It is finished, but just for a week. Today Motocross put an end to its last of three races in a row: it was a complete success in terms of public, with Matterley Basin hosting 39000 spectators.
It was a success also on the race track, which was actually built in a very short time but was demanding enough to offer two excellent races.
First moto of the MX1 saw Coppins and Leuret fighting for the holeshot; Everts did not have one of his usual great starts but he made up ground right from the first corner and after half a lap he was already first. At the same time Ramon crashed and left Leuret, Coppins and Melotte running after Stefan. Current World Champion pushed hard and opened up the usual gap while Melotte made to take second but did not keep it until the end. He was fifth at the finish line, behind Strijbos who got a bad start and struggled a lot to get fourth place. Two Honda riders De Dycker and Coppins were second and third after a great battle towards the end of the race.
The second moto’ s most enthralling moment was lap 5. Everts crashed when he was leading the race and Ramon found himself first. But the Belgian Champion re entered the challenge in fifth place and moved up to fourth in a couple of turns. It took him other five laps to get back to his pace but once he found the right feeling Leok was the first to be passed. The same happened to the Suzuki boys Ramon and Strijbos, who had a battle on their own after Everts passed. Strijbos took second and seemed to have the speed to catch Stefan but the race was over, unfortunately.
“I hit a rock with my frame, I slipped and crashed” commented Everts. “Josh passed me immediately after that but I was aggressive and passed him again. It was hard to see the good line on the track but after I passed Leok I chased Kevin and Steve and passed them one by one, bringing my Yamaha to the top of the podium again”.
Stefan Everts
Maybe from next race it will be harder for Stefan, with Coppins getting fitter and fitter after such a good comeback race.
“I only started riding eighteen days ago” said Joshua Coppins. “And I am not 100% fit at the moment: first moto was not so bad but I was not so smooth on the bike; second moto was tough, I broke my goggles and had a lot of dirt in my eyes. At the end I can say this was not a bad comeback race at all”.
MX2 had David Philippaerts again on the top of the podium. His day started with a top finish in the first moto where Aubin got the holeshot and De Reuver crashed at the first lap. Also Christophe Pourcel crashed at the second lap and for the same reason Gundersen lost the lead of the race during third lap. A few laps later Philippaerts arrived at the top and did not leave it until the chequered flag. Behind him home rider Mackenzie battled against Aubin for second, grasped the silver place but Christophe Pourcel was on his way. With two laps to go he passed Billy and arrived second at the chequered flag; Mackenzie closed the moto in third followed by Guarneri and Gundersen.
MX2 second moto looked a bit like the Italian race in Montevarchi, with Cairoli and Philippaerts battling for first in a race on their own. Here in Matterley Basin it was Cairoli who made to get first place. Christophe Pourcel got another crash and had to restart form the bottom of the grid while Mackenzie made a mistake and ran off the track at the third lap, handing Searle third place. The young British rider got the first podium of his career, with the home crowd cheering him up and giving him the right push to make it; especially when Sebastien Pourcel was on his tail at the very end of the race.
“Now that I changed the Team I have a lot of new things to test and also my head feels better!” were David’s words. “There are so many races ahead and who knows what is going to happen!”.
David Philippaerts
At the end of the day standings look quite the same in MX1 but it is MX2 the class having the biggest changes. Cairoli and Philippaerts are now second and third, having passed De Reuver and Rattray; the Italians seem to be the ones who can challenge Christophe Pourcel, who still leads with a 34 point advantage.