The Grand Prix of Spain at a sunny Bellpuig circuit in Catalunya for the second round of the FIM Motocross World Championship has been a memorable day for Yamaha with Josh Coppins winning both motos in the MX1 class, for his second consecutive success with the YZ450FM. Antonio Cairoli won a thrilling duel with World Champ Christophe Pourcel on the last lap of the second MX2 moto to seal his second GP victory in a row, watched by an appreciative 22,300 crowd.
The 2007 campaign is only two events old but already Yamaha remain unbeaten thanks to the talents of the New Zealander and Sicilian respectively. The weather could not have been more varied in the north-east of the country. The huge swing from dark clouds and never-ending rain on Saturday to the sunny skies and high temperatures on Sunday afternoon caused the track to change from a swamp to a rutted and very bumpy prospect that made overtaking tricky because of the emphasis on a single line.
For the first time this millennium the Saturday programme was cancelled due to heavy rain fall. The riders were forced to use what is normally the warm-up period before the Grand Prix motos Sunday morning as a make-shift qualification period.
Coppins started reasonably well in both motos. The 30 year old, who had been working on his set-up and speed for hard-pack tracks in Italy over the Easter holiday, steered past Mike Brown in the formative stages and began to pull away. He won by almost twenty seconds and repeated the authoritative performance in the second race, taking his third chequered flag from four motos, by more than twelve seconds over runner up Max Nagl.
His team-mate Marc de Reuver did not enjoy similar fortune. The Dutchman was hindered around the first corner in both heats so that he was unable to penetrate the leading elite. The 24 year old's speed varied on the demanding terrain as he also had to battle hard to gain ground; finishing with fourteenth and tenth for tenth overall
Josh Coppins, Yamaha Motocross Team:"We were here in 2004 and I remember the first race was really bad but by the second the track was pretty good, so I knew that if the sun came out it would turn around. I have proved before that I am quite good in all kinds of conditions. I was already feeling comfortable on the Yamaha on hard-pack compared to the sand prior to this race. I knew that we had a good set-up on the bike so I was looking forward to coming here and believed that we had a chance to make a good race. My starts haven't been that great so far but I am lucky that the bike is so strong. I wheelied on the first and let the clutch go too soon with the second; as soon as I hit third gear though the bike just pulled me to the front."
Marc de Reuver, Yamaha Motocross Team:"Things did not work out very well for me today. My starts were not great. I touched Nagl on the start-straight of the first moto and that put me right at the back. I tried to get some rhythm going and passing was difficult but it was hard and I felt tired on the bike. I just want to look ahead to next week now."
Carlo Rinaldo, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team: "It was a very good day for Josh and Yamaha of course. He made almost a perfect race; good starts but also a very fast pace and no mistakes. Normally in these conditions we have seen Josh a little bit tense and aggressive but today he looked very comfortable on this track. We worked a little bit on the bike before this race and it looked like he appreciated it. Regarding Marc I am a little bit sad and disappointed, for him just as much as us, because it looks like everything should be going well. He is fit and feeling fast on the bike but his starts were not good and the lap-times were very inconsistent. But let's keep working and see what will happen next week!"
Circuit Length: 1630
Temp: 21
Crowd: 22300
Weather: Sunny
Race 1 - 19 Laps - GP of Bellpuig, Spain:1. Joshua Coppins -Yamaha - NZL 39'57.248
2. Kevin Strijbos - Suzuki - BEL 0'19.883
3. Steve Ramon - Suzuki - BEL 0'21.435
4. Jonathan Barragan - KTM - ESP 0'21.725
5. Maximilian Nagl- KTM - GER 0'44.270
6. Ken De Dycker - Honda - BEL 0'49.611
7. Kornel Nemeth - Suzuki - HUN 0'49.902
8. David Philippaerts KTM - ITA 1'7.432
9. Tanel Leok - Kawasaki - EST 1'12.523
10. James Noble Honda - GBR 1'13.428
11. Sébastien Pourcel - Kawasaki - FRA 1'38.226
12. Mike Brown - Honda - USA 1'38.593
13. Cyrille Coulon - Honda - FRA 1'44.872
14. Marc De Reuver - Yamaha - NED 1'57.837
15. Thomas Allier - Kawasaki - FRA 2'3.472
16. Aigar Leok - Yamaha - EST 2'7.343
17. Alex Salvini - Yamaha -ITA 2'9.197
18. Marvin Van Daele - Honda - BEL 2'14.936
19. Alessio Chiodi - Aprilia - ITA -1 Laps
20. Billy MacKenzie - Kawasaki - GBR -1 Laps
Race 2 - 19 Laps:1. Joshua Coppins - Yamaha - NZL 40'24.251
2. Maximilian Nagl - KTM - GER 0'12.485
3. Kevin Strijbos - Suzuki - BEL 0'14.452
4. Sébastien Pourcel - Kawasaki - FRA 0'18.369
5. Billy MacKenzie - Kawasaki - GBR 0'22.157
6. Jonathan Barragan - KTM - ESP 0'30.563
7. Tanel Leok - Kawasaki - EST 0'43.111
8. David Philippaerts - KTM -ITA 0'47.783
9. Ken De Dycker - Honda - BEL 0'51.842
10. Marc De Reuver - Yamaha - NED 0'54.262
11. Thomas Allier - Kawasaki - FRA 0'55.910
12. Manuel Priem - TM - BEL 1'2.144
13. Mike Brown - Honda - USA 1'32.637
14. Aigar Leok - Yamaha - EST 1'35.421
15. Steve Ramon - Suzuki - BEL 1'36.557
16. James Noble - Honda - GBR 1'38.467
17. Marvin Van Daele - Honda -BEL 1'43.971
18. Julien Bill - Kawasaki -CHE -1 Laps
19. Scott Columb - Suzuki -NZL -1 Laps
20. Christian Beggi - Honda -ITA -1 Laps
Rider Standings:1. Joshua Coppins - Yamaha - NZL 97
2. Kevin Strijbos - Suzuki - BEL 78
3. Jonathan Barragan - KTM - ESP 74
4. Maximilian Nagl - KTM - GER 63
5. Steve Ramon - Suzuki - BEL 63
6. Ken De Dycker - Honda - BEL 61
7. Marc De Reuver - Yamaha - NED 53
8. Tanel Leok - Kawasaki - EST 43
9. James Noble - Honda - GBR 40
10. Mike Brown - Honda - USA 36
11. Sébastien Pourcel - Kawasaki - FRA 36
12. Billy MacKenzi - Kawasaki - GBR 29
13. Manuel Priem - TM - BEL 28
14. Kornel Nemeth - Suzuki - HUN 27
15. David Philippaerts - KTM - ITA 26
16. Aigar Leok - Yamaha - EST 21
17. Thomas Allier - Kawasaki - FRA 16
18. Marvin Van Daele - Honda - BEL 16
19. Pierre A. Renet - Honda - FRA 13
20. Antoine Meo - Honda - FRA 10
Manufacturer Standings:1. Yamaha 97
2. Suzuki 82
3. KTM 81
4. Honda 61
5. Kawasaki 49
6. TM 28
7. Aprilia 2
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