World Champion Antonio Cairoli entertained his many fans with two exciting motos at a sunny Montevarchi today for the seventh round of the MX2 FIM World Championship. The De Carli Yamaha rider had the 26,000 attendance on its feet as he fought with friend and rival David Philippaerts for victory until the last laps but eventually had to settle for a brace of runner-up positions.
Cairoli aced his qualification heat yesterday and, along with Philippaerts, looked easily the strongest rider on the tight and stony course. 'Toni' started well in both motos but lost the lead to KTM's Philippaerts and then second place to Tyla Rattray in the first race as he struggled with a sore wrist that was numbing his arm. He eventually found a better rhythm to pass Rattray and set off after the leader resulting in the first of two finales that proved to be the highlights of the Grand Prix.
The second race quickly became 'part two' of the all-Italian scrap and Cairoli was again powerless to pass Philippaerts who had recovered well from a crash while leading that had dropped him to third.
With Christophe Pourcel not enjoying one of his best days, Rattray falling out of the second moto and De Reuver also registering a DNF because of a faulty gearbox, Cairoli has narrowed the margin in the World Championship standings and now lies 15 points from second place.
Kenneth Gundersen could, and should, have finished higher than his final classification of 10th. The Norwegian started badly in the first moto and rose only as high as 8th, without a rear brake, on a track that was not easy to pass and afforded varying levels of grip. A promising start and third position was squandered on the first lap when the front wheel of his YZ250F slid out and dumped the number '12' on the floor. His resulting effort terminated with 17th spot by the chequered flag.
Davide Guarneri was unlucky not to take pole position on Saturday as the Italian's silencer on the Ricci Racing Yamaha unbelievably came loose again (as in Bulgaria last week) and the resulting one minute penalty for violating noise regulations meant that he had to qualifying for his home Grand Prix via the Last Chance session and confirmed 26th spot. He was 7th in the first moto but could not make the finish in race two.
Bike it Yamaha's Billy Mackenzie was no match for the Italian's speed on home turf. The Japanese GP winner was taken out of the race by Luigi Seguy in the first foray and slipped back to 13th after a decent start in the second outing. The 22 year old is still bothered by a broken bone in his left hand.
Alessio Chiodi could not avoid the fallen Fabio Mossini on the first lap of the second MX2 heat yesterday and the crash relegated him to the back of the pack. The former multi World Champion left his fast lap late in the Last Chance session (and needed the help of team-mate Guarneri) and disappointedly entered the gate in 28th. During the motos he was always struggling to make up ground but tried his best in front of a willing partisan crowd. He finished the day with 18th and 11th for 14th overall.
The eighth round of the series will take place at the new Matterley Basin circuit in England for the British Grand Prix. The visit to the UK will end a hectic three week spell of consecutive races.
Antonio Cairoli, Team Yamaha De Carli:"For sure I wanted to win in my country but today David was very fast. I lost concentration in the second heat when I saw Rattray and Goncalves crash. I was riding a bit stiff and didn't have a good feeling but afterwards when David came back I was able to pick up my speed. It was very hard to pass him here and I didn't want to make a mistake because the standings would be much closer. For me and for the Championship this is a good GP."
Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci:"I felt really good in the first race but after twenty minutes I lost the rear brake. Otherwise I believe I could have finished top three in that race. In the second moto I lost the front end and was half a lap behind before I was really going again. Normally I could have finished on the podium at a track like this but again bad luck."
Alessio Chiodi, Yamaha Team Ricci:"I have to say thank you to Davide in the Last Chance yesterday because he gave me a tow and helped me qualify. I did not have the speed to make a single lap like that. To be low in the gate was not good but I tried my best. The first moto was not that bad but I crashed and hit my knee again and after that it was so difficult. One point is better than none though so I kept pushing. This was a hard GP for me. I am disappointed for the fans because their support was fantastic. I hope I will be OK for the British GP, I have one more week to recover now."
Race classification MX2:Round: 7 - 2006 GP of Montevarchi, Italy
Circuit: Montevarchi
Circuit Length: 1650
Date: 11 June 2006
Crowd: 26000
Temp: 26ºC
Weather: Sunny
Race 1: 21 Laps 1 D. Philippaerts KTM ITA 39' 36.141
2 A. Cairoli Yamaha ITA +0.574
3 S. Pourcel Kawasaki FRA +16.917
4 C. Pourcel Kawasaki FRA +17.706
5 T. Rattray KTM RSA +23.075
6 G. Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA +36.401
7 D. Guarneri Yamaha ITA +45.930
8 K. Gundersen Yamaha NOR +53.511
9 M. De Reuver KTM NED +55.889
10 A. Leok Yamaha EST +1' 1.470
11 R. Goncalves KTM POR +1' 6.108
12 M. Monni KTM ITA +1' 9.536
13 M. Seistola Honda FIN +1' 12.376
14 C. Nunn KTM GBR +1' 16.020
15 T. Searle Kawasaki GBR +1' 16.379
16 C. Campano KTM ESP +1' 23.003
17 P A. Renet Honda FRA +1' 23.712
18 A. Chiodi Yamaha ITA +1' 24.317
19 M. Schiffer KTM GER +1' 32.455
20 J. Wing KTM SWE +1' 36.226
Race 2: 20 Laps1 D. Philippaerts KTM ITA 39' 12.775
2 A. Cairoli Yamaha ITA +3.369
3 C. Pourcel Kawasaki FRA +23.136
4 G. Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA +27.544
5 S. Pourcel Kawasaki FRA +32.296
6 R. Goncalves KTM POR +35.024
7 T. Searle Kawasaki GBR +52.100
8 C. Campano KTM ESP +56.315
9 M. Seistola Honda FIN +56.779
10 L. Seguy Yamaha FRA +1' 1.998
11 A. Chiodi Yamaha ITA +1' 2.677
12 C. Nunn KTM GBR +1' 8.173
13 B. MacKenzie Yamaha GBR +1' 13.787
14 F. Mossini Suzuki ITA +1' 14.195
15 P A. Renet Honda FRA +1' 15.457
16 A. Pellegrini Suzuki ITA +1' 25.976
17 K. Gundersen Yamaha NOR +1' 30.079
18 A. Meo Honda FRA +1' 32.919
19 M. Schiffer KTM GER +1' 37.490
20 J. Wing KTM SWE +1' 43.147
Championship standings MX2: 1 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 274
2 Marc De Reuver KTM NED 246
3 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 235
4 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 231
5 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 210
6 Billy MacKenzie Yamaha GBR 168
7 Carl Nunn KTM GBR 159
8 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 140
9 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 139
10 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 134
11 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 132
12 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 129
13 Alessio Chiodi Yamaha ITA 124
14 Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 94
15 Luigi Seguy Yamaha FRA 94
16 Manuel Monni KTM ITA 73
17 Anthony Boissière Yamaha FRA 66
18 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 64
19 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 61
20 Patrick Caps Honda BEL 46
Manufacturers standings MX2:1 KTM 318
2 Yamaha 306
3 Kawasaki 280
4 Honda 114
5 Suzuki 13
Related Linkswww.yamaha-racing.com
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