Winning debut for Coppins at the Benelux GP

Yamaha Motocross rider Josh Coppins experienced a dream debut in blue colours by toasting overall MX1 success today in front of 25,000 fans packed into the Eurocircuit in Valkenswaard just south of the city of Eindhoven for the opening meeting of the fifteen rounds of the 2007 FIM World Championship and the first visit of two planned stops in the Netherlands this season. The Grand Prix of Benelux occurred under very pleasant conditions. The winding Eurocircuit boasted a slower lap-time and average speed compared to past years thanks to several new corner sections and a layout that reversed the traditional direction. The brown sand churned into rutted waves of terrain that was slippery in places making it physically very demanding.

Coppins started well on the YZ450FM and was placed in the top three alongside Steve Ramon and Ken de Dycker in the first moto. The battle for the lead narrowed down to a duel with De Dycker and the New Zealander hounded the Belgian for four laps before moving through and swiftly breaking his pursuer's tow. The second half of the moto was straightforward for the 30 year old kiwi as he eased to his GP debut race success with his Yamaha. The second race saw Coppins face slightly more adversity as he combated a mediocre start and a problem with his goggles, but he pushed through to the runner-up position. Despite an earnest attempt to slice the advantage carved by Jonathan Barragan at the front the Coppins had to be content to settle for second spot which easily delivered his maiden Yamaha victory by six points overall from the lively Spaniard.    Marc de Reuver also had a Yamaha debut to remember. The 24 year old scored sixth and third positions for fifth in the final ranking. Riding under pressure at his home GP De Reuver hit the sand on the first lap of Moto one but then embarked on a determined charge from last spot to seize a creditable sixth place by the chequered flag; in what was arguably the most eye-catching - but tiring - performance of the 40 minute fare. Later in the day a more effective getaway from the line allowed the Dutchman to forage away in third, some distance behind his team-mate.   Josh Coppins - first "Ken is super fast but I knew he could not keep that pace for the whole race. He is a little bit wild so I held back and then attacked when Steve was coming closer to us. I put some good laps together at the end of the race and then I could pull away easily. My start was not as good in the second moto. I was spinning out of the gate and had to grab the clutch again; it was not a perfect launch. I lost some time and was quite far back. I passed many guys but had problems with my goggles and was held up in third for a little while until I could sort it out. Again I made some decent laps and took second. I looked towards Jonathan but he was riding very well and I had some cramp. I did not know who would be the main challenger this weekend and I still do not know who will be my main rival for the championship. My job is to do the best I can and if I cannot win then I will settle for second."

Marc de Reuver - fifth "I am happy. When I crashed in the first moto I thought 'what a disaster' but I picked up the bike and my pace. I kept looking at my board and rode my own race. The lap-times were pretty good and consistent, I passed a lot of guys but it also cost me a lot of energy. In the second moto it was much traffic the first few laps. I managed to get to third place but I was quite tired. The bike is working well although we need to practice more on our starts. It wasn't a bad first GP for me in MX1. I thought MX2 was aggressive in the first laps and believed that MX1 would be different but it is pretty similar actually"

Carlo Rinaldi, Team Manager: "It was a perfect start today. Josh was smart enough to make a good start and not lose any ground in the first laps. He was under pressure and it was easy to make a mistake, but he didn't. He was steady and this consistency helped him win the GP; this was the best we could have expected from him. I am very happy with Marc. He never gave up despite that bad start. He looked very motivated and to come back from last to sixth place was very encouraging. He was pretty tired though and this showed in the second moto but we are satisfied. I have, and had, absolutely no doubt in the capabilities of the bike. It worked well this weekend and we have a very good machine in our hands for the season."   Circuit Length: 1750 Temp: 19 Crowd: 25000 Weather: Sunny     2007 GP of Valkenswaard, Benelux 01/04/2007 Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 41'1.884 2 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'16.953 3 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'25.220 4 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'35.705 5 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'58.269 6 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 1'3.069 7 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 1'4.679 8 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 1'6.490 9 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 1'9.355 10 James Noble Honda GBR 1'11.339 11 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 1'34.417 12 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'43.315 13 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 1'49.928 14 Mike Brown Honda USA 1'52.619 15 Antoine Meo Honda FRA 2'3.627 16 Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 2'9.254 17 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 2'18.764 18 Manuel Priem TM BEL -1 Laps 19 Bas Verhoeven Suzuki NED -1 Laps 20 Marko Kovalainen Honda FIN -1 Laps

Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 41'44.389 2 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 0'10.386 3 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 0'21.442 4 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'28.440 5 Manuel Priem TM BEL 0'38.574 6 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'52.584 7 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'57.350 8 James Noble Honda GBR 1'1.456 9 Mike Brown Honda USA 1'3.833 10 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 1'38.302 11 Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 1'44.922 12 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 2'4.822 13 Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 2'26.141 14 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST -1 Laps 15 Julien Vanni Honda FRA -1 Laps 16 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL -1 Laps 17 Antoine Meo Honda FRA -1 Laps 18 Marko Kovalainen Honda FIN -1 Laps 19 Bas Verhoeven Suzuki NED -1 Laps 20 Christian Beggi Honda ITA -1 Laps

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 2'6.620

 Rider Standings 01/04/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 47 2. Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 41 3. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 37 4. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 36 5. Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 35 6. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 34 7. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 25 8. James Noble Honda GBR 24 9. Manuel Priem TM BEL 19 10. Mike Brown Honda USA 19 11. Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 17 12. Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 13 13. Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 13 14. Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 12 15. Antoine Meo Honda FRA 10 16. Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 10 17. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 9 18. Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 9 19. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 9 20. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 8

Manufacturer Standings 01/04/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 47 2. KTM 41 3. Suzuki 40 4. Honda 34 5. Kawasaki 19 6. TM 19

RACE REPORT 01/04/2007 Cairoli rules supreme at the Benelux GP    Antonio Cairoli aced the MX2 class with a double moto sweep for his eleventh career victory. The De Carli Yamaha rider won both races at a reasonable canter for an authoritative launch to the World Championship. The 2005 number one and '06 runner-up toyed with leader Gareth Swanepoel in the formative stages of Moto one but pulled clear on lap seven to a enjoy an untroubled run to the finish line. The second race followed a similar script once he had moved past reigning champ Christophe Pourcel, who had made a mistake and fallen.    Ricci Yamaha's Kenneth Gundersen carried some decent speed through the weekend and was a distant fourth in the first race after a less than perfect start. The Norwegian took another top five result with fifth after lunch and was pleased to leave the circuit with 34 points and sixth overall. His new team-mate and super talent Nicolas Aubin enacted a solid first appearance for the squad with seventh in the classification. The young Frenchman was sixth and eighth in the two Moto's and followed Gundersen in the final listing with seventh overall. Davide Guarneri was unable to compete due to a twisted ankle sustained recently in the Italian Championship at Malpensa. He is expected to be fit for the Spanish Grand Prix in two weeks time. Both riders of the Bike it Yamaha UK Dixon racing team failed to appear at the season opening GP due to injuries.  

Antonio Cairoli - first "The first heat was a little bit easier than the second. I didn't start that well for the first moto but I felt better on the track because it wasn't so rough compared to the second race. My physical condition was good and I am happy because I have not been training that much in the sand this year. I thought Rattray was the closest rider to me today in terms of speed so I am lucky that he did not get good starts. I knew that Christophe's condition is still not great so I thought that I could win the second moto even before he crashed. I was waiting for his mistake, after which it made things easier."    Kenneth Gundersen - sixth "For me it's a good day, fourth in the first and fifth in the second despite a bad start. I feel strong and the bike is working very well so I am really happy. My plan is not to be totally 100% strong at this early stage so I am pleased with the results."

The Easter holidays prompt a break in the World Championship next week but the paddock then heads to southern Europe for the Grand Prix of Spain at Bellpuig followed immediately the weekend after with the Portuguese round at Agueda.   Circuit Length: 1750 Temp: 19 Crowd: 25000 Weather: Sunny     2007 GP of Valkenswaard, Benelux 01/04/2007 Race 1 - 17 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 41'41.618 2 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'7.537 3 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 0'10.919 4 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 0'16.115 5 Erik Eggens Suzuki NED 0'20.211 6 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 0'31.436 7 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'46.444 8 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 0'58.769 9 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 1'5.893 10 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 1'9.858 11 Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 1'13.239 12 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'18.060 13 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 1'22.387 14 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 1'25.946 15 Jeremy Tarroux Yamaha FRA 1'45.961 16 Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 1'47.848 17 Avis Wyatt KTM RSA 1'49.832 18 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 1'51.800 19 Rob van Vijfeijken KTM NED 1'53.890 20 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 1'56.756

Race 2 - 17 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 39'58.304 2 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'8.354 3 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'27.872 4 Erik Eggens Suzuki NED 0'34.476 5 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 0'39.353 6 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 0'43.755 7 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 0'58.299 8 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 1'9.640 9 Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 1'13.504 10 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 1'30.672 11 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 1'35.155 12 Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 1'43.632 13 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'44.678 14 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 1'48.772 15 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 1'52.002 16 Martin Barr Yamaha GBR 1'56.835 17 Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 2'13.948 18 Jeremy Tarroux Yamaha FRA 2'21.565 19 Rob van Vijfeijken KTM NED 2'25.639 20 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA -1 Laps

Rider Standings 01/04/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 50 2. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 44 3. Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 35 4. Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 34 5. Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 34 6. Erik Eggens Suzuki NED 34 7. Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 28 8. Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 27 9. Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 22 10. Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 22 11. Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 18 12. Matti Seistola Honda FIN 17 13. Tommy Searle KTM GBR 11 14. Jeremy Tarroux Yamaha FRA 9 15. Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 9 16. Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 9 17. Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 8 18. Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 7 19. Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 7 20. Martin Barr Yamaha GBR 5

Manufacturer Standings 01/04/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 50 2. KTM 44 3. Kawasaki 40 4. Suzuki 34 5. Honda 22