After encouraging results in Valkenswaard and last weekend in the Belgian MX Pro Series the Honda Europe supported LS Motors-Honda squad was pumped to continue their push to the front in the 15-round FIM MX1 World Championship. Especially Davide Guarneri looked comfortable in the muddy conditions on Saturday placing his CRF450R sixth in both the pre-qualifying session and the MX1 qualifying race. Tanel Leok qualified ninth on Saturday, but an impressive pole during warm-up on race day showed that the Estonian was hungry as ever!
The opening MX1 moto started off on the wrong foot as several gates failed to drop on the start line. When the 36-rider strong pack blasted off it was Max Nagl who claimed the holeshot, with Desalle in tow. The unlucky Tanel Leok, who needed to switch gates because of the gate malfunction, started outside of the top ten. Tanel put in a solid ride under drying track conditions to finish sixth. While Guarneri enjoyed a better start around eighth place, the Italian champ went down in the opening moto and was relegated to a miserable 30th place. Davide made steady progress through the field to come home fifteenth.
With better and drier racing conditions for the second moto Guarneri made his intentions clear from the word go. However ‘Pota’ was not able to reap the rewards of that strong start because he lost valuable positions in the second corner. Davide rounded out the first lap in ninth place and that’s where he sat for most of the moto, but he lost one position to Sébastien Pourcel on the final lap. Tanel had a slightly better start in the second moto and it was clear that the likable Estonian felt more comfortable on the red dirt that had start to roughen up. After a small setback in his battle with Philippaerts he found a got pace and climbed up to sixth. Not the position that did justice to his speed. Allthough the 12-second margin between him and winner Cairoli say a lot about the tight racing that went on at the front! Leok is now eighth in the MX1 standings, Guarneri is eleventh.
Tanel Leok, 6th overall
“Today’s race was a bit weird with the false start and all that. After that I had to pick another gate which didn’t really help! I found it hard to pass in the first moto, so sixth position was not so bad. I felt a lot better in the second moto. The track was becoming harder, but that’s just how I like it! After the first corner on the step-up Philippaerts went sideways and we almost crashed together! Once I got going it was okay and I managed to pass Philippaerts and Bobryshev. With better starts I could have fought for a podium so that is my goal for Bellpuig!”
Davide Guarneri, 12th overall
“It was not my best weekend. In the opening moto I went down in the first lap and that set the tone really. With one line and still a lot of mud everywhere you had to push hard to make up ground. I entered the top twenty again and got some points for 15th. Luckily the track improved for the second moto. I had a great start but I screwed up in the second corner! After that I didn’t really find the lines I wanted. That made it hard to stay with the fast guys and I finished tenth. I lost some points and I’m eleventh in the championship now, everyone is very close to each other so it’s not only about your shape and speed, but also riding smart. That is something I need to work on for the next GP’s!”
Moto 1: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 40:37.687; ; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:14.633; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:17.055; 4. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:18.870; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:20.685; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, LS Motors-Honda), +0:22.020; 7. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:45.869; 8. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:53.096; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +1:04.235; 10. Marc de Reuver (NED, Suzuki), +1:06.660; 11. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +1:09.663; 12. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +1:10.618; 13. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), +1:11.406; 14. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:25.652; 15. Davide Guarneri (ITA, LS Motors-Honda), +1:32.088; 16. Tom Söderström (SWE, Yamaha), +1:32.561; 17. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Aprilia), +1:45.102; 18. Kevin Wouts (BEL, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 19. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, KTM), -1 lap(s); 20. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Honda), -1 lap(s);
Moto 2: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:57.508; ; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:02.809; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), +0:04.569; 4. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.537; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:09.288; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), +0:12.826; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:23.894; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:28.727; 9. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:51.791; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Honda), +0:52.578; 11. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Aprilia), +0:53.484; 12. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:56.710; 13. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +1:13.304; 14. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +1:16.923; 15. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), +1:26.064; 16. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Honda), +1:26.827; 17. Jimmy Albertson (USA, Honda), +1:28.955; 18. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, KTM), +2:03.264; 19. Marc de Reuver (NED, Suzuki), -1 lap(s); 20. Julien Bill (SUI, Aprilia), -1 lap(s);
GP of Portugal classification
1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 44 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 41 p.; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 41 p.; 4. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 36 p.; 5. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 33 p.; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), 30 p.; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 26 p.; 8. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 9. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 23 p.; 10. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), 20 p.; 11. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 18 p.; 12. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Honda), 17 p.; 13. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 16 p.; 14. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Aprilia), 14 p.; 15. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), 14 p.; 16. Marc de Reuver (NED, Suzuki), 13 p.; 17. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Kawasaki), 7 p.; 18. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Honda), 6 p.; 19. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, KTM), 5 p.; 20. Tom Söderström (SWE, Yamaha), 5 p.; 21. Jimmy Albertson (USA, Honda), 4 p.; 22. Kevin Wouts (BEL, Kawasaki), 3 p.; 23. Julien Bill (SUI, Aprilia), 1 p.
MX1 standings after 4 GP’s
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 179 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 161 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 133 p.; 4. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 124 p.; 5. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 123 p.; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), 114 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 106 p.; 8. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), 96 p.; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 79 p.; 10. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 75 p.; 11. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Honda), 73 p.; 12. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Aprilia), 63 p.; 13. Jimmy Albertson (USA, Honda), 59 p.; 14. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Honda), 57 p.; 15. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), 56 p.; 16. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 47 p.; 17. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), 46 p.; 18. Marc de Reuver (NED, Suzuki), 40 p.; 19. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), 37 p.; 20. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 24 p.; 21. Tom Söderström (SWE, Yamaha), 19 p.; 22. Cedric Soubeyras (FRA, KTM), 16 p.; 23. Tom Church (GBR, CCM), 11 p.; 24. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Kawasaki), 7 p.; 25. Matthias Walkner (AUT, KTM), 5 p.; 26. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), 5 p.; 27. Kevin Wouts (BEL, Kawasaki), 4 p.; 28. Yentel Martens (BEL, KTM), 4 p.; 29. Julien Bill (SUI, Aprilia), 3 p.; 30. Filip Neugebauer (CZE, Kawasaki), 1 p.; 31. Günter Schmidinger (AUT, Suzuki), 1 p
NEXT RACE: Tanel Leok and Davide Guarneri take part in the fifth round of the MX1 World Championship next weekend in Bellpuig, Spain
Upcoming Races
- 12.09 GP 15 Italy, Fermo