MX GP - Round 13 - Desert Martin, Ireland
8/29/2006
MX GP - Round 13 - Desert Martin, Ireland — With the GP calendar drawing to a close Desert Martin in Ireland hosted the 13th round FIM MX World championship at the 'Porters Pit' circuit. A partisan crowd of over 18.000 turned out in somewhat chilly, overcast conditions to watch the top GP riders do battle on a sandy yet technical circuit.
A first lap crash saw THOR rider Marc De Reuver pile into the back of a fallen David Philippaerts in Moto 1 of the MX2 class. Fellow THOR rider, Gareth Swanepoel had to stop to avoid the mayhem and pushed his way into 6th position around the halfway mark. De Reuver was quick to get back on his machine and charged through the pack to relegate a tiring Swanepoel to 9th as the Dutchman salvaged 8th spot.
Moto 2 would turn out much better for De Reuver. With a good start he managed to stay out of trouble as he chased after a strong Tyla Rattray. De Reuver had to settle for second spot missing an overall podium by one point to reigning world champ Antonio Cairoli. Swanepoel who was suffering from a bout of flu rode an impressive race and was caught up in a three way Kawasaki battle with the French Pourcel brothers. The South African claimed 6th spot for some valuable GP points.
The MX1 class saw an exciting change on the podium. New Zealand's Josh Coppins ended Stefan Everts's perfect season when he annihilated the Belgian in the second and deciding moto to win by 25 seconds. Coppins lapped up to fourth spot proving that has now returned to his former fitness after a shoulder injury put him out of contention at the start of the season.
The Penultimate round of the FIM MX World championship will take place next weekend at the infamous sand circuit of Lierop in the Netherlands.
Gareth Swanepoel: "It's been a really tough weekend for me. I came down with flu symptoms on Friday and my body and ears have been aching the whole weekend. I did the best I could but just didn't have the energy to finish off the job and that cost me a few places - 8th overall was not too bad. On the other hand I have moved up in the championship to 9th and it's still possible to gain a few more positions. There are still two rounds to go so anything can happen. I'm going to head back to Belgium and try and recover for Lierop next week. I will need every bit of energy in the sand but I know that the bike is working really well and I have trained hard in the sand so it should be good."
Marc De Reuver: "My riding was better than the last few weeks but my starts were not great. I made the most stupid mistake yesterday in qualifying and should have won the heat. Anyway I was right behind David when he fell and basically had to wait until he got going before I could move. I was dead-last but came back to eighth which was OK. There was a big crash at the start of the second moto but I kept inside and was fifth or sixth. I reached second but the gap was too big to Tyla."
MX2 Race 1
- Rattray, Tyla RSA KTM
- Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
- Pourcel, Christophe FRA Kawasaki
- Goncalves, Rui POR KTM
- Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
- Gundersen, Kenneth NOR Yamaha
- Philippaerts, David ITA KTM
- de Reuver, Marc NED KTM (THOR)
- Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki (THOR)
- Leok, Aigar EST Yamaha
- Searle, Tommy GBR Kawasaki
- Monni, Manuel ITA KTM
- Nunn, Carl GBR KTM
- Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
- Seistola, Matti FIN Honda
MX2 Race 2
- Rattray, Tyla RSA KTM
- de Reuver, Marc NED KTM (THOR)
- Philippaerts, David ITA KTM
- Pourcel, Christophe FRA Kawasaki
- Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
- Swanepoel, Garreth RSA Kawasaki (THOR)
- Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
- Goncalves, Rui POR KTM
- Mackenzie, Billy GBR Yamaha
- Schiffer, Marcus GER KTM
- Leok, Aigar EST Yamaha
- Kohut, Martin SVK Honda
- Seistola, Matti FIN Honda
- Monni, Manuel ITA KTM
- Boog, Xavier FRA Yamaha