Copp pulls an Italian job
By TMX Archives on 13th May 07
THE Yamaha victory train got back into full swing after the minor hiccup in Portugal as Josh Coppins and Toni Cairoli swept to sensational double victories at round four of the World Motocross Championship at Mantova, Italy, on Sunday
Tommy Searle was again superb for his second consecutive podium, Gareth Swanepoel got his medal search back on course with fourth on the day and Sean Hamblin finally made the breakthrough at GP level with two strong rides from the back for seventh overall. Martin Barr, Tom Church and Shaun Simpson also reached double figures, but Carl Nunn was worth many more than his eventual four.
In MX1 Ken de Dycker led both races in a typically turbulent day, but it was James Noble, faster by the week, who finished top six with a rejuvenated Gordon Crockard eighth and Mike Brown tenth whilst Billy MacKenzie chased Noble home for sixth in race one.
MX1
COPPINS had been nearly two-seconds down on Kevin Strijbos in qualification: I've never liked this place. I just hope race day is better.
It didn't seem likely early in the opening moto as the youngsters pushed the Kiwi back to fifth, but Josh explained later it was pretty hectic out there and I let them go. Some riders seemed to think they could win the GP in the first ten minutes.
None more so than his team-mate Marc De Reuver.
First I was sixth, then fifth, then fourth, third, second and I, err, got a little too excited. It wasn't Philippaerts' fault or mine, it was just one of those things in racing. I went inside him and we both crashed.
Gifted the lead, Ken De Dycker was clearly already in trouble with his forearms and was shaking his arms on the big jumps as Coppins stormed up the inside of Strijbos for second as Tanel Leok homed in on his way from eighth.
I was riding constant laps, but I could drop my times by a second if I needed to put a cushion between me and the chaser, explained the workmanlike Coppins.
De Dycker was already down to fifth behind Sebastien Pourcel when a rock smashed the casings on his CAS Honda, Strijbos was the next to surrender but Leok kept up the pressure until Coppins put in another 1.59 lap in five laps from home and it was over.
WORLD MX1 MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 4 - Mantova, ITALY
1 Joshua Coppins (NZ - Yamaha) 25 + 25 = 50
2 Tanel Leok (EST - Kawasaki) 22 + 15 = 37
3 Sebastien Pourcel (F - GPKR Kawasaki) 18 + 18 = 36
4 Kevin Strijbos (B - Team Suzuki) 20 + 13 = 33
5 Steve Ramon (B - Team Suzuki) 14 + 16 = 30
6 James NOBLE (GB - Multitek Honda) 16 + 14 = 30
RACE ONE: 1 Coppins, 2 Tanel Leok, 3 Strijbos, 4 Pourcel, 5 NOBLE, 6 MacKENZIE.
RACE TWO: 1 Coppins, 2 De Dycker, 3 De Reuver, 4 Pourcel, 5 Ramon, 6 Tanel Leok.
SERIES STANDINGS after 4 (of 15) rounds: 1 Coppins 194 points, 2 Strijbos 158, 3 Ramon 116, 4 Pourcel 103, 5 Barragan 100, 6 Tanel Leok 98.
NEXT ROUND: May 13 - Teutschenthal, GERMANY.
MX2
THE crowd went bananas as Cairoli emerged for race one wearing new gear which reflected the Italian national colours, and his riding also did not disappoint.
No-one sniffed the Sicilian in either race and Tyla Rattray, twice second, summed it up: We've worked hard and I deserved second today, but there's a long way to go to Toni. He's on a different planet at the moment.
The South African also summed up his own performance: I'm still looking for speed in the first 15 minutes and I need more corner speed, but at least the new engine has solved my starting problems. Now I want to win GPs again, then we'll start thinking about Toni's championship lead.
Tommy Searle had initially been second in race one, but was gobbled up by his teammate after a quarter of an hour: Tyla had better lines and just swept past. When I picked up his lines I could follow.
Pourcel started poorly and needed the entire race to advance from eighth to fourth, while a host of Brits were working their way through the field.
Gareth Swanepoel came from outside the top ten to sixth, and Sean Hamblin finally showed his true speed as he pushed from 23rd to eighth, his final pass coming on Tom Church.
WORLD MX2 MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 4 - Mantova, ITALY
1 Antonio Cairoli (I - DeCarli Yamaha) 25 + 25 = 50
2 Tyla Rattray (ZA - Red Bull KTM) 22 + 22 = 44
3 Tommy SEARLE (GB - Red Bull KTM) 20 + 18 = 38
4 Gareth Swanepoel (ZA - Molson Kawasaki) 15 + 20 = 35
5 Christophe Pourcel (F - GPKR Kawasaki) 18 + 16 = 34
6 Nicolas Aubin (F - KTM) 10 + 15 = 25
RACE ONE: 1 Cairoli, 2 Rattray, 3 SEARLE, 4 Pourcel, 5 Gundersen, 6 Swanepoel.
RACE TWO: 1 Cairoli, 2 Rattray, 3 Swanepoel, 4 SEARLE, 5 Pourcel, 6 Aubin.
SERIES STANDINGS after 4 (of 15) rounds: 1 Cairoli 197 points, 2 Rattray 142, 3 Pourcel 137, 4 SEARLE 117, 5 Leuret 110, 6 Swanepoel 107.
NEXT ROUND: May 13 - Teutschenthal, GERMANY.
For full report, results and pictures see T+MX May 11 2007.