Charlier seals Italian MX2 title

Yamaha Monster Energy Gariboldi Racing’s Christophe Charlier gathered the first significant honour for the 2010 YZ250F after confirming the ’10 Italian MX2 Championship with a result of 2nd place overall behind team-mate Harri Kullas at San Severino Marche. The final round of the four-event Italian series took place over the weekend at a damp and rutty circuit and Charlier had to stay ahead of main rival Marcus Schiffer to earn his second senior title. The 2009 European champion, who will enter the FIM MX2-GP World Championship for the first time this season, finished 4th in the first moto, less than two seconds behind the German after recovering from an early fall which meant he was at the rear of the pack. Kullas had a similar slender margin over Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci Motocross Team’s Alessandro Lupino as he took the chequered flag. In the second moto Charlier was dominant and led Kullas to the finish by more than thirty seconds. “Of course this is a great championship to win and a good way to start the year,” he said. “Gautier (Paulin) was very strong in the first two races but I stayed with him as best as I could. Overall this is excellent preparation for our first world championship and I have to give a big thanks to the team and the people who helped us like the Rinaldi Group, Kayaba and all the partners that we have. I am really motivated for this season and cannot wait to start the GPs now.” Despite missing one round due to injury Kullas managed to obtain 3rd in the classification of the domestic contest. “I came back after my shoulder injury and took 3rd at Malpensa for the third round which was pretty good,” he commented. “This track here was great for me and I had two good starts with my Yamaha which helped me a lot.” Yamaha Monster Energy Gariboldi Racing are gearing-up for their first FIM world championship campaign after being a major player on the European championship scene for the last few seasons. With the age limit of 23 coming into force for 2010 the efforts and progress of Charlier and Kullas (both 18 years old) and the emphasis on developing young talent has become paramount for Yamaha to continue their fine reputation and status in the MX2-GP division.