CAIROLI STILL DEFENDING HIS CROWN
05 September 2006 - Yamaha Racing

World Champion Antonio Cairoli finished as runner-up overall in a soaked MX2 Grand Prix of attrition and mere survival at Lierop.

The Italian gained results of first and third for his third consecutive podium at the penultimate round of the series.

Cairoli - who has sweet memories of the Lierop sand after his World Championship celebrations one year ago - initially led the opening moto but was pursued by David Philippaerts and had to let his countryman through to set the pace. Approaching the final stages of the moto Philippaerts crashed and slipped back to fourth place (before another spill dropped him further down the classification) giving the Sicilian a reasonably clear track to seal his 10th moto of the season.

In the second race a bad start immediately ruled out a second victory as Pourcel drew clear at the front ahead of Rattray, and Cairoli had to beat a path to third; a job made easier once he had disposed of Rui Goncalves. It meant the five points gained on Pourcel from Moto1 were conceded before the end of the afternoon.

The Yamaha Team Ricci packed up early after their sole rider Kenneth Gundersen fell out of a top ten position in the first moto and hurt his right shoulder. The early diagnosis estimates no broken bones but the luckless Norwegian will have a further examination tomorrow and only then will he be informed as to the likelihood of being able to ride at Ernee. Davide Guarneri was in no condition to compete and Alessio Chiodi elected to miss the Grand Prix with a still painful broken finger.

With one round remaining Cairoli has a mathematical chance of defending his crown. 50 points have still to be won and the De Carli racer trails Pourcel by 28. Billy Mackenzie is the next highest Yamaha rider in eleventh and dropped three places with a double DNF.

The trip to Ernee and the French Grand Prix will provide the MX2 competitors with their final outing of the season in two weeks time. The Motocross of Nations in which Cairoli, Gundersen and Mackenzie will represent their countries takes place immediately after the Gallic meeting.

Antonio Cairoli, Team Yamaha De Carli:
''Christophe is a very good rider and has been consistent this season; this for the Championship is very important. This year I have lost a lot of points in three or four heats and I am far behind him now. I just want to win in France and I won''t be thinking about the Championship because it is too hard. In the first moto I started well but Philippaerts was going very fast. I know that my physical condition is good and if I didn''t make any mistakes I would be in contention for the win. David made two mistakes and I was ready to take the heat. I was really happy to win at this track because last year I took the world title here and this is always a big race for me. In the second race I was braking too late for the first corner and went wide. I got caught in the middle of the group in the second turn and then it was very hard to close down the gap.''

Circuit Length: 1875
Temp: 20
Crowd: 33135
Weather: Wet

2006 GP of Lierop, The Netherlands 03/09/2006
Race 1 - 18 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 40''53.916
2 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0''16.401
3 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0''31.286
4 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 0''57.200
5 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 0''58.845
6 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 1''0.295
7 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 1''21.844
8 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 1''33.696
9 Carl Nunn KTM GBR 1''41.615
10 Joel Roelants KTM BEL 1''46.024
11 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1''49.922
12 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1''55.204
13 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 2''1.008
14 Rob van Vijfeijken Yamaha NED 2''3.608
15 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha NED 2''18.009
16 Wayne Smith Honda GBR -1 Laps
17 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA -1 Laps
18 Nick Tuin Yamaha NED -1 Laps
19 Johan Carlsson Yamaha SWE -1 Laps
20 Anthony Boissière Yamaha FRA -1 Laps

Race 2 - 18 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 40''43.318
2 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0''21.464
3 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 0''40.615
4 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 0''59.948
5 Carl Nunn KTM GBR 1''13.800
6 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1''18.715
7 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 1''21.487
8 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1''35.252
9 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1''43.760
10 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha NED 1''58.452
11 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 2''12.457
12 Pierre-Alexandre Renet Honda FRA 2''22.505
13 Rob van Vijfeijken Yamaha NED 2''26.282
14 Anthony Boissière Yamaha FRA -1 Laps
15 Johan Carlsson Yamaha SWE -1 Laps
16 Nicolas Aubin Kawasaki FRA -1 Laps
17 Nick Tuin Yamaha NED -1 Laps
18 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA -1 Laps
19 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR -1 Laps
20 Wayne Smith Honda GBR -1 Laps

Best Lap
Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
David Philippaerts KTM ITA 2''9.633

Rider Standings 03/09/2006

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 541
2. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 513
3. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 446
4. David Philippaerts KTM ITA 440
5. Marc De Reuver KTM NED 373
6. Carl Nunn KTM GBR 343
7. Rui Goncalves KTM POR 300
8. Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 296
9. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 291
10. Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 286
11. Billy MacKenzie Yamaha GBR 281
12. Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha SWE 215
13. Alessio Chiodi Yamaha ITA 211
14. Manuel Monni KTM ITA 183
15. Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 153
16. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 149
17. Matti Seistola Honda FIN 141
18. Anthony Boissière Yamaha FRA 106
19. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 97
20. Luigi Seguy Yamaha FRA 94
43. Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 7

Manufacturer Standings 03/09/2006

Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. KTM 640
2. Yamaha 607
3. Kawasaki 566
4. Honda 232
5. Suzuki 22

www.yamaha-racing.com

More News
  For September 2006
  From Yamaha Racing
  For MX Series
  Biker247.com Home Page