so that not only polesetter Ken De Dycker could not compensate for his poor gating by turning tight.
Max Nagl was confident before racing that he could holeshot from gate ten, and the valley erupted as he did just that, but MacKenzie was wide open whilst it lasted: "I decided the safest place to be was out front, so I went for it.”
The pair touched, Billy came off best, but the German was not finished and was closing the Scot back down to the delight of his fans. Then Max suddenly lost drive through the valley and a deathly silence was only broken by the grating clank of a rod which was no longer pushing the piston.
But the disappointment was soon forgotten as Coppins, having waited patiently for MacKenzie's 2-11 laps to end, sprinted clear before Ramon could tag on, the Kiwi in absolute control even though the Belgian was just four seconds back.
Philippaerts also won a Yamaha-Suzuki duel with De Dycker for third after Sebastien Pourcel had cast his Kwacker away, and, with Billy on his was back to 15th, Honda only had Julien Bill near the front after Marc De Reuver's sister bike expired and Steve Boniface stubbed his left foot on the rest of Pourcel's abandoned bike.
Anderson came in 18th, powerless to push in the closing laps as his upper body still recovers from the broken collarbone, and TC could hardly get enthusiastic over the final point after casting away 14th mid-moto.
MX1 rider Max Nagl finished fourth in Moto 2
There was carnage at a watered turn one in race two involving Tom, Barragan and De Reuver, while Ramon needed treatment post-race after being hit by Schiffer in the dust further round the lap. Two laps later Boniface crashed out, but the British champion persisted for three possibly vital points.
MacKenzie's first challenger this time was Pourcel, and the Frenchman admitted later to friends that he should have waited, but Billy was not invited to the round table.
"We're going to have to talk this out. Ever since we touched in Bulgaria, it has seemed like he is looking for me. He had already hit me at the turn before, but I had the inside line so I rolled back the throttle, he went to pass outside and I gassed it again.”
Pourcel got back on 17th, and Coppins was again content to wait for Billy's times to increase to make a safe pass: "Nagl was my main concern as he was fresh after missing race one.”
But the German, although now on tablets to counteract the virus infection in his blood, faded in the second half to leave De Dycker to fend off a rejuvenated Tanel Leok for second.
Anderson again ran out of power in the closing laps, but had already done enough to secure 14th.
WORLD MX1 MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 8 – Teutschenthal, GERMANY
1 Josh Coppins (NZ - Monster Yamaha) 25 + 25 = 50
2 Ken De Dycker (B - Teka Suzuki) 18 + 22 = 40
3 Tanel Leok (EW - Kawasaki Europe) 15 + 20 = 35
4 David Philippaerts (I - Monster Yamaha) 20 + 15 = 35
5 Sebastien Pourcel (F - GPKR Kawasaki) 14 + 16 = 30
6 Julien Bill (CH - Martin Honda) 16 + 14 = 30
7 Aigar Leok (EW - Van Beers Yamaha) 12 + 13 = 25
8 Manuel Priem (B - Kawasaki Europe) 13 + 12 = 25
9 Steve Ramon (B - Teka Suzuki) 22 + 3 = 25
10 Clement Desalle (B - Inotec Suzuki) 11 + 8 = 19
11 Maximilian Nagl (D - Red Bull KTM) 0+18=18, 12 Alex Salvini (I - Valenti Suzuki) 9+9=18, 13 Billy MacKENZIE (GB - Monster Honda) 6+11=17, 14 Carlos Campano (E - Utag Yamaha) 5+10=15, 15 Kornel Nemeth (H - Sarholz KTM) 10+1=11, 16 Brad ANDERSON (GB - Swift Suzuki) 3+7=10, 17 Luis Correira (P - Yamaha) 8+0=8, 18 Jonathan Barragan (E - Silver Action KTM) 7+0=7, 19 Marcus Schiffer (D - Sarholz KTM) 0+6=6, 20 Scott Columb (NZ - MTM Suzuki) 0+5=5, 21 Lauris Freibergs (LV - Van Beers Yamaha) 0+4=4, 22 Cedric Melotte (B - Team Aprilia) 4+0=4, 23 Tom CHURCH (GB - Molson Kawasaki) 1+2=3, 24 Loic Leonce (F - JK Yamaha) 2+0=2.
RACE ONE: 1 Coppins, 2 Ramon, 3 Philippaerts, 4 De Dycker, 5 Bill, 6 Tanel Leok, 7 Pourcel, 8 Priem, 9 Aigar Leok, 10 Desalle, 11 Nemeth, 12 Salvini, 13 Correira, 14 Barragan, 15 MacKENZIE, 16 Campano, 17 Melotte, 18 ANDERSON, 19 Leonce, 20 CHURCH.
RACE TWO: 1 Coppins, 2 De Dycker, 3 Tanel Leok, 4 Nagl, 5 Pourcel, 6 Philippaerts, 7 Bill, 8 Aigar Leok, 9 Priem, 10 MacKENZIE, 11 Campano, 12 Salvini, 13 Desalle, 14 ANDERSON, 15 Schiffer, 16 Columb, 17 Freibergs, 18 Ramon, 19 CHURCH, 20 Nemeth.
SERIES STANDINGS after 8 (of 15) rounds: 1 Philippaerts 266 points, 2 Coppins 262, 3 Ramon 250, 4 De Dycker 240, 5 Pourcel 231, 6 Barragan 192, 7 Tanel Leok 186, 8 Nagl 179, 9 MacKENZIE 176, 10 De Reuver 156, 11 Desalle 134, 12 Priem 129, 13 Brown 107, 14 Nemeth 106, 15 Bill 106, 16 Aigar Leok 85, 17 Schiffer 77, 18 NOBLE 65, 19 CHURCH 43, 20 Salvini 37,... 25 ANDERSON 27,... 36 SMITH 5,... 39 ROSE 3,...
NEXT ROUND: Jul 6 – Uddevalla, SWEDEN.
MX2
TWO crashes in his qualifying heat had sent Searle to the LCQ in his first ride with the red plate, and, despite Tommy's insistence that he could holeshot from gate 25, personal manager James Dobb knew the reality: "Damage limitation. Titles are won on your bad days!”
Tommy even had to slam on the anchors at turn one in the opener after failing to get the advantage he needed to pull across the pack, but in an enthralling ride the Brit took third from Frossard two laps from the end.
Up front Cairoli controlled Rattray at arms length, but the South African insisted: "The second race will decide the GP, and I will win that!”
With Nico Aubin out, Simpson's workmanlike fifth – "I actually quite like the track, it's just that others like it more” – was more than enough to go fourth in the standings.
Pascal Leuret mixed it in the top 10 for half the race before lack of bike time and opportunity to train pushed him, exhausted, down to 14th, but it was still better than Carl Nunn: "I was actually enjoying it, but I just wore myself out trying to move.” Suso Suzuki buddy Jason Dougan was just struggling.
Searle's lightning getaway got him through turn one fourth in moto two with only Leuret splitting the orange forces up front and Cairoli struggled initially to progress from seventh: "I made so many mistakes on the first laps.”
WORLD MX2 MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 8 – Teutschenthal, GERMANY
1 Tyla Rattray (ZA - Red Bull KTM) 22 + 25 = 47
2 Antonio Cairoli (I - Red Bull Yamaha) 25 + 22 = 47
3 Steven Frossard (F - CLS Kawasaki) 18 + 18 = 36
4 Rui Goncalves (P - Red Bull KTM) 15 + 20 = 35
5 Tommy SEARLE (GB - Red Bull KTM) 20 + 12 = 32
6 Shaun SIMPSON (GB - KTM UK) 16 + 15 = 31
7 Jeremy Van Horebeek (B - Champ KTM) 14 + 14 = 28
8 Marvin Musquin (F - NGS Honda) 11 + 16 = 27
9 Manuel Monni (I - 3C Yamaha) 13 + 11 = 24
10 Xavier Boog (F - Inotec Suzuki) 9 + 13 = 22
11 Joel Roelants (B - Champ KTM) 10+10=20, 12 Jeremy Tarroux (F - Silver Action KTM) 6+8=14, 13 Wyatt Avis (ZA - LS Honda) 12+0=12, 14 Carl NUNN (GB - Suso Suzuki) 4+7=11, 15 Evgeniy Bobryschev (RUS - Van Beers Yamaha) 5+6=11, 16 Pascal Leuret (F - Swift Suzuki) 7+4=11, 17 Matti Seistola (F - SRS Honda) 0+9=9, 18 Dennis Verbruggen (B - Shineray Yamaha) 3+5=8, 19 Anthony Boissiere (F - HDI KTM) 8+0=8, 20 Nicolas Aubin (F - Ricci Yamaha) 0+3=3, 21 Alessandro Lupino (I - Red Bull Yamaha) 0+2=2, 22 Davide Guarneri (I - Ricci Yamaha) 2+0=2, 23 Cedric Souberyas (F - Yamaha) 0+1=1, 24 Nikolaj Larsen (DK - Suzuki) 1+0=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Cairoli, 2 Rattray, 3 SEARLE, 4 Frossard, 5 SIMPSON, 6 Goncalves, 7 Van Horebeek, 8 Monni, 9 Avis, 10 Marvin Musquin, 11 Roelants, 12 Boog , 13 Boissiere, 14 Leuret, 15 Tarroux, 16 Bobryschev, 17 NUNN, 18 Verbruggen, 19 Guarneri, 20 Larsen.
RACE TWO: 1 Rattray, 2 Cairoli, 3 Goncalves, 4 Frossard, 5 Marvin Musquin, 6 SIMPSON, 7 Van Horebeek, 8 Boog , 9 SEARLE, 10 Monni, 11 Roelants, 12 Seistola, 13 Tarroux, 14 NUNN, 15 Bobryschev, 16 Verbruggen, 17 Leuret, 18 Aubin, 19 Lupino, 20 Souberyas.
SERIES STANDINGS after 8 (of 15) rounds: 1 Rattray 326 points, 2 SEARLE 315, 3 Cairoli 310, 4 SIMPSON 209, 5 Goncalves 198, 6 Aubin 188, 7 Boog 173, 8 Monni 157, 9 SWORD 151, 10 Van Horebeek 148, 11 Boissiere 134, 12 Frossard 128, 13 Marvin Musquin 126, 14 Tarroux 103, 15 Guarneri 99, 16 Paulin 95, 17 Roelants 93, 18 Aranda 83, 19 NUNN 65, 20 Eggens 51,... 24 DOUGAN 30,... 29 BANKS-BROWNE 17,... 43 BRADSHAW 2,...
NEXT ROUND: Jul 6 – Uddevalla, SWEDEN.
WORLD LADIES MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 4 – Teutschenthal, GERMANY
1 Stephanie Laier (D - KTM) 20 + 25 = 45
2 Livia Lancelot (F - Kawasaki) 25 + 20 = 45
3 Maria Franke (D - Kawasaki) 22 + 22 = 44
4 Elin Mann (S - KTM) 18 + 16 = 34
5 Larissa Papenmeier (D - Inotec Suzuki) 14 + 18 = 32
6 Elien De Winter (B - Shineray KTM) 15 + 15 = 30
7 Marianne Veenstra (NL - Suzuki) 16 + 14 = 30
8 Marielle De Mol (NL - Yamaha) 13 + 13 = 26
9 Alexandra Haupt (D - Kawasaki) 12 + 11 = 23
10 Anne Borchers (D - Inotec Suzuki) 9 + 10 = 19
11 Sandra Adriansson (S - Suzuki) 11+5=16, 12 Malin Branlid (S - Kawasaki) 6+7=13, 13 Sofia Sjoberg (S - Honda) 0+12=12, 14 Brenda Wagemans (B - KTM) 3+9=12, 15 Sophia PAULL (GB - Honda) 10+2=12, 16 Shirley Verkade (NL - KTM) 7+3=10, 17 Natascha Fransoo (D - TM) 5+4=9, 18 Sara Petterson (S - KTM) 0+8=8, 19 Britt Van Der Wekken (NL - Honda) 2+6=8, 20 June-Skytte Nielsen (DK - Suzuki) 8+0=8, 21 Silvia Santaga (I - Honda) 4+0=4, 22 Desiree De Groot (NL - Yamaha) 0+1=1, 23 Stine Haakenstad (N - Yamaha) 1+0=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Lancelot, 2 Franke, 3 Laier, 4 Mann, 5 Veenstra, 6 De Winter, 7 Papenmeier, 8 De Mol, 9 Haupt, 10 Adriansson, 11 PAULL, 12 Borchers, 13 Nielsen, 14 Verkade, 15 Branlid, 16 Fransoo, 17 Santaga, 18 Wagemans, 19 Van Der Wekken, 20 Haakenstad.
RACE TWO: 1 Laier, 2 Franke, 3 Lancelot, 4 Papenmeier, 5 Mann, 6 De Winter, 7 Veenstra, 8 De Mol, 9 Sjoberg, 10 Haupt, 11 Borchers, 12 Wagemans, 13 Petterson, 14 Branlid, 15 Van Der Wekken, 16 Adriansson, 17 Fransoo, 18 Verkade, 19 PAULL, 20 De Groot.
SERIES STANDINGS after 4 (of 5) rounds: 1 Lancelot 165 points, 2 Laier 145, 3 Franke 145, 4 Papenmeier 124, 5 Prumm 122, 6 Mann 116, 7 De Winter 110, 8 Veenstra 108, 9 Fiolek 102, 10 De Mol 67, 11 Borchers 67, 12 Van Wordragen 63, 13 Adriansson 58, 14 Wagemans 55, 15 Irmgartz 49,... 22 PAULL 17,... 31 LEWIS 2,...
FINAL ROUND: Sep 7 – Lierop, HOLLAND.
For full report and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, July 4, 2008