Tommy did it!
By TMX Archives on 30th Aug 07
OF course you already know because you were there, but KTM's Tommy Searle has finally won his first GP.
‘‘And where better to do it than here, in front ofall my friends and the British fans,'' declared the 18-year-old, abovethe din of airhorns, from the podium at Donington Park on Sundayafternoon after the scorching second moto win that clinched him thatfamous victory.
It was the second British success of the day,crowd favourite Dave Thorpe having earlier clinched the Senior WorldCup with another victory, but the ultimate winners were the Britishcrowd who witnessed superb racing on the surprisingly impressive,purpose-built track in the infield of the famous road race circuit.
Billy MacKenzie had raised hopes of a UK whitewashwhen he led the first MX1 race in the early laps, but this was not tobe the Scot's day, and neither was it Josh Coppins'.
The Kiwi defied his serious injuries to return toaction and battled like a trojan, but the pain proved too much and theYamaha camp was almost in tears as they saw their season-long leadfinally devoured by Suzuki's Steve Ramon, even though he again failedto make the most of his chances and missed the podium. The Belgian goesto Lierop's final round this weekend with a 14-point advantage.
The MX1 winner? None other than sensational classdebutant Toni Cairoli, switched from MX2 for the weekend afterclinching the title in Ulster!
WORLD MX2 MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 14 - Donington Park, nr Castle Donington, Derbys, BRITAIN
1 Tommy SEARLE (GB - Red Bull KTM) 22 + 25 = 47
2 Jeremy Tarroux (F - JK Yamaha) 20 + 22 = 42
3 Nicolas Aubin (F - Ricci Yamaha) 25 + 16 = 41
4 Matteo Bonini (I - DeCarli Yamaha) 14 + 20 = 34
5 Dennis Verbruggen (B - Van Beers Yamaha) 10 + 18 = 28
6 Matti Seistola (SF - SRS Honda) 15 + 12 = 27
SERIES STANDINGS after 14 (of 15) rounds: 1Cairoli 610 points (CHAMPION), 2 SEARLE 478, 3 Pourcel 436, 4 Rattray371, 5 Aubin 329, 6 Swanepoel 324.
FINAL ROUND: September 2 - Lierop, HOLLAND.
WORLD MX1 MOTOCROSS CHAMPS
Rd 14 - Donington Park, nr Castle Donington, Derbys, BRITAIN
1 Antonio Cairoli (I - DeCarli Yamaha) 22 + 25 = 47
2 Kevin Strijbos (B - Team Suzuki) 25 + 22 = 47
3 Ken De Dycker (B - CAS Honda) 20 + 20 = 40
4 Steve Ramon (B - Team Suzuki) 15 + 18 = 33
5 Michael Brown (US - CAS Honda) 18 + 15 = 33
6 Tanel Leok (EST - Kawasaki) 16 + 16 = 32
SERIES STANDINGS after 14 (of 15) rounds: 1 Ramon466 points, 2 Coppins 452, 3 Strijbos 428, 4 Pourcel 427, 5Philippaerts 406, 6 De Dycker 376.
FINAL ROUND: Sep 2 - Lierop, HOLLAND.
EIGHTEEN years after he took his third and final500cc World title, Britains greatest ever motocrosser David Thorpeclaimed a historic fourth world crown at Donington Park on Sunday witha resounding victory in the Senior class of the FIM Veterans World Cup.
It was like stepping back in time to themid-eighties glory days of the British GP as the thousands of fans,many of them not old enough to remember Thorpey's heyday, hung over thefencing to cheer the great man on to a resounding gate to flag secondmoto victory. The win handed him the 41 to 50 championship over Belgianduo Jan Blancquaert and Toine Van Dijk after losing out to championshiprival Blancquaert in a nail biting last lap in Saturday's first heat.
Decked out in that brilliant retro Honda No Fearkit flown in directly from the States for the race, Thorpe looked everyinch the great champion he is as he used his inside gate to maximumeffect to grab the early lead in moto one, late on Saturday afternoon,much the excitement of the British fans.
FIM VETERAN WORLD CUP MX
Rd 2 - Donington Park, nr Castle Donington, Derbys, BRITAIN
SENIOR CLASS (41 to 50yrs)
1 Dave THORPE (GB - Honda) 22 + 25 = 47
2 Jan Blancquaert (BEL - Kawasaki) 25 + 20 = 45
3 Toine Van Dijk (NED - Suzuki) 18 + 22 = 40
4 Regis Simon (FRA - Honda) 20 + 18 = 38
5 Andres Krestinov (EST - KTM) 15 + 15 = 30
6 Perry LEASK (GB - Husqvarna) 16 + 13 = 29
12 Alan EAVES (GB - Honda) 8 + 9 = 17
17 Kevin NEESAM (GBR - Kawasaki) 4 + 4 = 8
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Dave THORPE 94 points(CHAMPION), 2 Blancquaert 90, 3 Van Dijk 72, 4 Simon 70, 5 Krestinov63, 6 LEASK 51, 14 EAVES 26, 23 NEESAM 8, 29 Alan MAGEE 1,...
VETERAN CLASS (51 to 60yrs)
1 Tony Cooksley (NZ - Yamaha) 25 + 25 = 50
2 Philippe Dejong (B - Honda) 20 + 18 = 38
3 Paul Barbara (F - Kawasaki) 22 + 16 = 38
4 Fausto Pelosi (I - Yamaha) 14 + 20 = 34
5 Jan Lemmens (NL - KTM) 18 + 15 = 33
6 Alain Pichon (F - KTM) 15 + 14 = 29
16 Alan DEER (GB - Yamaha) 7 + 5 = 12
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Tony Cooksley 75 points(CHAMPION), 2 Barbara 62, 3 Dejong 58, 4 Lemmens 54, 5 Pichon 43, 6Fausto Pelosi 40.
For full report, results and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, August 31, 2007.
