Philippaerts takes first win with Yamaha
By TMX Archives on 11th May 08
In changeable weather conditions and across a tricky Sevlievo circuit, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team's David Philippaerts scored his first success on the YZ450FM with first and second positions in the two motos at the Grand Prix of Bulgaria.
After four rounds of fifteen in the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship theItalian has extended his lead in the series to 17 points and also placed Yamahafirst in the manufacturer's standings. Josh Coppins was sixth overall andcurrently lies third.
The hard and fast layout situated deep in theBulgarian countryside offered two different tests to the riders of the MX1-GPcategory as the first moto of 35 minutes and 2 laps took place in sunshine but agrey sky and rainfall created a slick and greasy terrain for the secondouting.
Philippaerts made the most of two decent starts to obtain hisprize. The 24 year old escaped the attentions of Billy Mackenzie and Marc deReuver to lead the first sprint from start to finish. In the second wetter racehe fought with Jonathan Barragan and was ultimately unable to match theSpaniard's pace. Entering the last lap Philippaerts was resigned to his secondconsecutive runner-up position until the leader crashed and allowed SebastienPourcel and the Yamaha representative to pull through. Second spot in the motowas enough to secure the overall and his second career MX1-GP success.
Josh Coppins ended the day disappointed with sixth position but a set of averagestarts and some hesitancy on the first lap of Moto1 meant that a better placingwas not possible. The Kiwi qualified quite well, (Philippaerts was eighth afterbeing baulked on his two flying lap attempts) with the sixth best lap-time on adry track that saw the protagonists of the class separated by very little.However he was, by his own admission, 'too slow' in the opening stages of Moto1and although he pulled through the pack well and was all over the back wheels ofMarc de Reuver and Barragan contesting second place, he crossed the finish linein fourth. The second moto was even tougher as he touched with his team-matealong the start straight and had to be determined to cut through from a mid-packposition on the first lap.
The course was not easy for overtaking, makingCoppins' job even harder; he took 14 points for seventh at the flag. The 31 yearold is still well in touch with the title chase.
Yamaha Van Beers' AigarLeok was 17th, one place ahead of UTag Yamaha.com's Carlos Campano.
Theworld championship table still shows both Yamaha Monster Motocross team memberswithin the top three. Philippaerts holds a bigger margin over world championRamon and Coppins is 34 points away. Yamaha head the manufacturer's standings by5 points. The squad are well-placed for round five and their home Grand Prix atMantova in Italy next week.
David Philippaerts, Yamaha MonsterMotocross Team, 1st:
"This is a really good result for me. I tried to winboth races but Barragan was very fast in that second moto and I had some luckwhen I saw him crash. I was pretty tired by that point and I could not stopPourcel taking the lead. The track was very different in the afternoon. The rainhad made it very slippery and some more lines appeared. The mud went softer andgot bumpier. The bike is really good and the team are working hard. I'm happyfor this; a good day!"
Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team,6th:
"I thought that things would turnaround for me this weekend but I amreally disappointed with how the motos went. My starts were not good, which isunusual for me, and I was too slow at the beginning of the first moto. I wantedto do better for the second moto but David cut across me coming out of the gate;that's OK though because I would have done the same if I also had the holeshot.I was stuck in the middle of the pack and by the time I passed riders there wastoo big a gap to rise any further. This is not what I wanted ahead of Mantova,which is perhaps the hardest track of the year for me and I am losing mypatience; it has been a hard start to this championship."
MinoRaspanti, Racing Manager:
"A very good weekend. David won the GP withsome luck, thanks to Barragan's crash. He was already looking quick andmotivated through the practice sessions and playing with the bike but found twoslower riders in the Timed Practice that ruined his laps. Anyway, he still gotthe starts from eighth in the gate. Josh was fourth in the first race whichwasn't so bad and his speed in the last ten minutes was very good. His start wasa handicap and he could not find his pace like before. The bikes performed welland the riders felt good; we just need to understand why Josh couldn't get goingin that second moto."
2008 GP of Bulgaria, Sevlievo 11/05/2008
Race 1 - 20 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 40'7.606
2 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'5.616
3 Marc De Reuver Honda NED 0'6.650
4 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 0'8.084
5 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'14.351
6 Julien Bill Honda CHE 0'29.896
7 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'31.501
8 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'36.148
9 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 0'39.608
10 Ken De Dycker Suzuki BEL 0'43.629
11 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0'45.507
12 Mike Brown Honda USA 0'48.676
13 Kornel Nemeth KTM HUN 0'59.604
14 Manuel Priem Kawasaki BEL 1'1.597
15 Billy MacKenzie Honda GBR 1'9.729
16 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'17.854
17 Alessio Chiodi TM ITA 1'19.659
18 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'22.498
19 Carlos Campano Yamaha ESP 1'24.738
20 Pierre A. Renet Suzuki FRA 1'40.124
Race 2 - 20 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 39'28.719
2 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 0'6.913
3 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'8.068
4 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'21.486
5 Marc De Reuver Honda NED 0'27.233
6 Billy MacKenzie Honda GBR 0'34.377
7 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 0'43.440
8 Julien Bill Honda CHE 0'44.277
9 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0'44.803
10 Mike Brown Honda USA 0'48.434
11 Ken De Dycker Suzuki BEL 0'53.504
12 Manuel Priem Kawasaki BEL 0'55.953
13 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'6.237
14 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 1'8.493
15 Kornel Nemeth KTM HUN 1'11.843
16 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'16.105
17 Carlos Campano Yamaha ESP 1'17.858
18 James Noble KTM GBR 1'22.384
19 Alessio Chiodi TM ITA 1'26.089
20 Bradley Anderson Suzuki GBR 1'28.192
Rider Standings 11/05/2008
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 149
2. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 132
3. Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 115
4. Billy MacKenzie Honda GBR 100
5. Ken De Dycker Suzuki BEL 98
6. Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 94
7. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 90
8. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 80
9. Marc De Reuver Honda NED 76
10. Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 71
11. Mike Brown Honda USA 62
12. Kornel Nemeth KTM HUN 62
13. Manuel Priem Kawasaki BEL 56
14. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 55
15. Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 40
16. Julien Bill Honda CHE 38
17. Kevin Strijbos Kawasaki BEL 36
18. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 28
19. James Noble KTM GBR 23
20. Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 20
26. Carlos Campano Yamaha ESP 14
Manufacturer Standings 11/05/2008
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. Yamaha 149
2. Suzuki 144
3. Kawasaki 131
4. KTM 125
5. Honda 118
6. TM 19