Sensational double for Coppins and Cairoli in Italy

Yamaha's emphatic presence in the MX1 and MX2 World Championship continues as Yamaha Motocross Team's Josh Coppins won his third Grand Prix of the year and Yamaha De Carli's Antonio Cairoli maintained a 100% record with his fourth consecutive success at a sunny and warm Mantova circuit for the Italian round and the fourth meeting of fifteen in the FIM competition.

The Mantova layout had been altered slightly from the course that opened the off-road racing calendar in February. The track, with its rough, sandy terrain and many jumps, won praise from most of the riders for the challenge it offered. The facility is unique in the way it is compacted in a squared 'stadium' setting, allowing wide views of most of the circuit. The first MX1 moto was a collection of incidents. Marc De Reuver started brightly and held fourth position behind Coppins in the early stages. On a surge of confidence the Dutchman took off to challenge David Philippaerts for the lead but the pair collided in a tight left-hander and both went down. Ken de Dycker moved through to head a four rider group but Coppins attacked right away and the duo swapped positions for several laps until De Dycker faded. For the last third of the race Coppins was not overtaken, although Tanel Leok kept him close company; the 30 year old rode comfortably to his fifth triumph from seven motos. De Reuver re-started outside of the top ten and eventually took the chequered flag in a humble twenty-third and out of the points.

Coppins again faced the threat of De Dycker in the second sprint. The former team-mates tangled before the New Zealander backed off to observe his rival. After four laps he was able to regain ground on the Belgian and swiftly relegated the 22 year old to second spot. The Rinaldi squad were naturally thrilled with victory at their home Grand Prix and Coppins cited the triumph as the best of his career after battling some set-up problems on Saturday. Further good news lay in store when De Reuver (sporting a close-cut hairstyle instead of his traditional lengthy locks) crossed the line in third spot for his second top three MX1 moto finish with Yamaha. Tanel Leok in second place and Sebastien Pourcel in third both made their first appearances on the podium, Coppins was able to extend his lead in the MX1 series by 17 points over Kevin Strijbos (who was fourth overall) and now enjoys a 36 point advantage. De Reuver's efforts leave him tenth.

Josh Coppins, Yamaha Motocross Team: "I'm pretty happy. It is no secret that I don't like this track and it looked obvious yesterday but we worked hard with the team, and Yamaha were really smart and made some good decisions for me. We really improved the bike over the two days. I knew my race pace was good but I could not go that little bit extra for a flying lap. Today I had to be a little bit clever and head-strong and fight to the end. The first moto was crazy because a lot of guys were trying to win the race in the first ten minutes. I let them do their own thing. I almost got caught up with Marc when he fell and that was a near miss. I started to ride better after that and gave my best. I had a pretty good idea that I could pass Ken again in the second moto. He had a couple of better lines so I let him go but I wondered how much energy he had left and when he started to slow I was confident I could lead again. I think this is the best win ever for me simply because I have never done well at this track and today went much better than I expected."

Marc de Reuver, Yamaha Motocross Team: "I felt really good from the first practice and I really thought this was going to be my weekend. I got the first corners right in the first moto and moved into fifth. I found it really easy to overtake from there and got up to second place. I then got a bit over-excited when I wanted to pass Philippaerts. It was not totally my fault. It was just a racing accident. It took a while before we got untangled and I was at the back and really disappointed. In the second race my start was good and I wanted to follow Josh because it is easy to blow yourself up on this track if you go crazy. We both moved past Mike Brown, but Ken de Dycker came through. At the end he tired and I thought I might be able to get him but I made some mistakes and decided to have a safe finish. Third is not so bad and lifts my results and points in the right direction again."

Carlo Rinaldi, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team: "It has been a very good home GP and I am very happy mainly because the weekend did not start in the best way. Josh did not feel very comfortable on this track and we struggled on Saturday to get him running well with the bike, so we were not expecting such a good race. Josh showed one of his very positive characteristics though and reacted strongly. With good starts he had the patience to wait for the right moment to attack and won both motos. About Marc, I am pleased because physically he is getting better and speed-wise he is there, but I was disappointed when he crashed in the first moto and threw away a big chance for the race win. He proved that he was ready to win, but maybe he wasn't patient enough and that's a pity. He made up for it with a consistent race in the second moto and third place was very good for him because he needs the points."   Temp: 26 Crowd: 29000 Weather: Sunny     2006 2007 GP of Mantova, Italy 06/05/2007 Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 40'20.318 2 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'10.494 3 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'16.085 4 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'29.880 5 James Noble Honda GBR 0'34.911 6 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 0'38.195 7 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'42.294 8 Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 0'46.664 9 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'49.336 10 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 0'55.145 11 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 1'10.513 12 Manuel Priem TM BEL 1'15.256 13 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'28.505 14 Mike Brown Honda USA 1'31.926 15 Julien Bill Kawasaki CHE 1'32.921 16 Alex Salvini Yamaha ITA 1'34.455 17 Christian Beggi Honda ITA 1'43.475 18 Antti Pyrhonen Kawasaki FIN 1'48.314 19 Marko Kovalainen Honda FIN 1'52.786 20 Christian Stevanini Yamaha ITA 1'56.134

Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 40'56.507 2 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'5.757 3 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 0'10.669 4 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'13.407 5 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'15.793 6 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'19.242 7 James Noble Honda GBR 0'28.599 8 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'39.096 9 Mike Brown Honda USA 0'49.588 10 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'59.306 11 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 1'3.127 12 Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 1'6.985 13 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'21.234 14 Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 1'25.998 15 Antti Pyrhonen Kawasaki FIN 1'43.079 16 Marko Kovalainen Honda FIN 1'45.801 17 Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 1'57.507 18 Christian Beggi Honda ITA 2'28.389 19 Julien Bill Kawasaki CHE -1 Laps 20 Scott Columb Suzuki NZL -1 Laps

Rider Standings 06/05/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 194 2. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 158 3. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 116 4. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 106 5. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 103 6. Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 100 7. Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 98 8. James Noble Honda GBR 91 9. Mike Brown Honda USA 81 10. Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 80 11. David Philippaerts KTM ITA 74 12. Manuel Priem TM BEL 70 13. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 63 14. Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 62 15. Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 61 16. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 45 17. Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 45 18. Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 35 19. Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 32 20. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 27

Manufacturer Standings 06/05/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 194 2. Suzuki 165 3. KTM 140 4. Honda 129 5. Kawasaki 127 6. TM 70 7. Aprilia 2

RACE REPORT 06/05/2007 Cairoli scores quartet of GP wins

The traditionally enthusiastic crowd were driven wild by Cairoli's third clean-sweep of both motos this season. The Sicilian, on the De Carli tuned YZ250F, has now won five from six and finished second in the other race categories, winnig all GP's thusfar in the 2007 season. Antonio was so dominant in his qualification heat Saturday that he could afford to make a good show for the crowd over the many Mantova jumps, he blitzed the first Grand Prix moto and held a lead of four seconds by the end of the second lap. From that point onwards the 2005 World Champion raced the track alone with the cheers of his many fans for company.   He repeated his excellence in the second race and his sheer speed on the opening lap after another ideal start was the deciding factor in delivering his fifteenth career success. There is little more to say about Cairoli's form this season except that the 21 year old is currently operating in a different league to his peers. His increased his margin to 55 points which means that he can afford two DNFs and still be leading the championship. With Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle filling the other two podium steps Yamaha's next best placed representative was Yamaha Team Ricci's talent Nicolas Aubin with sixth overall. The French youngster - who looked so stylish over the table-top jumps - was eleventh and sixth in the two motos.

Team-mate Kenneth Gundersen ran as high as fourth for long stretches of the first moto but was passed by an energetic Gareth Swanepoel. His fifth position would be his only finish of the day as a heavy crash after landing awkwardly from a double jump forced the Norwegian to retire with a bruised left side of his body. Davide Guarneri was back in action and attempting his first Grand Prix of the season after sustaining an ankle injury. The Italian could not continue after his gear lever was smashed in the first moto but took a conservative thirteenth in the second outing. Both Bike it Yamaha Dixon Racing rider's score points today. Martin Barr completed the best weekend of his short GP career (started with appearances in 2006) by taking thirteenth overall with twelfth and fifteenth positions. British Champion Carl Nunn is coming back to full fitness and should have had a top ten result after running near the first five in the opening moto but slipped off and took four points for seventeenth. He was hit by another rider on the first lap of the second Moto and had to pit to change a bent rear brake lever. He finished the race, but out of the points.

Antonio Cairoli, Team De Carli Yamaha: "I am really happy with this race and I feel very good with my riding and also mentally. I had a great feeling with the bike at this track even though we made some changes for the second heat and I could win that race even easier. It helped to have pole position from Saturday as I could hold the inside line even if I did not get away in first from the gate. I was surprised that Christophe could not go with me in the second moto but after two laps I saw that I had a good enough gap and could control it from there. It was an important race for me as I know Motocross is getting more popular now in Italy; I have many fans and I'm really happy about this and to be able to win for them is fantastic."

Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Team Ricci: "Sixth overall was not so bad today as my goal is to always be in the top ten. The first race my start was not very good but I could not find my rhythm and struggled to get the good lines. Things were better in the second race but I was on the limit sometimes and close to crashing. I got near to Searle but couldn't find a way through. I dropped back to get my rhythm going again and pushed hard to overtake but then crashed. I was lucky that the bike kept running and there was no damage."

Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci: "In the first race I had a good start but got a bit tired towards the end so I thought I would make sure of fifth and see what I could do in the second moto. I had a poor start when we went out again but I was coming through well and reached the top ten before the crash. I'm sure the overall result would have been good but I just lost control."

The fifth meeting of the year takes place in just seven days time with the Grand Prix of Germany at the Talkessel circuit in Teutschenthal. The teams will cut through Europe this week to head to the east of the country and the venue near the city of Halle.   Temp: 27 Crowd: 29000 Weather: Sunny   2006 2007 GP of Mantova, Italy 06/05/2007 Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 40'29.827 2 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'8.985 3 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'11.718 4 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'13.575 5 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 0'32.325 6 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 0'41.013 7 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 0'46.640 8 Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 0'55.326 9 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 0'56.844 10 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 0'57.270 11 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 0'57.807 12 Martin Barr Yamaha GBR 1'7.415 13 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 1'13.097 14 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 1'17.216 15 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 1'18.799 16 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 1'25.239 17 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 1'29.917 18 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'32.600 19 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA 1'34.173 20 Shaun Simpson Kawasaki GBR 1'36.827

Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 41'12.692 2 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'15.981 3 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 0'19.661 4 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'21.469 5 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'22.998 6 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 0'45.140 7 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 0'51.466 8 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 1'0.340 9 Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 1'6.121 10 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'6.449 11 Shaun Simpson Kawasaki GBR 1'8.807 12 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 1'16.883 13 Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 1'21.212 14 Avis Wyatt KTM RSA 1'25.093 15 Martin Barr Yamaha GBR 1'25.739 16 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 1'26.468 17 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 1'41.997 18 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA 1'45.542 19 Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 2'0.415 20 Jeremy Tarroux Yamaha FRA -1 Laps

Rider Standings 06/05/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 197 2. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 142 3. Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 137 4. Tommy Searle KTM GBR 117 5. Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 110 6. Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 107 7. Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 94 8. Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 91 9. Matti Seistola Honda FIN 78 10. Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 70 11. Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 58 12. Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 57 13. Erik Eggens Suzuki NED 54 14. Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 46 15. Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 45 16. Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 45 17. Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 42 18. Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 35 19. Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 35 20. Shaun Simpson Kawasaki GBR 34 21. Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 31 29. Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 8

Manufacturer Standings 06/05/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 197 2. Kawasaki 165 3. KTM 161 4. Honda 115 5. Suzuki 82