Coppins secures second podium of the season

Yamaha Monster Motocross Team's Josh Coppins returned to the podium with second position overall at an overcast St Jean d'Angely for the Grand Prix of France and the seventh event of fifteen in the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship. Team-mate and series leader on the works YZ450FM, David Philippaerts, had a tough and unlucky day in front of 30,000 spectators and did not finish the second race to place 18th overall. The established and impressive circuit, located near La Rochelle on the west coast, offered its usual degree of difficulty thanks to the tough bumps of the hard-pack soil. The stony dirt also made the course slippery and many riders were trying different suspension and tyre combinations during practice on Saturday to find the best traction. Despite the presence of a special sandy-section to add an extra technical edge, the lap-times were all extremely close with Coppins taking 6th position in the gate and Philippaerts 10th but the top ten riders in Timed Practice were separated by just over a second. The team completed suspension and engine tests last week in Italy and the new settings were used by Coppins while Philippaerts made some further alterations to smoothen the power delivery of the YZ450FM during a sunny Saturday schedule. Both riders started excellently in the first race and circulated second and third behind leader Ramon. Philippaerts then suffered an unexpected and heavy crash on the landing of a jump and hurt his left hand and knocked his head. The Italian was able to continue, in some pain, to 13th place by the chequered flag. Coppins was flying behind Ramon and when the world champion made a mistake and crashed into the fence on one of the steep downhill sections, the New Zealander grabbed the lead for the first time this season. More drama was to continue for the team however as the 31 year old ran slightly wide in a turn shortly afterwards and caught a stretch of green plastic fencing in his rear wheel. He then had to ignore the close attentions of eventual Grand Prix winner Sebastien Pourcel for most of the race without a rear brake. Pourcel eventually found a way past with just three laps remaining. Second place still represented the highest finish yet for Coppins in 2008. The second moto saw the Kiwi again slot into a top three position on the second lap and from there he used 17 of the 21 circulations to close to the rear wheel of Ramon and push past his rival for another runner-up classification; guaranteeing his silverware and best result of the season (after taking third in Portugal). Philippaerts took a painkiller for his hand and attempted Moto2, slightly encouraged by the crashes suffered by Ramon (who finished only two places ahead in 11th) and also other title rival Ken de Dycker (who would be a reduced force in race two). The 24 year old was not in the top half of the pack around the first turn and needed several laps to get feeling and rhythm. He then again demonstrated his fine ability to cut through the pack to rise from 14th to 7th until he was inexplicably hit by Clement Desalle in the process of relegating the Belgian and moving up to 6th. The impact ripped the right footpeg off the bike and although he bravely tried to continue he was forced to retire with three laps remaining. It was the first time Philippaerts had missed the rostrum since the first round in April. As a consequence of the events at St Jean, the championship standings have become closer. Philippaerts' lead has shrunk to 6 points from Ramon, with Coppins now just 19 behind. The team will now travel back to the workshop in Italy and soon start preparations for round eight and the Grand Prix of Germany at the Teutschenthal circuit near the city of Halle. Coppins has plans to contest the Belgian championship at Kester next weekend. Philippaerts will have a scan tomorrow (Monday) to learn the extent of the damage to his hand. Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 2nd: "I went to Italy to make some tests and training this week and it definitely helped me this weekend. I like to work closely with my mechanic and the team so I will be heading back there in the next few days. I think I can take quite a lot from this result. I should have won the first moto if it wasn't for the problem with the fencing and in the second Sebastien was a little bit faster. To come from a 'low' like Mallory Park to be right at the front and on the podium was the response that I wanted. I can take a lot of motivation from the fact that I am back in the title chase." David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 18th: "From fifteen races it is impossible to have a good result or good luck in all of them. I am disappointed but I also have to be realistic. In the first moto I don't know what happened. I did exactly the same line and approach as always but the bike slipped away. I think we made a mistake and picked a tyre that was too soft. I really banged my hand and had a lot of pain. For the first ten minutes after that I was seeing spots because I had also hit my head. Thirteenth was not ideal but I did not feel fit and I was determined to finish. I was fortunate that both Ramon and De Dycker also crashed. I wanted to see what points I could get in the second moto and took a painkiller. I did not have the best start but then I started to ride very well, very smooth and with good lines. Anyway I reached sixth and then passed Desalle on the inside of one corner but he did something crazy because I was ahead and he just rammed into the back of me. It was a big collision. The right footrest had gone so I tried to keep riding but once or twice I touched the ground with my foot and it was getting risky. My goal is still to look ahead and keep working each race. I am happy that the bike is really good and now I need to check I can have the best physical condition possible for Germany. I like Teutschental and I think it is possible that I can be very fast there." Massimo Raspanti, Racing Manager, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: "Another strange GP for us but I am really happy for Josh. I could see from his work and riding last week in Italy than he was back on the pace and we hoped he would be back on the podium today. For sure if he had not picked up the green fencing then he should have won that first moto. It was a bad day for David. The first moto crash was unfortunate and he had a lot of pain in his hand but we were lucky that Ramon also went down. Due to the pain he was a bit slow at the start of the second moto but when he started riding really well it was good to watch until the collision with Desalle. The footpeg was completely gone so it was not safe or really possible for him to continue. The YZ450FMs worked well this weekend, so now we look ahead to Germany." Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 40'9.573 2, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'1.852 3, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'12.558 4, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'24.687 5, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'30.167 6, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'36.921 7, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'38.867 8, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 0'41.501 9, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 0'42.356 10, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'42.965 11, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 1'0.740 12, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 1'6.258 13, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 1'20.482 14, Julien Vanni, KTM, FRA, 1'23.776 15, Steve Boniface, Yamaha, FRA, 1'24.158 16, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 1'26.123 17, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'36.120 18, Scott Columb, Suzuki, NZL, 1'42.789 19, Cyrille Coulon, Honda, FRA, -1 Laps 20, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, -1 Laps Race 2 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 40'4.650 2, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'1.808 3, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'3.113 4, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'5.073 5, Steve Boniface, Yamaha, FRA, 0'25.684 6, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'32.074 7, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'36.325 8, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'39.053 9, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 0'41.808 10, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 0'50.236 11, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 1'0.086 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'5.810 13, Cyrille Coulon, Honda, FRA, 1'20.009 14, Bradley Anderson, Suzuki, GBR, 1'23.458 15, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 1'26.651 16, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'38.760 17, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 1'46.188 18, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, 1'49.421 19, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, -1 Laps 20, Scott Columb, Suzuki, NZL, -1 Laps Rider Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 231 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 225 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 212 4, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 201 5, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 200 6, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 185 7, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 161 8, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 159 9, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 156 10, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 151 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 115 12, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 107 13, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 104 14, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 95 15, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 76 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 71 17, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 65 18, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 60 19, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 40 20, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 36 27, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 15 Manufacturer Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 269 2, Kawasaki, 257 3, Suzuki, 256 4, KTM, 241 5, Honda, 217 6, TM, 31 7, Aprilia, 1 ---------- RACE REPORT - 15/06/2008 Cairoli 10th after eventful day in France MX2-GP World Champion Antonio Cairoli could only finish tenth overall at a cloudy but warm St Jean d'Angely for the Grand Prix of France and the seventh round of fifteen in the 2008 FIM series. 30,000 spectators saw Tommy Searle take victory and the stylish Italian only able to score third place in the second moto on his YZ250F. After sealing his fifth consecutive pole position on Saturday, Cairoli seemed to have a firm hold on the track he dislikes, even if many stones were coming through the hard dirt made the terrain slippery and perilous. The 21 year old did not get the chance to show his speed in the first Grand Prix moto as a collision with Tyla Rattray on the opening corner left the Sicilian with a punctured fuel tank and he had to pull into the pitlane a lap later. Although Cairoli rejoined the fray, he was almost two laps behind and could not score any points. In the second race - keen to regain some ground to Searle, who had moved to the top of the standings - he survived a small spill in the opening stages while in second place to close to the back of his championship rival and take the lead on lap 8 of 21. Moments later he lost traction with his Red Bull Yamaha and hit the deck. Remounting in a solitary third position Cairoli would spend the rest of the race marking similar lap-times to the leader but unable to reduce the distance to the front. Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nicolas Aubin came into his home Grand Prix with a lot of expectation and a large proportion of the French crowd's noisy support. He was on the pace Saturday but would only register 5th and 10th in the two motos after a pair of bad starts cast him outside of the leading group. Aubin took part in tight scrap with three of his countrymen for second place in first race but crossed the finish line at the back of the French gaggle. A second corner crash in Moto2 meant that he had to ride hard to come through the field from 27th. Cairoli's team-mate in the Yamaha Red Bull De Carli team, Matteo Bonini, was lucky to escape serious injury in the first moto when he was landed upon by another rider on the first lap of Moto1. The Italian was initially feared to have broken his wrist but his ailments were nothing more than severe bruising to his hand, fingers and also his neck. Yamaha Van Beers Racing's Evgeny Bobryshev was making his first appearance in three Grand Prix after visa problems. The Russian took his second best result of the season with 18th overall. Ricci Racing's Davide Guarneri was expected to start riding the same weekend as the French Grand Prix. The Italian will attempt to win the MX2 title at Gazzane di Preseglie for the final round of the Italian championship next week and depending on his progress could make a GP return in two weeks. The standings show Cairoli now in third position and 20 points behind Searle. Aubin is fourth and 78 points adrift. Round nine of the world championship will take place at Teutschenthal for the Grand Prix of Germany. Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 10th: "This is not my favourite track! Last year it was much better, much softer but this time there were so many stones that I was actually quite afraid sometimes. On Saturday it was OK because the pace in the qualification heat was slower and I could be more cautious. The first heat was just bad luck and this type of incident can happen any time but I made two stupid mistakes in the second moto and this lost me any chance of a victory. I caught Tommy after crashing the first time and then had the lead when I went down again. I tried so hard to close the gap when I was third but the distance was too big and this track is not technical enough to be able to make big differences with the lap-times. I am 20 points behind now but the championship is long and we have many races ahead." Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 7th: "I am disappointed because I know the result could have been much better. I took a bad start in the first heat and was far back. I rode well but it was ruined by the first moments because I was too distant from the leaders. The second moto was the same. I went down on the second corner and came from last to tenth. It was a good race but not what I wanted. I cannot understand what happened and I am tired of these bad GPs. There is not much more I can say; the bike is good, my physical condition is OK I just need a decent start." Matteo Bonini, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, DNF: "I got out of the gate badly and was around fifteenth. We came up to the jump and many riders in front of me did not do it, so neither did I but then someone landed on my back and sent me to the floor. It was a big crash but I think I am lucky because my injuries could have been worse. I hope I can ride in Germany." Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 39'12.650 2, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 0'5.359 3, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 0'7.497 4, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'9.622 5, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'12.952 6, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'24.987 7, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'32.222 8, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 0'38.869 9, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'42.134 10, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 0'45.600 11, Jason Dougan, Suzuki, GBR, 0'47.456 12, Loic Larrieu, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'48.192 13, Loic Rombaut, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'52.384 14, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'55.169 15, Luigi Seguy, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'57.940 16, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'58.827 17, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 1'2.077 18, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 1'8.520 19, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'23.661 20, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 1'31.909 Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 40'3.228 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'0.635 3, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'14.234 4, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'54.544 5, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'55.787 6, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 1'26.744 7, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'30.453 8, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'32.218 9, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'35.106 10, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 1'36.873 11, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 1'38.820 12, Loic Larrieu, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'4.829 13, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, -1 Laps 14, Luigi Seguy, Kawasaki, FRA, -1 Laps 15, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, -1 Laps 16, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, -1 Laps 17, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 18, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, -1 Laps 19, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 20, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps Rider Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 283 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 279 3, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 263 4, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 185 5, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 178 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 163 7, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 151 8, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 151 9, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 133 10, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 126 11, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 120 12, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 99 13, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 97 14, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 95 15, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 92 16, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 89 17, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 83 18, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 73 19, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 54 20, Erik Eggens, Suzuki, NED, 51 24, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 28 25, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 25 28, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 17 44, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 2 Manufacturer Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 325 2, Yamaha, 319 3, Kawasaki, 212 4, Suzuki, 192 5, Honda, 113 ---------- RACE REPORT - 15/06/2008 Prumm championship leader after second podium result Yamaha Van Beers' Katherine Prumm obtained the red plate as leader of the inaugural Women's World Championship after taking her second consecutive podium with runner-up position at the Grand Prix of France; round three of five in the 2008 competition. Double World Cup winner Prumm took her YZ250F to 3rd and 2nd positions in the two motos across the rocky terrain at St Jean d'Angely, watched by 30,000 spectators and now fronts the standings by two points with trips to Germany and Holland remaining. The 19 year old followed Stephanie Laier and Livia Lancelot in the first outing but battled with her French rival (and the many backmarkers) closely in the second moto to win the tussle for the second step. After injuring her knee before the start of the championship Prumm has steadily amassed points to reach the top of the table. Her French results were gained with the extra hassle of suffering a sprained wrist during practice. The ladies are back in action in a two weeks time at the Teutschenthal circuit. Katherine Prumm, Yamaha Van Beers Racing, 2nd: "It was good to go home and see my family after the last GP. I had spent two months largely on my own in Europe so I went to New Zealand and had some time there, won both motos in the Australian championship and came back ready for this GP. The extra training I had done paid off here. I have been trying to build up the muscles around my knee to compensate and felt more confident. I did not have the best start to the weekend on Saturday because I over-jumped a section and landed in the corner, pulling some ligaments in my wrist. I was wondering what else could go wrong this season! I got myself together and put it out of my head. I pushed hard during the races and although I made some mistakes that I shouldn't have, it was a good day and I am pleased to be leading the championship." Race 1 - 12 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Stephanie Laier, KTM, GER, 26'18.203 2, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'10.567 3, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 0'24.469 4, Maria Franke, Kawasaki, GER, 0'58.087 5, Larissa Papenmeier, Suzuki, GER, 1'48.872 6, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, 1'57.201 7, Elin Mann, KTM, SWE, 2'0.042 8, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 2'24.137 9, Marielle De Mol, Yamaha, NED, -1 Laps 10, Anne Borchers, Suzuki, GER, -1 Laps 11, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 12, Nicky Van Wordragen, KTM, NED, -1 Laps 13, Kim Irmgartz, Suzuki, GER, -1 Laps 14, Alexandra Haupt, Kawasaki, GER, -1 Laps 15, Jenny Seidenberg, KTM, GER, -1 Laps 16, Brenda Wagemans, KTM, BEL, -1 Laps 17, Sofia Sjoberg, Honda, SWE, -1 Laps 18, Sophia Paull, Honda, GBR, -1 Laps 19, Blandine Dufrene, Honda, FRA, -1 Laps 20, Natascha Fransoo, TM, GER, -1 Laps Race 2 - 12 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Stephanie Laier, KTM, GER, 25'52.269 2, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 0'3.515 3, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, 0'15.085 4, Maria Franke, Kawasaki, GER, 0'21.191 5, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'52.615 6, Larissa Papenmeier, Suzuki, GER, 1'23.138 7, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 1'31.766 8, Elin Mann, KTM, SWE, 1'42.372 9, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, -1 Laps 10, Anne Borchers, Suzuki, GER, -1 Laps 11, Sofia Sjoberg, Honda, SWE, -1 Laps 12, Kim Irmgartz, Suzuki, GER, -1 Laps 13, Alexandra Haupt, Kawasaki, GER, -1 Laps 14, Nicky Van Wordragen, KTM, NED, -1 Laps 15, Natascha Fransoo, TM, GER, -1 Laps 16, Jenny Seidenberg, KTM, GER, -1 Laps 17, Justine Charroux, Yamaha, FRA, -1 Laps 18, Marielle De Mol, Yamaha, NED, -1 Laps 19, Brenda Wagemans, KTM, BEL, -1 Laps 20, Silvia Santaga, Honda, ITA, -1 Laps Rider Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 122 2, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 120 3, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, 102 4, Maria Franke, Kawasaki, GER, 101 5, Stephanie Laier, KTM, GER, 100 6, Larissa Papenmeier, Suzuki, GER, 92 7, Elin Mann, KTM, SWE, 82 8, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, 80 9, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 78 10, Nicky Van Wordragen, KTM, NED, 63 11, Kim Irmgartz, Suzuki, GER, 49 12, Anne Borchers, Suzuki, GER, 48 13, Brenda Wagemans, KTM, BEL, 43 14, Sandra Adriansson, Suzuki, SWE, 42 15, Marielle De Mol, Yamaha, NED, 41 Manufacturer Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 131 2, Kawasaki, 125 3, Yamaha, 122 4, Suzuki, 107 5, Honda, 102 6, TM, 19