MOTOCROSS WCH RND 1, KARCHER GRAND PRIX OF FLANDERS, ZOLDER TORTELLI TAKES PODIUM ON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RETURN (02.04.2006)
02 April 2006 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

Red Bull KTM Motocross rider Sebastien Tortelli won a moto and took second position overall this afternoon at the Zolder circuit in Belgiumfor the Karcher Grand Prix of Flanders the first round of fifteen in the FIM 2006 MX1 World Championship.

Windy, cold and showery conditions greeted the second day of action in east Belgiumas 16,000 spectators entered the historic racing facility. The sandy terrain had been worked on overnight but still offered a difficult first Grand Prix test for the riders of the MX1 and MX2 motos in their two 35 minute and 2 lap motos per class.

Tortelli holeshotted and led his first GP moto since 1998 from the opening corner until the last, withholding pressure from World Champion Stefan Everts. The second moto saw a role-reversal and a potentially close tussle was ruined when the pursuing Frenchman lost touch with the Belgian after a run-in with a backmarker. His second position gave the overall win to Everts, his 88th, but meant that he shares first spot in the World Championship.

Mickael Pichon struggled with his fitness and had to withdraw from the first moto before the midway point. He did not take to the line for the second race.

Despite a sore and weak wrist Jonathan Barragan had a decent debut as part of the factory team and steering the prototype for the 2007 SX450F. The Spaniard was 6th and 9th for 7th overall.

Tyla Rattray scored his 8th MX2 Grand Prix victory with resilient results of 3rd and 1st, winning the Grand Prix of Flanders for the second year in a row. The South African still managed a top three finish in the first moto despite losing use of his front brake early on. He dominated the second sprint from Antonio Cairoli. David Philippaerts had earlier claimed the first race after a mistake by leader Marc de Reuver allowed the Italian through to front. It was a strong showing by the Red Bull Champ team and with Carl Nunn scoring 10th overall all four riders currently stand within the top group of the World Championship points table.

The World Championships continue in two weeks time with the second round taking place at Bellpuig for the Grand Prix of Spain on Easter Sunday. The Red Bull KTM team will then head west for the Portuguese GP just seven days later.

Sebastien Tortelli:

“It was a great weekend. We had a decent first moto and I was very happy. The second race was good also, I got into a quick second position behind Stefan and he was pushing hard. His speed was good but I was comfortable with it. Stefan is a strong rider and I knew I had to bide my time and see when to pass him. At one point I struggled to get through the lapped riders and he made a small breakaway. I caught him back and was close when I had an incident with another lapper who took away my front wheel while I was jumping. It was harsh but I supposed we have to get used to that because we are going at a great speed and there were not many blue flags on the track. Those guys are still fighting for positions and points so they are not just going to move over. I am happy with this first race. Compared to 1998 I have more experience and feel more prepared. I think it will be a great year for us, Stefan and I, but I will be stronger.”

Tyla Rattray:

“I took my first ever holeshot in the first moto, so I was pumped with that but I lost my front brake straightaway and had to ride the whole race without it. I crashed once and was running out of the berms just using my back brake but I was able to get used to it. I had some arm-pump but was happy with the result. In the second moto I showed what I could really do. The track was hard but I like it when it’s rough. I made the gap and controlled the race ahead of Cairoli.”

Marc de Reuver:

“I made a great start and pulled a gap over everybody but then began to crash! It wrecked my race and although I finished fourth I was disappointed. I could follow Cairoli OK in the second moto and the position was good enough for an overall podium and I am happy with second. I have chosen just to focus on the World Championship this year and the most consistent one of us is going to hold the advantage for sure.”

David Philippaerts:

“The first race was really good today because my start was not great and I came through the pack quickly. I felt tense and nervous before the second moto. I almost crashed at one point and then fell off in a different place afterwards. I was far behind and just tried to finish.”

Carl Nunn:

“I tried my hardest today but something wasn’t right. I know I am fit enough but something did not click today. I got good start and this is important and gives me a ‘positive’ to think about. The long start-straight in Spainwill mean that I’ll be right up there. My bad days should be better and I should be in or around the top five.”

Jonathan Barragan

“I am still having problems with my wrist and have only been working for 3 weeks with the new bike. We are developing the machine and the results we have today are good enough for the first GP and the circumstances.”

Pit Beirer, Motorsport Manager:

“We are so happy because after all the hard work over the last few weeks and also some problems we always knew we would be ready for Zolder and it is nice to see on paper that things have worked out. It was a strong performance from KTM because we won three from the four races and Sebastien could compete with a great Champion like Stefan. We won a heat and are level on points and can only hope for a good season from here on.”

Kurt Nicoll, Motorsport Manager

“Mickael has been suffering for two or three weeks now with a weakened condition and we have been trying to sort it out. He has trouble getting his heart-rate up and feels tired very quickly. He attempted the motos today but his fitness is not right at the moment to be leading Grand Prix races.”

MX1 Moto1

1 TORTELLI Sebastien, 2 EVERTS Stefan, 3 LEOK Tanel, 4 RAMON Steve, 5 DE DYCKER Ken, 6 BARRAGAN Jonathan, 7 LEURET Pascal, 8 STRIJBOS Kevin, 9 MELOTTE Cedric, 10 SWORD Stephen, 27 PICHON Mickael

MX1 Moto2

1 EVERTS Stefan, 2 TORTELLI Sebastien, 3 STRIJBOS Kevin, 4 LEOK Tanel,5 RAMON Steve,6 SWORD Stephen,7 DE DYCKER Ken,8 MELOTTE Cedric,9 BARRAGAN Jonathan,10 LEURET Pascal

MX1 Overall classification and World Championship standings

1 EVERTS Stefan 47, 2 TORTELLI S. 47, 3 LEOK Tanel 38, 4 RAMON BEL 34, 5 STRIJBOS Kevin 33, 6 DE DYCKER Ken 30, 7 BARRAGAN J. 27, 8 SWORD Stephen 26, 9 LEURET Pascal25, 10 MELOTTE Cedric 25

MX2 Moto1

1 PHILIPPAERTS David, 2 GUNDERSEN Kenneth, 3 RATTRAY Tyla, 4 DE REUVER Marc, 5 POURCEL Sébastien, 6 CHIODI Alessio, 7 POURCEL Christophe, 8 NUNN Carl, 9 SEARLE Tommy, 10 MEO Antoine

MX2 Moto2

1 RATTRAY Tyla, 2 CAIROLI Antonio, 3 DE REUVER Marc, 4 POURCEL Christophe, 5 GONCALVES Rui, 6 GUNDERSEN Kenneth, 7 MEO Antoine, 8 POURCEL Sébastien, 9 MACKENZIE Billy, 10 NUNN Carl, 13 PHILIPPAERTS David

MX2 Overall classification and World Championship standings

1 RATTRAY Tyla 45, 2 DE REUVER Marc 38, 3 GUNDERSEN K. 37, 4 PHILIPPAERTS D. 33, 5 POURCEL C. 32, 6 POURCEL S. 29, 7 CAIROLI Antonio 28, 8 MEO Antoine 25, 9 GONCALVES Rui 24, 10 NUNN Carl 24

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