KTM rider Jonathan Barragan was celebrating last night after taking the overall win in the MX1 Grand Prix of Britain on Sunday after he was third and first in the two individual motos.
The Spanish rider from the KTM supported Team Silver Action was in brilliant form on the man made track at Mallory Park, the first time the MX World Championships had competed on the varied and technically challenging circuit.
Barragan, who kept his skills sharpened by winning an MX3 GP as a guest rider for the JM Racing team last weekend, looked confident and comfortable on the British circuit where sand had been mixed with the natural soil on the corners. "I had some problems with the shock in the first heat but we changed the settings for the second and it went much better for me. I am very happy to have my first GP win for 2008 but I am a bit sorry that it has not come sooner than this," Barragan said. The Spanish rider said he liked the jumps on the British circuit but there were a lot of bumps. "Riders here have to be really fit," he said.
The track became deeply rutted and increasingly difficult to master as the day wore on and Barragan had an anxious moment in the final run in to the checkered flag in race two. He got caught up in the ruts and slipped off the bike but displayed a cool head and lightning reactions, and was back on the bike in a flash without relinquishing any of his lead.
Red Bull KTM factory rider Max Nagl of Germany was not so lucky. After a valiant fourth place in the opening MX1 moto, Nagl came unstuck in the heat of the battle in the opening minutes of race two when a stone hit him on the nose. Dizzy and with the wound bleeding badly, he wasn't able to continue. Doctors suspected that he may have broken his nose and he will check on Monday with his own doctor in Belgium. Nagl was however quite positive about his riding in the first heat. "I liked the circuit here. It's a real English track with deep lines and I was up with the front runners all the way in the first race." James Noble of Team KTM UK was tenth in front of his home crowd.
Results:
1. Jonathan Barragan, KTM
2. Ken de Dyker, Belgium, Suzuki
3. David Philippaerts, Italy, Yamaha
4. Steve Ramon, Belgium, Suzuki
5. Tanel Leok, Estonia, Kawasaki
Other KTM
10. James Noble, Britain, (Team KTM UK)
17. Markus Schiffer, Germany (Sarholz)
19. Kornel Nemeth, Hungary (Sarholz)
Championship Standings:
1. David Philippaerts, Italy, 223 points
2. Steve Ramon, Belgium, 195
3. Ken de Dyker, Belgium, 175
4. Josh Coppins, New Zealand, 168
5. Bill Mackenzie, Britain, 159
Other KTM
7. Jonathan Barragan, Spain. 150
9. Max Nagl, Germany, 132
14. Kornel Nemeth, Hungary, 80
15. Markus Schiffer, Germany, 71
18. James Noble, Britain, 48
In MX2 Red Bull KTM's Tyla Rattray snatched the first moto but got caught up in crashes in the second on a roughed up circuit at Mallory Park finishing overall second behind Italy's Antonio Cairoli in the GP of Britain.
Factory teammate Tommy Searle was third and second in the two motos for overall third place in front of his home crowd while fellow Briton and KTM rider Shaun Simpson finished fourth. With Anthony Boissiere of the KTM supported HDI France team in sixth place, riders of the Austrian manufacturer took four of the first sixth places. The third Red Bull KTM rider, Rui Goncalves of Portugal had a luckless day and finished eleventh.
Rattray made a huge effort to hunt down the leaders after dropping right back in the order in the early part of the second moto. He made an impressive charge from the back of the field, continually gaining ground on the front group. Although the gap between fourth and third was too great for him to breach, he did well to salvage his fourth place for 18 valuable championship points. The KTM factory rider from South Africa, while promising to come back strong in the next event, was clearly disappointed to have to relinquish the coveted red number plate as championship leader to rival Cairoli by a single point.
"I plan to get the red plate back in the next GP," said a determined Rattray. "Today I got the holeshot in the first race and I managed to stay out in front all the way. It's hard to pass on this circuit and you have to be very concentrated to get good lines." Rattray did just that after being involved in two crashes in the first part of race two.
Tommy Searle was less than satisfied with his day in front of his home crowd, particularly when his chances of getting the lead in race one were spoilt by a close encounter with arch rival Cairoli. "My riding was ok but not brilliant today," he said. "I didn't have very good starts and I made a few mistakes. At the end of the second race there was just too much of a gap for me to be able to close it." Tommy now trails Cairoli by 10 points in what has developed into a three rider competition (Cairoli, Rattray and Searle) for the title.
Red Bull KTM's Rui Goncalves admitted his day had not been a good one. "I had problems with the lines in the first race and my riding as not good. I tried to relax more in the second but it just seemed to get worse. Then I had a crash and hit my knee and my head and blacked out for a moment." Goncalves will also get a medical check on Monday.
The man-made circuit at Mallory Park, some 50 km from the city of Birmingham, is constructed on the interior of an existing and well known road racing facility. It was the first time riders in the MX world championship have raced here on this technical and demanding circuit. The surface is medium soft and sand has been added to the corners.
MX2 GP Results:
1. Antonio Cairoli, Italy, Yamaha
2. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, KTM (Red Bull KTM)
3. Tommy Searle, Britain, KTM (Red Bull KTM)
4. Shaun Simpson, Britain, KTM (KTM UK)
5. Stephen Sword, Britain, Kawasaki
Other KTM
6. Anthony Boissiere, France, KTM (Team HDI France)
11. Rui Goncalves, Portugal, KTM (Red Bull KTM)
12. Joel Roelants, Belgium, KTM (GP Juniors Team Champ)
13. Jeremy Tarroux, France, KTM (Team Silver Action)
19. Julien Vanni, France, KTM (Team HDI France)
Championship Standings:
1. Antonio Cairoli, Italy, 243 points
2. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, 242
3. Tommy Searle, Britain, 233
4. Nicolas Aubin, France, 158
5. Shaun Simpson, Britain, 156
6. Rui Goncalves, Portugal, 148
Other KTM
10. Jeremy van Horebeek, Belgium, 109
13. Anthony Boissiere, France, 91
12. Joel Roelants, Belgium, 68
17. Jeremy Tarroux, France, 59
30. Julien Vanni, France, 12
Thanks to R Archer for taking the photo images
