Another fantastic double for Coppins and Cairoli

In the week where Yamaha released their YZ production models for 2008, Yamaha Motocross Team's Josh Coppins and De Carli Yamaha's Antonio Cairoli placed the YZ450FM and YZ250F on the top steps of the MX1 and MX2 podiums respectively for the fifth time this season at Sevlievo for the Grand Prix of Bulgaria and the eighth round of fifteen in the FIM Motocross World Championship.   Coppins gained his fifth victory of the year, with results of second and first, and has extended his tally of moto triumphs to nine from sixteen, taking at least one chequered flag from seven of the eight meetings run thus far. The new member of the European Union welcomed the GP series for the fourth time this century. Winner of 'Best Organiser' at the FIM Off-road Awards last November the Sevlievo circuit was up to its usual high standards in terms of presentation and the facilities on offer like infrastructure, grandstands and accessibility. The track was quick and undulating with many jumps and a hard-packed soil. The combination of the heat and several steep uphill drags put a lot of stress on machinery across the two 35 minute and 2 lap motos. Coppins was able to qualify in third position on Saturday - just two tenths of a second away from pole - after working with the Italian crew to dial-in the machine in terms of carburetion and suspension settings on the powerful YZ four-stroke.     The 30 year old had his hands full dealing with David Philippaerts in the first moto. Jonathan Barragan had already made a break with the race lead after acing the start and the New Zealander had to push hard to overtake the Italian to get up to the runner-up position. Coppins faced more opposition from Sebastien Pourcel but both the Frenchman and Philippaerts slipped off their 450s at some stage during the race. Coppins was allowed to secure his 14th appearance in the top three from 15. In the second sprint Coppins took three laps to dispose of a pursuing Ramon and then seize the lead from Mike Brown. The Kiwi, who was nursing some pain to his back and groin from a near-crash in the first race, drilled the Yamaha into the ground for several laps to establish a comfortable advantage over his Belgian rival.

Meanwhile Marc de Reuver was making a small step in the right direction with an overall position of ninth. The Dutchman, who claimed his second career victory here twelve months ago in the MX2 class, started poorly in Moto1 but applied himself well to build momentum and gain ground on the leader-board. He came through to 12th for his first points from the last two Grand Prix. In the second race he performed better and was annoyed to be robbed of eighth spot on the last lap by Brown.

Yamaha unveiled their 2008 YZ production models this week. The 450F has undergone several significant upgrades. Improved engine mapping means stronger but controllable power while mid-range and top sections of the performance have increased. The agile machine also boasts a lightweight aluminium chassis with a shorter headpipe, lighter forks, compact new front calliper, and modified rear suspension. All efforts have been directed into making the latest 450 and 250, which has received many of the same improvements, easier to ride but with a very dependable and potent basis to chisel the most competitive motorcycle of the class. Crucially the noise output of the popular YZ 450 - and platform for the most successful MX1 GP bike ever - has been reduced to 94 decibels; a volume level that applies to the whole four-stroke range.

The ninth round of the World Championship will take place in two weeks time at the impressive Uddevalla circuit for the Grand Prix of Sweden.

Josh Coppins, Yamaha Motocross Team: "It feels good to win here and after last week and being so strong in the second moto. I did not start that badly but battled with Steve in the first few laps and lost some time on Jonathan. He was riding really well in that moto so I had to settle for second. At one stage I was closing on him a little bit but then I made a big mistake. I over-jumped the triple step-up and landed in the berm. I hurt my back a little bit and also squashed my sensitive area on the fuel tank! So my chase was over after that. I started better in the second race and after passing Mike Brown I knew that if I could make some good laps and stay strong then I would win. Steve came into second place but I kept my head down and when the gap was ten seconds I knew I had the GP. I want to thank the team because this weekend we worked extremely hard and it was not an easy meeting but the result was very good."    Marc de Reuver, Yamaha Motocross Team: "In the first heat I had a good start, around sixth or seventh but a few guys passed me. I got a rhythm going and finished eleventh. In the next race the first few laps were again not so easy but I found my way and the speed improved. It was frustrating that Brown overtook me at the end. If you look at the last two GPs then this is an improvement and now we will move on from here."

Carlo Rinaldi, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team: "I'm happy because once again Josh rode very well. In the first moto it was just a little bit too late to attack Jonathan and the gap was too big. There was no point in taking any risks, but in the second moto he got a good start again and made his own race. Nobody could catch him so it was a perfect win. The temperature was changing on Saturday so we worked on the set-up and preparation of the bike. Marc's result is not fantastic but if we look at the very low point we had in France then it was a good reaction. The fighting spirit was there again and from our perspective that is very important. I want to be optimistic for the next race."   Temp: 30 Crowd: 25000 Weather: Sunny     2007 GP of Sevlievo, Bulgaria 17/06/2007 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 39'53.521 2 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 0'9.925 3 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'14.940 4 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'19.054 5 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'28.486 6 Julien Bill Honda CHE 0'34.539 7 Mike Brown Honda USA 0'38.135 8 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'44.876 9 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 0'51.713 10 Julien Vanni Honda FRA 1'6.047 11 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 1'8.933 12 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 1'11.161 13 James Noble Honda GBR 1'13.895 14 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 1'17.809 15 Cyrille Coulon Honda FRA 1'23.516 16 Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 1'24.760 17 Scott Columb Suzuki NZL 1'29.118 18 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 1'40.037 19 Lauris Freibergs Yamaha LVA 1'40.652 20 Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 1'46.662

Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 40'21.572 2 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'9.056 3 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'16.910 4 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'26.226 5 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'31.909 6 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'35.325 7 Julien Vanni Honda FRA 0'38.030 8 Mike Brown Honda USA 0'40.754 9 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 0'43.003 10 Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 0'44.638 11 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'45.041 12 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 1'2.317 13 Scott Columb Suzuki NZL 1'6.956 14 Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 1'11.957 15 James Noble Honda GBR 1'18.877 16 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 1'20.344 17 Cyrille Coulon Honda FRA 1'21.519 18 Cedric Melotte Aprilia BEL 1'24.239 19 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'26.009 20 Graham Bradley Kawasaki USA 1'27.012

Rider Standings 17/06/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 368 2. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 271 3. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 222 4. David Philippaerts KTM ITA 222 5. Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 214 6. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 211 7. Mike Brown Honda USA 196 8. Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 179 9. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 178 10. Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 154 11. James Noble Honda GBR 153 12. Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 136 13. Manuel Priem TM BEL 125 14. Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 120 15. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 107 16. Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 86 17. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 73 18. Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 72 19. Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 61 20. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 47

Manufacturer Standings 17/06/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 368 2. Suzuki 314 3. KTM 284 4. Kawasaki 263 5. Honda 246 6. TM 125 7. Aprilia 7

RACE REPORT 17/06/2007 Cairoli superb for sixth double MX2 victory    The Grand Prix of Bulgaria represented the seventh meeting this year to fall to the talents and speed of Yamaha De Carli's Antonio Cairoli and his fettled YZ250F. The Sicilian, with his electric, loose and flamboyant style, won both motos under the hot eastern European sunshine at Sevlievo for his sixth 'double' of the season. He has yet to finish lower than third from sixteen races and has not trodden lower than the second step on the overall Grand Prix podium. He has been beaten only once.    The Sevlievo dirt was hard and sun-baked although watering from the organisers in an effort to contain the dust was a problem for the MX2 class who entered the gate first to start the race programme on Sunday. Some sections of the fast and jumpy course were slippery and rough, making the terrain difficult to tackle throughout the course; the added high temperatures of 30 degrees plus did not make things any easier. Cairoli won his seventh qualification heat on Saturday to take to the line with second position for Sunday. He passed Tommy Searle on the first lap of the initial MX2 moto and from the point when he had a clear track ahead of him, the race was his. The 21 year old furrowed a lonely but victorious path to his thirteenth moto from the last fifteen. A collision out of the gate with World Champion Christophe Pourcel meant that he had to engage in some hand-to-hand combat in the second race but showed his ease on the surface by using different lines and momentum in the early laps and was soon heading the field once again. He was able to beat Pourcel and has now collected fourteen from sixteen chequered flags.    Yamaha Team Ricci's Davide Guarneri registered his best moto result of the season with a confident ride to fifth. In fact it was his second highest race finish since 2005 after a problematic '06 season with injury (he was fourth at the British GP last June). The Italian was sick during the week however and felt weak going into Moto2. He lasted the distance and was able to obtain twelfth place for seventh position overall and be the second best Yamaha rider of the day.

Team-mate Nicolas Aubin and Bike it Dixon Yamaha's Carl Nunn followed in the GP classification with eighth and ninth. For Nunn it was one of his better results since joining the British team in the winter. Aubin suffered with his starts and was tenth and ninth.

Kenneth Gundersen, now recovered from the stomach upset that limited his options in France last week, started badly in Moto1 after a first corner spill and was unable to make a decent impact on the race. He swallowed the roost of others and was held up to only score sixteenth by the end. The Norwegian was able to take more points in the second MX2 contest with a decent ride to sixth; his highest finish since the German GP.

Cairoli's masterful form in the MX2 class this season means that he now enjoys an 83 point lead over Pourcel in the championship. Aubin is seventh and twenty points ahead of Gundersen. Antonio Cairoil, Yamaha De Carli: "Pourcel and I had some contact coming out of the start but we are fighting for the championship so this is OK and part of the racing. We lost balance and touched, there is no big deal. I have won seven GPs now and that is a lot. To have such a big lead is not what I was expecting before Valkenswaard. I really like this track here. Last year I won a moto but crashed in the next race and took zero points, so this is a big improvement. It is not my favourite place because I prefer softer ground but I had a great feeling with my bike and could make a good race. It was hot but my physical condition was fine. The first moto was over quite quickly but I liked the second because I had to pass Tommy and Leuret and find some interesting lines; it was fun."

Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Team Ricci: "My condition is getting better but unfortunately on Wednesday and Thursday I was a little bit sick and in these high temperatures yesterday and today it was very difficult. My speed was quite good though. In the first moto I started around the top ten and took fifth place. My rhythm was great and Tyla and Leuret were just slightly faster than me otherwise I could have looked to fourth. In the second race, before the start, I knew it would be hard to keep a good pace all the way. I took twelfth place which was not so bad for the points. This is another small step for me and I feel quite good. When I have the stamina for two good motos maybe the podium will be reachable."    Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci: "In the first race I crashed on the first corner and restarted completely last. I pushed with everything I had and I saw by the lap-times that I was running the same speed as the top five. I finished fifteenth and the result was not good but I was quite pleased with the riding. In the last moto I got a good start and did all I could. This is the level where I want to be now. I will train hard and hopefully be able to step it up for Sweden."

Carl Nunn, Bike it Dixon Yamaha Racing: "I want to be better than this, even if each overall result in the top ten is helping me in the championship. I want to keep on getting as many points as I can and climb up the table. I should be knocking on the door a little bit more now for tenth place. I am happy enough but we are working on the beginning of the race at the moment because I am too slow in the first laps. My pace is OK as the race goes on and I get faster towards the end. My fitness is not the problem and I am getting quicker and quicker. If I get a good start then I drop places at the beginning because the others are pushing. We have to sort this out and that's what we are focussing on. The top five should not be far away."   Temp: 34 Crowd: 25000 Weather: Sunny     2007 GP of Sevlievo, Bulgaria 17/06/2007 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 40'38.712 2 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'8.615 3 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'12.634 4 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 0'18.700 5 Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 0'25.765 6 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'29.678 7 Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 0'31.902 8 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 0'32.838 9 Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 0'34.122 10 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 0'35.158 11 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 0'45.233 12 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 0'48.024 13 Jeremy Tarroux Yamaha FRA 0'50.616 14 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 0'52.059 15 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 0'53.678 16 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 0'57.735 17 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 1'3.725 18 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'8.549 19 Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 1'16.720 20 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 1'14.271

Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 39'18.944 2 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'7.187 3 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'8.678 4 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 0'9.716 5 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'18.945 6 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 0'20.073 7 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 0'33.505 8 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 0'35.422 9 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 0'42.521 10 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 0'51.304 11 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 0'59.513 12 Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 1'7.362 13 Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 1'9.823 14 Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 1'13.778 15 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'24.500 16 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'26.355 17 Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 1'30.602 18 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 1'46.732 19 Jeremy Tarroux Yamaha FRA 1'52.094 20 Martin Barr Yamaha GBR 1'52.987

Rider Standings 17/06/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 392 2. Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 309 3. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 298 4. Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 245 5. Tommy Searle KTM GBR 244 6. Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 201 7. Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 188 8. Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 168 9. Matti Seistola Honda FIN 137 10. Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 129 11. Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 111 12. Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 99 13. Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 95 14. Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 94 15. Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 79 16. Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 76 17. Rui Goncalves KTM POR 68 18. Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 63 19. Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 60 20. Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 58

Manufacturer Standings 17/06/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 392 2. Kawasaki 320 3. KTM 319 4. Honda 245 5. Suzuki 139