PHILIPPAERTS TOASTS SECOND SUCCESS AS RAMON TAKES FIRST ‘05 PODIUM
17 July 2005 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

KTM enjoyed a double podium appearance at a warm and bright Sun City this afternoon for the Grand Prix of South Africa, the eleventh stop of seventeen in the ’05 FIM Motocross World Championships.

David Philippaerts was the strongest force once more in the MX2 class and took his second career victory and second win of the season. Steve Ramon collected his first silverware of the MX1 campaign with third position.

In front of 18,000 spectators the Grand Prix protagonists had to negotiate an improved Sun City terrain compared to 2004 but the hard-pack was slippery in sections and the hot sunshine did not create the easiest of racing conditions.

Philippaerts has enjoyed an incredible synergy with the works 250SXF since swinging his leg over the machine nearly two months ago. The Italian has sampled the view from the top step of the podium twice now and has finished in the top three in the last five consecutive races. He continues to prove that no matter the degree of effectiveness regarding his starts he has the speed and confidence to pull through the pack to trouble and often defeat the leaders. Philippaerts had to regain ground and positions from the lower top ten in both races and although he was beaten by Anthony Boisierre in the final stages of moto1 he was irrepressible in the second outing holding off the closing threat of Antonio Cairoli to seal his second moto triumph of the term. He has now accumulated 132 points from a possible 150 in the last three Grand Prix. Carl Nunn did not have a happy Sun City experience. The Briton has been suffering the effects of a cold this week and could not establish a decent pace in the first moto finishing a disappointing 12th. He started well in the second race but was caught up in a second corner crash that dumped him to the rear of the pack. He almost hit the ground again later on when coming up short on a jump and smashed his chest onto the bars. He had to catch his breath but then continued only managing to reach 16th by the end. Nunn now travels to the UK for the sixth round of the competitive British Championship that he is currently dominating. Philippaerts is gaining ground rapidly in the MX2 standings and now lies 39 points adrift of 3rd place. Nunn has slipped one position to 8th.

Steve Ramon was able to taste podium champagne for the first time this season as he collected two 3rd positions for the final step of the rostrum. The Belgian was adrift of the leaders after mediocre starts but benefited from falls in both motos from Ben Townley to earn his ranking. Townley, riding with an injury to the little finger on his right hand and also a sore ankle, grabbed the holeshot in the first moto but led only for four laps until he was passed by Stefan Everts and then crashed almost immediately afterwards. Dazed but quickly remounting Townley threatened to retake 3rd from Ramon but lacking tear-offs in the dust and unable to perform a manoeuvre on his team-mate he accepted 4th. In Moto2 he was 3rd and trying to catch the runaway show of Josh Coppins and Everts but again tasted African dirt as the winter sun cast long shadows over the circuit. This time he re-injured his finger and required more stitches in the medical centre afterwards.

Townley is third in the MX1 World Championship standings 48 points behind Coppins. Ramon is slightly further back in fifth.

The twelfth round of the campaign will occur in a fortnight’s time at Nismes for the Grand Prix of Wallonie.

Ben Townley:
“In the first race I got the holeshot and I was pumped with that! I don’t really like being out in the lead early on because I prefer to hang back and see what everybody else is doing. When Stefan passed me I was riding a little better but then I made that stupid mistake and hit my head. I was a bit dizzy for half a lap but then I got back into it. I could not really get past Steve but fourth was OK after the crash. In the second race I wheelied off the start and wasn’t able to come out of the first corner that well. I got up to third and chased Josh and Stefan hard but they were too fast for me. I guess I stepped the pace up in Italy and France and now they have taken it up another notch. I was disappointed with the second moto. I could not see the track that well because the sun had gone right down and I don’t know what happened. I went down pretty hard and all the stitches came out from my finger and all the skin off from around the wound. It was bloody painful just to continue let alone go fast. I am still third in the points and I have to win as many motos as I can now.”

Steve Ramon:
“My start was good in the first moto but I went wide in the sand and lost a place and then mistimed the tabletop and a few more people went past me. I could not find a good rhythm for the first ten minutes and saw that Stefan and Josh had long gone. Ben had a crash and it was great to get third because it set up a possible good result. The second race was similar. My start was better but again it took me time to find the speed and the good lines. At one stage I was fourth and I was thinking ‘another podium missed’ but I had a good feeling on the bike and then Ben made another crash. On the last lap I was waiting for something else to go wrong! It is my first podium of the season and it has taken a long time to come.”

David Philippaerts:
“The first race was not easy but it was my fault that I lost the moto because I wanted to overtake Boissierre too early. When he was behind me he learned my lines and found out where to pass me in points where I wasn’t so strong. Anyway, I wasn’t too disappointed because it was OK to get second after being in ninth. In the second heat it was not easy to keep Cairoli behind me because I know that this circuit is very suited to his style. He attacked me towards the end and I was happy just to keep the lead. I love the 250F and now we have five podiums from six races.”

Carl Nunn:
“I rode badly in the first race. I could not find a rhythm, I was inconsistent with my lines and wasn’t riding like I should be; I don’t know why. I got it together for the second race but I was taken out on the second turn and had to come through from the back. I reached 15th or something like that. I felt good but landed on the top of the table-top and all my weight went forward onto the bars and I hit my ribs. With the cold and heavy chest I have at the moment I could not breathe and thought I might have broken something so I pulled off briefly but was then able to carry on. The adrenaline started to kick back in and my lap-times were pretty good. I was riding much better towards the end of the moto and for that I am content but I did not take any decent points today.”

MX2 Moto1

1. Boissiere, Anthony Yamaha 40:50.655
2. Philippaerts, David KTM 40:52.386
3. Mackenzie, Billy Yamaha 40:58.538
4. Chiodi, Alessio Yamaha 40:59.365
5. Guarneri, Davide Yamaha 41:04.628
6. McFarlane, Andrew Yamaha 41:05.462
7. Swanepoel, Garreth Kawasaki 41:06.397
8. Pourcel, Christophe Kawasaki 41:06.889
9. Cairoli, Antonio Yamaha 41:07.659
10. Goncalves, Rui Yamaha 41:08.634
11. Nagl, Maximilian KTM 41:14.364
12. Nunn, Carl KTM 41:15.948

MX2 Moto2

1. Philippaerts, David ITA KTM 40:33.993
2. Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha 40:34.533
3. Mackenzie, Billy GBR Yamaha 40:43.016
4. McFarlane, Andrew AUS Yamaha 40:46.357
5. Chiodi, Alessio ITA Yamaha 40:47.809
6. Pourcel, Christophe FRA Kawasaki 40:49.163
7. Swanepoel, Garreth RSA Kawasaki 40:58.528
8. Goncalves, Rui POR Yamaha 41:03.359
9. Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM 41:18.976
10. Guarneri, Davide ITA Yamaha 41:23.794
16. Nunn, Carl GBR KTM 41:54.401

MX2 Overall result

1. Philippaerts, David 47
2. Mackenzie, Billy 40
3. Cairoli, Antonio 34
4. Chiodi, Alessio 34
5. McFarlane, Andrew 33
6. Boissiere, Anthony 31
7. Pourcel, Christophe 28
8. Swanepoel, Garreth 28
9. Guarneri, Davide 27
10. Goncalves, Rui 24
11. Nagl, Maximilian 22
14. Nunn, Carl 14

MX2 World Championship standings after eleven rounds

1. McFarlane, A. 378
2. Cairoli, A. 354
3. Chiodi, Alessio 344
4. Philippaerts, D. 305
5. Melotte, Cedric 284
6. Sword, Stephen 262
7. Mackenzie, B. 228
8. Nunn, Carl 212
9. Goncalves, Rui 207
10. Pourcel, C. 199

MX1 Moto1

1. Coppins, Joshua Honda 39:35.801
2. Everts, Stefan Yamaha 39:37.024
3. Ramon, Steve KTM 40:07.506
4. Townley, Ben KTM 40:20.840
5. Smets, Joel Suzuki 40:45.745
6. Cooper, Paul Honda 40:50.366
7. Barragan, Jonathan KTM 40:58.823
8. Noble, James Honda 41:00.979
9. Pyrhonen, Antti TM 41:02.716
10. Theybers, Danny Suzuki 41:03.419

MX1 Moto2

1. Coppins, Joshua Honda 39:59.683
2. Everts, Stefan Yamaha 40:19.592
3. Ramon, Steve KTM 40:37.429
4. Barragan, Jonathan KTM 40:45.498
5. Leuret, Pascal Honda 40:48.127
6. Smets, Joel Suzuki 40:50.002
7. Leok, Tanel Kawasaki 41:03.243
8. Jorgensen, Brian Yamaha 41:06.808
9. Atsuta, Yoshitaka Suzuki 41:08.434
10. de Dijcker, Ken Honda 41:21.612
17. Townley, Ben KTM 40:53.434

MX1 Overall result

1. Coppins, Joshua 50
2. Everts, Stefan 44
3. Ramon, Steve 40
4. Barragan, Jonathan 32
5. Smets, Joel 31
6. Leuret, Pascal 26
7. Jorgensen, Brian 22
8. Noble, James 22
9. Cooper, Paul 22
10. Townley, Ben 22

MX1 World Championship standings after eleven rounds

1. Everts, Stefan 455
2. Coppins, Joshua 416
3. Townley, Ben 368
4. Smets, Joel 349
5. Ramon, Steve 304
6. Pichon, Mickael 299
7. Leuret, Pascal 211
8. Noble, James 210
9. Barragan, J. 197
10. Jorgensen, B. 188

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