Yamaha scores double victory in Spain again

The Grand Prix of Spain at a sunny Bellpuig circuit in Catalunya for the second round of the FIM Motocross World Championship has been a memorable day for Yamaha with Josh Coppins winning both motos in the MX1 class, for his second consecutive success with the YZ450FM. Antonio Cairoli won a thrilling duel with World Champ Christophe Pourcel on the last lap of the second MX2 moto to seal his second GP victory in a row, watched by an appreciative 22,300 crowd. The 2007 campaign is only two events old but already Yamaha remain unbeaten thanks to the talents of the New Zealander and Sicilian respectively. The weather could not have been more varied in the north-east of the country. The huge swing from dark clouds and never-ending rain on Saturday to the sunny skies and high temperatures on Sunday afternoon caused the track to change from a swamp to a rutted and very bumpy prospect that made overtaking tricky because of the emphasis on a single line. For the first time this millennium the Saturday programme was cancelled due to heavy rain fall. The riders were forced to use what is normally the warm-up period before the Grand Prix motos Sunday morning as a make-shift qualification period.    Coppins started reasonably well in both motos. The 30 year old, who had been working on his set-up and speed for hard-pack tracks in Italy over the Easter holiday, steered past Mike Brown in the formative stages and began to pull away. He won by almost twenty seconds and repeated the authoritative performance in the second race, taking his third chequered flag from four motos, by more than twelve seconds over runner up Max Nagl. His team-mate Marc de Reuver did not enjoy similar fortune. The Dutchman was hindered around the first corner in both heats so that he was unable to penetrate the leading elite. The 24 year old's speed varied on the demanding terrain as he also had to battle hard to gain ground; finishing with fourteenth and tenth for tenth overall    Josh Coppins, Yamaha Motocross Team: "We were here in 2004 and I remember the first race was really bad but by the second the track was pretty good, so I knew that if the sun came out it would turn around. I have proved before that I am quite good in all kinds of conditions. I was already feeling comfortable on the Yamaha on hard-pack compared to the sand prior to this race. I knew that we had a good set-up on the bike so I was looking forward to coming here and believed that we had a chance to make a good race. My starts haven't been that great so far but I am lucky that the bike is so strong. I wheelied on the first and let the clutch go too soon with the second; as soon as I hit third gear though the bike just pulled me to the front."

Marc de Reuver, Yamaha Motocross Team: "Things did not work out very well for me today. My starts were not great. I touched Nagl on the start-straight of the first moto and that put me right at the back. I tried to get some rhythm going and passing was difficult but it was hard and I felt tired on the bike. I just want to look ahead to next week now."    Carlo Rinaldo, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team: "It was a very good day for Josh and Yamaha of course. He made almost a perfect race; good starts but also a very fast pace and no mistakes. Normally in these conditions we have seen Josh a little bit tense and aggressive but today he looked very comfortable on this track. We worked a little bit on the bike before this race and it looked like he appreciated it. Regarding Marc I am a little bit sad and disappointed, for him just as much as us, because it looks like everything should be going well. He is fit and feeling fast on the bike but his starts were not good and the lap-times were very inconsistent. But let's keep working and see what will happen next week!"   Circuit Length: 1630 Temp: 21 Crowd: 22300 Weather: Sunny     2007 GP of Bellpuig, Spain 15/04/2007 Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 39'57.248 2 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'19.883 3 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'21.435 4 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'21.725 5 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0'44.270 6 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'49.611 7 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 0'49.902 8 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 1'7.432 9 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 1'12.523 10 James Noble Honda GBR 1'13.428 11 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 1'38.226 12 Mike Brown Honda USA 1'38.593 13 Cyrille Coulon Honda FRA 1'44.872 14 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 1'57.837 15 Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 2'3.472 16 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 2'7.343 17 Alex Salvini Yamaha ITA 2'9.197 18 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 2'14.936 19 Alessio Chiodi Aprilia ITA -1 Laps 20 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR -1 Laps

Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 40'24.251 2 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0'12.485 3 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'14.452 4 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'18.369 5 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 0'22.157 6 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'30.563 7 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'43.111 8 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'47.783 9 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'51.842 10 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 0'54.262 11 Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 0'55.910 12 Manuel Priem TM BEL 1'2.144 13 Mike Brown Honda USA 1'32.637 14 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'35.421 15 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 1'36.557 16 James Noble Honda GBR 1'38.467 17 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 1'43.971 18 Julien Bill Kawasaki CHE -1 Laps 19 Scott Columb Suzuki NZL -1 Laps 20 Christian Beggi Honda ITA -1 Laps

Rider Standings 15/04/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 97 2. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 78 3. Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 74 4. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 63 5. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 63 6. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 61 7. Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 53 8. Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 43 9. James Noble Honda GBR 40 10. Mike Brown Honda USA 36 11. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 36 12. Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 29 13. Manuel Priem TM BEL 28 14. Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 27 15. David Philippaerts KTM ITA 26 16. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 21 17. Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 16 18. Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 16 19. Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 13 20. Antoine Meo Honda FRA 10

Manufacturer Standings 15/04/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 97 2. Suzuki 82 3. KTM 81 4. Honda 61 5. Kawasaki 49 6. TM 28 7. Aprilia 2

RACE REPORT 15/04/2007 Cairoli beats Pourcel to win the Spanish GP    In MX2 Antonio Cairoli buried the bad memories of his DNF at the 2006 Spanish round at Bellpuig with an inspiring chase of Christophe Pourcel that had the crowd cheering his efforts. In both races the 2005 World Champion experimented with different trajectories in order to shrink large margins to the escaping Pourcel. He challenged the Frenchman on the last lap of Moto one but made a mistake and opted for second place several corners before the flag. In the second race he caught up some fifteen seconds to the Kawasaki rider and gunned his YZ250F to make his three best laps of the race in the last three circulations to push his way into the lead. His emphatic celebrations - he dropped his machine and stood on it to wave and acknowledge the spectators - after the finish line showed just how much the achievement meant to him. >   Yamaha Team Ricci's Kenneth Gundersen could only secure thirteenth overall after two horrendous starts that left the Norwegian with a lot of hard work to get near the top ten. The former 125cc Grand Prix winner was twelfth and fourteen and now sits sixth in the World Championship standings. His team-mate Nicolas Aubin showed some promising speed by running in the top five of both motos. The Frenchman unfortunately was unable to score any points due to a clutch problem in the first moto but took a decent fifth place in race two after losing second due to a small crash.    The third member of the Ricci crew, Davide Guarneri, attempted to return to World Championship action but could only manage a handful of laps in the first moto. The Italian has a strained ligament and a small fracture in the ankle he damaged while competing in his domestic series in March. The joint swelled considerably and he was unable to make the second moto. He is now a doubt for the Portuguese round next week, opting instead for more recovery time prior to the Italian Grand Prix in May. Antonio Cairoli, Team Yamaha De Carli: "I am really happy with this race. I felt good on this track this year, we have never won the GP here before. I did not start well in the first heat but I worked hard and narrowed the gap to Christophe. I had a little bit of arm-pump and after I passed him he had some slightly better lines than me and got me back. I did not want to make a mistake so I settled for second. The track in the second moto was easier because there were more lines for us and passing was less complicated. I felt quicker than the first race so when I started slowly again I could work on Christophe's lead again; I made a very good pass on the last lap. Last year I feel that I lost my Championship here because I threw away many points to Christophe by not finishing one moto. This year I did not want to make any mistakes. I did push very hard in the second race though because I wanted the win and it was right there. I made some good laps at the end, my condition is at a high level now. Claudio (De Carli, Team Manager) gave me the cost for some damage caused when I was chearing and made a little dance standing on the bike to celebrate the victory!"

Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci: "In the first moto I started almost last and came up to twelfth by the end. I was out of the gate OK but ran wide into the thick mud and almost got stuck. The track was virtually only one-line and when you get stuck behind a slower rider it was so difficult to pass; you lose your rhythm all the time. It was the same in the second heat and I had to work my way up. I hit someone on the straight and this put me right at the back. I feel good and strong on the bike I just hope that soon I can get away with the guys at the front who I want to race with." Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Team Ricci: "The goal was to be twice in top five and without the problem in the first race I believed it would have been possible. The clutch was going and I had to work a lot with it; but in the end it was finished. I started the second race well and was settling into my own pace in second when I made a small mistake and lost the front wheel going around a corner. Luckily the bike was still running but I lost my rhythm after that and went back a few places. Physically I am feeling fit and today was not too bad as I feel my speed is really coming along."

Most of the teams and riders were in no rush to leave Sunday evening. The Grand Prix of Portugal will occur next weekend and means a journey east for the paddock across Spain to Agueda, just south of Porto, for the third race of fifteen on the '07 schedule.   Circuit Length: 1630 Temp: 21 Crowd: 22300 Weather: Sunny     2007 GP of Bellpuig, Spain 15/04/2007 Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 41'28.206 2 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 0'0.921 3 Erik Eggens Suzuki NED 0'53.809 4 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 1'3.739 5 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 1'27.248 6 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 1'33.414 7 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 1'40.890 8 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'48.657 9 Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 1'49.025 10 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'55.072 11 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 2'0.526 12 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 2'10.942 13 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 2'14.454 14 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 2'16.461 15 Jason Dougan Suzuki GBR 2'17.818 16 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 2'20.120 17 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 2'33.960 18 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA -1 Laps 19 Rui Goncalves KTM POR -1 Laps 20 Gert Krestinov KTM EST -1 Laps

Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 40'54.529 2 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'0.884 3 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'37.726 4 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'41.313 5 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 0'45.718 6 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 0'53.814 7 Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 1'12.971 8 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 1'20.316 9 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 1'22.680 10 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'28.111 11 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 1'32.745 12 Shaun Simpson Kawasaki GBR 1'36.647 13 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'49.494 14 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 1'52.344 15 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 2'3.490 16 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 2'7.461 17 Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 2'13.093 18 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA -1 Laps 19 Jason Dougan Suzuki GBR -1 Laps 20 Rui Goncalves KTM POR -1 Laps

Rider Standings 15/04/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 97 2. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 82 3. Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 81 4. Erik Eggens Suzuki NED 54 5. Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 53 6. Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 50 7. Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 48 8. Tommy Searle KTM GBR 44 9. Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 44 10. Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 41 11. Matti Seistola Honda FIN 39 12. Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 34 13. Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 26 14. Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 25 15. Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 25 16. Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 22 17. Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 21 18. Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 19 19. Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 14 20. Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 12

Manufacturer Standings 15/04/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 97 2. Kawasaki 87 3. KTM 82 4. Suzuki 56 5. Honda 53