PHILIPPAERTS AND MUSQUIN TRIUMPH IN BRITAIN
Today's Motocross Grand Prix of Great Britain at Mallory Park was blessed with weather more typical of the Mediterranean than rural Leicestershire, allowing the 35,000 strong crowd to soak up the sun as they enjoyed a packed programme of world class racing.
In the MX1 class KTM's Max Nagl tore away from the field in race one followed by Factory Yamaha racer, and reigning World Champion, David Phillippaerts in second place, with Clement Desalle in third.
While it was looking like Nagl was certain to take the win, a mistake from the German star allowed Phillapaerts to go through into the lead. Nagl then went on to make another costly mistake just one lap later, which lost him a further two positions, leaving Phillapaerts to take the win from Desalle with Jonathan Barragan in third.
British-ace Brad Anderson certainly got the crowd going as he shot to sixth position at the start of the race to finish in an eventual 12th place, with Carl Nunn close behind in 14th. Home favourite, Billy Mackenzie, suffered with a hand injury sustained three weeks ago, and was forced to abandon his race just seven laps into the first stint.
In race two Nagl was out to make amends, taking the lead for a flag to flag performance to earn himself second place overall. Phillipaerts was unable to respond to Nagl's dominating pace, but a second place finish gave him the overall Grand Prix win with Nagl in second, and Desalle completing the podium in third.
Billy Mackenzie was also looking to make amends in race two, and the Scottish star certainly gave his home fans something to cheer about as he shot out of the gate into third position. The CAS Honda pilot battled with Desalle in the opening stages and held onto third place until lap seven.
Mackenzie suffered with arm pump in the middle stages, which cost him two positions, and it was looking like he may drop down the order further. However, with the crowd behind him, the Honda pilot dug deep to fend off attacks from Mickael Pichon and Tanel Leok to cross the line in a strong fifth position. Carl Nunn had a strong ride to finish in tenth place, with Brad Anderson in twelfth and Jordan Rose taking a points scoring finish in 18th position.
In the MX2 series Marvin Musquin continued his winning ways, this time on a KTM rather than on the Honda with which he started the season. The Frenchman took pole position yesterday and followed that up with a clean sweep of race wins today, to claim the top spot overall.
While no one could tackle Musquin's flawless performances, Steven Frossard certainly put on a strong show after battling to second place in race one, and third in the second moto.
The all-French podium was completed with Gautier Paulin, who lies second in the World Championship to Musquin, after going 3-4 at the challenging Mallory Park track.
Stephen Sword was the highest placed British racer in this class, with 11th overall, followed by Jake Nicholls in 15th, Scott Elderfield in 25th, Mel Pocock in 27th and Graeme Irwin in 32nd.
Today's event brought to a conclusion almost twelve months of intensive effort on the part of Gareth Hockey and his RHL Activities team, although the crew will remain on site for a further three days to clear the Mallory Park site.
Although the crowd figure was down on last year's Grand Prix, RHL Director, Gareth Hockey, was happy that the event had been a successful one.
"It's been a fantastic weekend," declared Hockey. "The MX and Supermoto riders did us proud with some exciting racing, and the weather couldn't have been better. The entertainment in the evening also added something to the event, and I hope that, overall, everyone feels that we achieved our aim of offering a real value for money weekend. Unfortunately, the current economic climate has made things hard for everyone, and this was reflected in the fact that the crowd figures were slightly down on last year. I just hope that the situation improves soon, and that the people who couldn't make it this year will return to the British Grand Prix in 2010."
"I'd also like to say a big thank you to everyone who made this weekend such a success, and that definitely includes every single spectator. Without them, there wouldn't be a British Grand Prix for us all to enjoy, and that deserves some recognition in my eyes. Now we'll start the planning for next year's event and, as always, we'll be looking to make it bigger and better than what's gone before," concluded Hockey.
British Grand Prix Results:
MX1 World Championship - Overall Classification
1. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 47 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 43 points; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 42 points; 4. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 34 points; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), 28 points; 6. Mickael Pichon (FRA, Honda), 28 points; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 25 points; 8. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 24 points; 9. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), 24 points; 10. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 20 points; 11. Carl Nunn (GBR, Suzuki), 18 points; 12. Bradley Anderson (GBR, Honda), 18 points; 13. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Honda), 16 points; 19. Jason Dougan (GBR, CCM), 6 points; 22. Jordan Rose (GBR, Honda), 3 points; 24. Bryan Mackenzie (GBR, Honda), 2 points; 25. Tom Church (GBR, CCM), 0 points; 30. Alex Snow (GBR, KTM), 0 points; 31. Steve Bixby (GBR, Husaberg), 0 points; 33. Elliot Banks-Browne (GBR, Kawasaki), 0 points; 35. Kristian Whatley (GBR, Kawasaki), 0 points
MX2 World Championship - Overall Classification
1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 42 points; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 38 points; 4. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 36 points; 5. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 29 points; 6. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), 29 points; 7. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), 28 points; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, Suzuki), 25 points; 9. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 25 points; 10. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, KTM), 25 points; 11. Stephen Sword (GBR, KTM), 23 points; 15. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 10 points; 24. Neville Bradshaw (RSA, Honda), 2 points; 25. Scott Elderfield (GBR, Honda), 0 points; 27. Mel Pocock (GBR, Yamaha), 0 points; 32. Irwin Graeme (GBR, KTM), 0 points
FIM Veterans World Cup - Overall Classification
1. Peter Iven (BEL, Honda), 50 points; 2. Mats Nilsson (SWE, Yamaha), 44 points; 3. Christophe LherIteau (FRA, Kawasaki), 40 points; 4. Greg Hanson (GBR, Honda), 33 points; 5. Jan Blancquaert (BEL, Suzuki), 28 points; 6. Brian Wheeler (GBR, Yamaha), 27 points; 7. Erwin Hendrickx (NED, Honda), 26 points; 8. Barry Johnson (GBR, Yamaha), 24 points; 9. Koos Dijkstra (NED, Honda), 20 points; 10. Roman Heinrich (CZE, TM), 20 points; 13. Rob Herring (GBR, Kawasaki), 16 points; 30. Michael McEvoy (GBR, Honda), 0 points
Posted: 31 May 2009
