Motocross World Championship, Teutschenthal, Germany

[Andy]

FIM MX1 / MX2 World Motocross Championship

Round 5 of 15 - Sunday May 13th 2007

Grand Prix of Germany, Talkessel, Teutschenthal

Crowd: 32,000 (weekend figure)

Weather: Bright, breezy, warm

Saturday - Windy, cloudy, occasional rain and sunny spells, 15 deg C Sunday - High cloud, sun, some light showers 21 deg C

Leuret marks Martin debut with fourth place

New Martin Honda recruit Pascal Leuret gave a very positive result to

his team with fourth position overall in the MX2 class of the Grand

Prix of Germany at the Talkessel circuit. The meeting represented the

fifth round of fifteen in the fast moving Motocross World

Championship and for the fifth time this season Antonio Cairoli

triumphed while David Philippaerts became the first Italian to win in

MX1 and the first in the premier class since 2001.

The historic course located in eastern Germany yielded a slightly

different surface in places as the dark mud had been mixed with sand

for a softer terrain, while construction of a new set of curves and

rutted sandy straight helped extend the lap-time to beyond two

minutes. The speed was still pretty high with precious few technical

sections and many riders circulated at the same pace restricting any

major movements in the classifications after the starts.

As Josh Coppins and Philippaerts gained MX1 moto wins - the second

race was a thrilling battle between a cast of six riders - PAR

Honda's Gordon Crockard was the manufacturer's top performer overall

with sixth place. It was the Irishman's best result of the season at

the circuit where he enjoyed his last World Championship podium in

2003. He rode to seventh and fifth positions and joined in the scrap

for the top three in Moto2.

Crockard is suffering slightly with an injured knee that forced him

to miss the Portuguese round, but was on form today.

CAS Honda riders Ken de Dycker and Mike Brown filled eighth and tenth

spots in the final standings respectively. De Dycker got out of the

gate quite well in the first moto and held a top five position in the

opening stages. On the fast course he was unable to make an attack

before gaps of several seconds started to separate the field. In the

second race he gated badly and then struggled to make an impression

from the back of the pack, eventually crossing the line in a

disappointing fourteenth.

Brown, who slipped off yesterday and tweaked his shoulder, again

started well in Moto1 but experienced a few problems, including a

bike stall that dropped him to twelfth. As he has done on several

occasions this year he gave a better account of himself in the second

moto and hole-shotted to lead at least twice; once before being

passed by Coppins and then again when the Kiwi crashed. Holding

second position behind de Reuver later into the sprint he was unlucky

when he slipped off the machine and down to a final ranking of eleventh.

Philippaerts won the GP from Steve Ramon and Coppins.

MX2 was once again won by Antonio Cairoli, this time from World Champ

Christophe Pourcel and Tyla Rattray in third. Pascal Leuret was up

with the spaced-out leading group in both affairs and looked

confident and quick on the Martin-tuned CRF250R.

The Frenchman, who had qualified in third position yesterday, rode to

sixth place in the first moto after featuring among the leaders but

being unable to close down the distance to warring pair Kenneth

Gundersen and Davide Guarneri. In the second race he started better

and passed Guarneri for fourth even though he was some distance from

Rattray ahead. Countryman and fellow Martin representative Gautier

Paulin scored seventeenth overall with a personal best ever finish of

twelfth in the first moto.

The French teenager is now likely to contest some more rounds of the

World Championship after impressing at the Italian Grand Prix last

week and also having the speed to qualify. The 17 year old is highly

rated by the team and is currently under the wing of former World

Champion Jacky Vimond.

Antoine Meo has an appointment with a specialist in Paris tomorrow to

determine how the Frenchman's left knee problem can be fixed and

whether he will miss the rest of the season.

The first round of three in the Women's World Cup also took place

today. Overall honours were earned by Honda's Larissa Papenmeier. The

17 year old German won a thrilling first moto of 20 minutes and 2

laps and survived an attack from World Champ Katherine Prumm on the

last two circulations to earn her spurs on the international stage.

She then finished fourth in the second outing to confirm her triumph

on home turf. It marked Hondas first victory in the competition and

also the first time that the CRF250R has been placed on the top step

of a Grand Prix podium. The teenager leads the series by three points

over Maria Franke. The next meeting for the ladies will be at the GP

of Sweden on July 1st.

From the rest of Honda's off-road riding fleet James Noble was

holding ground solidly in the top ten of both races; taking eighth in

the first but then was unlucky to have some gearbox trouble that

forced a DNF later in the afternoon.

The World championship standings now show that Leuret has moved back

up to fourth in the MX2 table and is 37 points from third. De Dycker

is also fourth in MX1 and 25 adrift of Ramon. Noble is ninth with Brown tenth.

After back-to-back events the World Championship now has a free week

to pack units for the trip to Japan. The Sugo circuit will host the

Japanese Grand Prix and the sixth round of the series on May 26th/27th.

Gordon Crockard, PAR Homes Honda: "For once I didn't have to ask who

won the race I could see for myself! It was a hard race. The track

was tough and quite tiring. I tried to save as much energy as I could

and I had a hard time being down in gate 23 so I was going for gold

on the starts and just had to dive in and take a risk. It takes time

to ride at that level but in general I'm pleased with seventh and

fifth. I have had problems with my right knee and I have a small

piece of bone broken off as well as some cartilage damage but I am

glad that I haven't chosen an operation yet. We will see how it goes

from here. France will be the next race for us."

Ken de Dycker, CAS Honda: "The first race was OK, I got a good start

and could make a decent speed. Fourth was a good result and I wanted

to build on that. In the second moto I was last off the start. I

timed the gate badly and then got boxed in. It was hard to come back

from there because you get stuck behind people and many are going the

same speed so to make up ground to the next rider is difficult. The

second heat was not good so I hope for better in Japan. Sugo is much

more technical and better for me."

Mike Brown, CAS Honda: "I had a pretty big crash the first lap of

practice. I hurt my shoulder in January and while this fall did not

make it as painful it was still sore and bothered me a little bit.

The track was fast and everybody was close. I got a good start in the

top three but had a few problems. I stalled the bike in the dip

before the start straight and it took a while to get going. It wasn't

a good race and I ended up twelfth. In the second one I got the

holeshot and was feeling fine. My arms were OK and I was making the

speed. Josh had a crash and I was in the lead for a little bit. De

Reuver went around me and I tried to stay with him but the front end

just washed out on one of the uphill cambered turns. Again I lost a

lot of places getting the bike started, and that's about it really. I

just wished I hadn't have crashed because things were going well."

Pascal Leuret, Martin Honda: "Everybody has been great with me in the

team and they have worked 100% to support me and I am very happy. We

all worked hard this week in terms of testing and getting the bike

ready so I am pleased for them. The second moto was better for me. I

made a better start and pushed hard to pass Guarneri. I tried to

catch Rattray but I did not want to go too crazy and crash so I made

sure of fourth. I want to take as many points as I can every GP. I

made a mistake last week in the second moto and I did not want to

repeat it today."

Gautier Paulin, Martin Honda: "I am really happy with this GP and to

score my first points is of course an important thing for me. I felt

good on the bike at this track and I was happy to be able to compete

with people like Searle and Monni, riders who have been doing the

World Championships a lot longer than me. In the second moto I had a

bad start but tried hard to at least get one point. I heard some

strange sounds from the bike so I decided to stop because I did not

want to wreck it. I hope I can take this experience and confidence

into the European championship now and make some more wild-card

appearances later in the year."

Larissa Papenmeier, Women's World Cup winner "I never thought I would

win here at my home Grand Prix so I am really happy. The first moto

was great. I thought I would make the top five but to win was

fantastic. The track was very hard and it was difficult to stay on the bike."

Results Motocross

MX1 Race 1 ( )

Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time

1 / Coppins, Joshua / NZL / Yamaha / 41:33.823

2 / de Reuver, Marc / NED / Yamaha / 41:40.769

3 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 41:45.066

4 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Honda / 41:47.772

5 / Philippaerts, David / ITA / KTM / 41:48.688

6 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 41:51.263

7 / Crockard, Gordon / IRL / Honda / 42:00.331

8 / Noble, James / GBR / Honda / 42:02.919

9 / Nagl, Maximilian / GER / KTM / 42:08.077

10 / Priem, Manuel / BEL / TM / 42:19.499

11 / Anderson, Bradley / GBR / Yamaha / 42:20.419

12 / Brown, Mike / USA / Honda / 42:23.479

13 / Leok, Tanel / EST / Kawasaki / 42:24.987

14 / Barragan, Jonathan / ESP / KTM / 42:27.029

15 / Desalle, Clement / BEL / Suzuki / 42:35.188

MX1 Race 2 ( )

Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time

1 / Philippaerts, David / ITA / KTM / 39:49.343

2 / Pourcel, Sebastien / FRA / Kawasaki / 39:51.351

3 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 39:53.072

4 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 39:53.564

5 / Crockard, Gordon / IRL / Honda / 39:57.061

6 / Coppins, Joshua / NZL / Yamaha / 40:01.317

7 / Barragan, Jonathan / ESP / KTM / 40:14.164

8 / de Reuver, Marc / NED / Yamaha / 40:18.697

9 / Mackenzie, Billy / GBR / Kawasaki / 40:20.666

10 / Leok, Aigar / EST / Yamaha / 40:23.802

11 / Brown, Mike / USA / Honda / 40:25.719

12 / Renet, Pierre A. / FRA / Honda / 40:29.801

13 / Allier, Thomas / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:39.472

14 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Honda / 40:43.085

15 / Leok, Tanel / EST / Kawasaki / 40:44.731

MX1 World Motocross Championship Standings

Pos Rider Total

1 Coppins, J. 234, 2 Strijbos, K. 191, 3 Ramon, Steve 156, 4 de

Dycker, Ken 131, 5 Pourcel, S. 130,

6 Barragan, J. 121, 7 Philippaerts, D. 115, 8 de Reuver, M. 115, 9

Leok, Tanel 112,

10 Noble, James 104, 11 Brown, Mike 100, 12 Priem, Manuel 81, 13 Nagl, M. 80, 14 Mackenzie, B. 73, 15 Nemeth, Kornel 66

MX2 Race 1 ()

Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time

1 / Cairoli, Antonio / ITA / Yamaha / 39:32.155

2 / Pourcel, Christophe / FRA / Kawasaki / 39:34.850

3 / Gundersen, Kenneth / NOR / Yamaha / 40:18.484

4 / Rattray, Tyla / RSA / KTM / 40:19.941

5 / Guarneri, Davide / ITA / Yamaha / 40:25.099

6 / Leuret, Pascal / FRA / Honda / 40:35.519

7 / Schiffer, Marcus / GER / KTM / 40:48.057

8 / Seistola, Matti / FIN / Honda / 40:51.193

9 / Aubin, Nicolas / FRA / Yamaha / 40:51.956

10 / Nunn, Carl / GBR / Yamaha / 41:06.990

11 / van Horebeek, Jeremy / BEL / KTM / 41:08.380

12 / Paulin, Gautier / FRA / Honda / 41:10.430

13 / Simpson, Shaun / GBR / Kawasaki / 41:12.896

14 / Verbruggen, Dennis / BEL / Yamaha / 41:13.500

15 / Searle, Tommy / GBR / KTM / 41:14.751

MX2 Race 2 ()

Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time

1 / Cairoli, Antonio / ITA / Yamaha / 39:29.074

2 / Pourcel, Christophe / FRA / Kawasaki / 39:31.585

3 / Rattray, Tyla / RSA / KTM / 40:12.146

4 / Leuret, Pascal / FRA / Honda / 40:19.769

5 / Guarneri, Davide / ITA / Yamaha / 40:29.455

6 / Aubin, Nicolas / FRA / Yamaha / 40:35.594

7 / Searle, Tommy / GBR / KTM / 40:39.678

8 / Seistola, Matti / FIN / Honda / 40:40.977

9 / Avis, Wyatt / RSA / KTM / 40:43.571

10 / Nunn, Carl / GBR / Yamaha / 40:44.445

11 / Boissiere, Anthony / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:45.524

12 / Monni, Manuel / ITA / Yamaha / 40:51.215

13 / van Horebeek, Jeremy / BEL / KTM / 40:54.935

14 / Gundersen, Kenneth / NOR / Yamaha / 40:57.812

15 / Swanepoel, Gareth / RSA / Kawasaki / 40:59.798

MX2 World Motocross Championship Standings

Pos Rider Total

1 Cairoli, A. 247, 2 Pourcel, C. 181, 3 Rattray, Tyla 180, 4 Leuret,

Pascal 143, 5 Searle, Tommy 137,

6 Aubin, Nicolas 121, 7 Gundersen, K. 118, 8 Swanepoel, G. 113, 9

Seistola, M. 104,

10 Schiffer, M. 86, 11 Boissiere, A. 67, 12 Frossard, S. 58, 13

Monni, Manuel 55,

14 Eggens, Erik 54, 15 Church, Tom 53.

[jack_h]

top ride from antonio in the mx2 class

i really need to remember to tape it on chanel 4 on sunday nights

[rabie]

i cought italy at 5am last tuesday/wednesday night on five (not CH4)