Motocross

The efforts of Joshua Coppins, Antonio Cairoli and Yves Demaria in the FIM MX1, MX2 and MX3 Championship respectively have ensured a fantastic start to the international off-road racing calendar for Yamaha; with the manufacturer leading the standings of each series and remaining unbeaten in the two Grand Prix run so far in MX1 and MX2.

The Yamaha Motocross Team, reigning champions in the MX1 class, has extended their run of victories to 16 Grand Prix from the last 17 run over the past twelve months. New signing for 2007, Joshua Coppins, has gelled immediately with the YZ450FM and has won three of four motos in total, contested in Holland and Spain last weekend; climbing the top step of the overall rostrum on both occasions.

MRS Sherco rider Graham Jarvis stamped his authority in the first round of this year’s British Championship trial, taking a sensational win in the Lochaber Club event. It was a brave calculated risk for the reigning British Champion since he has only been riding the all new Sherco 3.20 4T for a mere five weeks. It was a risk that paid off with Jarvis posting the meagre score of 16 with his nearest rival, Shaun Morris, finishing on 23 marks.

Jarvis’ score would have been even better if he had not unexpectedly taken a five on the second section on the last lap. He had managed it easily on laps one and two, only taking a one on the first lap but got it all wrong on the last lap and paid the penalty with the maximum five marks.

Antonio Cairoli aced the MX2 class with a double moto sweep for his eleventh career victory. The De Carli Yamaha rider won both races at a reasonable canter for an authoritative launch to the World Championship.
The 2005 number one and '06 runner-up toyed with leader Gareth Swanepoel in the formative stages of Moto one but pulled clear on lap seven to a enjoy an untroubled run to the finish line. The second race followed a similar script once he had moved past reigning champ Christophe Pourcel, who had made a mistake and fallen.

Ricci Yamaha's Kenneth Gundersen carried some decent speed through the weekend and was a distant fourth in the first race after a less than perfect start. The Norwegian took another top five result with fifth after lunch and was pleased to leave the circuit with 34 points and sixth overall. His new team-mate and super talent Nicolas Aubin enacted a solid first appearance for the squad with seventh in the classification.

Yamaha Motocross rider Josh Coppins experienced a dream debut in blue colours by toasting overall MX1 success today in front of 25,000 fans packed into the Eurocircuit in Valkenswaard just south of the city of Eindhoven for the opening meeting of the fifteen rounds of the 2007 FIM World Championship and the first visit of two planned stops in the Netherlands this season.
The Grand Prix of Benelux occurred under very pleasant conditions. The winding Eurocircuit boasted a slower lap-time and average speed compared to past years thanks to several new corner sections and a layout that reversed the traditional direction. The brown sand churned into rutted waves of terrain that was slippery in places making it physically very demanding.

KTM JM Racing’s Sven Breugelmans put in a solid weekend racing at the International Crossdromo in Cingoli, Italy to finish second overall in MX3 for round two of the World Championship.
Breugelmans, the 2005 MX 3 title holder got away well in the first moto, dropped back to sixth but then fought his way back to the front to finish second in 35’28.683 conceding victory to the Frenchman Coisey. The Belgium rider also started solidly in the second moto and lead the pack until he stalled 20 minutes into the race and again had to settle for second. The two minor podiums game him second overall for the weekend and he now lies second in the overall championship standings with 73 points.

MX 2 Podium for Tyla Rattray in Bellpuig
Tyla Rattray put the KTM Red Bull Racing Team on the podium for the Grand Prix of Spain with 3rd overall in the 2nd round of the MX2 World Championships.
The MX2 KTM factory team’s result was further boosted by an overall 4th place by young teenager Tommy Searle of Britain.

“Spain is always good to me,

The event at Bellpuig was a real test of rider endurance on Sunday with MX1 riders having to face heavy, muddy conditions after solid rain that wiped out training on Saturday. KTM Factory-supported rider Germany’s Max Nagl nevertheless had a golden day and ended on the podium in third place overall after a fifth and a second in the two motos.

Nagl gathered a total of 38 points to beat KTM factory rider Jonathan Barragan of Spain into fourth overall. Barragan, riding with a badly bruised shoulder from a training crash earlier in the week collected championship 33 points for his heroic fourth and sixth places in the two races.

The 2007 Nokia Motocross Nationals ten round series started south in Victoria at the Victorian State Motorcycle Centre at Broadford on Sunday 15 April
2007. The opening round of the championship attracted a good crowd who enjoyed the racing on a warm day under a bright blue sky. Team BTX Racings Pro Lite rider Taylor Potter was there on his KTM 250 SXF and finished 12overall in his class.
“I had a very good day.

In MX2 Antonio Cairoli buried the bad memories of his DNF at the 2006 Spanish round at Bellpuig with an inspiring chase of Christophe Pourcel that had the crowd cheering his efforts. In both races the 2005 World Champion experimented with different trajectories in order to shrink large margins to the escaping Pourcel. He challenged the Frenchman on the last lap of Moto one but made a mistake and opted for second place several corners before the flag. In the second race he caught up some fifteen seconds to the Kawasaki rider and gunned his YZ250F to make his three best laps of the race in the last three circulations to push his way into the lead. His emphatic celebrations - he dropped his machine and stood on it to wave and acknowledge the spectators - after the finish line showed just how much the achievement meant to him. >

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.