Antonio Cairoli's excellent showing and defeat of Christophe Pourcel in the second MX2 moto at Loket this afternoon gave the World Champion his seventh success of the season and makes him outright the most successful rider so far this term. The Italian missed out on the podium by one point however after a first race crash relegated him to eleventh.
After rain during late afternoon and Saturday evening the track was at its dampest for the first MX2 moto. Gaining traction on the corners was a cause for concern for most of the riders and tyre choice became a little more complicated than usual. Passing places were not prevalent and the terrain became very rough.
Cairoli was luckless at the start of the first moto as he fell along with Championship leader Pourcel and Kenneth Gundersen. Billy Mackenzie was also held up. The Italian struggled to fight his way through the lower pack without a rear brake and eventually finished eleventh while a fully fit Gundersen had to retire on the first lap because of a damaged front wheel.
In the second sprint Cairoli was ruthless in swerving his way up to leader Pourcel from seventh place on the first lap. The duo, who are also contesting the World Championship at the top of the standings, put on a good show for the hefty crowd for several laps but the Team Yamaha De Carli rider's speed eventually pulled him clear to win by eight seconds.
Alessio Chiodi had his best race finish since notching third at the opening moto at Teutschenthal in May by taking a strong fourth place in race one but was a victim of a first corner tangle later in the afternoon and ploughed a path to thirteenth for a final slot of eighth. His team-mate Gundersen hit the ground on the opening lap of race two and could manage a highest position of sixteenth by the end of the 35 minutes and 2 laps.
The third member of the Yamaha Team Ricci, Davide Guarneri woke on Saturday with a sore throat and a fever. The Italian was not fit enough to ride.
With Pourcel walking the podium as overall runner-up Cairoli lost just two points to the French teenager today. The Championship table now shows the gap at 34 points between the pair with David Philippaerts eleven behind in third. There are still 200 points remaining in the last four GPs.
As with the MX1 class, the next MX2 meeting on the schedule will visit the unique setting of Namur in seven days time.
Antonio Cairoli, Team Yamaha De Carli:"The first race was so unlucky for me again. After the crash the tube going into the rear brake came off and after five laps the brake faded and did not work. I was riding well but it was difficult going down the hills. I have not had much fortune this year; the guys in the Rinaldi team said for a technical problem to happen like that was incredible! I crashed with Sebastien Pourcel and lost a lot of time in that first moto. The second race was great. I know that when I start in the top six or seven I can win and have done that this year. I hope that Pourcel might have some bad luck otherwise it is going to be difficult to catch him in the Championship."
Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci:"In the first moto I crashed with Cairoli at the start and his footpeg went through my front wheel. A few spokes were broken; I could not ride like that and had to stop. In the second race I had a bad start and crashed on the first lap. I was maybe half a lap behind and rode to get some training! This was the first week in a long time that I felt OK with my physical condition and my hand. Things were finally supposed to go well but better luck next time."
Alessio Chiodi, Yamaha Team Ricci:"My knee is good and my head is also getting better in terms of my confidence. I am a bit disappointed about the second moto because today I think it was possible to finish on the podium. I was fourth in the first race but also quite close to Philippaerts and Nunn but I crashed at the start of the second moto after hitting another rider. I re-started last by more than ten seconds and I just tried my best. I was thirteenth and I was sad for that but happy that things are getting better."
Circuit Length: 1630
Temp: 27
Crowd: 23000
Weather: Humid
2006 GP Loket, Race 1 - 20 Laps: 1 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 38'56.828
2 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'8.367
3 Carl Nunn KTM GBR 0'9.715
4 Alessio Chiodi Yamaha ITA 0'10.499
5 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 0'11.374
6 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'11.982
7 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 0'18.908
8 Patrick Caps Honda BEL 0'22.267
9 Marc De Reuver KTM NED 0'37.341
10 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 0'38.527
11 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 0'39.616
12 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 0'43.508
13 Carlos Campano KTM ESP 0'45.858
14 Manuel Monni KTM ITA 0'48.154
15 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 1'5.207
16 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 1'19.549
17 Jason Dougan Honda GBR 1'21.998
18 Billy MacKenzie Yamaha GBR 1'24.114
19 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'27.398
20 Jeremy Tarroux Kawasaki FRA 1'28.324
Race 2 - 20 Laps: 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 40'30.754
2 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'8.146
3 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'25.722
4 Marc De Reuver KTM NED 0'35.106
5 Carl Nunn KTM GBR 0'39.534
6 Billy MacKenzie Yamaha GBR 0'43.070
7 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 0'45.350
8 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'48.750
9 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 0'50.634
10 Manuel Monni KTM ITA 1'3.639
11 Carlos Campano KTM ESP 1'5.815
12 Patrick Caps Honda BEL 1'7.347
13 Alessio Chiodi Yamaha ITA 1'8.718
14 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 1'21.788
15 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 1'35.066
16 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'38.263
17 Pierre-Alexandre Renet Honda FRA 1'38.924
18 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha SWE 1'40.952
19 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'54.933
20 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 2'7.497
Best Lap: Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 1'52.177
Rider Standings 30/07/2006: 1. Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 416
2. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 382
3. David Philippaerts KTM ITA 371
4. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 330
5. Marc De Reuver KTM NED 314
6. Carl Nunn KTM GBR 277
7. Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 254
8. Billy MacKenzie Yamaha GBR 246
9. Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 236
10. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 225
11. Alessio Chiodi Yamaha ITA 211
12. Rui Goncalves KTM POR 209
13. Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha SWE 197
14. Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 153
15. Manuel Monni KTM ITA 143
16. Luigi Seguy Yamaha FRA 94
17. Anthony Boissière Yamaha FRA 87
18. Matti Seistola Honda FIN 85
19. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 77
20. Patrick Caps Honda BEL 68
Manufacturer Standings 30/07/2006: 1. KTM 504
2. Yamaha 476
3. Kawasaki 441
4. Honda 173
5. Suzuki 22
Related Linkswww.yamaha-racing.com
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