Toni's your Man'
By TMX Archives on 21st May 08
TONI Cairoli stormed back from a second corner crash to top the podium in MX2 at his home Italian GP at Mantova, on Sunday, from Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle but just one point separated the trio of title candidates after two hard-fought motos. In MX1, Sebastien Pourcel was again the fastest, but a couple of second moto errors in the rain handed the overall to Marc de Reuver, the Dutchman's first success in the class. But, more ominously for the opposition, David Philippaerts, still without an overall victory this year, extended his points lead to 28. Shaun Simpson (fifth in MX2) and Billy MacKenzie (seventh in MX1) were again prominent, but Stephen Sword lost ground in the title chase after being cannoned out of race two by Rui Goncalves. There were also scores for Carl Nunn, a superb tenth in race two after a disappointing opener, Elliott Banks-Browne, Jason Dougan, Tom Church, Brad Anderson and James Noble.
MX2
THE first moto started dramatically as Cairoli went down at turn two: ‘‘I had already made contact with Tommy coming out of the gate, but Eggens simply took my front wheel away. It took an eternity to restart the bike and I was hurting, but I pushed and pushed.'' And, to the delight of the home crowd, Toni was fourth at the chequered flag.
Up front, Searle soon passed Nico Aubin for the lead but, on the half-hour,
the placings were again reversed when the Brit lost his rhythm for a few laps and a last minute resurgence came just too late to salvage a maximum score.
Rattray was third – ‘‘I got held up behind Cairoli when he crashed'' – and Sword advanced to sixth behind Goncalves despite similar difficulties: ‘‘I didn't actually get trapped behind Toni, but when I jumped out of the rut I ended up on the bank and lost a load of places''. Seventh was Simpson after suffering a similar fate.
For more than half the race, it appeared that Banks-Browne would join them in the top ten for the first time in his career. Running eighth after 25 minutes, one slip was enough to cost the teenager: ‘‘I hit a kicker coming out of a turn into a table-top and flew over the bars.''
Dougan exited the scorers with technical troubles, and Nunn simply took too long to get going after a terrible start and left himself with too much to do to advance past 19th.
Gautier Paulin lost two places on the last lap when a deep rut snapped off a footrest and brought him down.
Race two was Cairoli all the way and it soon developed into a chase at arm's length between the three title candidates, but plenty was happening in their wake.
‘‘I just needed to get past,'' was Searle's explanation of his savage pass on Simpson for third place, though the Scot was less than impressed: ‘‘He was faster than me and could have gone through without that. I still got fourth, but I had been looking forward to an easier race once we got clear. I had had enough hard work in race one.''
Sword was even more upset with Goncalves: ‘‘I'd just passed him, a clean pass, I rode around the outside of him, and at the very next turn he just rode straight into me.'' With the bars bent, the race was over for Kawasaki rider.
Dougan was left to chase from the back this time, but Suso Suzuki team-mate Nunn showed he has not forgotten how to run top pace by advancing to 10th at the flag.
Banks-Browne again showed well in the early laps, moving quickly from 14th to 11th before a freak incident: ‘‘My neck locked solid. It had happened already at Canada Heights. By the end of the race it had loosened up a bit, but it was too late by then.'' He finished in 17th place, one ahead of Dougan.
MX1
DE REUVER had dominated every session on Saturday, but in the opening moto it was again Pourcel who controlled the race.
Nagl had grabbed a clear holeshot, only to run wide at turn one and the Frenchman slipped inside the Dutchman for the lead within a few turns and simply disappeared into the distance.
After intermittent showers throughout the build-up to racing, the track was in a rugged state and it demanded everything from the MX1 boys but Pourcel, flowing as only he can, appeared fresh as a daisy at the end.
Ken De Dycker, back on the pace after a couple of frustrating GPs, also soon demoted De Reuver, but could never escape and was soon coming under pressure from MacKenzie.
De Reuver, despite a sore throat, regrouped after dropping to fourth and it was still anybody's race for second until MacKenzie got into a viscous wobble in the ruts and was spat-off. By the time the Scot got back on, he was eighth and Aigar Leok, having his best GP ride since switching to the class, demoted Billy one more place before the end.
After watching the Cairoli charge in the previous race, the home crowd again had plenty to entertain as series leader Philippaerts went down with Barragan at turn three. ‘‘Someone hit my rear wheel,'' barked out the Italian after a hard ride through to fifth, his late attempt to also catch team colleague Josh Coppins failing as the Kiwi responded to the challenge with the fastest laps in the field during the closing stages.
But Philippaerts had made the vital pass five laps earlier when he had passed a subdued Steve Ramon.
Noble and Church both made the scorers in a hard race. The score was a relief for TC after his recent poor run, but could have been more: ‘‘I got a decent start but Desalle and Bill collided and as I tried to avoid them Priem came under me and put me well back.''
Anderson had been unable to avoid the fallers and had to pit for repairs: ‘‘That lost me so much ground that I was soon getting the blue flag and completely lost my rhythm.''
Mike Brown's qualifying dilemma again left him with a thankless outside gate and arm-pump added to his
worries.
The rain clouds had held off all day, but they loomed ominously as the second MX2 race ended and the final moto of the day was run in non-stop drizzle.
Nagl negotiated the first turn successfully this time, and that was the last anyone saw of him: ‘‘It could have been the same in the first race if I hadn't gone wide at turn one. I got a little tired mid-moto but I think everyone did, and for sure the rain helped me as it slowed the speed of a the race a little.'' It was the German's first victory at GP level.
For full report and pictures see T+MX may 23
WORLD MX2 MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 5 – Mantova, ITALY
1 Antonio Cairoli (I - Red Bull Yamaha) 18 + 25 = 43
2 Tyla Rattray (ZA - Red Bull KTM) 20 + 22 = 42
3 Tommy SEARLE (GB - Red Bull KTM) 22 + 20 = 42
4 Nicolas Aubin (F - Ricci Yamaha) 25 + 15 = 40
5 Shaun SIMPSON (GB - KTM UK) 14 + 18 = 32
6 Steven Frossard (F - CLS Kawasaki) 11 + 16 = 27
7 Jeremy Van Horebeek (B - Champ KTM) 13 + 14 = 27
8 Rui Goncalves (P - Red Bull KTM) 16 + 10 = 26
9 Gautier Paulin (F - Molson Kawasaki) 10 + 12 = 22
10 Manuel Monni (I - 3C Yamaha) 9 + 9 = 18
11 Stephen SWORD (GB - Molson Kawasaki) 15 + 0 = 15
12 Erik Eggens (NL - Beursfoon Suzuki) 0 + 13 = 13
13 Carl NUNN (GB - Suso Suzuki) 2 + 11 = 13
14 Anthony Boissiere (F - HDI KTM) 5 + 8 = 13
15 Xavier Boog (F - Inotec Suzuki) 12 + 0 = 12
16 Gert Krestinov (EW - Favor KTM) 4+5=9, 17 Jeremy Tarroux (F - Silver Action KTM) 6+2=8, 18 Marvin Musquin (F - NGS Honda) 8+0=8, 19 Matti Seistola (F - SRS Honda) 0+7=7, 20 Gregory Aranda (F - CLS Kawasaki) 7+0=7, 21 Matteo Bonini (I - Red Bull Yamaha) 0+6=6, 22 Elliott BANKS-BROWNE (GB - Swift Suzuki) 0+4=4, 23 Jason DOUGAN (GB - Suso Suzuki) 0+3=3, 24 Khounsith Vongsana (F - Bud Kawasaki) 3+0=3, 25 Alessandro Lupino (I - Red Bull Yamaha) 1+1=2.
RACE ONE: 1 Aubin, 2 SEARLE, 3 Rattray, 4 Cairoli, 5 Goncalves, 6 SWORD, 7 SIMPSON, 8 Van Horebeek, 9 Boog , 10 Frossard, 11 Paulin, 12 Monni, 13 Marvin Musquin, 14 Aranda, 15 Tarroux, 16 Boissiere, 17 Krestinov, 18 Vongsana, 19 NUNN, 20 Lupino.
RACE TWO: 1 Cairoli, 2 Rattray, 3 SEARLE, 4 SIMPSON, 5 Frossard, 6 Aubin, 7 Van Horebeek, 8 Eggens, 9 Paulin, 10 NUNN, 11 Goncalves, 12 Monni, 13 Boissiere, 14 Seistola, 15 Bonini, 16 Krestinov, 17 BANKS-BROWNE, 18 DOUGAN, 19 Tarroux, 20 Lupino.
SERIES STANDINGS after 5 (of 15) rounds: 1 Rattray 199 points, 2 Cairoli 196, 3 SEARLE 191, 4 Aubin 146, 5 Goncalves 132, 6 SIMPSON 124, 7 SWORD 113, 8 Van Horebeek 109, 9 Boog 99, 10 Guarneri 97, 11 Monni 97, 12 Paulin 86, 13 Boissiere 63, 14 Marvin Musquin 55, 15 Roelants 54, 16 Eggens 51, 17 Frossard 50, 18 NUNN 48, 19 Tarroux 46, 20 Aranda 43, 21 Krestinov 32, 22 Bobryschev 20, 23 DOUGAN 20, 24 Pellegrini 15, 25 Avis 15,...
NEXT ROUND: Jun 1 – Mallory Park, Leicestershire, BRITAIN.
WORLD MX1 MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 5 – Mantova, ITALY
1 Marc De Reuver (NL - Martin Honda) 20 + 20 = 40
2 Sebastien Pourcel (F - GPKR Kawasaki) 25 + 14 = 39
3 David Philippaerts (I - Monster Yamaha) 16 + 22 = 38
4 Ken De Dycker (B - Teka Suzuki) 22 + 15 = 37
5 Maximilian Nagl (D - Red Bull KTM) 9 + 25 = 34
6 Josh Coppins (NZ - Monster Yamaha) 18 + 16 = 34
7 Billy MacKENZIE (GB - Monster Honda) 12 + 18 = 30
8 Tanel Leok (EW - Kawasaki Europe) 14 + 13 = 27
9 Steve Ramon (B - Teka Suzuki) 15 + 12 = 27
10 Marcus Schiffer (D - Sarholz KTM) 10 + 9 = 19
11 Clement Desalle (B - Inotec Suzuki) 8 + 10 = 18
12 Aigar Leok (EW - Van Beers Yamaha) 13 + 0 = 13
13 Kornel Nemeth (H - Sarholz KTM) 7 + 5 = 12
14 Manuel Priem (B - Kawasaki Europe) 0 + 11 = 11
15 Thomas CHURCH (GB - Molson Kawa 3 + 8 = 11
16 Jonathan Barragan (E - Silver Action KTM) 11+0=11, 17 Mike Brown (US - Monster Honda) 2+6=8, 18 Brad ANDERSON (GB - Swift Suzuki) 0+7=7, 19 Alessio Chiodi (I - TM Racing) 4+3=7, 20 James NOBLE (GB - KTM UK) 6+0=6, 21 Loic Leonce (F - JK Yamaha) 5+0=5, 22 Pierre Alexandre Renet (F - Teka Suzuki) 0+4=4, 23 Lauris Freibergs (LV - Van Beers Yamaha) 0+2=2, 24 Scott Columb (N - MTM Suzuki) 0+1=1, 25 Carlos Campano (E - Utag Yamaha) 1+0=1.
RACE ONE: 1 Pourcel, 2 De Dycker, 3 De Reuver, 4 Coppins, 5 Philippaerts, 6 Ramon, 7 Tanel Leok, 8 Aigar Leok, 9 MacKENZIE, 10 Barragan, 11 Schiffer, 12 Nagl, 13 Desalle, 14 Nemeth, 15 NOBLE, 16 Leonce, 17 Chiodi, 18 CHURCH, 19 Brown, 20 Campano.
RACE TWO: 1 Nagl, 2 Philippaerts, 3 De Reuver, 4 MacKENZIE, 5 Coppins, 6 De Dycker, 7 Pourcel, 8 Tanel Leok, 9 Ramon, 10 Priem, 11 Desalle, 12 Schiffer, 13 CHURCH, 14 ANDERSON, 15 Brown, 16 Nemeth, 17 Renet, 18 Chiodi, 19 Freibergs, 20 Columb.
SERIES STANDINGS after 5 (of 15) rounds: 1 Philippaerts 187 points, 2 Ramon 159, 3 Coppins 149, 4 De Dycker 135, 5 MacKENZIE 130, 6 Pourcel 129, 7 De Reuver 116, 8 Nagl 114, 9 Barragan 105, 10 Tanel Leok 98, 11 Nemeth 74, 12 Desalle 73, 13 Brown 70, 14 Priem 67, 15 Schiffer 59, 16 Aigar Leok 41, 17 Bill 38, 18 Strijbos 36, 19 CHURCH 31, 20 NOBLE 29, 21 Chiodi 26, 22 Renet 20, 23 Salvini 19, 24 Freibergs 18, 25 Campano 15,...
NEXT ROUND: Jun 1 – Mallory Park, Leicestershire, BRITAIN.
WORLD LADIES MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 2 – Mantova, ITALY
1 Stephanie Laier (D - KTM) 25 + 25 = 50
2 Katherine Prumm (NZ - Yamaha) 22 + 22 = 44
3 Larissa Papenmeier (D - Inotec Suzuki) 20 + 16 = 36
4 Livia Lancelot (F - Kawasaki) 15 + 20 = 35
5 Ashley Fiolek (US - Honda) 16 + 18 = 34
6 Elien De Winter (B - Shineray KTM) 12 + 13 = 25
7 Nicky Van Wordragen (NL - KTM) 13 + 12 = 25
8 Marianne Veenstra (NL - Suzuki) 14 + 11 = 25
9 Maria Franke (D - Kawasaki) 18 + 7 = 25
10 Elin Mann (S - KTM) 10 + 14 = 24
11 Brenda Wagemans (B - KTM) 11+8=19, 12 Sandra Adriansson (S - Suzuki) 3+15=18, 13 Kim Irmgartz (D - Suzuki) 7+9=16, 14 Anne Borchers (D - Inotec Suzuki) 4+10=14, 15 Sofia Sjoberg (S - Honda) 8+5=13, 16 Marielle De Mol (NL - Yamaha) 9+1=10, 17 Jenny Seidenberg (D - KTM) 2+6=8, 18 Alexandra Haupt (D - Kawasaki) 6+0=6, 19 Natascha Fransoo (D - TM) 5+0=5, 20 Shirley Verkade (NL - ???) 0+4=4, 21 Nikki Scott (NZ - Bud Kawasaki) 0+3=3, 22 Karin Adriaanse-Goetheer (NL - Yamaha) 1+2=3.
RACE ONE: 1 Laier, 2 Prumm, 3 Papenmeier, 4 Franke, 5 Fiolek, 6 Lancelot, 7 Veenstra, 8 Van Wordragen, 9 De Winter, 10 Wagemans, 11 Mann, 12 De Mol, 13 Sjoberg, 14 Irmgartz, 15 Haupt, 16 Fransoo, 17 Borchers, 18 Adriansson, 19 Seidenberg, 20 Adriaanse-Goetheer.
RACE TWO: 1 Laier, 2 Prumm, 3 Lancelot, 4 Fiolek, 5 Papenmeier, 6 Adriansson, 7 Mann, 8 De Winter, 9 Van Wordragen, 10 Veenstra, 11 Borchers, 12 Irmgartz, 13 Wagemans, 14 Franke, 15 Seidenberg, 16 Sjoberg, 17 Verkade, 18 Scott, 19 Adriaanse-Goetheer, 20 De Mol.
SERIES STANDINGS after 2 (of 5) rounds: 1 Lancelot 82 points, 2 Prumm 80, 3 Fiolek 72, 4 Franke 65, 5 Papenmeier 61, 6 Mann 55, 7 De Winter 53, 8 Veenstra 51, 9 Laier 50, 10 Van Wordragen 47, 11 Adriansson 42, 12 Wagemans 36, 13 Irmgartz 32, 14 De Mol 26, 15 Borchers 26, 16 Sjoberg 22, 17 Seidenberg 20, 18 Scott 19, 19 Verkade 14, 20 Fransoo 12,... 24 Megan LEWIS 2, 25 Sophia PAULL 2,...
NEXT ROUND: Jun 15 – St Jean d'Angely, FRANCE.