Fairyhouse Racecourse hosted a crowded Grand Prix of the Republic of Ireland today in front of 16,000 spectators who enjoyed the sunny weather. Tanel Leok won his first ever MX1 GP from Ken de Dycker and Steve Ramon, who is still second in the Championship with a five point gap from leader David Philippaerts.
In the MX2 class Tyla Rattray won from Tommy Searle and Steven Frossard as first heat winner Zach Osborne broke the bike in the final heat.
MX1
Kawasaki Racing’s Tanel Leok finally celebrated his first ever GP victory by winning the final moto after taking the runner up spot in heat one. Teka Suzuki WMX1 team mates Ken de Dycker and Steve Ramon rounded off the podium ahead of fourth placed David Philippaerts of Yamaha Monster Motocross as they made some ground on the Championship leader. De Dycker won the opening moto and collected the overall podium with third in the final heat where Ramon ended runner up. The latter took fifth in heat one as a late overtaking move by Philippaerts saw him drop by one position. Leading some laps in both heats CAS Honda’s Billy Mackenzie took fifth overall as Jonathan Barragan had a bad day and ended 10th – a first moto tangle hampered his overall result. Josh Coppins was also involved in that tangle and he eventually dnf’d in the final moto due to another crash.
Top five overall:
1. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), 47
2. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 45
3. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 38
4. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 36
5. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Honda), 36
MX1 RACE 1
Philippaerts holeshotted the first corner but could not keep up with the pace of the front runners and dropped down to fifth. In the meantime Mackenzie took the lead but first De Dycker and then Leok moved past him, with the Estonian exploiting one mistake by Mackenzie. The latter took third thanks to a successful defence from a late charge of Philippaerts, who had moved past Ramon for fourth. Ramon ended fifth ahead of Pourcel. The latter was involved in a first corner tangle together with Barragan, Coppins and Aranda.
Top five:
1. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 38:49.681
2. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), +0:02.572
3. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Honda), +0:15.287
4. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:17.305
5. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:22.354
MX1 RACE 2
Mackenzie led again in the opening laps but he made a mistake and dropped down by two places with Leok taking first and Philippaerts second. The Estonian rode his own race to take victory while Philippaerts was passed both by Ramon and De Dycker to end an eventual fourth ahead of Mackenzie. Pourcel brought the fuel injection bike home in ninth due to a first lap crash while Barragan ended 12th because of several crashes. The final moto was quite unfortunate for Coppins who sat out of the race due to a first lap tangle that damaged the front end of his machine.
Top five:
1. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), 39:36.398
2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:15.918
3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), +0:23.160
4. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:26.158
5. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Honda), +0:29.898
MX2
Tyla Rattray of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing took victory number three and mounted on his 11th podium of 2008. The Championship leader won the final heat but took second in heat one, when Utag-Yamaha.com’s Zach Osborne won his first ever GP heat. Osborne broke the bike in heat two to finish eighth overall. Other Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Tommy Searle took second overall despite starting from 25th on the grid. CLS’ Steven Frossard rounded off the podium with Nicolas Aubin of Ricci Racing Yamaha and Stephen Sword of Molson Kawasaki rounding off the top five. Anthony Boissiere took sixth ahead of Shaun Simpson.
Top five overall:
1. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KTM), 47
2. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), 40
3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 36
4. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), 34
5. Stephen Sword (GBR, Kawasaki), 31
MX2 RACE 1
Osborne put in a fantastic performance by leading the whole moto despite Rattray kept following and putting pressure to the young American. The latter secured the second spot with Aubin taking third courtesy of a solid first heat. Searle stormed to fourth after a final move on Frossard who took fifth despite an early crash. Simpson finished sixth after he rode with the front runners in the early stages.
Top five:
1. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 38:59.589
2. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KTM), +0:02.365
3. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:10.678
4. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), +0:28.217
5. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:44.102
MX2 RACE 2
Osborne took again a good start and battled it out with Simpson for the lead in the opening lap; the brave Scot, coming back after a shoulder operation following Loket, eventually dropped to 11th but Osborne did not have better fortunes. Rattray moved past him for first and the eventual win then Osborne broke the bike and dnf’d. Searle worked his way up to second ahead of Frossard and Sword. Boissiere rounded off the top five with Roelants sixth and Aubin seventh after a tough start.
Top five:
1. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KTM), 39:55.406
2. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), +0:06.126
3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:12.077
4. Stephen Sword (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:21.385
5. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, KTM), +0:24.993
IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS
Philippaerts lost two points from Ramon as the duo is still first and second in the MX1 Championship with just five points dividing them. De Dycker and Barragan moved up to third and fourth respectively as Coppins dropped down to fifth.
Top ten:
1. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 441
2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 436
3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 414
4. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 389
5. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 382
6. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 371
7. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 356
8. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki), 322
9. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Honda), 293
10. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 235
MX2 Championship leader Rattray increased his advantage over Searle by seven points. Aubin moved past Simpson to take fourth.
Top ten:
1. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KTM), 546
2. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), 519
3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 357
4. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), 343
5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 337
6. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 327
7. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 284
8. Xavier Boog (FRA, Suzuki), 269
9. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 253
10. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), 245
More information: motocrossmx1.com
