Philippaerts and Paulin rule Dutch championship opener

Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team’s David Philippaerts and Gautier Paulin again sampled victory upon their works YZ450FM and YZ250FM machines, this time in the sand of Holland as the Italian and Frenchman won the MX1 and MX2 classes respectively in the first meeting of the national series at Mill. After triumphant runs in the first two rounds of the Italian Championship both riders transferred their attentions to northern Europe and the sand as they continue to dial-in their new motorcycles ahead of the FIM World Championship on April 3rd/4th. Mill represented the last pre-season outing for the team. Philippaerts was ruthless through the soft and rutted terrain to obtain two race wins and easily claim the overall. He charged from third to first in the opening moto in as many laps, defeating world championship rivals like Marc de Reuver, Kevin Strijbos and Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team’s Ken De Dycker. In the second moto he was masterful and pulled away to take the flag from sand-specialist De Reuver by more than five seconds. “I am happy with this race and especially to beat riders like De Reuver and De Dycker here,” said Philippaerts. “We made some tests in the sand to find a good set-up during the week and everything worked well, so that is very good. The sand was not too deep and pretty hard underneath but it was still bumpy and rutty. I was pushing quite a bit to win as De Dycker kept close in the first moto and De Reuver was chasing me in the second. Overall this was a good way to end the pre-season and now we will think only about Bulgaria.” After taking 2nd to Philippaerts in the first race, DeDycker did not finish the second as the stomach virus he had been suffering in the days leading up to the event finally took its toll and he pulled out.

Paulin was less than a second behind Joel Roelants on his first competitive race with the YZ250FM in the sand but improved his runner-up slot by one position in the second Heat. The 19 year old set the fastest lap and escaped to win by 24 seconds. “Yes, I am quite pleased although my start was not great in the first moto and I wasn’t so happy by the fact that I could take the lead but Roelants could keep attacking,” said the overall MX2 winner. “I improved my performance for the second race and it was good to end the day in this way.” The first three Grands Prix of the season will take place in Bulgaria (hard-pack), Italy (sand) and Holland (sand) throughout the month of April. Philippaerts and De Dycker will give the 2010 YZ450F its MX1-GP World Championship debut at Sevlievo on Easter weekend. Meanwhile in Italy, Yamaha Monster Energy Gariboldi’s Christophe Charlier won the third round of the MX2 Italian Championship at Gallarate and now leads the contest by 16 points with one race remaining.