It was a great opening day in Agueda, the host of the third Grand Prix of 2008 which welcomed the Motocross collective with very hot weather conditions.
Sebastien Pourcel clocked a stunning pole position in the MX1 class, collecting his second consecutive Lovemytime Pole Position Award after his first pole of 2008 in Spain last weekend.
Tyla Rattray is also on a season high, winning his third consecutive qualifying heat and bringing home the Lovemytime Qualifying Award together with his closest rival in the Championship, Antonio Cairoli, who won the qualifying moto one to get his first win of 2008.
MX1
Dominating all the two free practice sessions and eventually the time practice, Lovemytime Pole Position Award winner Sebastien Pourcel of GPKR completed a stunning opening day of this Portuguese Grand Prix. Clocking his fastest lap with two minutes to go, no one else could reply to Pourcel or go under the 1:48 barrier.
CAS Honda’s Billy Mackenzie finished a solid second, after holding the top spot for a part of the session. Mac211 collected his best qualifying result since the start to the season, which the Brit will race onboard the factory Honda machinery.
Kawasaki Racing’s Tanel Leok was a last minute surprise when he stormed up to the third place at his very last attempt. The Estonian pushed it to the limit to move in front of fourth placed and defending MX1 World Champion Steve Ramon. The Belgian was the best placed Teka Suzuki WMX1 rider, as team mate and current series leader Ken de Dycker ended eighth, with Ramon thinking of closing the current seven point gap tomorrow. De Dycker actually rode injured with a blister on his right hand.
Early leader Martin Honda’s Marc de Reuver rounded off the top five ahead of Jonathan Barragan and Joshua Coppins. David Philippaerts -on last year’s Portuguese podium- ended ninth fastest but was not 100%; his back was bruised after a free practice crash.
Top five:
1. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki) 1:47.643
2. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Honda), +0:00.490
3. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +0:00.744
4. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:01.056
5. Marc de Reuver (NED, Honda), +0:01.200
MX2
The two qualifying heats of the MX2 class were won by the first two riders in the points standings, runner up Yamaha Red Bull De Carli’s Antonio Cairoli (heat one) and leader Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tyla Rattray (heat two), with dominant performances. Other Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Tommy Searle was a solid second to Cairoli, with Champ KTM’s Jeremy van Horebeek ending runner up to Rattray.
Eventually Cairoli and Rattray brought home the Lovemytime Qualifying Awards of today, consisting in the iPod with the matching Lovemytime portable loudspeakers.
MX2 Qualifying Race 1
Winner of last year’s Portuguese GP, Cairoli took a superb start to head the pack into the first corner; the Italian never looked back until he passed by the chequered flag in first place at the end of the 13 lap moto. A solid Searle took a good start as well but did not push to try and catch the flying Italian, ending a positive second. KTM fellow rider Shaun Simpson was cruising in third when he crashed and handed the position to Nicolas Aubin. The latter kept the third place ahead of fourth placed Stephen Sword. Manuel Monni rounded off the top five ahead of home rider Rui Goncalves with Simpson eventually finishing tenth.
Top five:
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 24:09.381
2. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), +0:05.092
3. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:14.276
4. Stephen Sword (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:30.676
5. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), +0:33.564
MX2 Qualifying Race 2
Rattray took victory in the second qualifying heat courtesy of an impressive performance, which ended with the South African crossing the finish line 20 seconds before second placed Jeremy van Horebeek. The likeable Belgian held the runner up spot defending himself from a very hungry Gautier Paulin. Later on the 2007 European Champion was passed by Davide Guarneri and Xavier Boog, rounding off the top five behind the duo.
Top five:
1. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KTM) 24:30.0742
2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:19.866
3. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), +0:23.854
4. Xavier Boog (FRA, Suzuki), +0:24.548
5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:25.686
News of the Day: Michelin's Jean Jacques Chatelier Retires from Work
At the end of the day the FIM Motocross World Championship collective attended a special farewell party at the Ristorante Italiano in honour of Mr. Jean Jacques Chatelier. The 58 year old Frenchman from the Poitou province has been working in the sport for six years to end a 36 year experience inside French tyre manufacturer Michelin. Via Youthstream President Mr. Giuseppe Luongo, Chatelier received a career award in occasion of this 2008 Portuguese Grand Prix, to be his last event before retirement.
Crossodromo Internacional Do Casarao & Agueda
The Crossódromo Internacional Do Casarão in Agueda is a unique track with a lot of character, partially due to its particular red ground which is not usual among the FIM Motocross World Championship venues. The race track is managed by local organizer Ginasio Clube de Agueda, taking care of lots of sports events happening in the area. Last year on Agueda’s intermediate ground Kevin Strijbos (MX1) and Antonio Cairoli (MX2) took victory in sunny and hot weather conditions, something the series has been missing this year since the opening round in Valkenswaard. The weather forecast for the weekend is actually sunny.
The Portuguese town of Agueda sits close to the Western edge of the European continent and has about 15000 inhabitants. Its location is in between the Atlantic Ocean and the mountains, making Agueda a popular stop for the on the go tourists as the town is also close to spas. The closest town is Oporto, being 70 kilometres North of Agueda, but Coimbra is only 40 kilometres to the South and capital and Lisbon is 250 kilometres to the South West.
The Event’s Schedule
Sunday April 27:
MX2 Warm-up at 9:00 am
MX1 Warm-up at 9:30 am
MX2 Grand Prix Race 1 at 12:10 am
MX1 Grand Prix Race 1 at 1:10 pm
MX2 Grand Prix Race 2 at 3:03 pm
MX1 Grand Prix Race 2 at 4:03 pm (local time)
The Grand Prix and the qualifying sessions (the latter only on RTP2) will be broadcast live on:
EUROSPORT 2 (Pan Europe): MX1 Race 1 at 14:00 CET
MOTORS TV (Pan Europe): MX2 Race 2 at 16:00 CET
The Grand Prix will be broadcast delayed on:
EUROSPORT 2 (Pan Europe): Sunday April 27; MX1 Race 2 at 20:30 CET
MOTORS TV (Pan Europe): Sunday April 27; MX2 Race 1 at 15:00 CET
Related Links:
FIM
FNM-Federaçao Nacional de Motociclismo
Agueda
