The British fans will not forget the MX2 Grand Prix, especially the first race as four British riders started the race among the top five! Carl Nunn notched the holeshot and got the full support of the numerous crowds while Church, McFarlane and Sword were chasing just behind him. Finally McFarlane gave to Nunn the strongest opposition, pushing hard during thirty minutes to finish only two seconds behind the leader. Nunn who clinched his first heat win since the French GP in 2000 got another holeshot in the next one and led the race during two laps, but then David Philippaerts passed him. Nunn crashed in the fourth circulation and lost time to restart the thumper, but he finally scored a few points with a fourteenth spot. Leading most of the race Philippaerts third in the previous one gave up in the last fifteen minutes, and was passed by McFarlane and Pourcel. Second and winner McFarlane won the GP and took the World Championship lead, as most of his rivals had troubles this week-end; Cairoli and Guarneri crashed together in the first moto (Cairoli could have a damaged scaphoid), Chiodi crashed in the second heat and didn’t scored any point, Mackenzie injured his knee when he crashed in the first race while Melotte crashed at the first start and later injured again his damaged wrist on a jump. Twice third Philippaerts who raced his second event aboard the Factory 250 four stroke KTM finished the GP in second position, followed by Christophe Pourcel (16 years old) who did two strong races. Both Pourcel and Philippaerts scored their first ever podium, as well as Mackenzie or Guarneri earlier this season in this exciting series.
Stefan Everts will for sure keep a strong memory from Matchams where he collected his first 2005 double win. Stefan took the holeshot in the opening race while Pichon, Townley and Smets got involved in a first turn pile up! Stefan was unbeatable and took a strong lead (30 seconds) over Ramon, who clinched his first podium of the season. Coming back from last to third in this race Ben Townley had a better start in the following one and came second, but finally crashed while battling with Joshua Coppins far away from Everts. Josh finished second behind Everts, followed by Smets, Barragan and Townley who came on the podium alongside Everts and Coppins. Only thirteen in the opening race after three crashes Pichon didn’t really recovered in the next one, finishing eighth and loosing a total of 29 points over Everts. After a big crash in qualification Brian Jorgensen didn’t got the permission from the doctor to race the GP.
Stefan Everts. “Today has been physically really hard, and I hope that next week end the track will not be so demanding. I had a pretty easy race in the first moto, I was riding really relax and was pulling away but at the end it was a tough day and I know that I will be tired tomorrow. In the first heat I had a really good start, Ben didn’t want to give up and he went too fast in the first corner and took down some other riders. In the second moto I had a nice race with Josh in the first meters, I just passed him in the second corner. With good start it was easier for me to control the races, I was able to choose the best lines. I was looking for a double win since a long time, it’s a really good thing for the championship but even with a strong lead I must keep on going and avoid any mistake as I did in Teutschenthal where I lost many points.”
Andrew McFarlane. “Today everything went really well, the bike settings, the choice of tyres and for the first time in my career I am leading a World Championship. The track was really difficult, I made two good start and it helped me to get my third GP win of the season. In the first race Carl rode really well, it was difficult to catch him as when I came back he pulled away immediately. This first race was difficult with the rain, we had a lot of sand in our goggles and as I didn’t want to use my roll-off I had to keep my distance a little bit. I’m leading the championship but the season is really long, there’s many races to go and I want to take one race at a time, as everyone know, and we saw it again today, that everything can happen in motocross racing.”
Next event: Grand Prix of Italy (Castiglione del Lago) on June 11th-12th (www.federmoto.it/mondialecross)
Information and results on www.motocrossmx1.com, the official website of the Motocross World Championships.
Info, photo copyright Mediapresse
French 