Results MotoCross World Championship, Teutschenthal, Germany

2007-05-13 13:01
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.

Source: Honda Pro Image

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