FIRST MX1 GRAND PRIX DONINGTON PARK, 26 August 2007- This incredible FOX FIM Grand Prix of Great Britain finished with the unexpected but brilliant overall victory of Antonio Cairoli. The Italian raced his first GP in the MX1 class, after he had secured his second MX2 World Title last weekend at Moneyglass, and won right away on the brand new track of Donington Park. Tommy Searle was another brilliant winner in this GP; the Brit collected his maiden GP victory in the MX2 class in front of an excited home crowd of 28000 people. The British glory continued with Dave Thorpe's victory in the FIM Veterans' Motocross World Cup-Senior class; Thorpe won both this final round and the Cup. Tony Cooksley from New Zealand did the same in the Veteran class. The weather was perfect, with sunshine and warm temperatures for the whole day. MX1 Antonio Cairoli of Yamaha De Carli impressed the Motocross collective at his first competitive outing on a 2008 Yamaha YZ450F by winning the FOX Grand Prix of Great Britain. Kevin Strijbos of Suzuki made it to second, with as many points as Cairoli - 47. Ken De Dycker, who was slightly injured after Moneyglass' crash, completed the podium ahead of new Championship leader Steve Ramon and Mike Brown.
MX1 GRAND PRIX RACE 1 Billy Mackenzie took the lead after Antonio Cairoli's holeshot; the Scottish pulled away with the lead but he stalled the bike and dropped down to eighth. Sicilian Cairoli found himself at the head of the pack but a gutsy Kevin Strijbos was coming back from behind after a poor start. Once he made it to Cairoli's tail, he showed no mercy and moved up to first at lap nine. Strijbos secured the victory by opening up a gap of almost ten seconds from Cairoli, who settled down for second place. Ken De Dycker was another rider to have worked his way up to third, as he was rounding off the top fifteen after a bad start. Mike Brown finished fourth, after having been eventually passed by De Dycker, and yesterday's poleman Tanel Leok rounded off the top five. Joshua Coppins dropped down to an eventual fourteenth place, after having started the heat in the top five, while Steve Ramon made it to sixth after a poor start. Early leader Mackenzie ended eighth.
MX1 GRAND PRIX RACE 2 Jonathan Barragan lead the pack into turn one while Mackenzie crashed at the first corner; but Cairoli moved up to the lead before the end of the opening lap, and rode strong to open up a gap from runner up Ramon. Ramon eventually dropped down to fourth, as his team mate Kevin Strijbos made up for another bad start by moving up to second. The Belgian was pushing his hardest in the final laps, but he only managed to reduce the gap from Cairoli to almost two and a half seconds. Ken De Dycker soldiered on to finish third, as he felt pain in his back towards the end of the moto when he was second. Tanel Leok rounded off the top five behind Ramon, while Sebastien Pourcel crashed and dropped down to an eventual eighth, after he had recovered from twelfth to third. Josh Coppins retired as his physical condition was not good enough to race. MX2 Tommy Searle made his dream come true by winning his maiden GP in front of a huge British crowd; Searle fought with Frenchmen Nicolas Aubin and Jeremy Tarroux. The latter finished second on the podium after a brilliant final heat; on the other hand, Aubin was third overall because of a disappointing second moto, which was conditioned by a poor start. Matteo Bonini was a solid fourth ahead of Dennis Verbruggen.
GRAND PRIX RACE 1 Nicolas Aubin took the lead when he passed holeshotter Dennis Verbruggen; Aubin was racing on his own when he crashed and Tommy Searle came to his tail. Aubin was under pressure by Searle but he got back into his rhythm and even clocked the fastest lap of the race with one lap to go. Searle settled down to second, but he lost some time when Jeremy Tarroux stalled the bike in front of him. The Frenchman completed the top three ahead of a strong Gareth Swanepoel, while Xavier Boog rounded off the top five, clinching his best career result in GP's.