The Mantova Starcross International bade farewell to the winter months and the Motocross off-season yesterday as a host of World Championship teams travelled to the Italian circuit near Bologna for the first of several ‘warm-up’ events prior to the start of the FIM Grand Prix series on April 1st. Kawasaki Racing Team, Team GPKR and Molson Kawasaki were present at the traditional curtain-raiser and displayed some decent speed and promising signs for the six weeks of testing and racing remaining before the first round of the World Championship commences in Holland.
Tanel Leok steered the KX 450F-SR to a fine runner-up position in the second of three motos and Billy Mackenzie (best of 13th) and Sebastien Pourcel (14th) also made creditable MX1 debuts despite both having had injury problems since the start of the year.
Leok narrowly missed out on the Superpole to Max Nagl on Saturday but felt comfortable on the Italian sand. The first race in the triple moto format saw the Estonian start well but then crash on the first lap. He then worked hard to recover 10th position. In the second sprint Leok gained the team’s best finish of the day when he completed the distance as runner-up to Nagl. Sadly he wasn’t able to go for victory in the last moto as a hefty spill on the opening corner meant the 21 year old was briefly knocked out but was later given the ‘all-clear’.
Mackenzie was attempting a tentative first meeting on the KX 450F-SR. The Scot had managed only a handful of outings with his new machine before breaking his collarbone four weeks ago. The 22 year old returned to the saddle on Thursday but still managed 13th in the second moto. The double Japanese Grand Prix winner will be dedicating the next month to testing and gaining valuable track time.
‘I am happy I competed the weekend and got this race under my belt,’ he remarked. ‘It wasn’t particularly good but then it wasn’t so bad considering the lay-off I’ve had. I felt like a learner in practice on Friday but got better with every session. I felt comfortable on the bike and we tried a few different things with the engine and suspension. I did not want to push too hard because my collarbone was still a bit sore. I went down in each heat although the third race I could not avoid colliding with De Reuver. I still managed to beat Nagl on the one-on-one race and my times on Sunday were not too far off the leaders. Overall I’m pleased to have started working with the team in earnest and now I want to crack on with my riding and get some testing done before Valence.’
‘The result weren’t quite what we wanted but everything else was OK and quite encouraging,’ said KRT Team Manager Jan de Groot. ‘The speed and riding of both Tanel and Billy was good and the bike was working fine. We will stay in Italy to do some testing now and then head up to France.’
MX2 World Champion Christophe Pourcel was not able to join his brother in Team GPKR as the 18 year old is still recovering from a leg injury sustained at the fourth round of the AMA Supercross series in Anaheim.
Molson Kawasaki’s Gareth Swanepoel placed 6th overall in the MX2 class.
Both Kawasaki teams, including the Molson squad, will head next to the Valance International on February 25th in two weeks time. The first round of the World Championship will take place at the Valkenswaard circuit near Eindhoven on April 1st.
MX1 Overall classification:1 NAGL Maximilian GER KTM
2 COPPINS Joshua NZL Yamaha
3 BARRAGAN Jonathan SPA KTM
4 PHILIPPAERTS David ITA KTM
5 STRIJBOS Kevin BEL Suzuki
6 PICHON Mickael FRA KTM
7 DE REUVER Marc NED Yamaha
8 BILL Julien SWI Kawasaki
9 LEOK Tanel EST Kawasaki
10 RAMON Steve BEL Suzuki
14 MACKENZIE Billy GBR Kawasaki
15 POURCEL Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
MX2 overall:1 RATTRAY Tyla RSA KTM
2 SEARLE Tommy GBR KTM
3 CAIROLI Antonio ITA Yamaha
4 MONNI Manuel ITA Yamaha
5 TARROUX Jeremy FRA Kawasaki
6 SWANEPOEL Gareth RSA Kawasaki
7 MARTINI Gianluca ITA KTM
8 PELLEGRINI Angelo ITA KTM
9 DE BORTOLI Michele ITA KTM
10 SIMPSON Shaun IRL Kawasaki
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