Fourth position for Philippaerts in Ireland

Yamaha Monster Motocross Team's David Philippaerts still leads the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship after finishing in 4th position overall under decent weather conditions at the new Fairyhouse circuit for the Grand Prix of Ireland and the thirteenth round of fifteen. As the campaign heads towards its penultimate stages next week, Philippaerts was just two points away from his eighth podium of the season in Dublin but keeps hold of the red number plate - for the tenth time in thirteen events - and heads the standings by 5 points over world champion Steve Ramon. Josh Coppins' was again bitten by ill fortune as the New Zealander was hit at the start of race one and again on the first lap of race two. The second incident forced his retirement. The brand new circuit within the confines of the Fairyhouse horse racing venue contained a tricky layout with well-constructed jumps but the grass was laden with wood chippings making a soft and slippery course. The event itself was perhaps lucky to go ahead in wake of one of the wettest August months on Irish record. Thankfully the weather stayed dry over the weekend for a 16,000 crowd. Philippaerts set off from the seventh best pick in the gate while Coppins was tenth after Saturday's Time Practice. The Italian was quick from the line on both occasions. He circulated adrift of the top four for long stretches of Moto1 but timed an attack on Ramon perfectly entering the last two laps and beat his main rival for the title to 4th spot. The 24 year old was even better placed in Moto2 - in second - but some clutch trouble meant that he had to adjust his riding and lower his speed and he dropped back to 4th once more.   Coppins was also at the forefront of the pack around the first turn of Moto1 but was pushed wide and off the track by a falling Jonathan Barragan. The 31 year old faced another journey through the field from virtually last and reached a creditable 9th by the chequered flag. He was not able to complete a second lap of Moto2 as a rider clattered his YZ450FM on the landing of a table-top and forced him off the course. With the triple clamp bent and the front wheel brake sticking he pitted but was not able to rejoin. With 100 points left to win and just four motos left to run the destination of the 2008 crown will be decided at the final race. Philippaerts holds a slender margin over Ramon and Ken de Dycker is 27 points adrift in third. Jonathan Barragan is fourth and 52 away, while Coppins is fifth and 59 points from his team-mate. Yamaha front the manufacturer's standings by 3 points. The penultimate round of the world championship will take place next weekend at the sandy circuit of Lierop in the Netherlands. The Grand Prix of Citta di Faenza in Italy will close the 2008 competition the following week. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 4th: "I did not have any good lines at the start of the first race and I lost time because of that. I took a while to look at the others and finally find a rhythm that gave me some speed. I was strong at the end and passed Ramon with two laps to go and I was happy. Things were better at the start of the second moto but the track got worse and was quite dangerous with all the soft bumps. We had a small issue with the bike but finishing in the top five was a consistent result. De Dycker came close when I was in third and I did not want him to touch me; I did not want to take any risks. Fourth overall means that it was not a great day but generally I am content because the track was difficult and it was easy to make a mistake that would cost so much. All my plans and work is coming together after a long season. We will see what happens in Lierop now but I want to go there in good form. It has been a very hard year because each GP has been so open and hard to predict, Faenza will be a tough final race!" Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 16th: "I am a little bit lost for words. For the last three or four races I feel that people have not really seen the real 'me' for a combinations of reasons and today there were some more. I started really well in the first race but Barragan or somebody touched me on the inside and I crashed off the side of the track. I was really going for that holeshot and it was just one of those things. I then rode well and came back from second-to-last to ninth. The second race was similar. Everyone went really wide and I got squashed out but I was not in a bad position, however when we came to the first table-top a rider was cross-rutted and touched me in the air. He then came up short and bounced into me on the landing and drove me off the track. It damaged the front of the bike. The wheel was locking and the triple clamp was bent so I came in the pits but we could not get it fixed before all the pack had gone past and getting even just a few points would have been hard; there was too much damage. In retrospect my qualifying needed to be better. After the Czech Republic I wanted to come here and have fun. I really want to be in a race with the guys; that is where I belong." Mino Raspanti, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: "A hard weekend for us. The first moto was not bad for David but terrible luck for Josh and to finish ninth meant that he lost a lot of points for the championship. David did well to pass Steve at the end of the first moto and should have been second in the next race but had a bit of trouble with the clutch and could not keep his lap-times. Josh again had an unbelievable situation and the title is now difficult for him. Lierop will be a big challenge but we will see!" Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 38'49.681 2, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'2.572 3, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'15.287 4, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'17.305 5, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'22.354 6, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'23.658 7, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'25.976 8, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'3.541 9, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 1'9.368 10, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 1'18.293 11, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'23.584 12, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'29.328 13, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 1'31.930 14, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 1'34.165 15, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'36.743 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'46.380 17, Gordon Crockard, Honda, IRL, 1'48.435 18, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 1'50.824 19, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, -1 Laps 20, James Noble, KTM, GBR, -1 Laps Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 39'36.398 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'15.918 3, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'23.160 4, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'26.158 5, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'29.898 6, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'36.999 7, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 0'45.319 8, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'53.091 9, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'57.115 10, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 1'0.277 11, Gordon Crockard, Honda, IRL, 1'6.916 12, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 1'12.982 13, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'14.221 14, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'16.458 15, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 1'26.577 16, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 1'43.236 17, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'49.477 18, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'54.756 19, Luis Correira, Yamaha, POR, -1 Laps 20, Stuart Edmonds, TM, IRL, -1 Laps Rider Standings 31/08/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 441 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 436 3, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 414 4, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 389 5, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 382 6, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 371 7, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 356 8, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 322 9, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 293 10, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 235 11, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 232 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 224 13, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 159 14, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 159 15, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 145 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 110 17, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 107 18, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 94 19, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 86 20, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 75 23, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 52 Manufacturer Standings 31/08/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 507 2, Suzuki, 504 3, KTM, 481 4, Kawasaki, 467 5, Honda, 398 6, TM, 33 7, Aprilia, 12 ---------- RACE REPORT - 31/08/2008 Aubin fourth as Osborne shows speed with moto win Yamaha were cruelly denied a podium finish in the thirteenth round of fifteen of the MX2-GP World Championship at a bright Fairyhouse circuit near Dublin for the Grand Prix of Ireland. 16,000 people saw Utag Yamaha.com's Zach Osborne win his first ever race in only his third international meeting with the British team, while Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nicolas Aubin was 4th overall and missed a second rostrum celebration of the season by just 2 points. The pair went 1-3 in Moto1 respectively, but a mechanical problem for the American halted his progress while in second place during Moto2 and Aubin suffered a bad start and a brief mid-race crash before taking 7th by the flag. Aubin had showed quick pace around the heavily wood-chipped and soft course located in the centre of the horse racing track some 20 kilometres north of Dublin. He was 2nd in the first qualification heat and therefore entered the gate in 3rd position on Sunday. He was behind Osborne who won his first Saturday heat race. Osborne sprinted away from the field in just his fifth moto with the Utag Yamaha.com YZ250F and kept series-leader Tyla Rattray at bay for the whole race. His success meant that he gave the team their first set of 25 points since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix and became only one of a handful of Americans to sample victory on the world championship stage. He was also the third Yamaha rider to score a win in 2008. Sadly an overall trophy was snatched away with a mechanical glitch half way through Moto2 and he left the circuit with 8th overall. Aubin had taken a steady 3rd place in Moto1 and his progress was dented by a poor getaway in Moto2 and then a small mistake while gaining ground deep into the 35 minute and 2 laps duration. Ricci Racing team-mate Davide Guarneri failed to bag any points but twisted his weak right knee and was in considerable pain, forcing a retirement in Moto2. The Italian is scheduled to have an operation after the final Grand Prix in just over two weeks. Matteo Bonini was back in action for the Yamaha Red Bull De Carli squad after recovering sufficiently from his hand injury. The Italian scored respectable points in each moto to finish 13th overall. Team-mate Alessandro Lupino was 16th and with 10 points obtained his third highest total of 2008. Aubin is 4th in the standings and 14 points from the third position held by the absent Antonio Cairoli. The 2008 world championship now hurries towards its conclusion with two events in the next two weeks. The Grand Prix of Benelux will take place in the sand of Lierop in Holland while the hard-pack Faenza circuit entertains the final round in Italy. Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 4th: "I was pleased to make the top three in the first moto but I cannot believe the bad start I made in the second race. A rider crashed in front of me in the first corner and I think I restarted in something like 25th position. I got back to 12th but then crashed trying to pass Goncalves and restarted in 15th before finding my way to 7th. I had some pain again in my stomach and it was difficult to ride like this. I am satisfied with the result, especially because the track was difficult for passing." Zach Osborne, Yamaha Utag.com, 8th: "This was a big step for my career today and I am really pumped with the team and everything that has been going on here. Tyla is in 'championship mode' so I knew he would not take any big chances in the first race to try and pass me. I rode as hard as I could and it worked out for me. It was a shame about the second moto but it felt really good to win and join a small group of Americans to have done so." Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 25th: "This was a really hard GP for me. I did not like the track and could not get the speed together. My starts were bad and when I caught my leg on a bump in the second moto it finished the day. We will have to see how the knee is before Lierop next week." Matteo Bonini, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 13th: "I did not feel a great deal of pain when I was riding and my main problem was that I did two 30 minute motos for the first time only last Tuesday, so physically it was hard to get used to Grand Prix speed again and finish those two motos. I am happy. I did not have a good rhythm at the start of the motos but I got better and improved throughout." Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Zach Osborne, Yamaha, USA, 38'59.589 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'2.365 3, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'10.678 4, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'10.678 5, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'44.102 6, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'45.527 7, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 0'46.258 8, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'46.749 9, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'47.153 10, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'55.719 11, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 0'59.039 12, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'3.472 13, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'15.296 14, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 1'24.775 15, Martin Barr, Yamaha, GBR, 1'27.639 16, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 1'28.866 17, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 1'30.003 18, Elliott Banks-Browne, Suzuki, GBR, 1'41.995 19, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'44.564 20, Marcus Norlen, Suzuki, SWE, 1'46.766 Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 39'55.406 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'6.126 3, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'12.077 4, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'21.385 5, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 0'24.993 6, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 0'26.163 7, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'28.350 8, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'29.694 9, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'30.703 10, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'47.801 11, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'49.467 12, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 0'52.392 13, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 0'59.327 14, Jake Nicholls, Suzuki, GBR, 1'7.302 15, Elliott Banks-Browne, Suzuki, GBR, 1'25.623 16, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 1'30.835 17, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'36.756 18, Marcus Norlen, Suzuki, SWE, 1'46.045 19, Teddy Maier, Kawasaki, USA, 1'53.186 20, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps Rider Standings 31/08/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 546 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 519 3, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 357 4, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 343 5, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 337 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 327 7, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 284 8, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 269 9, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 253 10, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 245 11, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 243 12, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 240 13, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 180 14, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 167 15, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 165 16, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 161 17, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 101 18, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 99 19, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 95 20, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 92 23, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 55 27, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 42 28, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 41 41, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 8 46, Martin Barr, Yamaha, GBR, 6 Manufacturer Standings 31/08/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 616 2, Yamaha, 559 3, Kawasaki, 407 4, Suzuki, 320 5, Honda, 234