De Reuver podium highlight for KTM in Japan
By TMX Archives on 21st May 06
WCH MX: Rnd 5, Sugo, GP of JapanMarc De Reuver scored yet another top-three result in the MX2 class to give KTM a trophy at a hot and sunny Sugo for the Japanese Grand Prix and the fifth round of fifteen in the FIM Motocross World Championships.
The Dutchman finished 3rd and 2nd in the two motos for 3rd overall in front of 17,400 spectators who had flocked to the highly-rated circuit 15 kilometres outside the city of Sendai, and the flowing and well-prepared terrain made for some physically tough but decent racing.
De Reuver had taken the lead on the first lap of race one but a small crash forced the Amsterdam-born racer to scrap for third place. Later in the day he forced his way past eventual winner Billy Mackenzie for second spot but World Champion Antonio Cairoli was already too far away.
In his Japanese GP debut Tyla Rattray experienced had a nightmare. The South African could not avoid running into a fallen Kenneth Gundersen several laps into the first race and although he stayed upright the collision affected the front forks and the 20 year old spent the rest of the race wrestling the SX 250F to sixth place and his worst finish from nine motos. In the second outing he crashed on the opening circulation after a coming-together with Sebastien Pourcel. An attempt to restart was dismissed when Rattray felt an acute pain in his right shoulder and feared a broken collarbone. An x-ray fortunately revealed no damage but his World Championship lead was not as lucky as the DNF allowed Christophe Pourcel to front the MX2 chase for the first time this season.
Other Champ KTM representatives Carl Nunn and David Philippaerts were 7th and 9th respectively after struggling to find a speed to run with the leaders. Philippaerts crashed in the second moto while Nunn was uncharacteristically slack out of the gate.
The World Championship standings show that De Reuver is now only 2 points away from the top spot while Rattray has slipped back to 3rd and 15 points adrift after his non-score.
In MX1 Jonathan Barragan overcame an asthma problem as well as a crash-filled Saturday programme to take a decent 4th place overall. The Spaniard was 8th and 3rd (his third top three finish in ten races) and now stands 6th in the series and only one point away from 5th.
The sixth round of the series will take place at the Sevlievo circuit for the Grand Prix of Bulgaria in two weeks time.
Marc De Reuver:
"I had some good starts today again and was second behind Antonio each time. I made a stupid crash in the first moto when I hit a slippery patch and I was waiting for Tony to hit me because he was right behind but then he went down also. The bike was still running so I was lucky. I got going again but I lost a lot of places because it was the first lap. I followed Christophe Pourcel who had some really good lines but a Japanese backmarker took me out and I was lucky again because the handlebars were bent but I could still finish third. Tony had gone by the time I passed Billy in the second heat but my consistency continues and the points are looking good.”
Tyla Rattray:
"My jump was not that good for the second heat and after half a lap my race was over. I was going through a corner and Pourcel was on the outside and I was on the inside. I went into the rut quickly and he did not expect me to be there and was already turning. He bumped me and I landed on my shoulder. I thought I had cracked my collarbone. I was straight for an x-ray and luckily it showed that nothing is broken or fractured so I will be back for Bulgaria. I don't feel too bad about the Championship. We still have ten rounds to go, we are not even at the halfway point, and there are some good tracks ahead.”
Carl Nunn:
"I thought was doing the best I could in the first race but I obviously wasn't using the good lines and I lost a few places. When you are fighting with yourself out there then people are going to pass you. I tried to copy other people's lines but they weren't working either. The track was awesome; there were so many places to hit, it was just a matter of finding them! I don't know what happened with my starts today but I had wheel spin both times and I was closed off by the time I got to the first turn which meant that I was down in the lower half of the top ten.”
Jonathan Barragan:
"The first race was a bit of a disaster because I crashed twice and had to keep on coming back through to reach 8th. The second moto was good as I started near the front and was holding second but Ramon had slightly better lines. I felt fast but towards the end I was getting tired because I have been on medication this week and haven't been able to breathe properly. I am happy enough because I couldn't do any training or riding this week. Saturday was awful because I was crashing a lot and I stopped taking my pills because they were making me feel a bit drowsy and I could not concentrate.”
MX2 Moto1
1. MACKENZIE Billy GBR YAMAHA
2. POURCEL Christophe FRA KAWASAKI
3. DE REUVER Marc NED KTM
4. CAIROLI Antonio ITA YAMAHA
5. PHILIPPAERTS David ITA KTM
6. RATTRAY Tyla RSA KTM
7. SWANEPOEL Gareth RSA KAWASAKI
8. SEARLE Tommy GBR KAWASAKI
9. GUNDERSEN Kenneth NOR YAMAHA
10. POURCEL Sébastien FRA KAWASAKI
12. NUNN Carl GBR KTM
MX2 Moto2
1. CAIROLI Antonio ITA YAMAHA
2. DE REUVER Marc NED KTM
3. MACKENZIE Billy GBR YAMAHA
4. SWANEPOEL Gareth RSA KAWASAKI
5. POURCEL Christophe FRA KAWASAKI
6. NUNN Carl GBR KTM
7. SEARLE Tommy GBR KAWASAKI
8. LEOK Aigar EST YAMAHA
9. GONCALVES Rui POR KTM
10. GUARNERI Davide ITA YAMAHA
17. PHILIPPAERTS David ITA KTM
MX2 Overall classification
1. MACKENZIE Billy GBR YAMAHA 45
2. CAIROLI Antonio ITA YAMAHA 43
3. DE REUVER Marc NED KTM 42
4. POURCEL Christophe FRA KAWASAKI 38
5. SWANEPOEL Gareth RSA KAWASAKI 32
6. SEARLE Tommy GBR KAWASAKI 27
7. NUNN Carl GBR KTM 24
8. GUNDERSEN Kenneth NOR YAMAHA 22
9. GONCALVES Rui POR KTM 20
10. PHILIPPAERTS David ITA KTM 20
13. RATTRAY Tyla RSA KTM 15
MX2 World Championship standings
1. POURCEL C. FRA 196
2. DE REUVER Marc NED 194
3. RATTRAY Tyla RSA 181
4. CAIROLI Antonio ITA 162
5. MACKENZIE Billy GBR 150
6. PHILIPPAERTS D. ITA 120
7. NUNN Carl GBR 119
8. GUNDERSEN K. NOR 111
9. CHIODI Alessio ITA 111
10. SEARLE Tommy GBR 105
MX1 Moto1
1. EVERTS Stefan BEL YAMAHA
2. DE DYCKER Ken BEL HONDA
3. LEOK Tanel EST KAWASAKI
4. RAMON Steve BEL SUZUKI
5. JORGENSEN Brian DEN HONDA
6. MELOTTE Cedric BEL YAMAHA
7. NOBLE James GBR HONDA
8. BARRAGAN Jonathan SPA KTM
9. PRIEM Manuel BEL YAMAHA
10. VAN DAELE Marvin BEL HONDA
MX1 Moto2
1. EVERTS Stefan BEL YAMAHA
2. RAMON Steve BEL SUZUKI
3. BARRAGAN Jonathan SPA KTM
4. STRIJBOS Kevin BEL SUZUKI
5. VAN DAELE Marvin BEL HONDA
6. PRIEM Manuel BEL YAMAHA
7. NOBLE James GBR HONDA
8. DE DYCKER Ken BEL HONDA
9. NARITA Akira JPN YAMAHA
10. THEYBERS Danny BEL SUZUKI
MX1 Overall classification
1. EVERTS Stefan BEL YAMAHA 50
2. RAMON Steve BEL SUZUKI 40
3. DE DYCKER Ken BEL HONDA 35
4. BARRAGAN Jonathan SPA KTM 33
5. LEOK Tanel EST KAWASAKI 29
6. NOBLE James GBR HONDA 28
7. STRIJBOS Kevin BEL SUZUKI 27
8. VAN DAELE Marvin BEL HONDA 27
9. PRIEM Manuel BEL YAMAHA 27
10. MELOTTE Cedric BEL YAMAHA 21
MX1 World Championship standings
1. EVERTS Stefan BEL 242
2. LEOK Tanel EST 181
3. DE DYCKER Ken BEL 168
4. STRIJBOS Kevin BEL 165
5. RAMON Steve BEL 151
6. BARRAGAN J. SPA 150
7. MELOTTE Cedric BEL 105
8. TORTELLI S. FRA 99
9. PRIEM Manuel BEL 99
10. LEURET Pascal FRA 93