Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nico Aubin celebrated his second podium result of the 2008 MX2-GP World Championship and also moved up to third in the series standings courtesy of his third position in the damp sand of Lierop for the Grand Prix of Benelux and the fourteenth and penultimate round of the competition.
The Frenchman defied a small crash in the first of two motos across the bumpy and technical Dutch sand to take 4th and 3rd places and lift his second set of silverware in 2008. Thanks to his efforts ahead of rival Shaun Simpson, Aubin is third in the championship and 14 points in front of the Scot with just 50 to play for at the final race in Italy.
35,000 spectators flocked to the shower-hit and windy venue and saw Aubin enact one of his best performances of the season on a difficult terrain and register his first top three finish in the sand. The next highest placed YZ250F rider was Yamaha Van Beers' Evgeny Bobryshev, who set career-best results with 8th overall and a 7th position finish in Moto2.
Aubin's team-mate, Davide Guarneri, scored 17th (minus a rear brake in Moto1) and 11th for 13th overall, on a surface that is not one of the Italian's strongest. Despite his weakened knee, Guarneri - the Spanish Grand Prix winner - is 13th in the championship.
3C Racing's Manuel Monni was 13th in the final GP ranking while Yamaha Red Bull De Carli's Matteo Bonini continued his comeback to race fitness after injury to place 18th overall and score points in the second moto.
Utag Yamaha.com's Zach Osborne struggled on the sand in Moto1 and hit the terrain on three separate occasions, finally crossing the line outside of the points. He was doing better in Moto2 and gaining ground on the top five until a mechanical problem halted his race.
In other news Mike Vanderstraeten, winner of first MX Rookie trophy held prior to the GP of Belgium for amateur youngsters, was presented with his prize (a YZ250F) by series instigator Eric Geboers and Yamaha Monster Motocross Team owner Michele Rinaldi. "I am really happy to have won the trophy," the sixteen year old Belgian said. "My goal now is to keep on improving as a rider and maybe one day I can race in the world championship."
"I want to congratulate Mike for his victory and I am proud on behalf of Yamaha that he has won the first trophy," said Michele Rinaldi. "I hope he can repeat his win with us in the future and who knows? Maybe he could become one of our factory riders one day."
2007 World Champion Tony Cairoli will be present at his home Grand Prix - the fifteenth and final round of the '08 series - next weekend to hand over his number one plate. The Grand Prix Citta di Faenza will take place at the Faenza circuit a short distance from Bologna and around 40 km from the city of Ravenna.
Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 3rd:
"Top three in the championship was my aim at the beginning of the season so I was watching Simpson and Goncalves carefully today. I had some low moments in the middle of the year but I have been building it back up and getting better step-by-step. I liked the track but my starts were not great and I made some small mistakes, apart from that moment my rhythm was strong and my lines were good. I am happy with the podium today and can take some more confidence to Faenza."
Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 13th:
"I am struggling a little for motivation at the moment. I would just like to finish the season and start preparing myself for 2009. This GP was like hell! So many bumps and jumps. I had a bad start in the first race and then my back brake faded in the middle of the moto so I had to lower my pace and could not push. In the second I made my rhythm, which was not so bad, and I made 11th. Nobody passed me and I was so tired by the end. We will see now how I can finish the year in Faenza. I have a lot of problems with my knee but it is the last race so we have to go for it!"
Matteo Bonini, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 18th:
"In the first moto I had a bad start and I did not want to go too crazy and waste energy because I knew it would be difficult for me to finish 40 minutes here. I found it difficult to find a rhythm but by the midpoint I was riding better, around four seconds faster, but it was too late to get any points. My start was great in the second moto. I knew I could not stay in the top five but my speed was good immediately. I thought it would be possible to stay in the top ten but then I crashed before the pit-lane and it took me a long time to restart the bike. I built up my speed again but had some more trouble and just wanted to finish. I am a bit sad because I think I could have taken a good position without the crash."
Zach Osborne, Utag Yamaha.com, 26th:
"In the first moto I just struggled with the rhythm of the track. It wasn't a good race for me and I fell three times. In the second moto I started OK and was around eighth before we had another small problem with the bike. Overall it was not a good day but I learned a lot from the weekend. The sand was a lot different to Lommel. It was heavier and required a different technique. The Grand Prix was a good experience."
Lierop MX2 Race 1:
1. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 41'4.866
2. Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'0.614
3. Rui Goncalves KTM POR 0'15.176
4. Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 1'6.469
5. Joel Roelants KTM BEL 1'7.909
11. Evgeny Bobryshev Yamaha RUS 2'24.108
13. Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA -1 Laps
17. Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA -1 Laps
Lierop MX2 Race 2:
1. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 41'13.223
2. Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'13.301
3. Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 0'53.892
4. Rui Goncalves KTM POR 1'2.155
5. Gert Krestinov KTM EST 1'8.807
7. Evgeny Bobryshev Yamaha RUS 1'45.014
11. Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 2'1.72
15. Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA -1 Laps
16. Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA -1 Laps
MX 2 Rider Standings:
1. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 596
2. Tommy Searle KTM GBR 563
3. Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 381
4. Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 367
5. Rui Goncalves KTM POR 365
6. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 357
10. Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 259
13. Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 181
22. Evgeny Bobryshev Yamaha RUS 66
24. Alessandro Lupino Yamaha ITA 55
27. Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 46
45. Deny Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 8
48. Martin Barr Yamaha GBR 6
MX2 Manufacturer Standings:
1. KTM - 666
2. Yamaha - 597
3. Kawasaki - 430
4. Suzuki - 347
5. Honda - 250
