The traditionally enthusiastic crowd were driven wild by Cairoli's third clean-sweep of both motos this season. The Sicilian, on the De Carli tuned YZ250F, has now won five from six and finished second in the other race categories, winnig all GP's thusfar in the 2007 season. Antonio was so dominant in his qualification heat Saturday that he could afford to make a good show for the crowd over the many Mantova jumps, he blitzed the first Grand Prix moto and held a lead of four seconds by the end of the second lap. From that point onwards the 2005 World Champion raced the track alone with the cheers of his many fans for company.
He repeated his excellence in the second race and his sheer speed on the opening lap after another ideal start was the deciding factor in delivering his fifteenth career success. There is little more to say about Cairoli's form this season except that the 21 year old is currently operating in a different league to his peers. His increased his margin to 55 points which means that he can afford two DNFs and still be leading the championship.
With Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle filling the other two podium steps Yamaha's next best placed representative was Yamaha Team Ricci's talent Nicolas Aubin with sixth overall. The French youngster - who looked so stylish over the table-top jumps - was eleventh and sixth in the two motos.
Team-mate Kenneth Gundersen ran as high as fourth for long stretches of the first moto but was passed by an energetic Gareth Swanepoel. His fifth position would be his only finish of the day as a heavy crash after landing awkwardly from a double jump forced the Norwegian to retire with a bruised left side of his body.
Davide Guarneri was back in action and attempting his first Grand Prix of the season after sustaining an ankle injury. The Italian could not continue after his gear lever was smashed in the first moto but took a conservative thirteenth in the second outing.
Both Bike it Yamaha Dixon Racing rider's score points today. Martin Barr completed the best weekend of his short GP career (started with appearances in 2006) by taking thirteenth overall with twelfth and fifteenth positions. British Champion Carl Nunn is coming back to full fitness and should have had a top ten result after running near the first five in the opening moto but slipped off and took four points for seventeenth. He was hit by another rider on the first lap of the second Moto and had to pit to change a bent rear brake lever. He finished the race, but out of the points.
Antonio Cairoli, Team De Carli Yamaha:"I am really happy with this race and I feel very good with my riding and also mentally. I had a great feeling with the bike at this track even though we made some changes for the second heat and I could win that race even easier. It helped to have pole position from Saturday as I could hold the inside line even if I did not get away in first from the gate. I was surprised that Christophe could not go with me in the second moto but after two laps I saw that I had a good enough gap and could control it from there. It was an important race for me as I know Motocross is getting more popular now in Italy; I have many fans and I'm really happy about this and to be able to win for them is fantastic."
Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Team Ricci:
"Sixth overall was not so bad today as my goal is to always be in the top ten. The first race my start was not very good but I could not find my rhythm and struggled to get the good lines. Things were better in the second race but I was on the limit sometimes and close to crashing. I got near to Searle but couldn't find a way through. I dropped back to get my rhythm going again and pushed hard to overtake but then crashed. I was lucky that the bike kept running and there was no damage."
Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci:"In the first race I had a good start but got a bit tired towards the end so I thought I would make sure of fifth and see what I could do in the second moto. I had a poor start when we went out again but I was coming through well and reached the top ten before the crash. I'm sure the overall result would have been good but I just lost control."
The fifth meeting of the year takes place in just seven days time with the Grand Prix of Germany at the Talkessel circuit in Teutschenthal. The teams will cut through Europe this week to head to the east of the country and the venue near the city of Halle.
Temp: 27
Crowd: 29000
Weather: Sunny
Race 1 - 19 Laps GP of Mantova, Italy 06/05/2007:1. Antonio Cairoli - Yamaha - ITA 40'29.827
2. Tyla Rattray - KTM - RSA 0'8.985
3. Tommy Searle -KTM - GBR 0'11.718
4. Christophe Pourcel - Kawasaki - FRA 0'13.575
5. Kenneth Gundersen - Yamaha - NOR 0'32.325
6. Gareth Swanepoel - Kawasaki - RSA 0'41.013
7. Pascal Leuret - Honda - FRA 0'46.640
8. Sean Hamblin - Suzuki - USA 0'55.326
9. Tom Church - Kawasaki - GBR 0'56.844
10. Marcus Schiffer - KTM - GER 0'57.270
11. Nicolas Aubin - Yamaha - FRA 0'57.807
12. Martin Barr - Yamaha - GBR 1'7.415
13. Dennis Verbruggen - Yamaha - BEL 1'13.097
14. Steven Frossard - Kawasaki - FRA 1'17.216
15. Rui Goncalves - KTM - POR 1'18.799
16. Xavier Boog - Yamaha - FRA 1'25.239
17. Carl Nunn - Yamaha - GBR 1'29.917
18. Matti Seistola - Honda - FIN 1'32.600
19. Gregory Aranda - Kawasaki - FRA 1'34.173
20. Shaun Simpson - Kawasaki - GBR 1'36.827
Race 2 - 19 Laps:1. Antonio Cairoli - Yamaha - ITA 41'12.692
2. Tyla Rattray - KTM - RSA 0'15.981
3. Gareth Swanepoel - Kawasaki - RSA 0'19.661
4. Tommy Searle - KTM - GBR 0'21.469
5. Christophe Pourcel - Kawasaki - FRA 0'22.998
6. Nicolas Aubin - Yamaha - FRA 0'45.140
7. Matti Seistola - Honda - FIN 0'51.466
8. Rui Goncalves - KTM - POR 1'0.340
9. Sean Hamblin - Suzuki - USA 1'6.121
10. Marcus Schiffer - KTM - GER 1'6.449
11. Shaun Simpson - Kawasaki - GBR 1'8.807
12. Pascal Leuret - Honda - FRA 1'16.883
13. Davide Guarneri - Yamaha - ITA 1'21.212
14. Avis Wyatt - KTM - RSA 1'25.093
15. Martin Barr - Yamaha - GBR 1'25.739
16. Dennis Verbruggen - Yamaha - BEL 1'26.468
17. Steven Frossard - Kawasaki - FRA 1'41.997
18. Gregory Aranda - Kawasaki - FRA 1'45.542
19. Matteo Bonini - Yamaha - ITA 2'0.415
20. Jeremy Tarroux - Yamaha - FRA -1 Laps
Rider Standings:1. Antonio Cairoli - Yamaha - ITA 197
2. Tyla Rattray - KTM - RSA 142
3. Christophe Pourcel - Kawasaki - FRA 137
4. Tommy Searle - KTM - GBR 117
5. Pascal Leuret - Honda - FRA 110
6. Gareth Swanepoel - Kawasaki - RSA 107
7. Nicolas Aubin - Yamaha - FRA 94
8. Kenneth Gundersen - Yamaha - NOR 91
9. Matti Seistola - Honda - FIN 78
10. Marcus Schiffer - KTM - GER 70
11. Steven Frossard - Kawasaki - FRA 58
12. Anthony Boissière - Kawasaki - FRA 57
13. Erik Eggens - Suzuki - NED 54
14. Xavier Boog - Yamaha - FRA 46
15. Manuel Monni - Yamaha - ITA 45
16. Tom Church - Kawasaki - GBR 45
17. Matteo Bonini - Yamaha - ITA 42
18. Dennis Verbruggen - Yamaha - BEL 35
19. Sean Hamblin - Suzuki - USA 35
20. Shaun Simpson - Kawasaki - GBR 34
21. Carl Nunn - Yamaha - GBR 31
29. Davide Guarneri - Yamaha - ITA 8
Manufacturer Standings:
1. Yamaha 197
2. Kawasaki 165
3. KTM 161
4. Honda 115
5. Suzuki 82
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