Philippaerts takes first win with Yamaha

In changeable weather conditions and across a tricky Sevlievo circuit, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team's David Philippaerts scored his first success on the YZ450FM with first and second positions in the two motos at the Grand Prix of Bulgaria. After four rounds of fifteen in the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship the Italian has extended his lead in the series to 17 points and also placed Yamaha first in the manufacturer's standings. Josh Coppins was sixth overall and currently lies third. The hard and fast layout situated deep in the Bulgarian countryside offered two different tests to the riders of the MX1-GP category as the first moto of 35 minutes and 2 laps took place in sunshine but a grey sky and rainfall created a slick and greasy terrain for the second outing. Philippaerts made the most of two decent starts to obtain his prize. The 24 year old escaped the attentions of Billy Mackenzie and Marc de Reuver to lead the first sprint from start to finish. In the second wetter race he fought with Jonathan Barragan and was ultimately unable to match the Spaniard's pace. Entering the last lap Philippaerts was resigned to his second consecutive runner-up position until the leader crashed and allowed Sebastien Pourcel and the Yamaha representative to pull through. Second spot in the moto was enough to secure the overall and his second career MX1-GP success. Josh Coppins ended the day disappointed with sixth position but a set of average starts and some hesitancy on the first lap of Moto1 meant that a better placing was not possible. The Kiwi qualified quite well, (Philippaerts was eighth after being baulked on his two flying lap attempts) with the sixth best lap-time on a dry track that saw the protagonists of the class separated by very little. However he was, by his own admission, 'too slow' in the opening stages of Moto1 and although he pulled through the pack well and was all over the back wheels of Marc de Reuver and Barragan contesting second place, he crossed the finish line in fourth. The second moto was even tougher as he touched with his team-mate along the start straight and had to be determined to cut through from a mid-pack position on the first lap. The course was not easy for overtaking, making Coppins' job even harder; he took 14 points for seventh at the flag. The 31 year old is still well in touch with the title chase. Yamaha Van Beers' Aigar Leok was 17th, one place ahead of UTag Yamaha.com's Carlos Campano. The world championship table still shows both Yamaha Monster Motocross team members within the top three. Philippaerts holds a bigger margin over world champion Ramon and Coppins is 34 points away. Yamaha head the manufacturer's standings by 5 points. The squad are well-placed for round five and their home Grand Prix at Mantova in Italy next week. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 1st: "This is a really good result for me. I tried to win both races but Barragan was very fast in that second moto and I had some luck when I saw him crash. I was pretty tired by that point and I could not stop Pourcel taking the lead. The track was very different in the afternoon. The rain had made it very slippery and some more lines appeared. The mud went softer and got bumpier. The bike is really good and the team are working hard. I'm happy for this; a good day!" Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 6th: "I thought that things would turnaround for me this weekend but I am really disappointed with how the motos went. My starts were not good, which is unusual for me, and I was too slow at the beginning of the first moto. I wanted to do better for the second moto but David cut across me coming out of the gate; that's OK though because I would have done the same if I also had the holeshot. I was stuck in the middle of the pack and by the time I passed riders there was too big a gap to rise any further. This is not what I wanted ahead of Mantova, which is perhaps the hardest track of the year for me and I am losing my patience; it has been a hard start to this championship." Mino Raspanti, Racing Manager: "A very good weekend. David won the GP with some luck, thanks to Barragan's crash. He was already looking quick and motivated through the practice sessions and playing with the bike but found two slower riders in the Timed Practice that ruined his laps. Anyway, he still got the starts from eighth in the gate. Josh was fourth in the first race which wasn't so bad and his speed in the last ten minutes was very good. His start was a handicap and he could not find his pace like before. The bikes performed well and the riders felt good; we just need to understand why Josh couldn't get going in that second moto." Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 40'7.606 2, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'5.616 3, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'6.650 4, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'8.084 5, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'14.351 6, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'29.896 7, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'31.501 8, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'36.148 9, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'39.608 10, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'43.629 11, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'45.507 12, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 0'48.676 13, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 0'59.604 14, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'1.597 15, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 1'9.729 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'17.854 17, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, 1'19.659 18, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'22.498 19, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 1'24.738 20, Pierre A. Renet, Suzuki, FRA, 1'40.124 Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 39'28.719 2, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'6.913 3, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'8.068 4, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'21.486 5, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'27.233 6, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'34.377 7, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'43.440 8, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'44.277 9, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'44.803 10, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 0'48.434 11, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'53.504 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 0'55.953 13, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'6.237 14, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 1'8.493 15, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 1'11.843 16, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'16.105 17, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 1'17.858 18, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 1'22.384 19, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, 1'26.089 20, Bradley Anderson, Suzuki, GBR, 1'28.192 Rider Standings 11/05/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 149 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 132 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 115 4, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 100 5, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 98 6, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 94 7, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 90 8, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 80 9, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 76 10, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 71 11, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 62 12, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 62 13, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 56 14, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 55 15, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 40 16, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 38 17, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 36 18, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 28 19, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 23 20, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 20 26, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 14 Manufacturer Standings 11/05/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 149 2, Suzuki, 144 3, Kawasaki, 131 4, KTM, 125 5, Honda, 118 6, TM, 19 ---------- RACE REPORT - 11/05/2008 Cairoli seventh after first corner incident MX2-GP World Champion Antonio Cairoli finished off a Grand Prix podium for the first time since Namur, August 2007 after suffering a first corner crash in a wet second moto at Sevlievo for the Bulgarian round of the FIM series. The fourth round of fifteen took place under changeable weather conditions that saw the first race occur in sunshine and the second on a slippery and soggy terrain. The Sicilian was seventh overall but had already banked some points with a comprehensive victory in Moto1. The Bulgarian dirt was hard and flat and together with the layout created a fast course that left little room for error. The start and initial corners were vital in determining the leading positions as lap-times generally remained fairly close and overtaking was difficult. Cairoli enacted a fantastically close duel with Tommy Searle during the Saturday qualification Heat and got the better of the Briton to secure his second consecutive pole position. The pair briefly resumed their fracas in the first GP moto but the Yamaha De Carli rider unearthed a series of rapid circulations on his YZ250F to break free from his English rival and win his third moto in succession. The second race could not have started more differently. The 22 year old slid off in front of the pack entering the first right turn and was hit by Tyla Rattray. Then, while pushing to regain positions, was struck from behind by another rider and again hit the ground, losing time to restart. He finished down in nineteenth. Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nico Aubin also had a contrasting set of results. The Frenchman could not recover well from a start that left him in the bottom half of the top twenty on the first lap of Moto1 and scored thirteenth. He did however reverse his fortunes in the second sprint when he chased Shaun Simpson and Tommy Searle and was less than three seconds from first position by the end of the race. His third place meant a ranking of fifth overall. Team-mate Davide Guarneri was sixteenth in the final GP standing. The Italian had to qualify via the Last Chance session after a heavy crash during Saturday's Heat race. A fall in Moto1 meant that he was unable to restart, while he was one of the casualties of the first corner mayhem in Moto2. The 23 year old did manage to capture a hard-won tenth by the end of the 35 minutes and 2 laps. Cairoli's team-mate, Matteo Bonini, made a welcome return to Grand Prix action only two weeks after he recovered sufficiently from a dislocated shoulder. The Italian is lacking race speed and fitness but registered a total of six points with nineteenth overall. 3C Racing's Manuel Monni was a consistent figure around the top ten and earned eleventh position thanks to finishes of twelfth and eleventh. Cairoli lost a little ground in the world championship standings and rests 4 points behind new leader Tyla Rattray. Aubin is fourth and 43 away from the top three. Guarneri is seventh. The MX2-GP elite will be in action in the space of seven days as the Italian Grand Prix at the jumpy Mantova circuit constitutes round five. Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 7th: "Of course, after the first moto, I expected more from this GP. I had a really good start in the second moto and when I cut tight for the corner my front wheel slipped away. Everyone was really close and Tyla hit me in the back, which caused a lot of pain. I lost time restarting but worked my way back to 12th, and that was OK because Tyla was in the same group and I felt like I was riding really well. Then when I came down one of the hills a rider had stopped in the line in front of me so I had to slow also and I was hit from behind. The handlebars were covered with mud, so I quickly had to clean them and try to go again. I wanted to keep positive and try for points so I kept pushing and reached 19th. I am now second and four points behind Tyla. This is manageable, and the next GP is in Italy so we will be strong. I want the red plate again in Mantova." Nico Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 5th: "I was missing something today. I started badly in the first moto and could not get a rhythm. I tried to push hard but could not pass the other riders, thirteenth was a poor result. In the second race I felt better and faster and was in the fight for first position which was good. I like Mantova and I must get better because we have had four GPs now and I have not made the results that I want. I have a good bike and my physical condition is OK. I just need a little something extra and that second moto was good for my head." Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 16th: "A bad weekend; too many crashes. I like this track but I had a big crash in the heat on Saturday and hit my head so I had to go through the last chance. My gate was far to the outside. I started way back in the first moto and after a few laps I was up to 14th but I lost the front wheel on a jump and I could not restart the bike. Many riders fell at the start of the second moto and I got pushed outside and also crashed, again! It was very slippery there. I pushed and I rode pretty well to finish 10th which was OK. I lost points today but the championship still has a long way to go." Matteo Bonini, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 19th: "I did not feel too bad out there. My shoulder was OK, considering I only started training two weeks ago. I pushed so hard in those two weeks to make this GP that I think it left me very tired today. I gained some points at least and things can only get better. I wanted to make this GP to get some race time before Mantova. The track there is difficult but now I am a little bit more familiar with the speed the guys are making now." Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 39'3.953 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'2.943 3, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'3.719 4, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'18.419 5, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'20.386 6, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 0'24.837 7, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'27.211 8, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 0'31.010 9, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 0'36.679 10, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'42.073 11, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'47.949 12, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'50.738 13, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'56.220 14, Jason Dougan, Suzuki, GBR, 1'0.504 15, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'5.079 16, Kounsith Vongsana, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'7.458 17, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 1'9.300 18, Elliott Banks-Browne, Suzuki, GBR, 1'12.926 19, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 1'15.677 20, Shannon Terreblanche, Suzuki, RSA, 1'16.915 Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 39'48.824 2, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'0.430 3, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'2.811 4, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'16.230 5, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'22.889 6, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 0'25.473 7, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'27.206 8, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'12.440 9, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'14.557 10, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 1'18.343 11, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'21.577 12, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'35.750 13, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'38.871 14, Jason Dougan, Suzuki, GBR, 1'45.436 15, Shannon Terreblanche, Suzuki, RSA, 1'46.912 16, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'48.078 17, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 1'54.455 18, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, 2'4.616 19, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 20, Julien Vanni, KTM, FRA, -1 Laps Rider Standings 11/05/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 157 2, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 153 3, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 149 4, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 106 5, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 106 6, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 98 7, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 97 8, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 92 9, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 87 10, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 82 11, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 79 12, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 64 13, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 54 14, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 50 15, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 47 16, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 38 17, Erik Eggens, Suzuki, NED, 38 18, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 36 19, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 35 20, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 23 22, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 20 30, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 8 31, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 6 Manufacturer Standings 11/05/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 186 2, KTM, 184 3, Kawasaki, 116 4, Suzuki, 113 5, Honda, 52 ---------- RACE REPORT - 11/05/2008 Prumm bravely takes fourth in Bulgaria Sevlievo and the Grand Prix of Bulgaria witnessed the opening round of five in the inaugural FIM Women's World Championship and Yamaha Van Beers Racing's Katherine Prumm battled adversity to take fourth overall. The double World Cup winner was not afforded a fair debut on her YZ250F after rupturing her right anterior cruciate ligament in the days leading up to the Grand Prix. Putting aside her pain and discomfort it was an uneasy weekend for Prumm who tried to compete but was clearly frustrated by the handicap and being unable to run at her normally impressive speed. She made two mistakes in the first moto that saw her having to work hard to make fifth position, recovering from a second lap placing of twelfth. A slower and wetter second race saw her net a decent third. The 19 year old will now have an MRI scan on Tuesday to determine the extent of the damage to her knee joint and then make a decision as to whether she can fulfil a five month campaign of races internationally and in her native New Zealand. UTag Yamaha.com's Megan Lewis grabbed two points on her GP debut. The 15 year old was nineteenth in Moto2. As with the MX1-GP and MX2-GP classes, round two for the ladies will occur next week at Mantova for the Italian Grand Prix. Katherine Prumm, Van Beers Racing, 4th: "I am actually disappointed with the result. My preparation for the world championship had been perfect. I was feeling very good on the bike, with my training and making good lap-times. I knew I was three or four seconds off my usual pace today. It is hard to go out there and not be able to give 100% and not feel 100% and this showed in my results. I had pain and swelling and I tried to put it to the back of my mind but it was difficult not to let it affect my riding. The world championship is what I want but if the knee is damaged then we will have to make a decision about it this week." Race 1 - 11 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Larissa Papenmeier, Suzuki, GER, 26'24.860 2, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'1.760 3, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, 0'8.863 4, Maria Franke, Kawasaki, GER, 0'11.812 5, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 1'24.099 6, Elin Mann, KTM, SWE, 1'34.522 7, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, 1'46.280 8, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 1'48.229 9, Marielle De Mol, Yamaha, NED, 1'52.804 10, Anne Borchers, Suzuki, GER, 2'20.564 Race 2 - 11 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 25'59.026 2, Maria Franke, Kawasaki, GER, 0'8.182 3, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 0'25.098 4, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, 1'29.889 5, Elin Mann, KTM, SWE, 1'39.693 6, Sandra Adriansson, Suzuki, SWE, 1'59.825 7, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, 2'1.008 8, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 2'3.755 9, Nicky Van Wordragen, KTM, NED, 2'5.178 10, Niki Scott, Kawasaki, NZL, 2'10.404 Rider Standings 11/05/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 47 2, Maria Franke, Kawasaki, GER, 40 3, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, 38 4, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 36 5, Elin Mann, KTM, SWE, 31 6, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, 28 7, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 26 8, Larissa Papenmeier, Suzuki, GER, 25 9, Sandra Adriansson, Suzuki, SWE, 15 10, Nicky Van Wordragen, KTM, NED, 12 11, Marielle De Mol, Yamaha, NED, 12 12, Anne Borchers, Suzuki, GER, 11 13, Niki Scott, Kawasaki, NZL, 11 Manufacturer Standings 11/05/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Kawasaki, 47 2, Suzuki, 40 3, Honda, 38 4, Yamaha, 36 5, KTM, 31