Philippaerts takes sixth podium in Sweden

25,000 spectators scaled the rocky hill beside the Uddevalla circuit to watch Yamaha Monster Motocross Team's David Philippaerts take third position and extend his lead in the series at the Grand Prix of Sweden and the ninth round of fifteen in the 2008 FIM Motocross World Championship. Frequent light rain covered the venue and the slippery conditions did not prevent the Italian registering his sixth podium finish from a possible nine on his works YZ450FM. Team-mate Josh Coppins, winner of the last round in Germany, did not enjoy good starts but rode well to claim 10th overall. The climbing undulations of the Scandinavian track provided a small headache for teams and riders across the weekend as the fast curves - newly mixed with sand and a softer soil - was a hard and slippery test on Saturday but with arrival of rain during the night and dark skies on Sunday provided a more technical and slick prospect for the races. 24 year old Philippaerts started poorly in the first moto and was lucky not to crash on the straight as he was clipped when the pack narrowed down to the opening turn. The one-line layout made overtaking very difficult but the red-plate holder slowly worked his way up from 12th place to capture 4th behind Steve Ramon. Winner of the Grand Prix, Jonathan Barragan, sealed his second victory of the year with the runner-up position in the second moto and Philippaerts rode a smart race to take another 4th and the bottom step of the podium behind the Spaniard and Ramon. Josh Coppins was luckless in Moto1 as a bad launch become worse when he could not avoid a fallen Loic Leonce and crashed on the first lap. The New Zealander then had to find and maximise the few overtaking places on the track to grab as many points as possible. He rode to 13th by the end of the 35 minutes and 2 laps and was satisfied with his efforts. Sadly his getaway from the gate could not be improved in Moto2 and another slip relegated him to near the bottom of the top twenty. He then provided one of the highlights of the race as he charged from mid-pack obscurity to pass Billy Mackenzie on the last lap for 5th. Philippaerts now has more podium finishes than any other rider and his total score so far has helped Yamaha to a 19 point lead in the Manufacturer's standings. He has fronted the rider's table since round three and stretched out his margin of 4 points last week to 12, over Ramon. Coppins is third and 16 adrift. UTag Yamaha.com's Kenneth Gundsersen was in attendance at his 'semi-home' Grand Prix and confirmed that he has started exercising as part of his rehabilitation after a knee reconstruction and expects to begin riding again mid-September. After back-to-back events the World Championship now stops for one week before the series moves continents and to the new circuit of Nelspruit next to Kruger Park for the Grand Prix of South Africa. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 3rd: "I am very happy to be back on the podium. Physically I have had some problems, with my hand and my rib, but I am getting better and chose to ride a smart race today. The ground behind the gate was very soft and I lost time with my starts; I had to close the gas at the start of the first moto because I did not want to crash but afterwards I could make some good laps. I tried in both races to pass Steve but there was only really one line. It was a good GP for the championship and now I hope I can start training normally again because it has been a hard couple of weeks since the GP of France." Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 10th: "I was around 11th in the first race when Leonce made a mistake in front of me and I went into the back of him. I restarted more or less last and came back to 13th. It was a tough race, really hard to pass and very tricky with just one single fast line. In the second moto I made a better start but I went a little wide and into the soft mud where they had scraped the mud across the holes. I went down on the fourth corner trying to make a pass and get to the front too fast. I made my way to fifth purely on determination. I am pretty disappointed overall because my riding was good enough to be at the front end of the field. I knew the starts would be difficult with the soft gravel behind the gate; you need a little bit of luck and just have to drop the clutch and go for it, there is no real technique. I lost some points today and need to keep focussing on my riding not the championship; today I was thinking too much about winning instead of trying to have a good GP." Mino Raspanti, Racing Manager: "David is back on the podium after two GPs and a few little mistakes. He was looking good today and he is learning when to push and when to concentrate on not making a mistake; this is the system for a good season. He now has a lead of 12 points although we have seen how easy it is to lose any advantage! Josh was set-back by his starts and small crashes. He did not make a fantastic result but his speed looked very good in both races and he was unfortunate in that it was so hard to pass here. We tried another new pipe with David, there was no big difference but we made a test; overall the bikes were very good this weekend." Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 39'23.245 2, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'5.231 3, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'7.373 4, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'9.689 5, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'16.662 6, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 0'22.169 7, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'28.086 8, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'29.184 9, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'30.064 10, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'36.017 11, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'37.062 12, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'43.785 13, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'50.734 14, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 0'54.043 15, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 0'58.888 16, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'0.653 17, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'5.335 18, Bradley Anderson, Suzuki, GBR, 1'24.686 19, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 1'33.887 20, Loic Leonce, Yamaha, FRA, 1'36.268 Race 2 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 40'23.192 2, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'16.793 3, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'26.090 4, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'34.407 5, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'38.064 6, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'40.896 7, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'52.771 8, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 1'1.706 9, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 1'4.476 10, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 1'5.532 11, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 1'21.000 12, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 1'24.515 13, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 1'27.118 14, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'36.377 15, Luis Correira, Yamaha, POR, 1'39.962 16, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'48.027 17, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'50.676 18, Loic Leonce, Yamaha, FRA, 1'55.016 19, Scott Columb, Suzuki, NZL, -1 Laps 20, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, -1 Laps Rider Standings 06/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 302 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 290 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 286 4, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 266 5, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 241 6, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 239 7, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 213 8, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 209 9, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 205 10, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 178 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 162 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 137 13, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 131 14, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 115 15, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 107 16, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 97 17, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 79 18, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 77 19, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 55 20, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 47 24, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 31 Manufacturer Standings 06/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 355 2, Suzuki, 340 3, KTM, 319 4, Kawasaki, 315 5, Honda, 284 6, TM, 31 7, Aprilia, 5 ---------- RACE REPORT - 06/07/2008 Cairoli celebrates fourth win of 2008 Yamaha Red Bull De Carli's Antonio Cairoli kept his hand firmly in the game for the 2008 MX2-GP World Championship by enacting a skilful and impressive performance at a wet Uddevalla circuit for the Grand Prix of Sweden to take his fourth victory of the year. The Sicilian scored 2nd and 1st positions in the two motos of the ninth round of fifteen in the series and currently rests 2nd in the standings. The world champion gained his seventh Lovemytime qualification heat award on Saturday in hot and sunny conditions. The 25,000 spectators saw temperatures plummet and light rain soak the soft terrain of the circuit on Sunday. The track was slippery, technical and overtaking was difficult due to a pre-dominantly fast single racing line. Cairoli did not get the best of starts and had to chase title rivals Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle in the first moto. Shaun Simpson was leading but was soon overtaken by the South African. Cairoli went for the same piece of track as Searle in a battle for third spot and the Briton crashed. The incident did not disrupt the YZ250F rider as he passed Simpson to finish runner-up to Rattray. With 22 points in the bag Cairoli knew a decent start was imperative for any chance of Scandinavian spoils and duly broke free with the same three protagonists for company. After yet more dicing with Searle the 2005 and 2007 champion unveiled a lightning series of laps, and also considerable guile, to demote Rattray and then Simpson. His seventh moto win ensured his fourth overall triumph, making the 22 year old the most successful rider so far this season. Cairoli's second consecutive Swedish victory means that he lies 14 points behind Rattray in the championship standings (his rival was second overall with Simpson third). Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nico Aubin looked a little more like the rider who won the 2007 Czech Grand Prix after a difficult time last week in Germany when he could not get on the pace. The Frenchman was luckless in Saturday qualification when he was felled by another rider and was forced into the Last Chance session, from which he posted the quickest lap-time and was 25th in the gate. The 20 year old performed decently to take 5th place in the opening moto but a poorer start for race two meant he had to pit for goggles and lost time and positions. 20th by the chequered flag he ended the day 11th overall. Team-mate Davide Guarneri also felt an improvement across the greasy Swedish mud even if - like Aubin - his results did not reflect as much. Still riding with a weak knee, the Italian was impressive in a dry and hot Saturday programme where he took third in the first heat. He rode to a creditable 10th in the first GP moto but suffered with fatigue in the second race and emerged from a heavy crash to take 17th for 13th position overall. 3C Racing's Italian MX2 Champion Manuel Monni obtained 12th spot with moto results of 11th and 16th. Cairoli's team-mate Matteo Bonini did not participate in the Grand Prix after a scan during the week revealed that the Italian had fractured a metacarpal in his left hand. He is expected to be out of action for three to four weeks. Round ten of fifteen will take place in two weeks time at the Nelspruit circuit for the Grand Prix of South Africa and the sole non-European event on the 2008 calendar. Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 1st: "I am very happy with this race. My start was not good in the first moto and when I had to pass some riders the track was so slippery and I had to take care not to make a mistake, but second place was possible. The second moto was a strange race. The four of us were close for the lead but then Tommy tried to take my front wheel and I was a bit surprised about what he tried to do. I like to race with him and he is a really good rider and I think he can be better about what he does sometimes. This championship is very hard and a big challenge but it will be more rewarding if I can win it. I have a great feeling on the bike and I want to fight with all the KTM guys. I do not want to make any more mistakes and my goal is now to put Tyla under pressure and catch him." Nico Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 11th: "My place behind the gate meant that today was always going to be tough. I started well in the first moto and came quickly up to 6th. Searle went down and I was 5th but too far from the rest of the other riders. The race was still good for my confidence andespecially to come back from what happened in Germany. The second moto start was worse and by lap two I had to throw away the goggles as it was impossible to follow anyone and actually see. After some time I had to come in and get some more goggles. It was not a good GP for me but my speed is back and I feel happier than last week." Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 13th: "This was a little bit better than last week. I felt good and fast on Saturday and took third. My starts were not so good today and maybe this was to do with my concentration. I was well outside the top ten in the first moto but took tenth position and I was quite fast; at least better than I have been. In the second moto I found my way to twelfth but then started to feel quite tired after twenty minutes and had a little pain in the knee. In one corner I lost control and crashed quite heavily and could only take 17th after that. I finished the day on a low point but I feel there has been an improvement with my speed and now I plan to go to South Africa to see what I can do." Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 39'20.658 2, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'8.094 3, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'9.872 4, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'14.416 5, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'22.044 6, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'24.014 7, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'56.202 8, Matti Seistola, Honda, FIN, 1'0.788 9, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'6.988 10, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 1'11.844 11, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'12.287 12, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'19.940 13, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 1'21.990 14, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'27.184 15, Jason Dougan, Suzuki, GBR, 1'34.802 16, Filip Thuresson, Suzuki, SWE, 1'37.915 17, Yauheni Tyletski, Suzuki, BGR, 1'43.262 18, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 1'44.200 19, Jake Nicholls, Suzuki, GBR, 1'45.455 20, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'45.942 Race 2 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 39'11.405 2, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'2.757 3, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'3.980 4, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'7.080 5, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 0'40.019 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'40.785 7, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'48.751 8, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 0'57.949 9, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, 0'59.507 10, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'3.677 11, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'7.621 12, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 1'21.783 13, Matti Seistola, Honda, FIN, 1'22.825 14, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'25.188 15, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'27.331 16, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'30.692 17, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 1'31.503 18, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 1'41.615 19, Jason Dougan, Suzuki, GBR, 1'52.714 20, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 2'9.143 Rider Standings 06/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 371 2, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 357 3, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 348 4, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 251 5, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 227 6, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 205 7, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 182 8, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 172 9, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 170 10, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 160 11, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 151 12, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 146 13, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 146 14, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 127 15, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 114 16, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 99 17, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 95 18, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 94 19, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 73 20, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, 56 22, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 42 26, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 25 28, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 19 48, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 2 Manufacturer Standings 06/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 419 2, Yamaha, 413 3, Kawasaki, 280 4, Suzuki, 230 5, Honda, 167