SECOND CONSECUTIVE MX2 VICTORY FOR PHILIPPAERTS
19 June 2006 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

David Philippaerts shone again in the FIM Motocross World Championships with his second victory inside a week on the 250 SX-F, this time in front of 39,000 fans at the Matterley Basin circuit for the British Grand Prix.

The brand new venue was hard, sun-baked and dusty as blue skies bore down on the track located on England’s south coast. The layout was suitably impressive within the bowl-setting as rolling countryside providing a scenic backdrop but the long drags and wide banked curves meant a course that was hard on the throttle and little else.

Philippaerts passed Nicolas Aubin (again impressive on his KTM France machine) within the first stages of the opening moto and then pulled away from Billy Mackenzie and Christophe Pourcel for his third race win in a row. He was leading again in the second outing but pressure from World Champion Antonio Cairoli proved too much and he had to relinquish first spot. His 1-2 results were still sufficient for the overall win and a neat compliment to his Italian success last Sunday. His recent good form means that he has risen to third and is only fourteen points from second.

Tyla Rattray aggravated his sore ankle with a spill in practice on Saturday and needed a series of injections to gingerly get through both motos with a total of ten points and 17th place overall. The South African has slipped to fifth in the Championship and is sixty points away from leader Christophe Pourcel. Marc De Reuver had a weekend to forget with a crash during qualification on Saturday, then a DNF due to a bike problem and finally only being able to finish 17th. The Dutchman could not find his speed on the Matterley terrain and was a frustrated rider over both days.

Carl Nunn did not benefit from decent starts and was also at odds with the track. The British Champion enjoyed good support from the large crowd but could only capture ninth overall.

In MX1 Jonathan Barragan scored 8th, with 12th and 6th positions. The Spaniard collided with another rider and fell on the first lap of the opening moto but recovered to his original position before the accident. He looked more composed in the second race and now holds a 31 point gap over seventh place in the World Championship standings.

The World Championship now only has seven races left to run as the contest enters its second phase. Round nine will take place in two weeks time at the Uddevalla circuit for the Grand Prix of Sweden.

David Philippaerts:
“It’s a very good race for me because the track was difficult and very fast. In the first race I was trying as hard as I could to pass Aubin and once I got through I could start to make my own pace. It was a pretty simple race. In the second heat I was again trying to find that pace but after the first twenty minutes I found it difficult and Cairoli was quicker. The bike and the team are both perfect now. My training is going better and my confidence is growing. The Championship is looking up and I am happy with the whole situation.”

Tyla Rattray:
“It has been a tough weekend and the longest of my career. I have been in a lot of pain since Italy and it hasn’t eased off that much. It was a hard Grand Prix. Normally I am pushing right away to get up near the front or trying to break away, but today I could not do it and riders were passing me. In the second heat I got a better start but I couldn’t give the race 100% and I was hesitant of catching and damaging it again. I was riding safe on the right hand corners and keeping on the pegs. Hopefully by Sweden it will be a lot better. I have been thinking too much about the Championship recently and need to focus on trying to win races again.”

Marc de Reuver:
“I don’t have much to say. The bike was working well but I could not get going with the track and it has been a disaster for the Championship this weekend. I don’t know how many points I am behind now.”

Jonathan Barragan:
“The first race was really bad luck because I crashed when someone hit me and then I had to fight back to 12th. The second moto was an improvement but again I started badly and had to regain a bunch of positions from around fourteenth place. The results have been up and down lately but I have had some bad luck with crashes and hurt my knee in Bulgaria which has prevented me from riding at 100%.”

Carl Nunn:
“Sadly it was not a good Grand Prix for me. My starts have not been that great recently. The heat races have been fine but the GP motos themselves have been hard. I am annoyed that I did not capitalise on a good qualification. This track was not so good. It is fun and the jumps are well made but it is too easy and didn’t have anything that technical; it was just wide open and basic. Obviously it was good to race in front of the fans but the track is the main thing for a rider and it spoilt the whole weekend for me.”

MX1 Moto1

1. EVERTS Stefan BEL YAMAHA
2. DE DYCKER Ken BEL HONDA
3. COPPINS Joshua NZL HONDA
4. STRIJBOS Kevin BEL SUZUKI
5. MELOTTE Cedric BEL YAMAHA
6. LEOK Tanel EST KAWASAKI
7. CROCKARD Gordon GBR HONDA
8. GARCIA VICO Javier SPA HONDA
9. LEURET Pascal FRA HONDA
10. BILL Julien SUI YAMAHA
12. BARRAGAN Jonathan SPA KTM

MX1 Moto2

1. EVERTS Stefan BEL YAMAHA
2. STRIJBOS Kevin BEL SUZUKI
3. RAMON Steve BEL SUZUKI
4. LEOK Tanel EST KAWASAKI
5. COPPINS Joshua NZL HONDA
6. BARRAGAN Jonathan SPA KTM
7. DE DYCKER Ken BEL HONDA
8. MELOTTE Cedric BEL YAMAHA
9. VAN DAELE Marvin BEL HONDA
10. GARCIA VICO Javier SPA HONDA

MX1 Overall classification

1. EVERTS Stefan BEL YAMAHA 50
2. STRIJBOS Kevin BEL SUZUKI 40
3. COPPINS Joshua NZL HONDA 36
4. DE DYCKER Ken BEL HONDA 36
5. LEOK Tanel EST KAWASAKI 33
6. MELOTTE Cedric BEL YAMAHA 29
7. RAMON Steve BEL SUZUKI 27
8. BARRAGAN Jonathan SPA KTM 24
9. GARCIA VICO Javier SPA HONDA 24
10. NOBLE James GBR HONDA 19

MX1 World Championship standings

1. EVERTS Stefan BEL 392
2. STRIJBOS Kevin BEL 293
3. LEOK Tanel EST 278
4. DE DYCKER Ken BEL 267
5. RAMON Steve BEL 254
6. BARRAGAN J. SPA 190
7. LEURET Pascal FRA 159
8. MELOTTE Cedric BEL 147
9. GARCIA VICO J. SPA 139
10. PRIEM Manuel BEL 136

MX2 Moto1

1. PHILIPPAERTS David ITA KTM
2. POURCEL Christophe FRA KAWASAKI
3. MACKENZIE Billy GBR YAMAHA
4. GUARNERI Davide ITA YAMAHA
5. GUNDERSEN Kenneth NOR YAMAHA
6. CAIROLI Antonio ITA YAMAHA
7. SWANEPOEL Gareth RSA KAWASAKI
8. SEARLE Tommy GBR KAWASAKI
9. AUBIN Nicolas FRA KTM
10. POURCEL Sébastien FRA KAWASAKI
11. NUNN Carl GBR KTM
17. RATTRAY Tyla RSA KTM
25. DE REUVER Marc NED KTM

MX2 Moto2

1. CAIROLI Antonio ITA YAMAHA
2. PHILIPPAERTS David ITA KTM
3. SEARLE Tommy GBR KAWASAKI
4. POURCEL Sébastien FRA KAWASAKI
5. GONCALVES Rui POR KTM
6. GUNDERSEN Kenneth NOR YAMAHA
7. BOISSIERE Anthony FRA YAMAHA
8. MACKENZIE Billy GBR YAMAHA
9. NUNN Carl GBR KTM
10. CHIODI Alessio ITA YAMAHA
15. RATTRAY Tyla RSA KTM
17. DE REUVER Marc NED KTM

MX2 Overall classification

1. PHILIPPAERTS David ITA KTM 47
2. CAIROLI Antonio ITA YAMAHA 40
3. SEARLE Tommy GBR KAWASAKI 33
4. MACKENZIE Billy GBR YAMAHA 33
5. GUNDERSEN Kenneth NOR YAMAHA 31
6. POURCEL Christophe FRA KAWASAKI 31
7. POURCEL Sébastien FRA KAWASAKI 29
8. GONCALVES Rui POR KTM 25
9. NUNN Carl GBR KTM 22
10. BOISSIERE Anthony FRA YAMAHA 21
17. RATTRAY Tyla RSA KTM 10
20. DE REUVER Marc NED KTM 4

MX2 World Championship standings after 8 rounds of 15

1. POURCEL C. FRA 305
2. CAIROLI Antonio ITA 271
3. PHILIPPAERTS D. ITA 257
4. DE REUVER Marc NED 250
5. RATTRAY Tyla RSA 245
6. MACKENZIE Billy GBR 201
7. NUNN Carl GBR 181
8. GUNDERSEN K. NOR 170
9. POURCEL S. FRA 169
10. SEARLE Tommy GBR 162

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