From now on people can leave
There is a lot of time to be active and motocross felt exactly like that today: the day was actually very busy with the FIM Women’s World Cup joining the usual MX races and some spectators came to the track at 7 am already! They actually did the right choice because the area around the circuit got crowded during the day and at the end spectators were 26500 for the entire weekend.
They felt the appeal of the sport that was maximum today, with the first MX1 race being a battle between Everts and Barragan. It started from the lights, with Barragan keeping second for the rest of the race and trying his hardest to reach the Yamaha rival. He did come close several times but Everts was just answering with fast laps and kept up the gap until the finish. Coppins was third after a tough start: he needs more races to be back to full fitness but he kept Ramon and Leok behind. The Belgian Suzuki rider did fourth, having had a crash when he was fighting with Leok, while the Estonian was too tired and lost ground towards the end of the race when he was third. Strijbos was sixth at the end but the start was quite difficult: he crashed at the first corner and re entered the race in twenty-first place.
In the second moto Ramon’s Suzuki got very close to taking the win. The first lap event was Everts’ crash: he rejoined the group in sixth place while Coppins was leading from Strijbos. But the Belgian took the chance to overtake Josh at the second lap and so did Ramon after another couple of laps. Ramon had a winning pace and tried to pass his team mate; once he made it he just pushed, thinking of the win. Everts was making up ground but he did not look fit enough to close the gap with Ramon. But everything can happen: Ramon started to feel tired and slowed his rhythm; Everts noticed it and thought he could make to pass him: he did, in the last lap. Ramon got second and was followed by team mate Strijbos in third. Crockard was fourth after he won the battle with Coppins, who arrived at the chequered flag in fifth.
“I made a few mistakes in the whoops section and I lost some times to lap a few riders” said Everts about his first moto. “But Jonathan was following my lines and was coming closer; in the first moto I was very tired because of the heat but the second one was much better. I crashed though and when I re entered I did not believe I could make to arrive first. The first overtaking moves were not so easy; when I came to third Steve and Kevin were not far away but I could not close in. Once I saw I could, I just pushed my hardest”.
Stefan Everts: today he got his 96th win
MX2 was even more exciting. The first moto was like a dogfight: Philippaerts had not a good start and was sixth at the end of the first lap; he believed in the win though and pushed hard to make up ground. He passed De Reuver and Cairoli in the same lap, then he moved past Gundersen and Rattray until he got to Christophe Pourcel’s tail; that was the first breathtaking battle with the two riders passing each other several times and putting pressure to each other. Philippaerts made the final overtaking manoeuvre in the tenth lap but the race did not finish there; Cairoli could see Philippaerts and moved past Rattray and Pourcel: he was going to catch his KTM rival and made it in the last lap but Philippaerts passed him right on the finish line. David won, with Cairoli being second and Christophe Pourcel third. De Reuver and Rattray followed in fourth and fifth.
In the second moto Philippaerts took it easier and finished second: his tactic was scoring enough points to win the GP so he moved past Mackenzie and Gundersen, saw that Cairoli was not behind him (he crashed in the first lap) then he left the lead to Christophe Pourcel. The French rider followed his favourite lines from the start, making his rhythm and opening up a gap that was eleven seconds at the end of the race. Rattray came quite close to Philippaerts and was third when he started to lose ground: he had a mechanical problem and ended the race at the twenty-first lap. Tommy Searle was third at the chequered flag, ahead of team mate Swanepoel and De Reuver.
“In the first moto I had some troubles in the start: I made up ground after that because I believed I could win” said Philippaerts. “The last lap was actually really hard, with me and Cairoli passing each other as we were friends playing a game. I could not believe I won! In the second moto I was quite tired and Pourcel was really going fast: I did not see Cairoli behind me and knew I could win the GP with second”.
David Philippaerts: so far he has won three races in a row
In the MX2 Championship Philippaerts passed Cairoli and is now second chasing Christophe Pourcel. The French guy still leads and his advantage is now 46 points. De Reuver and Rattray are still fourth and fifth.
No news for the MX1 leader: Stefan Everts is now 114 points ahead of Strijbos, with Ramon moving up to fourth and holding Leok’s same score: 294 points.